Page 58 of The Girl and the Lies

“Mrs. Pryor?” I ask.

“This is Gloria Pryor,” she says. “Who is this?”

“My name is Special Agent Emma Griffin,” I say.

“You’re the FBI agent investigating the Tracy Ellis Ministry murders,” she says before I can finish introducing myself.

I cringe at the media-spun description of the murders, but I push ahead.

“Yes,” I say. “I need to speak with you about the investigation. Would you be willing to meet up with me to discuss a few things?”

She agrees and directs me to a coffee shop not too far away. We agree to meet in twenty minutes, and I head directly there. I get iced coffee and choose a table to wait. Sam calls me as I’m sipping the perfectly bitter brew.

“Hey, babe,” I say. “Miss you.”

“I miss you too,” he says. “Where are you?”

“I’m sitting in a coffee shop waiting for a woman I’m interviewing for the case,” I tell him. “There was another attack last night, and I found out that the wife of the man who was attacked reported this woman for a morality breach with the company.”

“You think that she could have had something to do with it?” he asks.

“I think that it’s important to get as many insights as I can. Someone has a reason to kill two people and try to kill two others, and it all seems to be centered on this ministry. But I’m not convinced anymore that there is some activist group targeting the ministry. I think there’s something else going on,” I explain. “There was something strange about how everything happened last night. Another employee was attacked, and then later there was an intruder at his house. But something was off.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Sam says.

His unyielding belief in me makes my chest warm, and I can’t help but smile. He often worries about me when I’m out in the field, especially when I’m away from home for a long time, but he knows how important my career is to me. There was a time when I was considering walking away from the Bureau, retiring and settling into a quiet life. But I couldn’t make myself do it. I was drawn back to the purpose that brought me into it in the first place. Sam understands, but that doesn’t stop his protective nature from wishing I didn’t take on dangerous cases and weren’t as willing to throw myself into them. I’ve learned to appreciate both sides.

“The fact that no one is taking credit for the killings is bothering me,” I say. “There are the messages on the walls, but there’s nothing to link a specific group to any of this. I’ve had several people tell me that the ministry gets threats all the time, but those are just hate mail. No one has ever acted on it. I feel like that piece is missing. It’s like the students on campus told me, it doesn’t make any sense to lurk around in the shadows when you are trying to make a point.”

“So what’s the reason behind the threats?” Sam asks.

“That’s where my brain is now,” I tell him.

I see a woman walk through the door and look around. Thinking it must be Gloria, I wave, and she comes toward me.

“I have to go,” I tell Sam. “I’ll call you later. I love you.”

I hang up and stand to shake Gloria’s hand.

“Mrs. Pryor,” I say.

“You can call me Gloria,” she says, sitting down at the table.

“Do you want to go order something?” I ask.

She shakes her head firmly. “No. What’s this about?”

“I wanted to talk to you about working with Tracy Ellis,” I say.

“I don’t work for her anymore. My husband and I both quit several weeks ago,” she says.

“I know. I’m interested in what led up to that,” I say.

She shifts uncomfortably in her seat. “We decided that the company wasn’t the right fit for us anymore and decided to pursue other opportunities.”

“That’s it?” I ask.

“Yes,” she says. “We both worked for her for a few years, but it ran its course.”

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