“Fine, but you’re not carrying a dozen file boxes out yourself, Hunter,” Bellisario said. “I’ll send them over. Try to actually get some rest.”

With that small victory, Ruby finally felt like she could breathe. They had apprehended one killer and if there was a second mimic, she wouldn’t be caught by surprise.

And she would have a partner to help her squash the remainder of Vallejo’s plague.

EPILOGUE

The doorbell rang and Ruby pulled herself up to answer the door.

She swung it open to reveal a stack of file boxes, and somewhere behind them, both Gabe and Jocelyn.

“Be careful,” Ruby warned helplessly as they stepped into Ruby’s townhouse. Logically, she knew taking a box would risk tearing her stitches but knowing didn’t eliminate her instincts.

Joce set her boxes down on the coffee table and Gabe stacked his on top of the existing pile.

Ruby’s house was starting to look like an archive room. It was strange to be back at home. Ruby had hardly spent any time in the townhouse through the manic week chasing after Vallejo’s disciple.

Ruby was still working on clearing out the remnants of take-out containers and sleepless nights. Her pain medications made her fatigued. The process of reassembling normalcy was slow. Domestic tasks like laundry and grocery shopping were things Ruby had certainly forgone. Now she had to deal with the consequences.

“That should be the last of them,” Gabe said. “Twelve in all.”

Ruby looked at the towering stacks slowly taking over her living room. Soon, the contents would spill over every surface, surrounding her even more.

“Well, I hope you don’t spend all your time off rehashing old cases,” Joce said. She kicked at the sturdy file boxes. “Maybe you could get out of town for a bit, get a change of scenery.”

Gabe supressed a laugh. “That’s unlikely.”

Ruby shot him a look, but it was more playful than harsh. After all, he wasn’t wrong. Ruby couldn’t imagine herself content to sit around, waiting for another case to crop up.

“I’ve thought about going home,” Ruby said truthfully. That trailer in Dana’s backyard stirred up so many memories. “Just for a little while.” She couldn’t deny the twinge of shame in her chest. It had been a long time, but if Vallejo was going to taunt her with details of her own life, Ruby needed the guts to face them. That could begin with visiting her parents.

Ruby hadn’t always been an FBI agent. Before learning criminology and running training courses, she had been a girl living in a trailer park, affected by her own tragedies early on.