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Ella saw a bunch of messages from unknown numbers, all following the same format. Journalists introducing themselves, namedropping their publications then asking fora statement.She deleted all of them.
‘How do these assholes get our numbers?’
‘Beats me.’
‘Have you read the news?’ Ella asked.
‘It’s hard to miss. These scumbags are practically cheering this guy on. A horror movie killer is like a wet dream to them. They’ll be milking this for years.’
‘It’s a sick game to them,’ Ella sighed. ‘Meanwhile, we’re here killing ourselves to put a stop to it. What the hell is wrong with the world?’
‘It’s a God damn circus. Life’s a stage and scumbags like our unsub are the performers.’
Ella wished for a moment that these journalists could walk a mile in her shoes. See the despair on the face of a mother who’s lost her child, or tell a young woman that her sister is never coming back.
‘And every time they sensationalize it, they're indirectly encouraging the killer. And every victim is just another act.’
The weight of the case, the pressure from Edis, and now the media circus – it was all taking its toll. She clicked on page seven of her search results, Dread Pages, and let out a weary sigh. All these threads, posts, discussions. It was a maze with no exit.
Man with a mask stuck on face movie, what is it called?!
[NOW CANCELLED] Indie Film Casting Call – ‘In Hell,’ Masked Killer Rampages LA.
Interview With ‘Behind the Mask’ Director.
‘You okay?’ Ripley asked gently.
‘Far from it,’ Ella said, scrolling without paying attention. ‘You know why.’
‘We’ll get this guy. It took twenty years to catch the Green River Killer.’
‘Because he killed forty years ago,’ Ella said. ‘And Ridgway didn’t send videos of his kills to the very people investigating him. Our guy did, and we’re still coming up short.’
‘Dark, we’ve found three suspects in two days. Take a step back, see the big picture. I know it's not easy, especially with everything going on with Nash, but hastiness isn’t going to get us anywhere.’
The very mention of Nash’s name made Ella sick to her core. If she could just snub him out, the world would be a brighter place.
‘You want to talk about it?’ Ripley asked.
‘We’ve done nothing but talk about it. We dissected this unsub from top to bottom and…’
‘Not the unsub,’ Ripley said. ‘Logan Nash. He’s obviously on your mind, so tell me what you’re worried about.’
Ella wasn’t sure that spilling the details would come with any benefit, but sometimes, saying the words aloud somehow exorcised them.
Ella took a deep breath and looked away, the weight of the case and personal demons making her shoulders slump. ‘Nash isn't just another criminal. You know that. He killed my dad. And every time I see his face, every time I hear his name, it brings back memories I've spent years trying to bury.’
Ripley moved closer, her usually stern expression softening. ‘I can't begin to imagine what you're feeling. But you have to remember, you're not in this alone. We're a team. And while Nash might have taken something from you, we'll make sure he doesn’t do it again.’
Ella scoffed bitterly, ‘You know, when I caught Nash, I thought I'd feel better. Closure, they called it. But all it did was open up old wounds. Now, even if Nash ends up in front of a judge, it’s going to expose everything I did to catch him, and none of it will hold up in court.’
‘Like what?’ Ripley asked. ‘So it wasn’t FBI sanctioned, so what? You never heard of amateur detectives?’
Ella wished it was that simple. ‘I looked into classified documents. I had to deal with another Fed worker inconspicuously. You know Robert Reed? The guy who was tracking Logan before me? His wife helped me out, but she had to give me Robert’s docs from his personal stash at home. I found Logan through that, pointed a gun at him, attacked two of his little friends. I bloodied him up, cuffed him and took him to jail. I gotta give all that up if I want to have achanceat convicting him. How’s that gonna go down with the director? If I don’t end up dead, I’ll be in jail for twenty years.’
Ripley coughed, then let the silence linger. 'Well, you've got two options here, Dark.'
‘Yeah, both bad.’
