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But fate, it seemed,had other plans. Before justice could be served, before Ella could face the manwho had shattered her world in a court of law, someone had breached thesecurity of the safe house and ended Nash's life.
Now, as she mulledover the demise of Randall Carter, Ella couldn't help but wonder if there was athread connecting these two events.
Could it be that thesame hands that had silenced Nash had also pulled the trigger on Carter?
‘Ripley, could this berelated to Logan Nash?’ Ella asked. The timing was unsettling, the implicationseven more so. Both men had been central figures in her life, albeit in vastlydifferent capacities, and their deaths felt like a message written in a codeshe couldn't decipher.
‘Why would it?’ Ripleysnapped. ‘I hate to say it, but whoever did this is like our guardian angel.’
Ella clenched herteeth as she lost herself in the silver hues of Ripley’s lavish carpet. ‘An angelof death watching over us,’ she.
‘Bittersweet, youmight say, especially as Edis is back.’ Mia's voice cut through Ella's reverie,pulling her away from the wall and back into the realm of the living.
‘Edis?’ she asked. Shehad to hide her grin, given the circumstances. William Edis was the former FBIdirector, and more importantly, believed the sun shone out of Ripley’s ass. Hewas the one who’d pulled Ella from behind a desk and sent her out into thefield as Ripley’s protégé.
‘Only in the interim,though,’ Mia continued.
Ella nodded, a floodof memories threatening to breach her composure. William Edis had been a beaconof support when everything else seemed to conspire against them. His return wasunexpected and yet timely, considering how Carter's tenure had nearly derailedMia's plans for retirement.
‘That means yourretirement is back on?’
‘Oh yes. Three months.I can see the finish line.’ There was a tired but hopeful smile on Mia's face,one that Ella returned with a strain of her own. Mia deserved her peace,especially after putting her life on the line weekly for thirty years.
‘Nearly there,’ Ellasaid. As her thoughts settled, a storm brewed inside – a tempest of suspicionsthat refused to settle. There was a dissonance in the air, a note out of tunein the symphony of her thoughts.
Ella's mind, everanalytical, ever questioning, could not ignore the gnawing sensation in the pitof her stomach that screamed that this was personal.
‘There's something offabout all this. Carter's murder, it...’ Ella hesitated. ‘It feels personal.’
‘I’ve had a lot ofworries in my life, Dark, most of which never happened. Let’s not go down thatroad.’
Ella wasn’t so sure.There were too many coincidences. She started towards the door. ‘I need to gohome, dig through everything again. My gut tells me there's a piece I'mmissing, something crucial that ties back to me.’
Ripley raised her headto the ceiling and took a deep breath. ‘Stay low. Don’t get too deep into itbecause chances are other people hated Carter as much as we did.’
Ella took Ripley’scomment on board, but she still couldn’t shift that twinge of doubt. Rightthere, she made a silent oath to herself, that she’d unravel this web, with orwithout an official casefile in her lap. She’d done it before and could do itagain.
‘Keep me updated?’Ella said.
‘I will. Go and rest.’
‘You too.’
Ella took her leave,her resolve igniting like a spark in dry tinder. The questions came thick andfast – who would do this? Who was this mysterious angel of death, and what wasdriving them to act as judge and executioner?
CHAPTER TWO
The key turned with asoft click, and the door to Ella Dark's apartment swung open, revealing themonochromatic serenity that always welcomed her back after days steeped inchaos.
She stepped into herhaven, feeling the plushness of the grey area rug beneath her boots as sheslipped them off and discarded them in the hallway. The silence was tangible;Jenna's absence had become almost another roommate – one that paid no rent butoffered the luxury of solitude.
Ella moved to thekitchen, clicked on the coffee machine and allowed herself a moment to simplyexist. Her laptop and phone lay on the kitchen surface, but she wasn’t swayedby the allure of unchecked notifications because she already knew none of themwould be from the one person whose name she longed to see on her screen.
Ben, her boyfriend, orperhaps ex. Right now, it was a coin flip. For months, Ben had been her anchor.He’d been her bulwark against the darker times, and they had a bond forged in blood,trust and physicality. Ben’s quick thinking and steady hand had saved Ella’slife more than once, despite Ben being far removed from the world of lawenforcement.
She smiled faintly,recalling the way his eyes would lock onto hers, unspoken messages transmittedin the heat of a moment.
But now, there was anew kind of heat, a simmering question that threatened to boil over. Ben hadasked her to move in with him. It was a logical step, a progression in theirrelationship that others might expect, anticipate, even assume had already happened.Yet when he voiced the suggestion, something within Ella recoiled – like aspring too tightly wound. She'd declined, citing reasons that felt both flimsyand weighty in her mouth.
