Page 4 of Girl, Undone
‘But agent, the person who’s doing this must have been in that courtroom the day I testified,andthey would have travelled to California around the time of Ben’s murder.Can’t we-’
‘Can’t we what?Check everyone who visited Los Angeles in that period?I think you’ll find the suspect pool would be about 10 million names long.Just leave it with us, Agent Dark, and we’ll-’
‘No, I have an idea.One that could figure out who’s doing this.’
‘And that is?’
‘The footage.’
‘What footage?’
‘There were cameras around that entire court the whole week.News cameras.Every major station in America.Every single face in that courtroom will be on it somewhere.There were a few hundred people, but-’
‘The tapes,’ Dever interrupted.‘Of course.Good thinking.I’ll make arrangements to get all of that footage.’
‘And you’ll pass the footage onto me once you’ve watched it?’
Dever was already heading for the door.‘If possible, Miss Dark, but remember that you’re supposed to be far away from this investigation.Director Vernon doesn’t want you involved.’
‘But how do you know what you’re looking for?I’ll be able to remember faces, people who acted strangely.Then we zone in on them.’
Agent Dever stared down at his notes, and then his hand resting on the doorknob.‘Okay.Let me track that footage down first, and then we’ll go from there.But even with that, it’ll be a long shot, so don’t get your hopes up.I’ll let you get on with your day.Thank you for your time.’
With her new friend gone, Ella basked in the silence of the meeting room.Creed’s letters were fake, but if he’d been writingabouther, then it meant he was lying to her when he’d said he didn’t know who she was.Creeddidknow her – but did that mean he was orchestrating the attacks on her friends?
She didn’t know.
Don’t get your hopes up.
No.That would be foolish.
CHAPTER TWO
Ella stumbled out of the meeting room into the lobby and adjusted her eyes to the brightness.It was the tail-end of winter in D.C., and pretty much everything was cold, dark, and wet.Except for the man standing there waiting for her like her personal escort, who looked a damn sight better than he had first thing this morning.
‘Fancy seeing you here,’ Ella said.
‘It’s still weird,’ said Luca.‘I’ll never get used to it.Maybe we should just avoid each other at work.’
He had his charcoal grey suit on, but he’d forgone a tie.The new director insisted that all agents come dressed in their best, and Luca was still struggling with that initiative.‘That’s the idea, but you keep appearing, like outside meeting rooms.’
‘I hate to tell you this, Ell, but it’s not all about you.I’ve got a meeting in here in five minutes with the boys.’
‘The boys?’
‘The rookies.The R-Unit.Some people are calling us the R-vengers.’
‘Who’s calling you that?’
‘Just people.There’s talk of some of us joining the UVCU.What do you think of that?’
The UVCU was the Ultra-Violent Crimes Unit, the department that had absorbed the Behavioral Analysis Unit as of two weeks ago.Not much had changed day-to-day, other than that Ella and Ripley could now be assigned to crimes without a serial component.If a case was violent or high-profile enough to warrant FBI involvement, then it could fall into Ella’s lap regardless of body count.
‘I think it’s a good idea.Just don’t tell Ripley.’
‘Why?Doesn’t she like us?’
‘She doesn’t like the UVCU, so maybe.’
