The Man They Erased: A Heaven Murder Mystery (Heaven Murder Mysteries Book 29)

“Funny place to meet,” he said, voice steady, carrying just enough to break the silence. Footsteps answered him.

Slow. Measured.Not hiding.

A figure stepped out from the shadows between two abandoned freight cars. No rush. No fear. Just certainty.

Derek’s jaw tightened. “Didn’t think it’d be you,” he said.

“That’s the problem, Chief,” the figure replied. “You never think it’s the right person.”

A flicker of recognition passed between them—heavy, complicated. History without words.

Derek let out a breath. “I was getting close, wasn’t I?”

A faint smile. Not kind.

“Closer than you should’ve.”

The wind shifted, carrying the distant hum of the town Derek had spent the last seven years protecting. For a moment, it felt impossibly far away.

“You could’ve stopped,” Derek said. “Walked away.”

“And let you tear it all down?” the figure shook their head. “You still don’t understand. This town survives because of what we’ve done. What I’ve done.”

Derek took a step forward, boots crunching against gravel.

“This town survives in spite of it.”

The words hung there.

Heavy. Final.

The figure’s eyes hardened. “You were supposed to be smarter than this.”

“And you were supposed to be better.”

That landed.

For a second—just a second—something like regret crossed the figure’s face.

Then it was gone.

The gun came up fast.

Derek moved on instinct, hand dropping toward his weapon—but he was a fraction too slow. He saw it even as it happened. Saw the decision already made.

The shot cracked through the night.

Pain hit like a hammer, center mass, stealing the air from his lungs. Derek staggered back, boots slipping on loose gravel. He didn’t fall. Not yet.

Not like this.

“You don’t have to do this,” he forced out, voice rough, wet.

Another shot. Derek’s breath hitched. His eyes went vacant and the man walked away.