CHAPTER THREE

Ella screeched to a halt outside Mia”s lakeside pad. The journey here had been a blur, thoughts pinging around her skull like wasps trying to escape a jar.

Had Martin vanished because he knew Ella was onto him? Was there any other explanation? Could he have fled to another state, assumed a new identity, ran before the vice of justice could squeeze him?

She barely had time to yank the keys from the ignition before Mia came tearing out the front door like her ass was on fire. Ella had seen Mia keep her cool in moments that would have spelled death for most people: pistols kissing her temples, hands wrapped around her neck. But here, Mia looked a picture of desperation.

‘Ripley, you look like death warmed up,’ Ella slammed the car door hard enough to rattle her teeth. ‘Tell me everything.’

Mia latched onto her arm, nails biting through her jacket. ‘Martin”s gone.’

Ella placed a hand on each of Ripley’s shoulders and looked her square in the eyes. ‘Relax. Talk me through it.’

Mia was clearly in no mood to be comforted. She broke free of Ella’s grip and began pacing. ‘I woke up this morning and Martin wasn’t here. Car’s gone. Full Houdini.’

‘Have you tried calling him?’

‘Phone’s dead. No signal.’

‘Maybe he”s just catching up with some buddies,’ she said, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice. She didn’t want to go full accusatory just yet, because there was a chance Mia could come to the same conclusion with enough applied logic.

Mia shook her head so hard Ella thought it might fly off. ‘He’d tell me if he did. The guy has all his outings listed on the calendar. You can’t take the military out of the man. If this was some social thing, I’d know about it, and he sure as hell wouldn’t go with a dead phone.’

A creeping sense of oh shit crawled up Ella’s spine. No way was this a coincidence. Not with what she knew. Not with Martin catching wind that she was onto his little murder spree.

‘Fishing?’ Ella asked.

‘His rod’s still here. I checked.’

‘How long’s he been gone?’

‘Since at least six AM. I’ve checked everywhere, Dark. All of his usual haunts. He’s not here.’

‘He still has his own house, right?’ Ella asked. She already knew Martin wouldn’t go back to such an obvious sanctuary, but she had to tick these places off her mental checklist.

”Been there, tried it. A neighbor said she hasn”t seen Martin in weeks.”

Ella”s mind flashed to that charged moment in Mia”s living room. The silent conversation between her and Martin. The predatory glint in his eyes. Both had a secret, neither wanted to share.

Martin knew his game was up and now he was rabbiting.

White-hot rage surged through Ella”s veins, fists clenched hard enough to crack walnuts. She should”ve moved on him sooner. Should”ve put the screws to him the second the pieces clicked. But she”d wussed out – for fear of what? Ripping her best friend’s life to shreds? Was the alternative of Mia living with a secret serial killer a better option?

Mia”s face crumpled, tears threatening to spill over. She looked up at Ella. ‘What if our angel got him, Dark? What if Martin was the next one in line?’

Ella”s heart clenched as a sour taste flooded her mouth. She wasn’t sure which was worse. That Martin was a homicidal guardian angel or whether he was the victim of one. Either way, it was Ripley that would bear the resulting trauma.

‘Hey,’ Ella said, gripping Mia”s shoulders tight. ‘You’re the most logical woman I know. So use logic.’

Mia took a shuddering breath. Ella could practically see her shoving down the panic, the fear, locking it away behind that tough-as-nails exterior.

Okay, you”re right. Logic. Facts. We can do that.’

Ella squeezed her shoulders once more before letting go. ‘Damn straight we can. Now, walk me through last night. When”s the last time you saw Martin?’

Mia ran a hand through her hair, eyes distant. ‘Around midnight, I think. When we went to bed. Everything seemed normal. Or at least…’

Ella cocked her head, zeroing in on that flicker of hesitation. ‘You thought? Something happen? You two have a lover”s spat?’ She tried to keep it cool, because deep down, there was a part of Ella that wanted to believe Martin was innocent. Maybe he’d been framed, or it was her paranoia running rampant. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d convinced herself of something that wasn’t true, even though she was all but convinced that Martin was their killer in angel’s clothing.

