Chapter 104
This was entirely Bo’s fault. The man had turned into an idiot, the instant he had seen that redhead. Ernie had no idea what had happened to that boy.
Ernie had killed another young woman in the TSP post. It would bring the entirety of the Finley Creek post after him. And in spite of what the rumors said, not all the TSP in Finley Creek played for Ernie’s side.
Ernie hadn’t recognized her by name, only by face. That other woman assigned to Major Crimes now. A beautiful young woman, with an understated way about her. He had always preferred women like that. No one to draw attention or make waves.
That was rather how he had lived his life for decades, after all.
It was always a woman who brought empires toppling down.
That damned redheaded forensics tech. Ernie had warned that boy about that tech before.
But Bo just had never listened. She had been the center of his attention for so long, and when he had been injured, obsession had set in.
Bo and Denny’s father had been like that.
When he fixated on something, he did not deviate.
Especially on women. It had gotten him killed in a bar fight one night, after his shift at the local PD had ended.
Dead because of a bar whore. It had been incredibly hard to explain that to the man’s sons.
Women destroyed men.
Rather like his own boy had been. Steve had taken one look at that damned Coleson woman and everything had changed in an instant. Steve had never acted that way about a woman in his entire life. Until her.
Ernie had known his son would do something stupid with her. He had just known it. Why did it have to be her?
Women always ruined everything. That was a belief he had held for a long, long time. Just look at what had happened because of Bo coming face to face with that girl.
That redhead had been the subject of Bo’s fascination for almost two years.
Much like Heather and his own boy. Well, Ernie had been quite fascinated with his own wife for many years.
Until her death. Not to say that he hadn’t enjoyed some excitement on the side, but…
that had just been blowing off steam. He didn’t think he had ever been that obsessive over a woman.
Enough to throw everything they had been working toward away.
By now, he was certain Bo had been apprehended. He hadn’t been in a location of the TSP post that would have been easily escaped. Not without a vehicle available. Hence the reason Ernie had the woman with him now. A hostage had been his ticket out of there, if needed.
“Women, Dr. McAlister, are a good man’s downfall every time.”
Truer words had never been spoken.
She was working diligently on freeing her wrists. He almost wished she would succeed. It would make what they were going to have to do easier.
He had intended to leave the van in the open cavern.
In the next cavern over, he had money and a way out.
A short five-minute hike down the service road after the back entrance to this mine would result in a property he had maintained for thirty years.
The small cabin was one where he’d held certain meetings, where he kept alternate identifications and a four-wheel-drive vehicle that could not be traced to him completely.
He had long known the benefit of a strategic retreat.
He would dispose of Madison McAlister quickly and quietly, then retrieve Riely from their home.
After that, it was a matter of making his way to a friend’s private airstrip, where he kept the small plane he had purchased more than a decade ago.
Like many who had grown up in the great state of Texas, he had had his pilot’s license for almost as long as he’d had his driver’s license.
He would fly himself and his granddaughter to California.
They would switch identities there again and fly a commercial flight to Mexico City.
After that…
South America awaited. Ernie had been planning escape routes for a long, long time.
He had planned their lives fully now.
Riely would adjust. Children were quite resilient, after all. In time, she would even enjoy living abroad. It would afford her far more opportunities. “All good things must come to an end, young lady. It is time.”