Page 19 of Girl, Bound

Ripley squinted at thescreen, her lip curling. ‘Christ, could they make it any more obvious? Might aswell call it 'Hookers R Us.'‘

‘Well, there’s onlyfour girls available. Like Holbrook said, I guess there’s not much demand forthat kind of business in a town like this.’

‘No shit. You bringthe average age down by about thirty years.’ Ripley took a bracing gulp ofcoffee. ‘What about our other vic, the corporate drone?’

‘Eric Saunders.’ Ellatapped a few keys, bringing up a dense wall of text. ‘Apparently he was quitethe rising star at Seraphic Labs. Real 'local boy makes good' type.’

‘Seraphic. Soundssketchy.’

‘They specialize inantidepressants, anxiety meds, that kind of thing.’

Ripley snorted. ‘Maybeyou should pay them a visit. You could get a prescription while you’re there.’

Ella shot her awithering glare. ‘Hilarious. Remind me who shot that woman in Atlantic Citylast week?’

Ripley cradled hercoffee, then turned to stare out of the window. 'Her mouth was writing checksher ass couldn't cash. But seriously, we need to talk to the guys at thisSeraphic place. If Saunders had enemies, we need to know.'

Ella sobered andturned back to her files. ‘Totally. Seraphic's been battling some bad PRlately. Rumors of cover-ups, whistleblowers getting silenced. The usual bigpharma crap.’

Ripley turned andperched on the edge Ella’s desk. ‘You think Saunders was wrapped up insomething shady? Maybe pissed off the wrong people?’

'Could be. The way thelocals talk about him, you'd think he was Bill Gates. Maybe he stumbled ontosomething he shouldn't have. Either way, I've got a hunch Seraphic's nottelling the whole story.'

‘Shocking.’ Ripleydrained her coffee, crushing the cup with a bit more force than necessary. ‘So,what's our next move?’

Ella chewed her lip, ahabit she'd never quite kicked. ‘I say we divide and conquer. I'll takeSaunders, see if I can shake loose any dirt on Seraphic. You take Kara, trackdown her friends, her clients. See if anyone had a beef with her.’

‘Oh, goodie.Medication for you, seedy underbelly of the sex trade for me. Just how I wantedto spend my Monday.’

‘Hey, you're the onealways bragging about your street smarts. Time to put your money where yourmouth is.’

Ripley flipped her amiddle finger, but there was no heat behind it. ‘Fine. But you owe me. I’msupposed to be a consultant out here, not an escort interviewer.’

‘Deal.’ Ella stood,her joints popping in protest. ‘Meet back here at six. I’ll catch Seraphic justbefore they shut.’

‘Make it seven.Something tells me Krystal's clientele isn't exactly the early bird type.’

‘Alright. I’ve got thenames of a few of Krystal’s… friends. They’re pretty easy to contact, believeit or not.’

‘I bet,’ Ripley said.‘Be careful out there. We still don't know what this creep's endgame is. Don'tgo poking any bears without backup.’

Ella's throattightened at the rare display of genuine concern. ‘I will if you will.’

Ripley cracked acrooked grin. ‘No promises. Catch you on the flipside, Dark.’

Ella was out of thedoor. She sighed, rubbing at the ache blooming behind her eyes. Time to leapinto the world of pharmaceutical bureaucracy. Time to go bear-poking. And hopelike hell she didn't get her arm bitten off in the process.

***

The drive to SeraphicLabs was uneventful, the monotony of Millhaven's suburban sprawl broken only bythe occasional strip mall or fast food joint. Ella drummed her fingers on thesteering wheel, ruminating on the details so far.

A cheap escort and apharma golden boy, both dead within days of each other. No obvious connection,no clear motive. Just two lives snuffed out like candles, leaving nothing butsmoke, shadows and body bags behind.

But Ella knew betterthan to believe in coincidences. In her line of work, there was no such thingas random chance. Only carefully crafted chaos, a twisted web of cause andeffect that inevitably led back to the spider at the center.

She just had to findthe thread, the one loose end that would unravel the whole damn spool.

Seraphic Labs loomedahead, a sprawling complex of gleaming glass and steel. It looked more like aSilicon Valley startup than a pharmaceutical company, all sleek lines andmanicured lawns.

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