Page 17 of Three for a Girl

Ally strode over to Faye’s desk, and took over her keyboard. “But also, hair removal treatment.”

Chad looked at Ellen’s bare leg, bronzed to perfection. Kerion was laying a kiss on her knee.

“Lipstick.”

Ellen pouted her red lips at the camera.

“And beer.”

Ellen had her lips wrapped around the neck of a bottle, too far down to drink it comfortably, and Kerion was beside her, biting his lip.

“My ideal woman.” Josh sighed.

“Well, she’s a dead woman now. The majority of her followers gush about how amazing she is. There’s a few trolls, of course, and as much as we’d like to drown them under their bridge, it’s a little hard when we can’t find the fuckers.”

“Any threats?” Chad asked.

“None saying they’re gonna cut her kidneys out if that’s what you mean.”

The DI folded his arms. “We believe the killer messaged her directly.”

Ally nodded. “Under the username, sweetcheeks42. A sixteen-year-old aspiring model. Except, when you search the images, it comes up with someone else. Gabby Ernst.”

“Who was unaware her pictures were being used.” The DI added.

“We have no idea who sweetcheeks42 is. Their email address and information lead nowhere, and the IP address has been tampered with, but whoever they are, they arranged to meet with Ellen the night she was murdered, and now, their profile has been deactivated.”

“What about the husband?” Chad asked.

Faye lowered her head. “Kerion. Poor guy, in complete shock.”

Ally rolled her eyes at Faye. “We arranged a counsellor for him, but he turned our help down.”

“Ellen’s friends and family?”

“Other than Keiron, she didn’t have anyone. Her fans were her friends according to her profile. She and Keiron are both self-made millionaires. They pay their taxes, they raise awareness for a variety of causes, give to charity. They’re good people.”

The phone in the office started ringing. The DI excused himself and hurried across the room to answer it. They all watched him through the window to the office—he nodded, said a few words, then hung up.

“That was St John’s hospital. A box containing human kidneys has been delivered to the ICU.”

“Kidneys now accounted for.” Ally said, ticking off an imaginary check list.

“Take Chad with you to St John’s.”

Ally grabbed her purple jacket off the back of a chair. “Let’s see what you’ve got, partner.”

****

“It’s hotter than the devil’s asshole out here.” Ally announced, slipping into the car. Chad frowned then climbed into the passenger seat.

“How do you know the devil’s got a hot asshole?”

“Here’s hoping.”

She laughed, tugging her seatbelt around her. Chad’s lips curled into an unsure smile. He reached for his own seatbelt, flicking his gaze up and down Ally chuckling in her seat.

“Let’s tackle the elephant in the room,” she said.

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