Page 114 of Fighting Conviction
Virginia called to Ellie from their kitchen like she wasn’t ten feet away in her adjacent dorm room.
“Hawk said there’s about to be an update.” Dev’s low grumble made Ellie smile.
She’d moved back into her dorm after the fire. Figuring if she could get out of a burning closet with her hands tied behind her back, she could handle a ten by ten–foot room. Naomi and Thea had also needed the BlackStone apartment to stay at after—
Ellie shuddered. She couldn’t think about that. Everyone was safe now and that’s all that mattered.
Besides, on top of everything else, Ellie had wanted to move back because she’d missed Virginia and wanted to give the friend thing a good ol’ college try, literally.
“Ugh, I can’t stand to watch the news ever since I became a current event myself. Now give me back my remote or I’ll—” It sounded like something was thrown and when Virginia grunted, Ellie cringed, hoping her friend hadn’t hurt herself. But that was much more likely than her throwing something hard enough to injure Dev, especially in her state.
It’d been a week since the fire and Virginia was looking at being in a sling for at least five more. The doctors said the bullet was a through and through near her shoulder, and she was lucky to have any function at all in that arm. She’d need physical therapy for the next few months to get back to normal, but they’d warned that normal might not be realistic.
“Don’t you know we’re college kids?” Virginia huffed. “Why ya gotta eat us outta house and home ya lil’ devil.”
Ellie snorted at her friend’s attempt at scolding and smoothed down her golden empire waist dress. She’d bought it with Virginia at a store Sasha used to be obsessed with.
“You woulda loved this one, Sash.”
Ellie listened into the silence and felt a sad smile grow on her face. She hadn’t heard Sasha’s voice since the fire, but she was at peace with it. Something told her that night was the last time she’d hear from her. Her therapist reasoned Ellie had grown in her therapy to the point that she’d moved past depending on a mental discourse with a fictitious iteration of her best friend. She’d also explained that all the conversations she had with her best friend were Ellie’s thoughts, but she’d used Sasha’s voice as a coping mechanism.
Ellie knew all that was bull.
Without Sasha, Ellie and Virginia would be the ashes of burned toast about now. Ellie couldn’t help but think how Dev claimed to have heard her yelling from the cellar. She’d turned her memories over in her mind thousands of times and she knew without a shadow of a doubt she hadn’t yelled for him. Whether it was in his head or not, Ellie wasn’t sure, but she chose to believe Sasha had helped save them. Ellie closed her eyes and thanked her friend again, but was at peace with the silence.
She opened her eyes and turned in the mirror on the back of her door and nodded once to herself. “Ready.” Ellie walked out of her dorm room and into the kitchen suite. Dev was ridiculously good-looking in a navy button-down, tie, and slacks. He also looked just plain ridiculous sitting in their small dorm-issued chair at their small dorm-issued table.
“Girl, you look sexy as hell. And I would kill for those shoes.”
Virginia whistled and adjusted her sling, grimacing when she apparently moved it wrong. Yeah, she’d definitely hurt herself. Ellie winced in return but Virginia snapped her fingers and pointed at her.
“Hey! Stop it right now, girl. At least we’re alive.”
At least we’re alive.
Ellie swallowed and smiled before she turned on her gold heels. “Speaking of which, youshouldlove these shoes. These were the ones I was wearing that night.”
Call her sentimental but Ellie had taken those shoes to a cobbler the following Monday to have them fixed. They were a little darker gold than when she’d bought them, but again, she’d been able to save herself from a burning house with her hands tied behind her back in them, so heck no she wasn’t going to just throw them away.
“Goddamn, angel.” Dev leaned back in his chair and scrubbed his beard before seemingly snapping out of whatever he was thinking. “Um… these are for you. They, uh, made me think of you.”
He shoved a bouquet of marigolds at her and Ellie hid her smile behind them as she smelled their sweet scent. It reminded her of her shampoo she loved so much. She lowered the flowers to thank him, but he was looking away and fiddling with his cream tie.
“Is the devil nervous?” Virginia teased and his face went three shades darker. “Haven’t you ever been on a date before?” Virginia laughed until Dev’s light skin was practically maroon with embarrassment. She gasped and covered her mouth while Ellie bit her tongue, not entirely sure how to save him. “What? No… you’ve actually never been on a date before? Holy shit.”
“Har, let’s all laugh at the twenty-seven-year-old date virgin.” He waved his hands and got up from the chair. “Let’s go, angel. We’ve got dinner and a movie to catch—”
“—This just in, Andrew Wilton Ascot, the Third, is now the third Ashland County elite to be implicated in the Ashland County Human Trafficking ring.”
“Hold up, turn that up,” Ellie commanded Virginia but took the remote and did it herself, unable to stop staring at the TV.
Plastered on the left side of the screen was a picture of a man who looked exactly like an older version of the Andy Ascot she’d known, the one who’d helped save Ellie and had died for her brother. In the background, ADA Aguilar spoke with an officer while more officers and federal agents carried boxes out of the Ascot, Rusnak, and Strickland building.
“Mitchell Strickland was arrested the night this news team first reported the trafficking ring that has been insidiously invading the county. Ashland County residents would be surprised to know who’s on the suspect list. Thanks to the hard work of police officers and district attorneys, they are drawing up arrest warrants for more of Ashland County’s more influential residents as we speak. Ascot is the second member of the law firm that seems to be at the pinnacle of it all and officers are on their way to arrest him now.
“Federal agents are still looking for this man…” A picture of Dmitri Rusnak filled the screen. He looked incredibly familiar, but Ellie couldn’t place his face.
“Authorities believe Dmitri Rusnak is one of the leaders in the trafficking ring, but this news team has to ask just how far up the ladder this ring goes. Are the authoritiespartof the problem—Oh—Assistant District Attorney Aguilar! Do you have a moment?”
