So, she’d stay with him. She shrugged internally. Who was she kidding? Shewantedto stay with him. This was one time when she didn’t care if he bossed her around.
* * *
PJ wasn’t at all prepared for what she saw when they arrived on the rooftop of the Tower Hotel to check in with her team.
She rushed forward to where Ellis sat on a bench in handcuffs surrounded by police officers, and what she could only assume was Zach’s security team that had come out ahead of them. Debra and Lydia looked on with shocked, pale faces and Ellis himself looked horrible. He’d been crying and looked so small as the officers towered over him.
“What are you doing to him? What’s going on?” PJ demanded. This couldn’t be happening.
She felt Gabe come up behind her, one hand on her shoulder as she knelt to see Ellis’s face. He looked at her, tears streaking down his face.
“I’m sorry, PJ,” was all he said. Ellis apologized over and over as the police officers told PJ and the other new arrivals that Zach’s men had found PJ’s thumb drive with her journal on it in Ellis’s luggage, complete with his fingerprints on the drive.
“No,” PJ shook her head and stood to face the officers. “He didn’t do this; he wouldn’t do this.” She was crying now as she looked to Debra and Lydia for help. “Lydia, you know he wouldn’t do this.”
Lydia shook her head. “I’ve called my mom. She’s on her way with a lawyer. They’re going to try to have him taken to a mental hospital instead of lockup tonight, or at least petition to have him transferred as soon as possible. He needs help, PJ.”
PJ turned back to the officers. “I don’t want to press charges.” She probably sounded like a raving lunatic, but she knew in her heart it wasn’t Ellis who had done this to her.
But if so, why wasn’t he speaking up? Why wasn’t he telling them he didn’t do this? Why was he apologizing?
“I won’t press charges,” she said as Gabe put an arm around her.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” one of the officers said. “It’s not up to you. He’s a suspect in the murder of Jimmy Mondo. We’ve got to take him in.”
Gabe leaned in and spoke quietly in PJ’s ear. “Let’s follow them over to the station and be sure his mom has a good lawyer for him. That’s all we can do until this plays out, Pru.”
She looked up at him and nodded, relieved to see in his eyes he believed her about Ellis’s innocence. He believed Ellis didn’t do this…. Well, maybe he didn’t believe that in his heart the way she believed it in hers, but he was willing to listen to her and back Ellis up when she did.
And that meant more to PJ than she could ever say.
She knelt in front of Ellis again. “We’re going to be right behind, you, okay? You’re not going to be on your own in this, you hear me?”
He gave a shaky nod but his eyes were plastered to his lap. He wouldn’t meet her gaze and that gutted her.
Chad came up to them and spoke quietly. “Samantha called. She’s found Erika on video near your hotel in Indianapolis but nothing of her in any of the other overlapping cities. I’ll share the information with the police,” he said, looking over at Ellis. “For what it’s worth.”
Hope hit PJ. Maybe it was Erika the whole time, not Ellis. Gabe squeezed her hand.
PJ crossed to Debra while they waited for the officers to finish up and begin transporting Ellis.
“I did an interview on the flight over here,” PJ told Debra. “I called Whitney Paulsen over at ZNN and did an exclusive with her. She’s always been fair and a lot nicer to deal with than most reporters. I told her the whole story about Jimmy and the baby and the adoption. Since Matthew is all right with this coming out and Jimmy Mondo is dead, I felt I’d rather get it out in the open than continue to hide it. At least, that way, no one can hold this over me again.”
Gabe’s arms came around her from behind, and Debra smiled at her. “I think that was a smart move.”
PJ nodded. “It was time. I should have been honest about it from the beginning. What Jimmy did was illegal. I should have dealt with the shame and been honest. I should have gone after him years ago for what he did.”
“You shouldn’t have done that,” came Lydia’s voice behind her.
PJ turned to her in confusion. Lydia’s voice was cold and hard, but when all eyes turned to her, she smiled and waved off the questioning looks.
“I just mean you should have talked to Debra and me about it first. We should have coordinated that together as a team. We could have arranged for more coverage and turned things to your advantage a bit more. We can get a lot of mileage out of this.”
PJ suppressed a sigh and looked at Ellis where he still sat handcuffed and waiting, an officer standing over him. He looked lost and confused and alone, and it broke her heart. “I don’t want mileage out of this, Lydia. I want to get it out in the open and begin to live my life without secrets and fear and humiliation. I’m not looking to profit from this.”
Lydia shook her head. “No, of course not. I’m sorry, PJ. I should have thought before I blurted that out. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
PJ watched as the officers helped Ellis stand, his hands still cuffed behind his back. His voice shook as he spoke, seemingly to no one in particular.