“Very funny. She’s a nice enough person. Knows her way around a Glock, enough to threaten an unarmed suspect with it. And she vomited at the sight of a corpse.”
“So what’s the problem?” Mia asked. “I’m not going to be around forever. You’re gonna have to partner with someone else eventually.”
The comment felt like a shot in the stomach, with a bullet made of painful inevitabilities.
“True. I mean, she has potential, but I wouldn’t trust her to save my life.”
“Funny, isn’t it?” Ripley laughed.
“What is?”
“How selective memory works. How we delete the things that don’t conform to our personal narratives.”
“Have I missed something here?” Ella asked.
Ripley snickered down the line. “Think about it. It’ll probably hit you in the middle of the night.”
Ella let the comment slide. “Speaking of getting hit in the middle of the night, are the cops keeping you safe? I tore Edis’s head off about that this morning. I made him promise to keep you guarded twenty-four-seven.”
“You’re kidding? Dark, that’s not a wise career move.”
“I couldn’t care less. I want you alive. Are they doing their job?”
“There’s a cop outside my room every minute of the day, so stop worrying. I’ll be discharged in a day or two. Then we’ll… you know. I’m not going to say it out loud.”
“Understood. I’ll get this case wrapped up as soon as possible.”
“No, spend as much time out there as you can. If you’re not in D.C., only one of us will be in the firing line.”
Screw the firing line, Ella thought. She wasn’t going to cower away from this man. The only way to combat him would be to charge right in. “If I don’t catch him before you, we’re getting him together. That’s a promise.”
“First you need to come back alive,” Ripley said. “Don’t take any risks while you’re out there please.”
“Loud and clear.”
“Look into what I told you, and for God’s sake stop fretting about me. I’ve got two guns and a cop to keep me safe. Worry about yourself, and remember to stay on guard. You know why.”
Ella did. Just because she was in a different state, didn’t mean she was completely safe from Tobias. His followers had stalked her in both Maryland and New Jersey, so it wasn’t a stretch to think they might have tailed her here too.
“Of course. Speak soon.”
Ella hung up just as she heard Larry’s front door open. Paige came out, arms anchored with paperwork. She fumbled her way into the passenger seat.
“Got more than we bargained for here, Ella,” she said.
“Too much is never enough. That’ll keep us busy for a while. Let’s go and check it out.”
***
Ella typed the last name on the list into the database, the sun now having long gone down. On the other side of the table, Paige yawned wide enough to fit a fist inside. Their office at the Lancaster precinct was gray and nondescript, a carbon copy of every office she’d been designated in various states around the country. For once, she just wished there’d be something to stare at while her mind wandered. Maybe a nice floral pattern or a piece of abstract art.
But no. She had a wall and a whiteboard on legs, both equally blank.
Larry had given them an extensive list, and of that she was grateful. However, she wished that just one of them had a few skeletons in their closet. Of the thirty-seven people she’d checked out, only one had anything that resembled a criminal record, and that was only because he’d missed a payment on his car loan. For all of Larry’s negligence, he only hired professional, law-abiding contractors and employees.
“Anything?” Ella asked. “Please give me something.”
Paige typed furiously then leaned closer to her laptop. “Last one on the list. Might have something here.”