~~~~~~~~~~

It was nearly seven o’clock on October thirtieth when Carmen and Ashley pulled away from Madison Duarte’s house.

“Well that was a freaking waste of time.” Ashley huffed as she started her car and drove without a destination in mind. Madison had been far from pleased when she opened the door to reveal Ashley and Carmen. Luckily, Candace was there as well so they didn’t have to make an extra trip. But both Candace and Madison were difficult and it took nearly a half an hour to finally get anything out of them; they both had ironclad alibis for every single murder.

“So who does that leave?” Carmen asked wearily as she rubbed at her face.

“The deputies I guess.” Ashley answered with a shrug.

“What about Mr. Carlin and Marie?” Carmen asked hesitantly.

“There’re not suspects, Mendez, I was just saying that to rile Spencer up.”

“But you made valid points, Ash.” Ashley just shook her head.

“Marie works at the hospital too much and I know Arthur; he’s a great man. There’s no way he’s behind this.” Carmen had to agree, Arthur Carlin gave her a job at the diner and had been a wonderful boss—always going out of his way to make sure she had enough money to get by. And while Carmen wasn’t a fan of Marie, she knew that the nurse worked a lot of hours, making it difficult to work in mass murdering.

“Ahhhh! This is impossible! We’re missing something!” Ashley exploded, exhausted and frustrated. Suddenly Ashley’s phone went off and she quickly answered it as she paused at a red light.

“Ms. Davies?” Jack O’Connell’s voice sounded on the other end of her cell and Ashley’s face twisted in confusion before it slipped into fear.

“Deputy O’Connell, what is it?” Ashley asked, terrified. Carmen’s head swiveled towards the girl beside her, also afraid.

“After our chat earlier today, I had one of my deputies look into locating your mother.” Ashley’s heart rate excelled and she pulled over her car, not trusting her shaking hands.

“Yes?” She choked out, expecting the worst.

“Well that’s just it, Ms. Davies…no one knows where she is. She’s missing.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Spencer and Lily had spent hours at the library, trying to place the whereabouts of each deputy the night the murders began; whoever had been absent was a victim. They left finally when the library’s employees kicked them for curfew; no businesses were staying open past eight o’clock now. “So who does that leave?” Spencer asked as she drove.