Fighting Conviction by Greer Rivers

Chapter Thirty-Two

“There are victims to rescue, Ellie. I can’t worry about saving your hurt feelings too.”

Dev’s words shuddered through her but she couldn’t shake them. He was right and she freaking knew it. She could help and she already had. But believing she was the only one who could help was ridiculous when trained professionals were involved. She was trained but no professional. She’d never thought about being a liability to the team.

The memory of the panicked faces of her fellow survivors had been the driving force behind her stupid decision to go to the party. She’d been consumed by her need to help these new survivors as soon as they needed her. Pulling Dev’s focus away from saving them was the exact opposite of what she’d wanted. But she’d done exactly that.

Ellie breathed in an even rhythm to manage the adrenaline and guilt burning through her veins. She’d had a myriad of emotions in the five minutes she and Dev spoke. Lust, fear, anxiety, terror… mostly the last three, but the lust on top of it was very confusing and none of it was helpful.

The whole thing was a bust. She’d already gotten caught and she’d only been at the party for a few minutes. And, to top it all off, she’d made her friend mad.

When Virginia showed up with Ellie’s dress, Virginia had been in one, too. While Ellie changed en route, she’d argued with Virginia about crashing the party. The poor girl had believed Ellie’s text was an invitation. When she’d dropped Ellie off, Virginia had huffed and puffed reasons as to why she should go with Ellie, until Ellie slammed the door shut. Her stomach had twisted with guilt as she watched Virginia peel through the back parking lot.

She’ll get over it… hopefully.

Ellie didn’t want Virginia anywhere near the party Ellie had been kidnapped from. If being mean to Virginia saved a life but lost a friendship, that was a sacrifice Ellie was willing to make. She wouldn’t go through losing someone again.

She’d meant what she’d said about Strickland. Ellie couldn’t have someone else’s death on her conscience. Not even the man who murdered her best friend. It was better to have kick ass lawyers like Jules keep him in jail forever instead.

Ellie smoothed her hair back out of habit, only to remember it was pinned up. Still, the gesture was soothing in its ritual. After finding her bearings, Ellie stepped from the alcove and rolled her shoulders back. It was time she faced facts. She’d thought she could help, but if she were honest with herself, she was more a liability than a lifeline.

Ellie sighed and turned to the exit, only to bump into someone coming out of what looked like a storage room.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I—Henry?”

Officer Henry Brown gave a forced laugh and nodded to someone behind her as he balanced her.

“Whoa, hey Ellie. I’m, uh, workin’ security for the function.”

“Oh.” Ellie scrunched her eyes, trying to hide the fact she already knew. “Where’s your uniform?” It was odd to see him dressed in a black suit. She’d only ever seen him in his uniform.

“Ya like?” He smoothed down his tie before looking back at her and smiling, winking his dimple at her. “They didn’t want us wearin’ our dress blues. Probably to avoid making the guests nervous.”

“Oh, right.” Ellie nodded. “Makes sense, I guess.”

“What’re you doin’ here? I thought your brother didn’t want you to come.”

Ellie felt her cheeks redden. It’d been embarrassing that her brother still treated her like a child, but it was mortifying that now she’d earned it with her poor decision to crash the party.

“I, uh. I forgot,” she explained lamely. “I was just leavin’.” She pointed to the glass door behind Henry and shuffled around him.

He moved and laughed, letting her pass by. “I won’t tell Jason I saw you if you won’t.” He put his finger up to his lips and smiled.

Ellie cocked her head to the side and forced a laugh, not really sure what he meant, but deciding to play along. “It’s too late for me, I think. I saw Dev, so I’m sure Jason already knows.”

“Ah, well too bad. Sucks you might get in trouble. See ya, Ellie.” He waved to her and turned down a small, brightly lit hallway.

Ellie waved back and leaned against the silver bar on the door to go outside. She pulled her phone out of Virginia’s borrowed clutch to call her to come take Ellie back to BlackStone. V was going to flip. Ellie would make it up to her, though. Probably by agreeing to go shopping on demand at Virginia’s every whim, but Ellie had earned the punishment.

Can you come pick me up? Same alley you dropped me off in? I’m ready to go.

Va: WTF? Really? I was just starting to have fun :(

‘Just starting to have fun’? What the heck does that—

“Hello, Miss Stone.”

A memory of that smoker’s voice clawed against Ellie’s brain, and she dropped her phone to the ground in shock.

She bent down to pick the phone up before realizing she should’ve left it, but on her rise up, she met the man’s eye.

It was him. The man from the park. The investigator on Sasha’s case. Even though she’d thought the man’s voice at the park seemed familiar, she hadn’t seen the investigator in a year and had never put the two together. He’d lost weight over the year, and his cheeks were sunken in while his sweaty skin was a sickly shade of yellow. The two sides of Investigator Burgess collided in her mind, confusing her to the point of indecision.

The investigator tsked, snapping her out of her assessment, and shook his head. “Oh, so you do remember me? Not good, I’m afraid. Not good at all.”

