Page 58 of Girl, Bound

Ripley lowered thephone, hung up and pocketed it.

‘Don’t say it. PleaseGod, don’t say it.’

‘Uh,’ Ripley began.‘No, actually. The opposite.’

‘What?’

‘The sheriff’s gotsomeone. Another suspect. The cops are outside his place right now.’

Ella’s stomach twistedinto knots. ‘What? Why aren’t they keeping us in the loop?’

‘Because we pissedthem off, and now they want to show us they don’t need us. But we need to getthere since we’re technically in charge of this freak show.’

Ella glanced back atBixby, who was watching them with a sly, calculating look in his bloodshoteyes. They couldn't just leave him here, not with a cupboard full of stolengoods and a rap sheet longer than War and Peace.

‘How’d you want toplay it?’ Ella asked. Whoever this new suspect was, she needed to be there,needed to see him in the flesh. It was a bittersweet finish, she thought. Apart of her wanted to be the person to take the Body Bag Killer down.

But justice camebefore ego.

‘Tell you what. Yougo. I’ll stay with Ace Ventura here and get a car to pick us up. I’ll meet youat the precinct whenever you’re back.’

Ella grasped the carkeys in her pocket. ‘You sure?’

‘Yeah. Holbrook saidthe address is 313 Perrington Street. The cops are there now, so get your assinto gear.’

‘Will do.’ She pointedback at Bixby as she made for the door. ‘Keep that son of a bitch in line.’

‘Keep me updated. Goodluck.’

Ella was out into thecorridor, down the stairs towards her vehicle.

If Holbrook had reallyfound this unsub, she had to meet him for herself, had to look into his eyesand demand answers.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Ella could see theflashing lights from a block away. As she got closer to the scene, she saw thatthe entire Millhaven PD was out in force, their cruisers crowding the narrowstreet like a pack of snarling dogs.

Ella slammed on thebrakes, the car shuddering to a halt behind a line of police tape. She was outthe door before the engine had even stopped ticking, her boots pounding thepavement as she charged towards the scene.

The front door of thehouse was ajar. Ella could hear the crackle of radios, the murmur of voicesfrom inside. As she reached the bottom of the driveway, a knot of officersemerged from the house, dragging a man between them like a sack of potatoes.Ella skidded to a halt, raking her eyes over this apparent suspect.

He was a sorry sight,a scarecrow of a man with a tangled beard and a face that looked like it hadbeen chiseled from granite. His clothes hung off his bony frame like rags on aclothesline, his wrists and ankles shackled with heavy chains.

Ella cocked her head,trying to reconcile the pathetic figure before her with the cunning, ruthlesskiller they'd been chasing. It was like trying to picture a kitten as asaber-toothed tiger - the pieces just didn't fit.

She was still gawkingwhen Holbrook came barreling out of the house, his face flushed with excitementand exertion. Ella pounced on him like a starving wolf.

‘Holbrook, what thehell?’ she shouted. ‘You wanna tell me what's going on here? Who’s this guy,and why are your boys trussing him up like a turkey?’

Holbrook held up hishands, a placating gesture that only served to piss Ella off more. ‘Easy, Ella.This is Eddie Shawcross, our new prime suspect. Guy's a local nutjob, been onour radar for years.’

‘Oh, well, that clearseverything right up. Silly me, thinking you might actually have some hardevidence before you go dragging a man out of his home in chains.’

‘You’re one to talk,’Holbrook said. ‘Ask Patrick Barber.’

‘Yeah, I screwed up.But what evidence do you have on this guy?’

Holbrook opened hermouth to fire back, but before he could get a word out, another officer camestumbling out of the house, his arms laden with a bulky, black shape.

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