Page 24 of Girl, Reborn

Unbelievable. The guy had death threats onhis ass and he was just bopping along, blissfully unaware. And Toledo wasn'tjust some two-bit hood clipped over a drug deal – he was a public figure withpotential enemies swarming out of the wallpaper.

Luca said, ‘Alma, do you have any idea whothese might be from? Any major enemies? Any strange faces hanging around here?’

‘No. None. I don’t know about the man’swork life at all.’

‘You did the right thing. Bringing theseto us,’ Ella said. ‘I know it couldn't have been easy, living with this hangingover you. But I promise you, we’re going to get to the bottom of this.’

She pulled out her cell phone and snappeda series of photos, making sure to get multiple angles on the handwriting. Ifthey could match it to a suspect, tie a name to the rage, then they might justfigure out who drowned this politician and dumped him in a field.

A spark of excitement fizzed in her chest.They had a thread. Not just a thread – a whole tangle of them, just waiting tobe unraveled. It was something. More than something – it was the first solidbreak they'd caught since clapping eyes on Toledo's soggy corpse.

Luca was still talking to Alma in low,soothing tones, easing as much information out of her as he could withoutsending her over the edge. Ella left him to it – he had the better bedsidemanner by a country mile.

She thumbed through her contacts untilshe found the one she wanted. Amelia Chau, digital wunderkind and queen of theCyber Division. If anyone could wring a viable lead out of this mess, it washer. The woman had never met a firewall she couldn't scale or a data trail shecouldn't follow.

Ella wandered out into the hallway, hitthe call button and brought the phone to her ear. It rang once, twice. Then aclick and a rush of white noise.

‘If it isn't my favorite Luddite,’ Ameliachirped. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure?’

‘Amelia, I need a favor.’

A dramatic gasp down the line. ‘Miss Dark,admitting she needs help? Hold the front page.’

'Can the sass, and I'll get you a six-packof Mountain Dew.'

A considering pause. Then, ‘Twelve-pack.’

‘Done.’

‘Alright, lay it on me.’

‘I’ve got some handwriting I needanalyzing. If I send you a bunch of pictures, can you work your magic?’

Amelia said, ‘Just to remind you, I'm notactually a wizard. I can't just snap my fingers and divine some rando'sidentity from a grocery list.’

‘Nothing so pedestrian. I’ve got afistful of death threats. Condense search results down to the Virginia area.Within fifty miles of a town called Liberty Grove.’

‘Zip ‘em over. I’ll put them through theusual databases.’

Relief loosened the snarled mess of Ella'sshoulders. Amelia was flighty and sarcastic and fueled primarily by junk food,but she was also the best there was. If anyone could crack this coconut, it washer.

‘Thanks, Am. I owe you one.’

‘More like a dozen, but who's counting?’Keys clattered like rainfall through the speaker. ‘Give me an hour.’

‘Roger that. Over and out.’ Ella moved toend the call, but then Amelia's voice crackled through again, gone suddenlysoft and hesitant. Stripped of her usual caustic wit.

‘Hey, uh. Ella?’

Something in Ella's chest went tight.Dread pooled like battery acid. ‘Yeah?’

A staticky sigh, like Amelia, wasscrubbing her face with one hand. 'You're not with Mia Ripley by any chance,are you?'

Her blood ran cold. ‘No. She's...’ Elladecided not to go into the finer details. ‘She’s not with me.’

Amelia's pause was telling. Weighted. Apalpable shift in gravity.

‘It's just...the Director called me aboutan hour ago. Asking me to track her phone, ping her last location.’

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