Page 86 of Girl, Undone

The seats.The gallery.After the sentencing when people were celebrating or crying or just sitting there in shock.Someone had grabbed Ella's arm.Someone had pulled her into a hug.

A woman.Short brown hair.Tears streaming down her face.

Thank you.Thank you so much.

That's what she'd said.Over and over.Thank you.

Ella had assumed she was a victim's family member.Someone who'd lost a sister or a daughter or a wife to Austin Creed's appetite for violence.She'd hugged her back and murmured something inadequate about justice being served, and then the woman had disappeared into the crowd.

But that wasn't all.

Ella's stomach dropped.

She'd seen her again.Recently.Within the last month.

She grabbed the laptop and pulled up her calendar.Three weeks ago.The prison visit.When she'd gone to see Creed on death row.

Louisiana State Penitentiary.Maximum security wing.She'd had to go through multiple checkpoints.Multiple guards.Multiple locked doors that clanged shut behind her.

And when she’d entered Creed’s interview room, there’d been a female guard there.

Except she had long blonde hair, but the face and profile matched this woman on the footage.

A security guard at Louisiana State Penitentiary.Someone with direct access to Austin Creed.Someone who could pass messages.Smuggle information.Coordinate murders from inside one of the most secure facilities in the country.

Someone who'd been sitting in that courtroom the day Ella's hairbrush and phone went missing.Someone who'd hugged her and thanked her and disappeared.

Someone who was still out there.