AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘What do you mean, so?How could me and him ever have a normal life?’
‘My first husband wasa fishmonger. This whole town kind of smells like him.’
‘I thought he was acop?’
‘That was my secondhusband. My kids’ dad.’
Ella shook her head.‘Damn, your body count is higher than I thought.’
‘You can say thatagain, but my point is that this job doesn’t have to define you. So you get ona plane once a week. So does Keith Richards, and he's been married for fortyyears. So do a million other people.'
‘Keith Richards?’ Ellaasked. ‘That’s the bar we’re setting?’
‘Millionaire musician,household name. You could do a lot worse.’
‘And what about theviolence, the dead bodies, putting your life on the line every time you leavethe house?’
‘That’s a choice youmake, Dark. Every day you wake up and say yes to putting your life on the line.No one’s making you do this. You could get a new job at any department in theBureau tomorrow. You caught one of America’s most wanted criminals. You couldretire today with full commendations.’ Ripley took a breath. ‘But you won’t.’
Ella had always seenher career as a barrier to personal relationships, a hurdle too high for mostto jump. But maybe, just maybe, she was looking at it all wrong. Perhaps itwasn't about finding someone to fit into her life as it was, but rather, findingsomeone who could embrace the chaos of it with her.
‘Point is,’ Ripleycontinued, ‘life's messy for everyone. You just gotta find someone who'swilling to get their hands dirty alongside you.’
Ella leaned back inher chair, her sights still locked on the gym doors. ‘So, what do you think Ishould do?’
‘You know what I thinkyou should do. Swallow your pride and stop being a little bitch. March up toBen’s front door and tell him what you think. Tell him you’re not going to losehim just because of a bump in the road.’
Ella let the wordssink in, each syllable from Ripley like a splash of cold water on her heateddoubts. Her partner's blunt advice often served as the unfiltered truth sheneeded to hear, cutting through the noise in her head with surgical precision.
But the thought oflaying it all bare to Ben, of admitting that she might be scared of losing himover something she wasn't even sure she wanted, twisted her stomach into knots.
Ripley’s phone beganto ring. As she reached into her pocket, she said, ‘And I know I’m old enoughto be Ben’s mother, but sheesh.’
Ripley shot her alook, one eyebrow arched in a challenge. ‘What about him?’
‘If that guy was myneighbor, I'd be jumping the fence.' Ripley waved the conversation topic awayas she answered the phone.
Ella watched closelyas Ripley's expression shifted from casual interest to something more grave,her eyes narrowing as she listened to the voice on the other end of the line.There was a tightness in Ripley's jaw, a tell that Ella had come to recognize overtheir years of partnership as a harbinger of bad news.
Then Ripley's handdropped the phone to her lap, her gaze lingering on the device as if it mightspontaneously offer some alternative news.
‘We don’t need to waitfor tech anymore,’ Ripley said. She started up the engine.
Ella's heart sank, asense of dread coiling in her stomach.
‘Why's that?’ shemanaged, though a part of her wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer.
‘Because we’ve got athird body.’
Ripley's words landedlike a punch to the gut, the bitter taste of defeat mingling with Ella'salready simmering frustration.
Frank Harlowe was nottheir killer.
The real monster wastaking lives while they were looking in all the wrong places.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Ella stepped over thethreshold into chaos, scanning the once-cozy, modern office that was adisturbing replica of the previous two crime scenes. The cream carpet, now acanvas of violence, absorbed the aftermath of the intrusion. Shelvesoverturned, papers scattered like confetti in a grotesque celebration ofdestruction. The air, stale with the scent of panic, clung to her as she movedfurther into the room.
