AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He killed my father.”
Ella could hear Clarissa’s expression change. Invisible microsignals.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“How so?”
“The Diamonds told me so. I captured two of them. They’re in Virginia PD holding cells right now.”
“You… caught two members of the Diamonds? How?”
Ella didn’t have time for the long version. She had two, possibly three killers to catch. “Using detective work. Now, are you going to help me or not?”
“You’re committed to this, aren’t you?”
“More than you could imagine.”
Clarissa lowered her voice. “That’s what I needed to hear.”
“Good. So, you can help me access Robert’s files?”
“No, I don’t have that clearance. Even me.”
Ella lunged the phone away from her ear, resisting the urge to smash it on the ground. She composed herself, brought it back to her ear. She said nothing, just waited for Clarissa to continue.
“But…” Clarissa said.
“But?”
“Give me until this evening.”
“For what?”
The whisper returned. “To think. And do not call me on either number. Do not email me. Do not mention Logan Nash’s name. Don’t even search it on VICAP.”
“Okay, but…” Ella began, but was abruptly cut off.
“I’ll be in touch.”
And the line went dead.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Where the hell have you been?” Ripley asked.
“Outside,” Ella said. “Talking to Robert Reed’s widow.”
Ripley lowered her laptop screen, shot her partner a look of surprise. “Clarissa? What did she say?”
“She can’t get me into Robert’s files, but she told me she’d be in touch. I’m not sure what she has in mind.”
“Clarissa is good. She was a Security Specialist for decades.”
“Yeah. I’m not sure why she can’t just grant me access, though. Surely she can see everything Robert worked on.”
“No, it’s not as easy as that. We keep hold of any old contact numbers for agents who’ve passed on in case any intel is sent directly to them from old contacts. But the occupiers would still have to go through the proper channels to get clearance to the original restricted documents.”
