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Ella didn’t want to think about a life that didn’t involve Ripley in some capacity. She imagined it would be like losing a limb. Her phone pinged and she pulled it out, thankful of the distraction. Ben’s name popped up on her screen.
Good luck out there. Let me know when you’re safe.
Something told her she didn’t deserve a man this caring, this thoughtful. She couldn’t remember the last time a boyfriend had texted her when he didn’t want something. Last night, Tobias Campbell had been moments away from killing Ben, but here he was, not ten hours later with smiles and jokes and well-wishes. His resilience and spirit were nothing liked she’d seen before, dwarfing even her own. Ben would be the first to admit he was a nerd, but this was what a real man looked like. Affectionate, considerate, altruistic. Right there and then, Ella made a promise to keep this man by her side for as long as she could.
“Boyfriend?” Ripley asked. “What’s his name again? Ben?”
“That’s him.”
“I’m old enough to be his mother but I gotta admit that’s a fine piece of arm candy you got there. How’d a prude like you get so tasteful?”
Attractive. Ella added that one to the list.
“It took a while but I got there in the end.”
“If my first husband looked like that I’d have stayed home a lot more. He’s staying safe, right?”
“Yeah. He’s staying with his family in Virginia.”
Ella texted him back.
Just on the way to the site. Be careful, please.
She hoped the blunt message portrayed the gravity of the situation, otherwise it would take a huge wall of text to get her point across. Ben didn’t need that. He’d already experienced these horrors firsthand, so all she could do now was put her absolute trust in the man. With Ben safe, that meant there was one less target for Tobias use as leverage.
The alternative was that Tobias might go after someone else instead, Ella worried.
She glanced over at her partner, who’d gone back to looking at photos of her grandson.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ella had been in some backwoods locales before, but walking through Hicksberg was like stepping onto another planet. Barely a sound in any direction, cold stares from residents who seemingly asked how dare you come into our town with their eyes. She was no stranger to the rural disposition, but Hicksberg was what her aunt would have called hillbilly territory.
Their cab dropped them off at the end of Sloane Square, a single row of shops opposite a few farmhouses. Ella and Mia headed towards a row of vehicles parked outside the house at the far end. One police car, two forensic vans. Ella saw a few technicians photographing the ground.
“Strange place for a murder,” she said.
“It’s the perfect place for a murder. Quiet as hell. Loads of space. Our killer could have done the deed right in that field over there and no one would have seen him.”
Ella conceded. “Fair point. If we’re dealing with a local, surely someone will know him. Small towns and lack of privacy go hand in hand.”
“Let’s hope so. Looks like they’ve shifted the body already. Damn it.”
The agents neared the police car. Both driver’s side doors were open. The front contained an elderly, pipe-smoking man tapping his fingers on the dash, the other had a pink-shoed woman staring at the ground. The man in the front threw his cigarette to the wind and rose from his seat.
“Feds?” he asked. He was wearing a red anorak and a black cap, strands of gray hair falling, hanging down his cheeks. Was this guy with the police?
Ripley said, “That’s us. And you are?”
“I’m Chief Cromwell. Sorry about the attire. It was supposed to be my day off.”
“Good to meet you,” Ella said. They exchanged greetings. “Can you talk us through everything from the beginning?”
Cromwell pointed to the lady in the back of his cruiser. “My new friend here is probably better off explaining things. She’s the one who found the body.”
The lady stayed sitting. She had short, platinum blonde hair and a tattoo down her neck. If the goosebumps on her arms were anything to go by, her running gear wasn’t doing much to protect her from today’s drizzly weather.
“Charlotte Milton,” the woman said, not even looking the agents in the eye. “I ran through that field over the way. I was in a rush, you see. Once I got to the houses, I found the… thing.”
