Erica Rhodes

Erica Rhodes was a deputy sheriff, working under the sheriff, Sarah Abbott, while residing in Sunset Ridge, Colorado. She was first introduced in *Grinded*.

She is a conscientious woman that takes her job seriously, with ambitions on becoming the next sheriff. She looks up to her superior a lot, basing her honorable personality from the stories she'd heard about Sarah.

In the original story, she is introduced as a deputy working closely under Sarah. She became determined on trying to solve the murders, which ultimately led to her murder, as she began getting too close.

## Biography

### Early life

Erica was born in early 1990, with a baby brother following a few years later. After becoming an older sister, Erica found herself drawn to becoming a protective person, setting her off an a journey to join the police academy.

Upon graduating high school, Erica wasted no time in joining the academy, where she was forced to re-do her first year after failing. She eventually managed to graudate from the academy and landed a job at Sunset Ridge PD. It wasn't long before she was taken under Sarah's wing, developing a strong admiration for her superior.

### The Sunset Ridge Murders

At Sunset Park, Rhodes is with Sarah as they finish examining the body of Michael LeBeck. Rhodes expresses her clear disgust, claiming her stomach is churning. When Sarah mentions the pressure to get justice from the town and the mayor, Rhodes notices the determination in her voice and wishes to be like her. As they walk over to their police cruiser, Rhodes watches as Sarah handles reporter Yun-Jin Park with ease.

Later that morning at Sunset Ridge High, she, Sarah, and another deputy, Clint Denson, are undertaking the interrogations. Like Sarah, Rhodes isn't thrilled to see Paul Beauregard brought into the office. She observes Paul during his conversation with Sarah, taking notes. When Sarah excuses him and tells Rhodes and Denson she wants an eye kept on the kids he mentioned, Rhodes also writes their names down, theorizing that the killer could very well be one of them, yet doesn't voice her thoughts. Quentin Vaughn is then brought into the room for his turn, and Rhodes once again remains quiet as Sarah grills him. She quickly picks up on Sarah's tone, knowing that she thinks her superior may be marking him as a suspect. When Quentin is dismissed, Rhodes wants to know what Sarah thinks, but Sarah holds her cards close to her chest, telling them to just keep on eye on those mentioned.

A little after lunch, and Rhodes joins Sarah and Denson for the safety assembly, where Rhodes observes August Thrombey and his group of friends. When she catches a glimpse of Freddie Blackwell, the two lock eyes and Rhodes begins to think about Freddie having a possible invovlement. She keeps this to herself as well, not wanting to run with it in case it turned into nothing.

The next day, after the murder of Paul, Rhodes finds Sarah cooked up in her office. Rhodes feels extremely bad for the sheriff and tries to get her to open up to Rhodes, but to no avail. Realizing she isn't going to get anywhere, Rhodes moves onto the next order of business, which is Yun-Jin sniffing around the station. When Yun-Jin squeezes her way into the room, she and Rhodes begin arguing with petty insults, before both of them are silenced by Sarah. Rhodes is told to get Yun-Jin out of the building, despite the fact she made a strong case for how the killer is finding their victims.

That night, Rhodes clocks out of work for the day, making her way over to the carpark. She notices how deserted the street is and so she picks up her pace, not wanting to be out alone all night. When she gets to the carpark, she starts for her car when the sound of shattering glass catches her attention. She calls out but when there's no answer, she continues towards her car, unlocking it. Before she can get inside, a car alarm begins to blare, startling her. Rhodes, now vigilant, investigates further, keeping her hand on her gun holster. The alarm suddenly stops and Rhodes draws her gun, ordering whoever it is to come out with their hands up. When she hears whistling growing closer behind her, she is horrified to turn around and find Blank Face there. Although she gives them til the count of three to surrender, they attack her with ease.

Rhodes struggles for her life, fighting back with a strong sense of urgency and desperation. As she begs for her life, she manages to pull the mask off. She looks into the eyes of her killer, claiming she knew it was them. Blank Face then proceeds to strangle Rhodes before dragging her over to an exposed metal pipe and impaling her on it, killing her.

## Relationships

#### Family

* **Unnamed mother**
* **Unnamed father**
* **Unnamed younger brother**

#### Allies

* **Sarah Abbott** - Former superior and friend
* **Clint Denson** - Former colleague
* **August Thrombey**
* **Sophie Dlamini**
* **Thomas Strode**

## Appearances

* ***Grinded - Appears in 5 of 31 Chapters***