The threat in his voice was clear and fear skyrocketed Ellie’s pulse, making her dizzy enough that the world faded at the edges.

Run. Hide. Fight. First priority is escape.

Dev’s mantra settled her and she glanced around after taking a breath, her thoughts racing over possible exits. It was an alley behind the hotel leading to nothing but open space and parking lots on either side of the building. The only thing big enough to hide behind was the dumpster directly to her right. Her only option was the exit behind her.

“Whatcha doin’ there, girlie? You ain’t got nowhere to go. We’re gonna figure this out, right here, right now.”

“O-okay, I’m here. Wh-whatcha wanna talk about?” Ellie slowly backpedaled to the hotel door. If she was around people, he couldn’t do anything to her. It was a short-term plan, but it was the best she had in the seconds she’d been brainstorming.

Ellie tried to blindly swipe numbers over her phone to unlock it and call Dev. But the screen was cracked and a tiny glass shard pricked her finger. Would telling the phone to call Dev work? It was worth a shot.

She watched the investigator as she thought, but his eyes had glazed over.

Is he paying attention anymore? Maybe I should run for it…

He was muttering under his breath faster than she could attempt to read his lips. Actually, now that she thought about it, his mouth had been moving constantly since she’d seen him. Ellie was watching so intently, trying to figure the investigator out, that she didn’t realize his hand was on the butt of his gun until it was too late.

It only takes a second for a pro to take his gun out of his holster.

She risked turning her head to see how far away she was from the door. Just enough.

Ellie turned and ran on her toes, praying her pretty gold heels wouldn’t literally get her killed. Her dress tightened around her knees but she used quick steps to get to the door. She was about to open it when gunshots reverberated in the alley. One sounded off in the distance, but the other was close. She would’ve wondered if he intentionally tried to miss her, if the wall beside the door didn’t also have a new bullet hole in it.

“Try’na leave? Nope. Can’t let you do that. And there’s five more where that came from.”

Five? Revolvers have six. Who else is shooting?

The door in front of her opened wide and Ellie tensed to run through it, but a beautiful blonde in pink chiffon crashed into her. Ellie steadied her roommate by the shoulders so neither of them would fall.

“Virginia! What are you doin’ here? We have to—”

“Holy shit, what was that?” Virginia interrupted her and did a three-sixty. Ellie watched with a shock of panic as the door shut behind her friend. “The ballroom was crazy loud, but I could’ve sworn I heard a gun—um, what the hell is goin’ on?” Virginia lowered her voice to a whisper. “Why is a cop pointin’ a gun at us, Ellie?”

Ellie cupped Virginia’s face with her hands and forced her to look at Ellie and not the investigator. “Listen to me, V. Turn around and go inside. I’ll be right behind you.”

The investigator tsked behind her again. “Sorry, can’t do that either.”

Ellie turned around to face the investigator. “Please, she doesn’t know anything. Just let her go.” Virginia’s fingernails dug into Ellie’s shoulders as she spoke and Ellie used the pinch of pain to ground her.

“Nah, see, she definitely just saw somethin’. People inside might not’ve heard the gunshot ‘cuz of all that damn music, but she’ll go on in there and tattle.” He made a show of waving his gun around. “And as for you, I told ya if ya recognized me, we was gonna have a problem. Welp. Seems like we have a problem.”

“There’s no problem.” Ellie shook her head as she tried to wrack her brain for an escape route. Virginia’s presence folded a wrinkle in the clear-cut map Dev had drawn for her on how to defend herself. “Just let us go. I promise I won’t say anything about the park.”

“That’s the guy who shot at you in the park?” Virginia hissed in Ellie’s ear and Ellie watched as the investigator shook his head and shrugged, like he had no other choice but to do what he had to do.

“Seems you told someone, huh? Can’t have loose ends, Miss Stone.” With the gun pointing at them, the investigator pulled his handcuffs from his tactical belt. “So why don’t you come on over here and we’ll go down to the… uh, station and figure all this out.”

Never go to another location.

The investigator was too far away for her to disarm him.

But, if he comes closer…

It was risky, but Dev had taught her how to steal an attacker’s gun as a last resort. Running and hiding were out. Fighting was the only option.

“We’re not comin’ to you. Y-you have to come to us.”

“What’re you doin’, El? We need to get outta here.”

It was another tactic. If she stalled enough, maybe someone else would come and interrupt. She was biding time she wasn’t sure they had, but she sure as heck was going to try every weapon Dev had stocked in her arsenal.

The investigator huffed, but took the bait, slowly pacing toward her with the gun poised to fire, as if he was afraid she had some trick up her sleeve. Hopefully, she did.

“Ellie, what’s the plan. He’s gettin’ close.”

“Shh. Trust me.” Ellie concentrated on the trembling hand aiming the gun and mentally played through the motions she’d need to use to disarm him.

“Ellie…”

He was about to be within her reach when he lunged for her. She moved the way Dev taught her to divert any shot he could take, but Virginia screamed and tugged Ellie to the door, making Ellie crash to the ground.

