Page 13 of Girl, Bound

CHAPTER SIX

Ella stared out thecar window as Millhaven's quaint streets rolled by, a patchwork of mom-and-popshops and white picket fences. It was the kind of place where everyone knewtheir neighbor's name, where the biggest scandal was the mayor's affair with hissecretary. Not exactly a hotbed of criminal activity.

But looks could bedeceiving, and Ella knew better than to judge a book by its cover. After all,some of the worst monsters wore the most innocent faces.

‘Small town, bigsecrets,’ she mused, her breath fogging the glass. ‘The perfect hunting groundfor a killer.’

Ripley glanced overfrom the driver's seat, her eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses despite theovercast sky. Ella knew better than to question her quirks.

‘Place like this, ourunsub must be a local.’

Ella thought of thevictims, their bodies sealed away in black bags like discarded trash. Acorporate exec and a mystery woman, two lives snuffed out by a faceless killer.What was the connection? What thread tied them together in death?

The car slowed to astop, jolting Ella from her musings. Their destination was the most recentscene: a narrow alleyway cordoned off with yellow tape. The flashing lights oftwo police cruisers painted the brick walls in shades of red and blue, a morbiddisco ball for the dead.

Ella and Ripley exitedthe car, ducked under the tape, and stepped into the realm of the macabre. Theair was thick with the cloying scent of garbage and decay, like a sickly sweetperfume that clung to the back of Ella's throat. She scanned the scene, and upahead, a gentleman emerged from between the cruisers. Middle,-aged,salt-and-pepper beard and a beer gut that strained against his uniform. Hebroke free of the walls of vehicles and approached Ella and Ripley.

‘Feds?’ he asked, hisvoice rough as sandpaper. ‘Wish we were meeting under better circumstances.’

Ella extended ahandshake, feeling the calluses of a man who'd spent his life working with hishands. ‘Agent Dark and Agent Ripley. Likewise.’

‘Sheriff Holbrook.Thank you for coming. I’m in charge of this damned mess.’

‘Sorry to hear it,’Ripley said. ‘Could you talk us through what happened?’

Holbrook nodded,leading them deeper into the alley. ‘Got a call this morning from a guy walkinghis dog. Said Fido wouldn't stop sniffing around a big black bag. When heopened it up, well, I think you can guess what he found.’

Ella grimaced, herlips twisting in distaste. ‘What time was this?’ she asked.

‘About six AM. Guessthis body was festering since last night. A place like this doesn’t get muchfootfall.’

‘You cleared theperson who called it in?’ asked Ripley.

‘Yup. Old fellow, mustbe eighty if he’s a day. Not the kind of person who could kill a woman and notleave a trace.’

‘Any luck with prints,fibers, things left behind?’ asked Ella.

Holbrook said, ‘Stillbeing tested at the lab. We hauled the body bag there this morning. Figuredthat if we had a chance of nabbing this guy’s prints, the bag would be the bestoption.’

‘True,’ Ripley said.‘What about victim one? The gentleman you found two days ago?’

Holbrook sighed,running a hand over his face. ‘Same story. About six AM again, we got a callfrom one of the workers at Seraphic, big pharma company on the edge of town.They found a body bag in their parking lot, just like this one.’

Ella's ears perked upat the mention of Seraphic Labs. ‘Wait, Seraphic Labs? The pharmaceuticalgiant?’

Holbrook nodded.‘That's the one. Biggest employer in Millhaven, and the most famous thing we'vegot going for us.’

Ella frowned, her mindwhirring with possibilities. A small town with a big pharma secret, two bodiesin bags, and a killer on the loose. The pieces were there, but the picture wasstill maddeningly out of focus.

‘Seraphic Labs,’ shemused, tapping her chin. ‘Strange place for a pharmaceutical company to set upshop.’

Holbrook shrugged.‘Not really. Millhaven's the perfect spot for a company like that. Cheap land,good transport links, and most importantly, no prying eyes. To some of theold-timers around here, that place might as well be Area 51.’

Ella nodded, thepieces starting to fall into place. A secluded town, a powerful company, and akiller with a taste for the theatrical. It was a recipe for disaster, a powderkeg just waiting for a spark.

‘What do we know aboutthe victims?’ Ripley asked, steering the conversation back to the task at hand.

Holbrook flipped openhis notebook, squinting at the scribbled pages. ‘The first vic, Eric Saunders,was some kind of bigwig at Seraphic. One of the founders, I think. As for ourJane Doe here, well, we're still working on that.’

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