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‘Wow, stereo ringtones,’ Ben said. ‘Never seen that before.’
Ella and Ripley exchanged a glance. It was a familiar sound, always rearing its head at the most unwanted occasions. A sense of duty, ever-present, permeated the invisible thread between them, but neither seemed eager to break the evening's ease.
But Ripley, with a resigned sigh, checked her phone.
‘Sorry, everyone. Could be the office.’ Ripley scrolled through her phone, and Ella watched her partner’s expression turn from annoyance to terror.
She knew what was coming.
‘Oh, Jesus Christ,’ Ripley said. She bit her lip and as she dropped her phone on the table. ‘You gotta be kidding me.’
‘What is it?’ Martin asked.
‘Nothing, it’s just… Dark, you might wanna check that.’
Ella pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. ‘Please don’t say we’re needed on the other side of the country.’
‘Not quite. It’s about our boss. Our new boss.’
‘What? Already?’ Ella dug her phone out of her handbag and checked the new email. She saw the name at the top of the body, a name she was familiar with for the wrong reasons.
‘Randall Carter,’ Ella said, quickly grabbing her drink to wash his name out of her mouth. ‘Please God, not that guy.’
‘Yup. Douchebag,’ Ripley said.
‘What’s so bad about this Carter guy?’ asked Martin.
‘Snake in a suit,’ Ripley said. ‘He was a defense attorney in New York, known for exploiting loopholes and getting criminals off lightly. They call him the one-eyed bandit.’
Ella had never met Randall Carter in the flesh, but she’d heard the horror stories about him – half of which came from Ripley’s mouth. But given the general opinion of the man throughout the Bureau, Carter was certainly a piece of work.
‘He’s only got one eye?’ Ben asked.
‘Yup.’ Ripley’s phone pinged again. She peered at it, hesitantly, followed by another sigh. ‘And speak of the devil, that’s him now. Oh and would you look at that, he wants to see me and you in his office in the morning, Dark.’
The second email came through to Ella’s phone. She scanned it.
Agent Ripley, Agent Dark – report to headquarters tomorrow morning at eight AM. We need to talk immediately.
‘He sounds like he hates us,‘ Ella said.
‘He hates me,’ Ripley said. ‘The idiot spiked my drink once, then tried to lure me to a hotel room.’
Martin’s mouth dropped open an inch. ‘You’re kidding? And he’s still got a job?’
‘I couldn’t prove it. It would be my word against his. Besides, I drank a lot more back then.’
Ella hadn’t heard this story before, although she consigned to the fact that she’d never know everything about Mia Ripley. ‘He did what?’
'Yup. This was about fifteen years back when I was still married.'
‘Hold on,’ Martin said. ‘Why does that mean he hates you?’
Ripley shoved her phone back into her pocket, clenched her fist and showed the table her knuckles.
‘How do you think he lost his eye?’
Ella sat back in her chair, palms to her face.
