Fighting Conviction by Greer Rivers
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ellie extracted her Russian book from her backpack and tossed the bag on her apartment floor.
Professor Novikov had been in rare form that day, full of energy and refusing to speak at any normal pace in Russian. It was a miracle she’d passed last semester with her absences, and Ellie was embarrassed at how lost she’d already gotten in her schoolwork within the first two months of school. While she got healthier over the past month and a half, Ellie had thought she’d done a fair job catching up. But then Professor Novikov went on a million-word per minute Russian tangent. She’d been ashamed again until she realized Virginia’s eyes had glazed over and she’d given up taking any notes—along with the rest of the class.
With a sigh, Ellie opened the book to teach herself what Professor Novikov had been too quick to explain but her mind kept going back to the night before, like it had all day.
Ellie had woken to cool cinnamon scented sheets. She’d basked in the comfort and feeling of security until she’d reached to the side, only to feel an even colder empty space.
She’d slept safe in Dev’s arms last night after he’d brought her to yet another ‘best orgasm of her life.’ A cheeky grin widened Ellie’s face and a sense of feminine pride warmed her all over as she thought about how she’d finally been able to return the favor. She bit her bottom lip and propped her chin with her elbow as she tried to focus on the Cyrillic alphabet allegedly written in sentences.
But it was no use. She’d been preoccupied all day, and knowing Dev might be in the room next to her was driving her crazy. Tilting her head toward his wall, she listened to see if she could hear him, but it was silent. The type of silence you only get when you’re completely alone.
It’d been like that all day. Normally, Ellie and Dev texted back and forth throughout the day, but he’d been radio silent. That, and the fact he’d left her in his bed alone—hurt more than she wanted to admit.
Of course, it happened all the time. Sasha and Virginia both talked about it, not to mention survivors at Sasha Saves, and pretty much every TV show targeted to her demographic. For the first time she realized she was one of those girls that was surprised she might be getting ghosted.
Is that what he’s doing? No… Dev wouldn’t do that… right?
But was that how all women felt the morning after a hookup? She’d always watched or listened with an air of disdain. Judging the women for not expecting to be left. As if it was their fault the man they’d chosen was the type to leave before they woke up.
She shook her head. So he didn’t wake up with me. Big deal. I can’t be sad about that. We haven’t even talked about being together or had sex yet. Get a grip.
Ellie groaned and collapsed her face into her hands.
Oh god. What if I am too innocent for him?
He’d said it plenty of times. Maybe it was her dang fault for not listening when what the man told her was obviously the truth. Who could blame her when the guy looked like that, though?
Ellie rolled her shoulders back and hopped off the stool, deciding in the moment she needed to go for a run. She already had the mysteries of body language and a man’s silence filling her brain, retaining any other foreign languages was going to be impossible until she worked out the stress.
Clad in her normal athleisure wear, Ellie left her apartment, opting to get a snack from the residence floor kitchen before she went to the first floor and worked out on one of the treadmills in the gym.
On her walk to the communal kitchen, the halls were eerily quiet. Even though the residence floor of BlackStone was homey in a masculine, industrial way, the concrete and steel design made the silence so profound, it felt like she was the only one in the building. It even had a weight to it, like a hot lazy wind before a storm in the summertime.
When she reached the kitchen, Ellie grabbed two bacon and cheese egg bites from the fridge and popped them into the microwave. When the bites were warm enough, Ellie hopped on the same black concrete counter that was in every apartment kitchenette and scarfed the protein down.
When she was finished, she grabbed a banana and tucked it into the pocket on the side of her leggings. Pockets and leggings were truly gifts from God, and whoever combined them deserved their spot in Heaven. She didn’t know who that genius was, but in the meantime, she’d thank Kate Hudson for the pair she was wearing.
While Ellie made her way down the halls to the center stairs, she felt the ridiculous urge to tiptoe. Giving in, she took the stairs slowly until she reached the first floor. She carefully pushed the door open and looked around. There were finally voices to the left of her as she emerged from the stairwell, and she helped the door close behind her without a sound. Tiptoeing around had been a weird impulse at first, but now that she knew she wasn’t the only person left on the planet, she wanted to see if she could sneak up on some of the stealthiest men alive.
Ellie followed the voices to one of the rooms she’d never visited. She and Dev had passed it a thousand times, but she hadn’t thought to ask what it was.
A metal door, stronger looking than every other bulletproof one in the place, was cracked open and Ellie crept closer and pinned herself against the wall so she could surprise whoever was in the room. Getting the drop on any of the BlackStone Crew would be hilarious, so long as Hawk wasn’t in there. If he was, she’d pass. The guy was too serious to function.