Mia shook her head, but there was a tightness around her mouth that hadn”t been there before. ‘No, no fight. It”s just....’

She trailed off, worrying at her lower lip. Ella waited, letting the silence stretch. Sometimes, you had to give a perp enough rope to hang themselves. With any luck, Mia could arrive at the same conclusion Ella had.

‘He was going through some old files,’ Mia said finally, words tumbling out in a rush. ‘Right before we turned in. Said he was looking for something.’

Ella”s pulse kicked up a notch, but she kept her face carefully neutral. ‘Files? What kind of files?’

‘I don”t know. Old cases, probably. Martin”s always elbow-deep in paperwork. I didn”t think anything of it at the time.’

Ella hummed, mind whirring. What had Martin been looking for? Evidence of his extracurricular activities? Proof that Ella was closing in? Or something else entirely, some piece of the puzzle she hadn”t even considered?

She pushed down the frustration bubbling in her gut. They were grasping at straws here, chasing shadows and maybes. They needed something solid, something real.

‘Let’s look through his files, then,’ Ella said. ‘There could be something in there.’

‘I don’t know where they are. I searched this place high and low.’

Ella”s jaw tightened, molars grinding. ‘What about his car? Have you tried tracing it?’

‘Put a request in at HQ, but nothing so far. No pings on any traffic cameras.’

Ella”s phone pinged. A second later, Mia”s did the same. They both glanced down, matching frowns on their faces. Ella checked it.

William Edis wanted to see them.

‘Director wants us in the office,’ Ella said. ‘Stat.’

Mia shook her head. ‘No chance. I”m not setting foot out of D.C. until I find Martin. The director can wait.’

Ella”s heart twisted at the pain in Mia”s eyes, the desperation etched into every line of her face. This was tearing her up inside, eating her alive. And Ella was just standing there, watching it happen.

She took a deep breath, steeling herself for what was coming. It was now or never. Not only was this eating Mia from the inside out, but Edis was no doubt about to unload another case on them. They could be gone for days, weeks. Ella couldn’t let Mia torture herself while they were on the road.

Time to rip off the Band-Aid and face the messed-up truth.

‘Mia...’ she started, the words like broken glass in her throat. ‘Have you considered... I mean, is it possible that Martin could be... responsible for all this?’

Mia”s head snapped up, eyes blazing. ‘What?’

Ella held up her hands, palms out. A placating gesture, like she was trying to soothe a snarling dog. ‘Just hear me out, okay? Think about it. All these people, anyone who wronged us, dropping like flies.’ She trailed off, letting the implication hang in the air like a noose. Mia stared at her, mouth agape, a vein throbbing in her temple.

‘You’re not seriously saying this, are you?’

Even as she said it, Ella could see the doubt creeping in, the awful realization dawning in her eyes. Because deep down, Mia had to know. Had to have considered the possibility, even if she”d shoved it down and locked it away. It could be ignorance, obliviousness, stubbornness. But a part of Ripley had to have considered the possibility.

‘He had access, Mia,’ Ella pressed, hating herself for every word. ‘He was the only person that knew about Nash, Carter, Ben, Trevor. Tell me if I’m telling lies.’

Mia turned away and overlooked the lake. ‘No. There’s no chance. Martin is…’

But her voice was wavering now, the conviction leaching out of it like blood from a wound. Ella could see the cracks forming, the foundation of Mia”s world crumbling beneath her feet.

And God, it killed her to do this. To be the one to shatter Mia”s illusions, to rip away the blinders and force her to see the ugly truth. But someone had to. Someone had to say the words to voice the horrible suspicion that had been gnawing at Ella”s gut since yesterday.

Even if it meant losing Mia forever. Even if it meant watching her best friend, her sister-in-arms, break into a million jagged pieces right before her eyes.

