Page 53 of Justice for Francesca

Tripoli’s head bobbed up and down. “Yes. Yes, I do. I was responsible for her being here. Open it.”

Cosmos opened the door to reveal Tilly inside the box, the swords that had been shoved through the box penetrating into her body. There was a strong scent of bleach and citrus.

Her voice as she made the call sounded as if it were coming down a long tunnel. “Cruz, I’m at Elysium. There’s another body. It’s Matilda Moll.”

Tripoli stood so still he looked like a statue at a wax museum. Even though not a single muscle moved, there was a vibration in the room she clearly felt. Slowly, she began to approach him, but Cosmos suddenly threw up a hand, a violent shake of his head.He made a gesture that she should approach from the side rather than the front. With a questioning look in her eyes to the head of security, he mouthed, “Flashback.” A second glance at Tripoli’s face showed a blankness in his eyes. It was the first time she had ever witnessed him so distant.

“Tripoli,” she said quietly. He didn’t even flinch. “Ethan!” she said a little louder.

His head snapped in her direction. The pain there was excruciating, even to her. She raised her hand, extending it toward him slowly. He flinched just before she touched him, and she pulled her hand back. “You need to go find Triumph. You can’t be here. Cruz is on his way. Go.”

Jaw grinding, his eyes welled with tears. “Did the bastard know?” he ground out. “Tell me the odds that he didn’t know she’d been kept in a box, and this is a horrific coincidence.”

“I don’t know, Tripoli. Please. Go. Find Triumph.”

He took one last look at Tilly, pierced by the swords. “I’m so sorry, Tilly,” he whispered. “So, so sorry.”

With his apology finished, she watched his Raider mask slip back in place. He must have been one hell of a soldier because he looked dangerous now. No trace of his trademark smirk, no sparkle in his blue eyes. With a nod to Cosmos, who gave him a chin lift in return, Tripoli turned on his heel and went to find their resident technology expert. Francesca did not envy what duties would come to him now. Notifying her roommate and caretaker, her parents, and their staff. The latter had already been reeling from Jessa, but Tilly was well-loved and protected by everyone. This might kill Elysium for good.

Cosmos closed the door on Tilly’s form and removed the latex gloves he’d put on to open the coffin door. “I was doing a walk-through to double-check the extra cameras I posted. Saw the spotlight on and thought maybe Triumph was working on something for the magic show. I called out to him, but he didn’tanswer over the intercom, so I headed to the source. I found the box here, and it was definitely not here yesterday when I installed the camera behind you.”

“I’ll need the footage.”

“You’ll have it.”

He stepped up to her, handing her the gloves he’d taken off and turned inside out. “I’ll go wait for Livingston and whomever at the door.” He walked past her but stopped in the archway leading into the room. Over his shoulder, his voice cracked as he said, “Find this fucker, Francesca. My Tilly-girl deserves better.”

She knew her eyes had to be wide in surprise. Tilly and Cosmos had been on a temporary contract at The Library two years ago when she’d been taken. Cosmos had been out of the country at the time, and the reports Francesca had later looked up noted that Tilly had terminated the contract. Hardly surprising that a relationship of any sort with any man wouldn’t be desirable at that point. Obviously, he was still fond of the woman.

With another look at the black box in front of her, the gruesome visual burned into her brain, Francesca made her oath. “We’ll find who did this, Tilly. I promise.”

When Cruz arrivedwith Calder on his heels, Francesca was in the process of sketching the room in her notebook. They stopped abruptly just inside the archway and stared at the box, the swords still lodged in the slots. “Fuck,” one of them whispered. She thought it was Cruz because Calder walked slowly up to the box and circled it.

“This is new,” Calder murmured. “Matilda Moll is inside?”

Not trusting her voice, Francesca nodded.

Cruz came to stand beside her, a hand on her shoulder. “You okay, Frankie?”

“Brings a lot back.” She sighed. “I’ll be okay.”

“I’ve seen a lot of shit, but this…?” Cruz couldn’t even finish the thought.

Calder looked with sympathy at Francesca. “You got what you need?”

“Yeah. Panama can take her pictures.”

Cruz led Francesca to the far edge of the room. “You and Tilly. Two years ago, you were kept in coffins after you were captured.”

She shrugged. “For all intents and purposes. Boxes like this. Tight fit. I was a mistake—wrong place, wrong time. Later, he used me as a distraction the night he took Sylvan Jones. Left me drugged in the parking lot so that everyone’s attention was redirected. Tilly though. She was in the box for a while. The result was taphophobia.” At Cruz’s blank look, she said, “Afraid of being buried alive. All of us had degrees of it afterward. The longer we were kept, the worse it was. I don’t think the first girl has ever recovered.” Her chest hurt with the effort it took to take a full breath. “This would have been a terrifying experience for Tilly,” she confessed.

Panama, the assigned CSI, took her external photos of the box. Then they opened the box to view Tilly. When the box opened, Panama had to excuse herself for a minute. Even Cruz gasped lightly. Calder froze, then managed to make himself take photos in Panama’s absence. When Francesca was able to collect herself again, she began her sketches. Panama returned and took over for Calder, who began readying his evidence collection materials. With internal photos taken, the four of them carefully lowered the box to the floor so that Panama and Calder could extract the swords from Tilly and the box before bagging the evidence. Once finished, Panama immediately took them andthe cameras back to the morgue to begin that portion of the processing.

Calder looked up from his crouched position where he was swabbing the slats the swords had been stuck through. “Similar patterns to Mila and Jessa. Blood loss, but I’m betting we find that she also has been drugged.”

“It sounds awful, but I sincerely hope so.” She had a thought. “If she has similar levels of drugs in her system, would she have been conscious enough to yell or scream?”

“I don’t know,” the medical examiner admitted. “Possibly? Drugs affect everyone differently. Tolerance affects people’s capability to respond, as do height and weight, stomach contents, and any other medications in their systems. It’s really too difficult to answer that with any surety. When I get the toxicology report, I can make educated guesses based on precedent in other cases, but that’s all they’ll be. Guesses.”

---