“—head into the hotel tonight for the scholarship party—”
All thoughts of playing a prank left her mind completely and she listened in on what Hawk was saying.
“—we’ll be able to intercept the room before they can leave with the girls. From what we can tell, that big bastard from last year came in with a few full canvas bags early this morning.”
“I’ve been in and out of there all day ever since we saw them arrive,” Snake spoke up. “Under the guise of security and making sure we have every possible eye and ear we can in there. No one’s been in or out of that room except the big guy and another one who looks like a minion. I’ll be here but online with you guys tonight. Marco, you’ll be there as an expected guest—”
“Yep. Like I said, I’ve made it to the Ashland elite apparently.” Ellie vaguely recognized the prosecutor’s voice, but identified with his sarcasm. “I’m sure it’s a keep your enemies close situation and I sure as fuck plan on doing the same. I’ve got my contacts on speed dial when y’all are ready.”
“Yeah, about those contacts…” Phoenix’s drawl had a hint of annoyance. “Why are they sittin’ this one out?”
There was a sigh before Marco spoke. “I’m frustrated too, but the feds can’t send people in on a hunch. They’re on call if you find concrete evidence of criminal activity.”
“So basically we’re gettin’ stuck doin’ all the dirty work?” Phoenix scoffed. “Typical.”
“If we want this done right, we’ll have to do it ourselves. What about you, Henry? You’ll be there?” Hawk’s question came out sounding more like a command.
“I’ll be there too. Burgess has me scheduled for security, so I’ll be hit or miss with helping y’all since I’ll be where they post me.”
“What’s he been saying about all this?” Hawk asked.
“Um… well, we told y’all he’s been kinda off lately…”
“It seems like it’s getting worse.” The prosecutor finished.
“Worse how?” Dev asked. His voice sounded harsh to her, maybe even angry.
“I don’t know, man. He seems like. I don’t know. Tweaky?”
“Like he’s on drugs?” Dev’s question was more of a statement, like he was expecting the answer.
“Yeah. I never noticed him doin’ any or anything but he sure as hell is actin’ like a crazy addict.”
“The sheriff’s been eyeing him, too,” Marco offered.
“No shit, for real?” Henry’s voice perked up. Ellie tilted her head at the door, surprised the officer knew less than the ADA.
“He told me yesterday he’s thinking of pushing Burgess into early retirement. The investigator’s been fucking up royally lately and is now missing whole damn shifts. From what the sheriff was saying, if it wasn’t for government red tape, he’d have been fired a while ago.”
“At least we weren’t depending on him,” Hawk’s deep voice murmured.
There was a pause before Snake cleared his throat. “Right then. Hawk, you, Phoenix, and Devil will be at the hotel—”
“I still say I need to be there.” Ellie’s brother’s growl interrupted, but sounded off for some reason. Still, a shock of apprehension over getting caught jolted her skin like static.
“We’ve been over this, Jaybird.” The amount of power behind Hawk’s cool reply was enough to make Ellie’s knees weaken. “Jules was just put on bed rest. You didn’t even want to leave her long enough to come to BlackStone for this meeting. You’ll be distracted and you’re needed if your fiancée goes into labor. Besides, you’re recognizable. These bastards probably have their own personal version of ‘Wanted’ posters and the man they failed to frame has got to be number one.”
Jason sighed. “Fine. Can you program the headset I’ve got at home so I can listen in?”
“That’ll be easy,” Snake confirmed.
“As long as you fuckin’ charge them this time…” Phoenix’s statement was uncharacteristically abrasive. “Can’t have another Yemen.”
“You know I fucking charged them then and I fucking charged them now. How many times do I have to tell you that? I think the question is, are you going to fucking wear yours this time, ass—”
“Enough.” Hawk’s reprimand quieted the room. “The party starts at seventeen hundred hours. We need to be ready to go well before then.”
“Can, uh, can I get a headset? That might help me with y’all.” Henry’s tentative question was met with Snake’s curse.
“Oh, fuck. Sorry, man. I don’t have one for non-agents.”
“Nora’s gettin’ one, right?” Henry reasoned.
Nora? Nora’s in on this?
Ellie tried not to feel hurt the BlackStone Crew was depending on Nora and not her. Did they really think so little of Ellie that they couldn’t trust her?
“She’s a practicing agent today,” Hawk replied. “Nora?”
“Hm?” Nora’s voice was quiet, subdued.
“You’ll be Phoenix’s date, arriving with him twenty minutes into the party via taxi. Devil and I will arrive separately, park the van in the parking lot… here.” A tapping sound punctuated Hawk’s instruction.
