Page 7 of Girl, Fractured

Max let out a small whimper, clearly not impressed with the conversation happening around him.

Ripley pressed a finger to his nose.It worked for exactly three seconds, earning a hiccupping laugh before his face clouded over again.‘It explains why the killer came to my old house.My address is probably in that phone somewhere.I definitely texted it to you a few times.’

‘Yeah.’

‘Okay, I’m going to put Max to bed for an hour, then we’re going to figure this out.’

The wall-mounted security panel emitted three soft tones.An alarm designed not to alarm.It meant there was a visitor at the front door.

‘Expecting company?’Ella asked.

Ripley glanced at the clock.It was only eleven AM.‘Nobody unscheduled gets through that gate without clearance codes.And nobody’s scheduled today.’

‘Might be one of the officers outside.I’ll go check.Stay here.’

‘The door code is 4759.’

She crossed to the door and kept to the side of the entrance in case someone decided to introduce themselves with bullets.Even in a safe house, Ella wasn’t about to take chances.The door had a fisheye lens set into it at eye level.

Ella pressed herself flat against the wall and peered through.

The fish-eye lens distorted the image, but there was no mistaking that face.Same receding hairline that had been creeping backward for as long as she’d known him.Same perpetually furrowed brow, like he was forever trying to solve an equation just beyond his grasp.

She removed the bolts, tapped in the code and opened the door.

‘Director Edis.What are you…?’

‘Miss Dark, I’m glad you’re here.Is Mia home?’

Ella held the door ajar, unsure what the protocol was here.She’d only seen Edis outside of his office once in her life.Something about it seemed wrong, like dropping a whale into the middle of the city.‘Yes she is.Do you want to….come in?’

‘Please.I need to speak with you and Mia.We’ve got a big problem.’

CHAPTER THREE

‘So, that’s it?’he asked.‘I’m cleared?’

Luca Hawkins was perched on a plastic lawn chair, balanced precariously on what his mother generously called ‘the viewing deck,’ which was in fact a flat section of roof accessible through Luca’s old bedroom window.He cursed the Massachusetts weather that couldn’t decide if it wanted to freeze his ass off or just make it uncomfortably damp.

This was the only spot within a half-mile radius where cell reception existed with any reliability.He’d been up here for ten minutes, long enough for his fingers to grow numb around his phone.

‘Yes.Cleared and reinstated.’Deputy Director Marshall’s voice came in fuzzy bursts.

‘Wow.’Luca could hardly believe what he was hearing.Just days ago, he’d been persona non grata at the Bureau after throwing a suspect through a table.Now Deputy Director Marshall was acting like the whole thing had been a minor misunderstanding.

‘Your actions were justified, given the threat.That’s what the review board decided.There was insufficient evidence of excessive force.Mr.Winters was coming at you with a weapon.’

Translation: Someone higher up had decided it wasn’t worth the paperwork to suspend an agent over a serial killer with a broken hip.Either that or Edis needed more feet on the ground, pronto.

‘He sure was coming at me with a weapon.’

‘We were concerned that the suspect had been severely concussed, which would affect the legitimacy of his confession.A doctor found no concussion was present.All evidence supports your account.’

Nothing like subsequent murders to make throwing someone through a table look reasonable.The memory of splintering wood and shattering glass bottles still haunted Luca’s dreams, but he’d do it again in a heartbeat.If you couldn’t put murderers through tables, who could you?

‘Spare me the details.You want me in the office, is that right?’

‘As soon as possible.’

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