Page 22 of Girl, Remembered

Now, she’d confirmed that Doyle was the real parasite, and if Ella killed her, the hosts would go down with her. Or would at least draw them to the surface.

‘And Doyle is the parasite,’ Vernon finished. He slumped into his chair. ‘I agree. Ripley, Dark. Leave these three new murders to me. I’ll liaise with the MPD and gather all the info, then I’ll pass anything that might be useful onto you both. If there’s anything you need from us, we’ll be here. We don’t stop until this is over, yes?’

‘Yes, sir.’

It came out before Ella had decided to say it. She hadn’t called anyone sir since Edis had left, but Vernon had done something she hadn’t seen him do before: pick a side and stand on it.

She’d take it. God knew she’d take it.

Dever hovered by the arm of Vernon’s chair. Whatever he’d been about to argue for, it wasn’t this. Ella watched him work out where that left him and come up short. She filed it away. Something was off about that man, and maybe one day she’d find out.

But today, she had more important things to worry about.

‘Sir, there is one thing I need.’

‘Anything.’

‘I need eyes on Austin Creed.’

‘Creed? He’s in Mount Olive. That’s over in Fayette County.’

‘Correct. Can you send someone there? In case I need to communicate with Creed quickly?’

Vernon glanced at Dever, who had now resorted to shrugging. Vernon said, ‘We haven’t got any spare bodies. Everyone I have available is either monitoring routes of the city or devouring the streets on the hunt for this woman.’

‘Hawkins,’ Ella said. ‘We can send Luca.’

‘If you’re okay with that, I can make the call.’

Would Luca be okay with that? Free trip to West Virginia, and it got him out of the office. If he didn’t appreciate the gesture, she’d make it up to him another time.

‘Do it,’ Ella said. ‘Thank you.’

She stood. Her ribs told her about it, and she let them. ‘Dever, I’m heading to the Correctional Treatment Facility. I want to be in the room when Winters arrives.’

‘If you insist,’ Dever said, this time to the carpet.

Ripley said, ‘I’ll set up a war room. I’ll bring all of the evidence we have into one place. There might be something hiding in there we can use.’

‘Call me if you find anything,’ Ella said.

‘You’ll be the first.’

‘Grab another weapon from the armory before you head out,’ Vernon said.

Ella nodded her thanks and made for the door.

Lindsey Doyle was going down by tonight. She decided that the way she decided most things now, by refusing to consider the alternative.

If not, there’d be three more bodies by morning, and her name written into every one of them.

CHAPTER TWELVE

The building had been stripped of its name. In time, it would be given a new one, but for now, while the place was in limbo, it served as the perfect hideout.

Lindsey Doyle sat on an empty, upturned paint tin in the parking lot. It wasn’t visible from the street, so Lindsey could make the most of the space without worrying about prying eyes. No one had been here in weeks, and her research had confirmed no one was due here for another ten days at least. She had other places scattered throughout the district, such as a garage lock-up in Anacostia and an empty laundry place off New York Avenue, but this was the one she kept coming back to. It had a floor that didn’t creak. It had a back way out through what used to be a delivery yard, onto an alley that fed two streets in different directions, and she’d walked both of those streets a hundred times until she knew every parked car on them by sight.

Doyle looked out over the pond, which was now sparkling in the morning sun. Such a beautiful sight, but by nightfall, this scene would be sullied with the remains of at least two people. Blood would stain the pond red, body parts would assemble in this very parking lot – a parking lot which meant a lot to a certain person, even if she didn’t know it.