A loud crack above her head deafened her senses. Virginia fell to the ground beside her and the crimson stain forming on her pretty pink dress made the edges of Ellie’s vision fade away.

Ellie’s arms were wrenched behind her back as hundreds of pounds kneed her in her spine. The investigator crushed her under his weight, but when Ellie saw Virginia laying on the ground, her friend’s blue eyes wide as she held her hand against her upper chest, holding back thin rivulets of blood seeping slowly through her soft hands, Ellie felt like she was going to break in half.

“No!” Ellie moved, kicked, and screamed, did everything she could but the knee in her back made her hips grate into the asphalt. Her hands were locked into handcuffs and the world began to cave in around the edges.

No. No. NO. Not now.

“Keep screamin’ and I’ll put another one in her.”

Ellie went silent and breathed sharp quick breaths through her nose to keep from passing out. The tinny smell of asphalt smelled awful, but she focused on the scent filling her lungs. She couldn’t have a panic attack. Not then. Where was everyone? Why was no one coming to help?

“Now, play nice and come with me—” The investigator heaved her up. Ellie began to kick him with her heels and writhe, until he continued. “—and I’ll even call 911 for your friend. Wouldn’t that be nice? Damn chivalrous, if ya ask me. ‘Specially for what I could probably get for her. I’m sure my visitor will be fine with gettin’ you though.”

The investigator grunted as he dragged her to the back of his police vehicle. The rough cement bit into her skin, but Ellie gritted her teeth and kept her body limp. She’d stopped fighting, but that didn’t mean she was helping the man dig her grave.

Virginia’s bright blue eyes squinched in pain, and the hand that wasn’t holding on to her chest reached for Ellie.

“Come on, you don’t want to be actual dead weight, do you? You’re lucky they still want ya. I wouldn’t even bother with ya if I didn’t think they’d pay me back.”

The investigator pulled her up by her handcuffed arms, pulling them out of socket and Ellie yelped.

“Help…. Someone…. Help.” Virginia’s sobs tore at Ellie’s heart. When the investigator attempted to shove her in the back seat of his patrol vehicle, Ellie finally kicked and screamed against him, knowing if the investigator was dealing with her, he couldn’t bother with Virginia.

All we need is time. Just a few more minutes until someone comes to get us.

Ellie fell on the ground and it took her a second to stop screaming and realize why the investigator had dropped her. He cleared his throat and aimed his gun at Virginia. Ellie stilled, every muscle in her body so tense she felt like she’d snap at any moment.

“Get in the fuckin’ car. Now. I ain’t playin’ no more games. If you don’t get in there right now, I’m gonna actually finish her off.”

Ellie shut her mouth and backed awkwardly into the car, desperate to keep that barrel off Virginia.

Sirens blared in the distance and relief flitted across Ellie’s chest. Even if it was too late for her, hopefully it wouldn’t be too late for Virginia.

The investigator paled even more. His face poured sweat despite the chill in the air. “Looks like we’ll have company soon.”

“Please, somebody… help.”

Virginia’s weak cries were strong enough to give Ellie hope until the investigator’s face hardened.

“Can’t have that either.”

“C-can’t have what?” Ellie asked, not sure she wanted the answer.

“Guess she’s gonna have to come with.”

“What? No! You said you’d leave her!”

“Welp. I lied. Can’t have loose ends. She seems like she might make it.” He kept the gun pointed on Virginia and seemed to be thinking as he talked to himself out loud.

“They want women, Cici. One more and we’ll be set…”

“Who are you talking to?” Ellie asked before she could stop herself.

Instead of answering her, he nodded to himself and slammed the door on Ellie. He turned and picked Virginia up, grabbing underneath her arms and dragging her limp, eerily silent body to the front of his police car.

“What are you doing? Stop! Just leave her!” Ellie kicked at the cage separating her from the front of the car as the investigator shoved her friend in and slammed the passenger door.

He slid into the driver’s side and Ellie shifted to kick behind his head.

“You can do that all ya damn well please. Won’t do ya no good.”

The car jolted forward and Ellie screeched as she fell to the floor. The sirens became deafening and Ellie screamed as loud as she could to be heard over them. With every turn and brake, Ellie moved until she finally sat upright and realized the cop was using his own lights and sirens as he sped through Ashland to God knew where.

Ellie dedicated every part of her to driving the investigator crazy. But as he ignored her and kept up a steady stream of chatter with someone who wasn’t there, she wondered if he already was.

“We’re here,” the investigator finally screamed over her.

The old brick sign for Hatcher Gardens Neighborhood with its missing white letters passed by and Ellie stopped screaming. The investigator had turned off the sirens and lights too, and the eerie silence inside the car made Ellie’s heartbeat thunderous in her ears.

Panic and confusion crept over her bones like a freezing mist. They definitely weren’t going to a police station—not that she’d actually thought they would.

Where are we going?

For the first time that day, her best friend responded in her mind.

“Looks like we’re about to find out.”