Poor taste, but he wasn’t wrong. Out of the entire suspect pool, the women Griffin had assaulted had the strongest motive for revenge. And according to theLos Angeles Times, Griffin’s lawyers had recently filed an appeal, claiming procedural errors in his trial. If they won that appeal and Griffin’s conviction was overturned, the public fallout would be massive. Could Drake have been killed by one of Griffin’s former victims, enraged at the thought that her boss might be set free?
It was just Grey’s luck to catch a case where the victim was a monster and the suspects were the people she was rooting for. Even worse,Grey kept seeing Drake’s bloody face whenever she closed her eyes, a twin to her own, and feeling that tug of connection, of complicity. It made her sick.
So by eight thirty that night, even though darkness had fallen in a foggy haze outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of LAPD headquarters, and the fifth floor was empty, Grey sipped her last mugful of coffee, resigned to reading through Griffin’s trial records alone. Then she heard a raised voice. It sounded like it was coming from one of the conference rooms closest to Captain Xie’s office. She put down her mug and glanced around. The voice echoed again. Now there was no doubt it belonged to the captain.
Unable to resist, she snuck down the hall. As she edged around the corner, the person on the receiving end of the captain’s ire started pleading. Grey recognized the voice at the same time that she caught sight of the woman through the conference room glass: Ellis.
She sucked in a breath. Ellis had gone home hours ago, once again citing the need to take care of her dog. What was she doing back here? And why had she sought a private audience with the captain?
The possibility came to her immediately: Ellis was going behind her back, either to beg the captain to take her off Grey’s case or ask that she replace her as the lead, due to her seniority. Her face flamed. How stupid she’d been to think she and Ellis had a budding camaraderie. Her own father had been betrayed by his fellow detectives, and what had she done? Gone and set herself up for more of the same.
She was thinking about how to defend herself when the captain rose from his chair, cutting Ellis off. “Enough,” he boomed. Grey startled back. “If you try telling me one more time that apop staris sneaking around Los Angeles committing murders, I will cut you from the force—I don’t care how many years you’ve given us. Get your shit together, Ellis. Take a leave of absence, see a therapist. This is your last warning.” With that, he strode out of the conference room, letting the glass door bang shut behind him.
Grey darted around the corner so he wouldn’t see her. Her pulse raced. What the hell—Ellis thought a pop star had killed someone? She couldn’t mean Elizabeth Drake?
Ellis was now beelining down the dimly lit hall. Grey narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t risk the captain overhearing, so she waited untilEllis pressed the button on the elevator, then ducked into the staircase and sprinted down five floors until she burst, out of breath, into the lobby, right behind the other detective.
“Ellis,” she called, her voice reverberating. The woman spun, eyes wide.
“Holloway, what are you doing here?”
“What am I—” Grey laughed. “What areyoudoing here? And what the hell did the captain mean about a pop star?”
Ellis cringed. “I wasn’t going behind your back, I swear.”
Grey crossed her arms. “Then explain.”
Ellis scanned the lobby. Only the night guard sat behind his desk, but she still shook her head. “Not here.”
Grey wasn’t having it. “If this is about the Drake case—mycase—tell me right now. Or I’m asking the captain to take you off. I’ll work it alone if I have to. I practically am already.”
Ellis tensed. “Fine.” She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. Despite her reservations, Grey leaned in, too. “I’ve noticed a pattern, okay? And Drake’s case fits it.”
“What kind of pattern?” Grey scanned Ellis’s face for any sign she was putting her on. But the other detective seemed genuine.
“Cases where the motive seems to be revenge. In particular, against high-profile people who’ve hurt women.”
“Like Drake,” Grey said.
“Exactly. Before her, there was a director who dropped dead out of the blue. And before him, there was a network executive’s son.”
Grey frowned. “And you’re saying these cases are connected how?”
“I can almost prove it,” Ellis insisted. “I just need more time.”
“Provewhat?”
The lights from a passing car illuminated Ellis’s face through the lobby windows. Her expression was full of pure, unadulterated conviction. “That there’s a group of women working together in Hollywood, seeking revenge on the people who’ve wronged them.”
Grey laughed. Ellis was messing with her after all. Or this was some prank, organized by the other detectives. Imagine—
“And they’re led by Scout Sage,” Ellis said. “She leaves her lyrics at every scene.”
Grey stopped smiling.
Chapter 5Isabel, the Rising Star
TEN YEARS EARLIER, THE CHRISTMAS PARTY
