Page 59 of Girl, Sought

‘Ryan Wheeler. I was riding towards the old boat yard down on Cedar, when this guy waves me down.’

‘Waves you down how? Where was he?’

‘In his car,’ Ryan blurted. ‘He stuck his head out and said something.’

‘Right. Then?’

‘He asked if I wanted ajob.At first, I said no, but then he offered me a hundred bucks up front. I couldn't turn that down.'

Ella planted her hands on the table. Not to intimidate - just to keep them from fidgeting while adrenaline sang through her system.

‘What was the job?’

Ryan nodded at the mask. ‘Drop that off at the police precinct and not say a word. He saidyou’d know what it meant.’

‘Description. Who was this guy? What did he look like?’

‘I dunno. Regular looking dude. Brown hair?’

‘Is that all you got?’ Ella barked. ‘Height, build, clothes, eye color, distinguishing features, scars, tattoos. Think. Details matter.’

The kid scrubbed his face with a sleeve that had seen better days. ‘Blue sedan. A nice one. Like, expensive nice.’

Ella's mind snagged on that detail. Same as the one Dolores had seen outside the library. ‘License plate?’

‘I didn’t catch it. I just took the money – and the mask – and got out of there.’

‘Of course you did. What else?’

‘Dressed in a white shirt, like he’d just come from the office. Accent was local, and his hands were... I dunno, weird?’

‘Define weird.’

‘All smooth. Long fingers, but his nails were all chewed up around the edges. Like, little bits of skin hanging off.’

The profile sharpened another fraction. Soft hands meant office work. Skin tags suggested stress, poor diet, too many hours under artificial light. Their killer lived in a world of paperwork and fluorescent bulbs while dreaming of transformation.

‘Anything else? Think.’

Ryan sighed through clenched teeth. ‘That was it, really.’

Luca asked, ‘Didn’t this guy give you any explanation?’

‘No. He just handed me a hundo and this mask then drove off. Didn’t even watch me deliver it.’

‘Which direction?’

‘With the boat yard on the left.’

‘Let’s see the money,’ Ella said.

Ryan hesitantly plucked five twenties out of his trouser pocket. He fanned them out. ‘Here.’

Ella glanced back and summoned Reeves over. ‘We’ll need to take that money,’ Ella said.

The kid clutched the notes to his chest. ‘What? You can’t do that. It’s mine.’

‘We’ll give it you back, but we need to note down the serial numbers. How long ago was this?’