I turned around, facing the lit screen of the laptop on my desk. Sinking into my leather armchair, I dropped what’s left of my cigar into the ashtray and pulled up her file.
Eliza Hendy.
The photograph was a student ID image: plain background, fluorescent lights—the kind of photo no one looked good in. Yet, this girl still managed to appear stunning.
According to this, she was only twenty-one years old. Light brown hair. Warm hazel eyes that complemented her oval baby face. And a strange kind of innocence.
Interesting.
Third-year student. Criminal Justice. Part-time barista at a place called Joe’s.
I flipped through the pages, hoping to find something linking her to Daniel Vetrov’s case. But I found nothing. This girl was clean. Just a regular student with no known political affiliations.
She had no ties to law enforcement or financial backing that raised any flags. Nothing whatsoever.
I leaned back in my chair, stroking my jaw as I wondered what this meant. Could she be working alone? Perhaps just a patriotic citizen seeking justice for an innocent man.
If this were a solo move and she truly had no connection to power, she would be playing with fire. Her curiosity was about to get her into a lot of trouble. The kind she’d never experienced in all her twenty-one years on planet Earth.
This girl was too close to the truth. And if guided by the wrong person, she could become a force to reckon with.
I must get to her first.
I grabbed my phone and called Sergei, my lieutenant.
“Boss,” he answered on the other line.
“My office. Now.”
Less than a minute later, the front door opened, and he walked in, shoes scuffing against the floor.
“You called.” He stopped in front of my desk.
“Find her.” I slid the file over toward him. “I need to know everything about this girl,” I began. “Where she lives. Schedule. Routines. Work hours. I need to know who she talks to, who her friends are, and who she trusts.”
“Got it.” He flipped her file open, his cold eyes scanning the information on his target. “Anything else?”
“Just observe and report back to me,” I said, meeting his gaze. “I’ll handle the rest myself.”
He gave a curt nod and walked away, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
Reclined in my chair, I drummed my fingers on the mahogany table, a crooked smirk tugging at the corner of my mouth.
It was only a matter of time before Sergei found her. Then the truth would unfold.
Chapter 3 – Ellie
~Three Days Later
“Ellie, I need a large oat latte and two espressos!” Barry called from the register without looking up from the screen.
“On it!” I answered, working on the order.
I needed this, the distraction, anything to take my mind off the hearing and the way Dr. Bradford had looked at me.
However, even with all the running around and taking orders, I couldn’t shake the image of the strange man across the street. Until now, I still wasn’t sure why something about him felt off by a mile.
I hadn’t figured out who he was or why he was watching me the way he did. And the more I tried to focus on work, the more distracted I was by my own thoughts.
