Page 10 of The Girl and the Lies

We’re barely away from the chairs when other poolgoers swoop in to score them. As soon as Sam and I get home, I run upstairs to take a fast shower and get dressed. Tossing a few things into a bag in case I’ll be away from home for a couple of days, I fill a bottle with iced water and a storage container with some fresh fruit for the drive. I kiss Sam and point to the batch of cinnamon rolls rising on the counter.

“Don’t forget to bake those,” I tell him. “The icing is already ready in the refrigerator. I’ll call you later when I know what’s going on. I love you.”

“Love you. Be safe.”

He walks me to the front door and watches as I jog to my car and jump inside.

The drive to headquarters gives me plenty of time to think about what might be happening. It wouldn’t have surprised me to find out that something happened to the controversial figure, but I’m intrigued by the death of someone working for her. Without any other context yet, I don’t know what happened or why we would be called in to handle it.

Eric is waiting for me in his office when I arrive at headquarters. He offers me coffee, and I accept despite the heat. I’ve finished my water, but ice cubes still survive inside my cup, so I pour the coffee down over the ice and swirl it around to cool. Eric watches me and lifts his eyebrow when I look up at him.

“Classy,” he says.

“It’s hot as a skillet out there,” I tell him. “I’m not going to turn down coffee, but I can’t do a hot beverage right now.”

“Fair enough,” he says.

I sit down across from him. “So I’m here. What’s going on?”

“The victim is Gideon Bell. He was stabbed to death in his apartment last night. His roommate, Jesse Kristoff, wasn’t home when the attack started, but he interrupted it and was injured,” he tells me.

“You said there was a lot more,” I say. “What’s going on?”

“Apparently, several people within the company, including Gideon, have been receiving threats over the last several weeks,” he says.

“What kind of threats?” I ask, immediately thinking about the Game Master and his vile messages to the children’s hospital.

“Someone has been threatening employees of the company if they continue to work for Tracy Ellis,” Eric says. “Some of them reported the threats to the police, but they were told there was nothing they could do about them because they didn’t know who sent them. The detective assigned to the case is Liam Fuller. He’s waiting for you to get in touch with him.”

He hands me a business card for the detective, and I see that he’s from a department about half an hour away.

“You can stay at our place if you want,” he says.

“I don’t want to be in the way,” I tell him.

“You know you’re never in the way,” he argues. “And Bellamy was just saying we haven’t spent enough time together recently.”

“That’s true,” I tell him.

“Then it’s settled. You go talk to the detective and come over whenever you’re done,” he says. “It’s better than another hotel. Unless Bebe gets to be too much for you. Then you can get a hotel.”

I laugh as I stand up. “She’s never too much for me. But I’ll keep that in mind.”

He laughs and hands a folder over to me. “Go. I’ll see you later.”

I call Detective Fuller as I’m leaving the building to let him know that I’m on my way. He’s waiting for me when I get to the department and immediately ushers me back to a conference room already set up with all the materials they have on Gideon Bell’s murder.

“How familiar are you with Tracy Ellis?” he asks as he closes the door behind us.

“Not very,” I admit. “I’ve only seen a small clip of her speech about Terrence Brooks. I’m sure you know that I’m handling that death investigation.”

“Which is why I was particularly interested in working with you on this case,” he says. “Ellis is a highly controversial public figure, but her recent coverage of the Brooks death has been especially incendiary.”

“Agent Martinez told me about threats employees of her company have received. It sounds like they have been coming since before Terrence Brooks died,” I say.

“Yes,” Detective Fuller says. “They’ve been reported for several weeks. They’ve come as letters being left on cars and arriving at the houses of multiple employees of the company. They are why I wanted to call in the assistance of the Bureau. With the intensity of the feelings toward Ellis and these threats, this situation could be far more serious than just this single murder.”

“I’ll need the contact information for Bell’s family so I can talk to them,” I say.

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