Page 36 of Girl, Bound

Ripley turned thepage. Froze. ‘Well, shit.’

‘Yeah. Seems our boyPatrick had a run-in with Eric Saunders. His son was one of Seraphic's guineapigs. Patrick confronted Saunders, threatened to make him pay if he didn't fixhis mistakes.’

The pieces clickedinto place, a sickening jigsaw of revenge and retribution. Ripley looked up,her eyes hard.

‘So Barber's our guy.He's been targeting people who wronged him, making them suffer like his kidsuffered.’

‘And the worst part?I'm pretty sure everyone in this precinct knows about it.’

Ripley stared at her,incredulous. ‘What, you think they're covering for him? Why the hell would theydo that?’

‘Barber's one of theirown. A brother in blue. You really think they're going to turn on him, even ifhe is a murderer?’

Ripley shook her head,a mirthless chuckle escaping her lips. ‘Thin blue line, right? Cops protectingtheir own, no matter what.’

‘Exactly.’

‘So what's our play?We can't just march out there and slap the cuffs on him. He's got the wholedamn precinct on his side.’

They had to be smartabout this. Had to build a case so airtight, even Barber's buddies couldn'tdeny the truth.

‘Well, I don’tactually know who Barber is or what he looks like. He might not even be heretoday.’

Ripley leaned againstthe desk. ‘We could just go ask someone. Get a visual on our boy Barber.’

Ella shook her head.‘And let word get out that we're looking for him? No way. We need to keep thisunder wraps.’

‘Alright, MissConspiracy. What's your plan?’

Ella's eyes dartedaround the room, landing on the door. ‘There's got to be a shift schedulesomewhere. A manifest of who's on duty and when.’

Ripley's eyebrows shotup. ‘Actually, I saw one earlier. In Holbrook's office. On the wall to theleft.’

A plan formulated inElla’s head. She grabbed a stack of paperwork off her desk. ‘I'm going in.Cover for me if anyone asks.’

She slipped out of theoffice, the papers clutched to her chest like a shield. The bullpen was a hiveof activity, cops milling about, phones ringing. No one paid her any mind asshe made a beeline for Holbrook's office.

The door was unlocked.Ella slipped inside, her heart hammering against her ribs. The shift schedulewas right where Ripley said it would be. A grid of names and times pinned tothe wall.

She scanned the list,finger tracing the rows. There. Patrick Barber. Off duty for the next two days.He'd been here earlier, clocked out at six.

Ella let out a breathshe didn't know she'd been holding. Two days off, which meant enough time toclaim another victim, Ella thought. She mentally rehearsed her next move, butsuddenly, a new figure emerged behind her.

Ella spun around, herheart in her throat.

Holbrook stood in thedoorway, eyes narrowed. ‘Agent Dark. You're doing in my office.’

‘Yes I am,’ Ella said,brandishing the papers in her hands. She plastered a brittle smile on her face.‘Just some documents I got from the Seraphic Labs owner. Thought you might wanta copy.’

She brushed past him,her skin crawling under the weight of his gaze. Holbrook's eyes bored into herback as she walked away, a prickling sensation between her shoulder blades.

Ella forced herself tokeep a steady pace, to not break into a run. But the unease remained.

Something wasn'tright. Holbrook's suspicion, the way he'd looked at her. It was more than justa senior officer annoyed at an intrusion.

No, there was more tothis. More pieces to the puzzle that she couldn't yet see.

But one thing wascrystal clear. They were walking a tightrope, and one wrong move could sendthem plummeting.

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