Page 37 of Fighting Conviction
A beeping pounded into his ears, indicating the call had been dropped. He had one hand on the wheel, the other dialing a number he knew by heart before a text came through.
Sender has shared their location.
Devil pulled open the map, found Ellie’s icon, and immediately slammed his foot on the gas. A growl barreled up through his chest before he yelled in the empty cabin of his truck.
“What the hell are you doingthere?”
Chapter Thirteen
Ellie shivered and opened her eyes to darkness. Confusion and panic jolted her awake, and she clawed at the edges of the precariously nailed wooden slats to stop herself from tumbling to her doom. It took her a moment to remember she was in the treehouse, and even longer to register she couldn’t hear kids playing anymore. Ellie frowned before looking at her phone. Ten fifteen p.m.
“Dang, Sash, I freakin’ fell asleep.” Her whisper puffed into the winter air as she inwardly berated herself much worse than her admission to a ghost. Night had settled into the air and the cold stillness gripped her, squeezing her heart with fear. She’d never been in the park so late and for good reason. She had to get the heck outta there, and fast.
Before stepping down the platforms, she held her breath to listen for anyone around her. The thrumming of her rapid heartbeat was so strong, she clutched her chest to cover the sound, praying it wasn’t as loud outside of her body.
Her guard was always up whenever she was in public, but the addition of nearly pitch-black surroundings made her stomach churn with so much anxiety, the protein bar she’d scarfed down for lunch threatened to hurl itself back up. Thank God the tree kept its needles year-round or the platforms would be visible even in the dark.
Bolstering her courage, Ellie dried her sweaty hands on her leggings and tried to recall the path of rungs she’d need to find without her vision. She’d been up and down hundreds of times, but the overgrown tree had swallowed up the streetlight, and she’d never climbed down in the dark.
Ellie laid as flat as she could on the platform and felt for the edge, shining her phone light down to find it only illuminated one more rung. Each platform was two to three feet below the one above it, and none of them resembled actual stairs. She’d have to blindly feel her way with her feet all the way down to make sure she was landing on the platform.
Blowing out a breath, she spoke low to her friend, “This might’ve been a bad idea.”
“What’re you lookin’ to score?”
Panic shocked down Ellie’s spine and she gripped her hands around the edge of the platform. At the gruff question from the man she now realized was directly below her, barely visible through the branches but outlined by the moon, she turned off the flashlight on her phone, thankful she’d placed it light down onto the wooden slats.
“Anyone follow you here?” a smoker’s voice asked. There was something familiar about the voice and Ellie narrowed her eyes as she tried to hear better. Maybe it was the hesitation and quick speech, but she couldn’t match the voice with any of the faces scrolling like her contacts screen through her mind.
“Whatchu mean? You oughta be the one able to tell me if I’m bein’ watched. Now what do you want, man? I ain’t got all night.” The first voice replied and Ellie peered over the edge of the wooden tree stand, still lying flat on her stomach, and strained her eyes to see two males directly below. One might’ve been wearing a hoodie and the other seemed shorter, wider, and from the sheen on his head, definitely balding.
“You’ll stay as long as I want, you fucker,” an older smoker’s voice responded. “You know the drill. You supply, we leave you alone. I need more bars.”
“Narcs been sniffin’ ‘round me anyway. I dunno, man.”
“I’ll steer them in a different direction, now do you have any, or not?”
There was rustling below while Ellie froze, hoping neither of them could hear her on the verge of hyperventilation.
“Nah. I brought glass. You got money?”
“No, that won’t cut it. I need Zannies. I’ve had to resort to other shit already but I can’t keep that up.”
“Too bad, ol’ man. You want it or not?”
The smoker growled. “Fine. How much do you have?”
“Well, how much do you got?”
There was a rustle below her and it sounded like one of the men grunted an assent.
“Half now? Half later?” the smoker asked.
“Shii-et, man. You know I don’t play that way. All now or nothin’.”
Another grumble. “Fine. Here.” The smoker pulled out what Ellie assumed was cash and the other man examined it before giving up a bag himself. Curious, Ellie slid forward to look down. The inches her head extended past the plank made her dizzy and she hooked her feet on the other side of the platform to keep the falling sensation at bay.
Her foot tapped something and the subsequent cracking branches and twigs made Ellie wince as whatever she’d kicked plummeted to the ground. She coiled up on the platform, trying her best to hide.