Ella reached out and grabbed Mia’s hand. ‘I’m sorry, Mia. I really am. But we have to consider…’

Mia ripped her hand away, staggering back like Ella had slapped her. ‘We don’t have to consider shit,’ she snapped. ‘You’ve lost your mind.’

‘Have I? Because when I was here yesterday, I saw it.’

Mia spun and stared daggers at her possibly-former partner. ‘Saw what?’

”Martin. I saw it in his eyes. He knew I knew because he was the figure I saw in Ben”s apartment. He”s the guy on the CCTV footage from Carter”s murder. Hell, you can check it yourself.”

Mia strode closer, and if it was anyone but her partner in front of her, Ella could have sworn she was about to be punched. If it made Mia feel better, she could take all the shots she wanted.

‘And you got all that? From a glance?’

She had to make Mia see, had to drag her out of the dark pit of denial that threatened to swallow her. Ella knew that pit all too well.

‘Think about it, Ripley. Really think. Nobody else on this planet knew about our connections to Nash, Carter, Ben and Trevor.’

‘Oh please,’ Ripley practically screamed. ‘Nash was a known criminal. Everyone hated Carter. Trevor was a scumbag.’

Ella knew Ripley’s tone better than anyone. It was the same look she got when a perp tried to sweet talk her in the interrogation room, when a suspect thought they could pull a fast one.

‘And who knew about their connections to us? Me, you… and Martin. Nobody else.’

‘I’m not hearing this, Dark. You’re on my doorstep, telling me my partner is killing people? Why would he do that?’

Ella got it. God knows she did. The heart had a funny way of blinding you to the things you didn”t want to see, of making excuses and rationalizations for the inexcusable. She”d been there herself more times than she cared to admit.

But this was different. This was life and death, blood and bullets. They didn”t have the luxury of turning a blind eye, of pretending everything was sunshine and rainbows when the storm clouds were gathering on the horizon.

‘That’s what I’ve been asking myself. But please, we need to…’

‘If you ever mention this again, I swear I”ll-” Mia raised a hand, tensed harder than a slab of granite. Ella clocked it, shut her eyes, prepared to endure the sting of her once-partner”s fleshy palm.

But it didn’t come.

Mia slammed her hand into her own side, turned away and stormed back towards the house like a soldier marching into battle. Her shoulders were rigid, her spine ramrod straight, every line of her body screaming get the hell out of here.

Ella watched her go. There was a hollow ache in her chest, where her heart used to be. Two years they”d been partners, two years of having each other”s backs through thick and thin. They”d faced down serial killers and psychopaths, had stared into the abyss and come out the other side battered but still by each other”s side.

And suddenly it felt like it was all crumbling away, like the foundation of their friendship was built on quicksand and lies. Ella wanted to scream, to grab Mia by the shoulders and shake her until she saw sense, until she realized the danger they were in.

But she knew it was futile. Mia was too far gone, too deep in the trenches of love and loyalty to see the truth. She”d have to come to it on her own, have to face the ugly reality of Martin”s betrayal in her own time.

Mia slammed her front door, leaving Ella alone outside. For a long moment, she just stood there, staring at the closed door like a lost puppy waiting for its owner to come back.

But she knew they wouldn”t. Knew that Mia needed time, needed space to process the bombshell Ella had just dropped on her head. Pushing her now would drive the wedge between them deeper.

So Ella did the only thing she could. She turned on her heel and walked away, every step feeling like a mile, every breath like a knife to the lungs. She climbed into her car and started up the engine. She sat there a minute, fighting the urge to storm into Mia’s house, grab her by the shoulders and shake her until she saw reason. But she wrestled the temptation into submission and shoved the thoughts into the same dark corner of her mind where she kept all the other ugly truths and painful realities of her job.

This wasn”t about her. This was about Mia, about giving her the space and time she needed to come to terms with the fact that the man she loved, the man she”d given her heart to, was a monster in disguise.

Ella put the car in gear and pulled away. She didn”t look back, didn”t let herself dwell on the pain and heartbreak that lay behind her.

There would be time for that later, time to lick her wounds and nurse her broken heart. But right now, she had to get to work.