Page 75 of Fighting for Ella

Because there was something else she needed.

Someoneelse.

When the door behind her closed with a click, she spun around expecting to find that someone standing there. Miguel would be grinning at her, and he’d pull her into his arms and spin her around, congratulating her with a kiss that would turn the electricity burning through her veins into a fire there was only one way to quench.

A way she would insist that they make happen before they went back out there to join the cocktail party.

Only when she faced the person who had entered her dressing room, she saw it wasn't Miguel. It was a woman, and she was dressed like one of the ushers. Her head was bent, hair falling down to cover her face.

It was only when the other woman slowly lifted her head and raised a hand to brush her hair back, that Ella realized who it was.

“Dora,” she whispered as a manic smile took over the woman’s face.

Their plan had worked. Dora was there, she’d believed the ruse that Ella was leaving Prey, believed she would be unprotected tonight, and decided to try to come after her. Even though she’d been praying this would work, that they would all finally be out from underneath the mole’s thumb, it felt surreal standing face to face with someone she’d worked with, seen every day, and trusted.

Since she’d opted not to wear comms like the guys, their chatter in her ear while she was playing would be too much of a distraction, they hadn't left her alone and vulnerable. They’d suspected if she came, Dora would strike when Ella was alone, so instead of wearing a unit so she could communicate with Miguel and the others they’d given her a panic button.

All she had to do was press it and they’d all come running as fast as they could.

As surreptitiously as she could, Ella moved her hand toward the bracelet on her wrist where the small device was located.

“Whatever you're going to do I wouldn't if I were you,” Dora warned, taking a step closer after locking the door behind her.

“I'm not doing anything,” Ella said but stilled her hands.

“I'm not stupid, and I've worked for Prey for three years now. I know that Miguel won't have left you alone with no way for you to contact him, and whatever you were about to do was going to summon him. Nuh-uh. I don’t want anyone interrupting this moment.” There was a gleefulness about Dora that made Ella feel like she’d been transported into one of those old movies where the villain practically vibrated with glee about their evil plans.

While for the last three years she had believed Dora to be a nice woman who had tragically lost her husband in a car accident, a hard worker, a loyal employee, not quite a friend, but an acquaintance that she liked, it was clear she’d never seen the real Dora Hibbert.

Because the woman standing before her wasn't the same one who had greeted her each morning when she walked into the building. Who was often still there in the evenings when she called it quits after a long day.

“Why?” she asked. If she could keep Dora talking, then Miguel was going to show up sooner rather than later anyway. Even if she didn't use the panic button he would come to her as soon as he could get through the crowd and backstage to her dressing room. Not just because he wanted to make sure she was safe, but because he wanted to be with her, to celebrate with her, to hold her and tell her how proud he was of her.

“You know why,” Dora said like it was obvious.

“I don’t. We saved your husband, proved he was innocent of stealing and selling weapons. If it wasn't for us, he would have spent the rest of his life behind bars.” It was one of the reasonsthat Dora had been discounted as a suspect. Of course, she’d been investigated along with everyone else, but the fact that Prey had cleared her husband’s name along with the fact that she had plenty of money, had helped eliminate her.

Obviously, they’d been wrong.

They’d missed the psychosis that Dora Hibbert hid so well.

“Exactly,” Dora hissed like that answered everything. Only from where Ella was standing it answered absolutely nothing.

“What do you mean?”

“Did you know that Christopher saved me one night when I was twelve?” Dora’s eyes glazed over as she spoke. “My mother was dragging me toward a man she intended to give me to for sex so she could score some money for drugs and he stopped it from happening. That was the day I knew he was going to be mine. He wasmeantto be mine. My best friend’s brother. My savior. She didn't understand, didn't know what it was like to grow up without a loving family. She tried to make him choose, her and their family, or me. He chose me.” Glee lit Dora’s face for a moment before it vanished. “He was supposed to choose me.”

“And then he cheated.”

Dora nodded. “You cleared him, and I thought everything was going to be okay. He was all I needed, he loved me. The first person who ever did. But then I found out the truth.”

“He was cheating on you.”

Fury raged in the eyes that looked back at her. “Disgusting pig.”

That they could agree on. “It wasn't an accident, was it? Christopher’s death?”

A slow smile curled up Dora’s lips, reminding Ella of the Grinch. “Nope. It was no accident. I knew where he was going and was waiting for him, all I had to do was wait for a day when there was a truck coming in the opposite direction and thenthrow the spikes into the road. As soon as they pierced Chris’ tires, I knew I’d done it.”

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