Fighting Conviction by Greer Rivers

Chapter Thirty-Three

The three BlackStone men hung back as federal agents took over the scene outside room 307. Phoenix texted in the corner of the hallway, waiting for their next move. Hawk spoke with the agents, and Devil had done what he could for the women until paramedics arrived to take them to the hospital. ADA Aguilar was fielding press reports to spin the event how the government wanted.

The cat was out of the bag, so to speak. Last time, when the Crew had rescued Ellie and the others, BlackStone went through the entire operation under the radar. They’d only involved the local government after Marco convinced the sheriff to ensure them clemency and support.

“I hate we had to get the feds involved this time. I wanted to take care of things myself.”

At Devil’s complaint, Hawk gave him the side-eye. “You nearly did.”

“Hey, they said Strickland will live, didn’t they?”

Hawk scoffed. “No thanks to you.”

“No. Ellie told me not to kill him. She said all this is bigger than Strickland and he could lead us to others.”

“Smart.” Hawk nodded.

“I promised her I would try not to kill him and agreed to let fate decide.”

Hawk snorted and shook his head. “Good thing fate knows where all the vital organs are.” The corner of his lips perked up at Devil and Devil allowed a sliver of a smile in return before Hawk continued. “I agree with Ellie. This is bigger than Strickland. Finding out everything he knows is key. Besides, at least now if fate decides it’s his time, at least Strickland’s death won’t be on our hands.”

“What do you mean, ‘our’? He would’ve been my kill.”

Hawk turned and clapped him on the shoulder. “We’re a team, man. We live. We die. We kill. For the team.”

When Hawk crossed his arms again, Devil cleared his throat. “I-uh, I think I want more than that.”

“What do you mean?” Hawk’s eyes barely flickered to Devil, but his body stayed facing forward.

“I think… I think I want more than…” Devil waved his hand toward room 307’s door. “This. The job. The training. The missions… and honestly the team.” He closed his eyes and soft, golden hair filled his vision. “There’s someone I care about more now. More than all of it.”

Hawk chuckled beside him. “And to think you told Strickland before you even told Ellie.”

Devil whipped his head to see a big grin on his leader’s face. “How… how did you know?”

Hawk barked a laugh before federal agents gave him a look that could kill. He sobered, likely remembering where they were. The hours after a successful mission were the strangest feeling. Adrenaline slowed down to a halt, but the mind was still keyed up from everything going right. It reminded him of floating in crystal clear, warm water.

“Let me tell you, brother, there are cameras everywhere in BlackStone. What’d you think, you were being sneaky? Don’t worry, Snake scrubbed the feeds and started turning off the cams where you were training.” Hawk’s chest rumbled with laughter and Devil felt his face redden. No use denying it now, not that he wanted to anymore.

“Does Jaybird know?”

Hawk shook his head. “If his confusion over you talking to Ellie is any indicator, then no. And that’s one conversation I don’t mind missing.”

“Tell me about it,” Devil muttered as ADA Aguilar walked up to them with a smirk on his face.

“Just so y’all know, it might be harder to swing a ‘defense of others’ argument if you keep attempting to murder people. You might’ve used your last get-out-of-jail-free card.” Aguilar’s words were serious, but his eyes looked like he’d be laughing if they were in better company. “In any case, Strickland’s in a hospital bed with warrants for the rape and murder of Sasha Timmons. We’ll need Ellie to testify…” Aguilar looked at Devil with a weighted question.

“Fuck, does everyone know?”

Hawk chuckled. “Seems like you, Jaybird, and your poor angel were the only clueless ones.”

Devil shook his head and met Aguilar’s silent question. “She’ll be fine. I know she’ll want to help any way she can—” He held up his hand and pulled out his phone. “Speaking of which, I’m gonna try to call her and get her to meet the women at the hospital.”

Aguilar nodded and Devil walked off to the other end of the hall and called, only to hear a dial tone and Ellie’s number recited back to him.

What the fuck? Why wouldn’t she be answering her phone in a time like this?

Unease prickled up the back of Devil’s neck and he opened up Ellie’s location from her contact profile. Her blue circle hovered over the hotel.

“Hawk, something’s wrong.” Devil pressed the button near his ear until he remembered their headsets had gone offline when the feds arrived. “We need to call Snake.”

Devil turned to elaborate, but Hawk already had the phone up to his ear. His dark brows raised in question and Devil answered, waving his screen with Ellie’s location. “It’s Ellie. GPS is saying she’s here, but she should’ve left by now. I need Snake to do whatever magic he can and try to find her. Whether by her phone or the hotel cameras.”

Hawk relayed the message verbatim. Sweat made Devil’s palms sweaty and he dried his hands on his dress pants. He was trying to listen to what Hawk was saying on the phone, but Devil’s pulse raced inside his chest, like it was trying its best to flee and run after hers.

After a minute, Devil waved his phone at Hawk and pointed down. “I’m gonna keep calling her and try to trace my steps. It’s still ringing so I’m going to see if I can find it.”

When Devil got downstairs, there was no one to be found. Before the feds had cleared the hotel, every single party attendee and hotel guest had been required to stay and be accounted for before they could leave. They’d gotten quite a few Russian bodyguards and were still detaining some of the high-powered officials. Whether as suspects or witnesses, Devil didn’t know. And at that moment he didn’t care.

“Pick up, goddamnit, pick up,” he whispered into the phone, making sure he wasn’t louder than any ring or vibration.

“Any luck?” Hawk and Phoenix emerged from the stairwell. “Snake said she’s gotta be at the hotel. She’s not at BlackStone and Naomi and Nora said she’s not at Sasha Saves. This hotel is as close as he can ping her. He’s sifting through video now.”

“Is this where you last saw her?” Phoenix asked after a moment of Devil walking in circles.

“Yeah… I was coming through the service hallway.” He pointed to the entryway and acted out the encounter before indicating the exit door. “She’d come from that door, I think, and was trying to crash the party.” He walked back to the alcove, searching for her phone and not hearing any sounds. “We hid in this alcove and that’s when she heard Strickland and ID’d him as Sasha’s murderer. I told her she had to leave…”

“So she’d have gone out the door she came in right? If she listened to you, at least,” Phoenix offered.

She had to have listened to him, right? He’d said hurtful things, but surely she understood the gravity of the situation and how important it was for her to help in the ways she truly could. He wished he’d explained it better, but the pressure to stop Strickland and the men upstairs was too great and he’d snapped.

He nodded to Hawk’s suggestion and pushed the door open. It was the same back alley they’d used last year when they’d tried to save Ellie the first time. He glanced around the spartan area, searching until he noticed something shiny on the ground.

“Is that—”

Devil ran the few steps to what had caught his eye. He bent to retrieve the phone lying on the ground, its screen shattered. There was a stain in the cracked glass, and he could barely make out his name as the caller. He brought the phone closer and shined his phone on it to see what was covering her phone and swallowed bile when he recognized the substance.

Blood.

He turned to face his teammates’ grim faces before he spoke aloud his worst nightmare come to life.

“She’s gone.”