“We’ll be ready to go at fifteen hundred so we can gear up and take turns scoping out the hotel one final time before we attend the party,” Hawk said.
“Ellie will be at BlackStone… she doesn’t know anything, right?” her brother’s low voice asked. “We need to make sure it stays that way.”
Ellie’s breath caught and she tiptoed closer to the cracked door. Whatever she wasn’t supposed to know, she sure as heck was going to find out everything.
“I don’t think she has a clue,” Dev responded. “She hasn’t talked about the party since I shut her down our first training session.”
“Nora, you haven’t talked to her about it?” Jason asked.
“No.” Nora cleared her throat and spoke louder. “We talked yesterday, but we’ve been ships in the night at Sasha Saves. I haven’t told her, but I think you should.”
“I agree,” Snake chimed in. “If she just went as recon, like a fake date or something, maybe someone or something there would jog her memory.”
“That would be the worst thing for her,” Jason argued. “We can figure shit out ourselves. You’ve already been through the entire damn list. If we don’t know who’s there by now, she definitely won’t.”
Snake sighed at Jason’s response. “That’s the invite list, though. And Naomi, Nora, and I have been over it, but we all know hit men and henchmen aren’t ‘cordially invited’ to this shit. You know she’ll be hurt you left her out. At least let her know so she can be at Sasha Saves when we take the women there afterward. Don’t you think she has a right to know?”
“She’s too fragile still. She just fainted from overworking as a coping mechanism from all this shit.” Jason’s point made Ellie seethe. What the heck did he know? Ellie had been training daily, eating better, and going to classes and therapy. Heck, she’d even made a friend. He’d been holed up with Jules.
“That was over a month ago,” Snake reasoned. “It seems like she’s doing much better—”
“Exactly,” Dev responded, and Ellie beamed. Finally, he was sticking up for her. She could maybe go as his date and point out if she saw anything or anyone familiar. She’d stay near the exits in case she needed to hightail it outta there for some reason. Or heck, she could even ride with the women to Sasha Saves and be someone they could trust.
The other women Ellie had been kidnapped with had been overwhelmed when they were rescued. Ellie had had the benefit of being able to trust the Crew right off the bat. The other women had a hard time, but maybe Ellie could help these survivors.
“She’s been working hard and doing much better,” Dev continued, and anticipation tingled in Ellie’s fingers. “But I still don’t want her anywhere near this shit. She couldn’t handle knowing about this…”
Ellie clutched her chest as her heartbeat thrummed in her ears, muffling the rest of the conversation, which was just as well because she didn’t want to hear anything else Dev had to say.
Did he really think she was still so incapable of defending herself? Still so weak she couldn’t even handle knowing about the dumb party, let alone help do something about it? They didn’t even think she was useful enough for recon, for crying out loud. What if she could recognize someone that they didn’t? And Snake was right, she could at least be at Sasha Saves when they needed her.
Ellie’s eyes pricked with tears and she shut them tight.
They didn’t know the trauma these survivors had gone through. Ellie did. When she’d been saved by her brother’s Crew, she was lucky enough to know immediately she was in good hands. But even after their rescue, when the drugs wore off, the other survivors wore looks of pure terror on their faces. They hadn’t been able to trust that they were in safe hands, despite all the reassurances from their new saviors.
No, she didn’t want that for these women. They needed her. She wanted to make sure they had an empathetic female face telling them they were finally free and safe whenever they were rescued.
Ellie turned, refusing to listen to anything else. Resolve filled her as she tiptoed up the stairwell and took her phone out of her pocket to text.
Hey, can you bring my dress to BlackStone HQ tonight? The one you went back and got me from the dress shop?
Virginia: Uh, sure. I have class rn. After? When do you need it?
Ellie looked at the clock on her phone. It was already fifteen ‘til three. The party started at five and the BlackStone Crew was leaving the facility at any moment. She’d have to navigate around the BlackStone Crew when she got there, so right on time would be better. At this point they could be leaving any second to go scope out the hotel according to Hawk’s instructions.
ASAP after your class, pls. Oh and do you mind giving me a ride?
Since Snake would still be at BlackStone when the Crew left, she’d have Virginia come by and change in the car. She didn’t want to risk being seen in her dress on her way out so she’d have to make do in the car.
Virginia: What’s the occasion?
Ellie cringed. Virginia was gonna flip, but there was no way around it. The girl would find out after she dropped her off at the McIntosh in her fancy cocktail dress. A vague answer was the best choice.
Going to a party.
Virginia: YAASSS QUEEN. Fking finally!!!!!
