At 1:08 in the morning, my phone rang.
Ethan.
I stared at his name lighting up the screen. Patricia was sitting on my couch three feet away with an ice pack on her head.
Detective Hale nodded at me.
“Answer it. Put it on speaker.”
I did.
“Rachel?” Ethan’s voice was frantic. “Rachel, where are you?”
“I’m home. Where are you?”
“Downtown. At the Waffle House on Tunnel Road. My phone died. I just got it charged. Rachel, something happened to your car.”
Patricia shot straight up off the couch.
“Ethan!”
Silence on the line.
“Mom? What are you doing at our house?”
Patricia’s whole face changed. Pure relief. She put both her hands over her mouth.
Detective Hale leaned down toward my phone.
“Mr. Carter, this is Detective Hale with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office. Do not leave your current location. Officers are on their way to you right now.”
The call ended.
Patricia started sobbing.
“My boy’s alive,” she kept saying. “My boy is alive. Oh, thank God. My boy is alive.”
I sat there and watched her cry.
She was relieved. Of course she was relieved.
Because the person she’d tried to kill wasn’t dead either.
And she didn’t know that I knew.
That knowledge sat between us in my living room like a loaded gun.
Forty minutes later, deputies brought Ethan into the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office on Woodfin Street.
Claire was with him.
I was sitting in a plastic chair in the hallway when they walked in.
Claire wouldn’t look at me. She looked at the floor the whole way down that hallway.
They put all of us in a conference room. Me. Ethan. Claire. Patricia. Detective Hale sat at the head of the table with a legal pad.
And Ethan told his story.
He’d driven my Subaru to the Exxon on Tunnel Road, near the interstate. Claire was waiting there in her car. They’d gotten into an argument in the parking lot. Claire wanted him to tell me about the affair. That night.
Ethan didn’t even look at me while he said the word affair.
Then, he said, something strange happened.
A teenage kid who worked at the gas station came running out the door yelling that a man had collapsed by one of the pumps on the other side of the store.
Ethan left the Subaru running with the keys in it and ran over to help.
When he came back three or four minutes later, my car was gone.
Sophia Rivers is an experienced News Content Editor with a sharp eye for detail and a passion for delivering accurate and engaging news stories. At TheArchivists, she specializes in curating, editing, and presenting news content that informs and resonates with a global audience.
Sophia holds a degree in Journalism from the University of Toronto, where she developed her skills in news reporting, media ethics, and digital journalism. Her expertise lies in identifying key stories, crafting compelling narratives, and ensuring journalistic integrity in every piece she edits.
Known for her precision and dedication to the truth, Sophia thrives in the fast-paced world of news editing. At TheArchivists, she focuses on producing high-quality news content that keeps readers informed while maintaining a balanced and insightful perspective.
With a commitment to delivering impactful journalism, Sophia is passionate about bringing clarity to complex issues and amplifying voices that matter. Her work reflects her belief in the power of news to shape conversations and inspire change.