Page 31 of Girl, Reborn

‘I don't know, Creed. You tell me. Maybepenning a few poison valentines wasn't enough for you. Maybe you needed to takeit to the next level, really seal the deal.’

It was a twist of the knife to see whichway he jerked. And jerk he did, like a puppet with its strings yanked.

‘That...that's absurd,’ he spluttered.‘I'm not a murderer. Are you out of your mind?’

Ella let the silence stretch. Luca took upposition at her flank. Together, they waited for Creed to break.

Finally, he cracked. ‘Look, think what youwant about me. I'm no saint. But I didn't kill Ricky, and I can prove it.’

Ella raised one skeptical brow. ‘Oh? Thisought to be good. Whip it out, Creed. Bedazzle me.’

If he noted the double entendre he didn'tshow it, too busy fumbling for his phone. He swiped and tapped with increasingagitation before finally thrusting the device under her nose.

It was an e-ticket.

‘There! See? I was at a conference inMiami until this morning. I got back at one AM. You can check with the airline,the hotel. I must've been seen by dozens of people. Hundreds!’

Well, crap. Of all the things she'dexpected, an actual honest-to-God alibi wasn't one of them.

Ella grimaced, but dutifully noted downthe flight number and hotel anyway. She'd have Amelia run it down, confirm hewasn't just blowing smoke up her ass. But in her gut, she knew he was tellingthe truth. Maybe for the first time in his life.

Creed wasn't their guy. He was justanother pissant politician, all bark and no bite. Plenty slimy enough to talkbig, to make threats and pound his chest. But at the end of the day, he didn'thave the sack to get his hands dirty – or to get too close to the action atall.

Dammit to hell.

‘Fine,’ she bit out, shoving his phoneback into his sweaty palm. ‘You're off the hook, for now. But I'd keep thatticket handy if I were you. Some cops might be round later to double-checkeverything.’

Creed blanched, stammering some half-assedprotestation.

‘What’s with the party, anyway?’ Lucajumped in.

‘Nothing to do with Toledo,’ Creed said.‘But I won’t lie. It’s a bonus.’

Ella couldn’t listen anymore, not unlessshe wanted to get written up for punching a person of interest. She turnedaway, mentally cataloging the next avenue to explore, the next lead to chasedown. Staying here any longer would just be a waste of their time.

And her rapidly fraying nerves.

‘You guys wanna take some water?’ Creedcalled out. ‘I heard it’s dry as a bone down there in Liberty.’

Ella spun around and got in his face,suddenly not caring about this hypothetical write-up. ‘You think that’s funny?People are struggling down there.’

Creed threw his hands up and said, ‘Hey,I’m being serious. I got family down there. You wanna blame someone? BlameToledo. He’s the one who championed the dam up here.’

The dam. That freaking dam. Looming overeverything like a bad omen. Choking the life out of Liberty Grove even as itlined the pockets of Bristol's elite.

'So let me get this straight,' she said.'You and your cronies, what fought the good fight? Tried to put the kibosh onToledo's little hydro-dictatorship?'

Creed spread his hands in a parody ofsincerity. ‘Hey, we did our best. Lodged objections, lobbied for oversight, thewhole nine. But Ricky, he was relentless. Steamrolled right over us, greasingpalms and glad-handing until he got his way.’

He leaned in, conspiratorial. ‘See,Ricky's district included the dam. All those juicy kickbacks and constructioncontracts? Lined his war chest real nice. Never mind the little peopledownstream.’

Ella’s fingers began to twitch, and notjust because she wanted to slap Creed for getting too close. It actually fit.Slotting neatly into the bigger picture like a blood-tacky puzzle piece. Toledousing his constituency as a goddamn ATM, funneling misery into his re-electionfund.

And now those chickens had come home toroost, drowned and dumped and left to bloat.

‘Right,’ she bit out. ‘Well, thanks forthe history lesson. We'll be in touch.’

Creed sketched a mocking little salute.‘Happy to help, Agent Dark. Anything for our boys in blue.’

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