The Price Of Justice

Chapter Fourteen

"What's your take on it?" I asked Walker once we were back in the truck.

He clicked his seatbelt into place and folded his arms across his chest. "Honestly? I think he had nothing to do with her disappearance, but do think he was hiding something."

"Great minds think alike." I responded as I placed my hand on the gear shift. "You ready to go home?"

"Let's hit the road, miss rodeo."

"Please tell me you're not going to start calling me that. Oh, and please try not to shorten my last name to Tay. That's just weird, man."

"I'll tell you what: tell me your first name, and I won't."

"That easy? Okay, my first name is Justice."

Walker laughed. "No, really? What's your name?"

I turned in my seat to look at him. "It's Justice. Justice Nichole Taylor. I'm not joking. Look at my driver's license if you don't believe me."

"Seriously? A cop named Justice?"

"Well, makes about as much sense as a real-life Texas Ranger named Walker."

"That's fair." He rolled down his window and tugged off his hat. I did the same.

"So," I said, a small smile playing on my lips. "Now that you know my name, it's my turn. I'm gonna take a wild guess: Cordell?"

"You're just a comedian, aren't you? It's Kyle. Not nearly as fun as Cordell, but hey, not everybody has a cool name like Justice."

"Okay, Kyle. So are we on a first-name basis now?"

"Sure. Want to know my partner's name? When we get back to headquarters you can freak him out."

"Why not? You're probably going to tell him mine, anyways."

"You're pretty smart, you know that? His name is Ryan."

"Cool. So...back to the case. Do you have any takes on the case? I didn't go to sleep until nearly three this morning thinking about it."

"You're gonna make yourself old doing that. Don't you have a boyfriend or husband to talk to? Or at least a close friend?"

I checked the rearview mirror. "Nope." I responded, my voice ice cold. "As far as the boyfriend goes, I never bought my ticket for the heartbreak train. And the only close friend I had is doing time for killing two men and then trying to kill me."

"Where the heck do you pick your friends?"

"The Police Department. He was my partner for my first two or three years in Austin. Then I got promoted to MCU."

"He tried to murder you?"

Pain stabbed at my heart. I ignored it as I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Well, I honestly don't know if he would have killed me, but when I confronted him about the two men's deaths, he hit me hard enough to knock me four feet back into the wall in the breakroom. And he was getting ready to do it again when I apprehended him. So yes, I...I almost think he would have."

"That's tough. It's hard when you lose somebody you care about, I know." Walker placed his hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Justice."

I shrugged him off, trying to ignore the lump forming in my throat at the thought of Henry. "Don't worry about it. What happens with me isn't important. Now, again, back to the case. Do you have any suspects in mind?"

"Nope. I've been doing some research on past serial killers, but I haven't found any with with this particular MO, so I don't think we're dealing with a copycat. There's not even any records on single killers similar to what we've got. But there is one thing that's really been bothering me."