Page 16 of Girl, Accused

It was a lot to process; Mia’s resurrection, a killer leaving Ella’s hair at crime scenes, her incarceration at the hands of people she risked her life for daily. And now, Edis was sending her on a new serial case when she hadn’t even been home since the last one.

Under other circumstances, she would have told Edis to go to hell. The man had the nerve to lock her up at the first sign of suspicion, and now he was asking her to investigate a brand new case.

But with Ripley by her side again, Ella had a surge of optimism that hadn't been there an hour ago. Should she really be leaving D.C. right now? Definitely not. The bodies of two of her friends were sitting on slabs somewhere in this city, and Ella needed to see them, pay her respects, and apologize to them for making them guilty by association. But if this case was under the jurisdiction of Washington PD, there wasn't much she could do. At least not officially.

Before she lost herself in the details, she needed to call Luca. She ducked into an alcove, away from the steady stream of suits and briefcases flowing past, then pulled up her recent calls list and tapped Luca’s name.

One ring.

He answered.

‘Ell! Thank God.’

The voice that had kept her sane through sleepless nights worked its magic again. Just hearing him say her name made the world feel a fraction more stable.

‘Hawks, I’m so sorry. Is everything okay?’

‘Yeah. Well, no. What’s going on? Where have you been all night? Why did the police just ransack our place?’

She took a deep breath. ‘You remember Jenna, my old roommate?’

‘Yeah.’

‘And Julianne Cooper. Landlord for my old place.’

‘What about them?’

‘Now I know why they weren’t answering my calls.’

‘What?’

‘They’re dead. Both of them.’

A moment of silence. ‘Come again? They’re dead?’

‘Murdered. Both in the past few weeks. Washington PD are on the case, and obviously I’m the link.’

Luca took a sharp intake of breath. ‘Whoa, hold the phone. Your friends show up murdered, and they assumeyouhad something to do with it?’

‘Police found… my hair.’

‘Your hair?’ His voice had gone tight. ‘What do you mean, your hair?’

‘The perp sewed Jenna and Julianne’s mouths shut. With my hair.’ Ella pressed her fingers against her temple, trying to organize the chaos into something resembling sense. ‘I know. It’s messed up.’

‘Ell, I’m not sure where to even start with that. He sewed their mouths shut? With your hair? How’d this perp evengetyour hair?’

‘More questions than answers, I know. Did the police take anything from our place?’

‘No. They left fifteen minutes ago. Empty-handed.’

‘Good.’

‘Wait, I’m confused,’ Luca said. ‘Have you been with the police all night?’

‘No, Edis kept me in a conference room at HQ.’

‘What? You’re not serious?’ Luca’s voice rose a few decibels.