She placed the phone back down next to her as she felt her heart sink. She wished she hadn’t listened to it. How could she have possibly had a moment of hope that he wouldn’t be that mad—that he changed his mind? She went against him. She went against everyone.

“Shit,” she said under her breath.

She had ten minutes and he was calling Reinhardt, yet she knew she already had gone too far. Even if she turned back now, even if she never approached the bed & breakfast she was driving to, she still took evidence, she still went against Warren, and she still went off with an intention to find the killer on her own. She would lose her job.

She took a look at her GPS. She wasn’t far. She reached for her phone again and switched it to silent. If she was going to do this, she knew she needed no distractions. No second thoughts. She placed her phone back down and clenched the steering wheel with both hands and focused on the road ahead of her. It was still early and there were no cars on the road. She rolled down her window, letting a breeze flow through, sending goosebumps up her neck that was slicked with sweat.

But she couldn’t control her eyes as they continuously glanced at the clock on her dashboard, as they watched each minute pass by, as they then glanced down toward her phone, to a black screen. She thought of turning it off, but somehow she couldn’t bear to do it. In some odd way it felt too defiant, too final, even though in the back of her mind she knew that the actions she’d already taken spoke louder.

The clock continued to pass the time. Five minutes passed by, then six, then seven, then eight, then nine, and then ten…

She stared for a moment at the phone, expecting it to jump from its seat, but as each minute passed by after, she wondered if Reinhardt was even going to call at all, but then suddenly, it lit up.

Reinhardt, it read, and Tara’s heart immediately raced. Should I pick up? she asked herself. It was one thing to ignore Warren, but to ignore her boss was different. Maybe he’ll listen to me. Maybe I can explain myself.

Her hand shook as she reached for her phone and picked up.

Tara didn’t even get a chance to speak before Reindhart’s voice shook through the phone, sending chills through her body.

“Mills! Where the fuck are you?!” he screamed.

Tara’s heart pounded in her chest. She’d never seen Reinhardt angry, and this was beyond angry.

“If you could just listen,” she started. “I don’t think James Hayden is the killer. I found something. I—”

“And you thought you could just take it upon yourself to go off alone? Who the hell do you think you are?!”

“I—”

“You have fifteen minutes Mills! Fifteen minutes! If I don’t get word from Warren that you’re back at your hotel, you’re fired! You hear me?!”