CHAPTER FOUR
Mia Ripley, never one for gratitude, dropped her bag in the aisle and said, ‘Dark, what have I done to deserve a trip to Louisiana?’
‘Good to see you too,’ Ella said.
Ripley took the seat opposite and removed her jacket. Ella had made the trip to the airport alone and arranged to meet on board the plane. It was an orchestrated move to give Ripley less time to question the purpose of the trip.
‘I didn’t say it was good to see you. I’ve seen you enough. What’s the case? Vernon was vague with the details.’
‘Yeah, he said he would be.’
‘So?’
‘No case,’ Ella said.
Ripley gave her a stare that was also somehow a sigh. ‘So… what? We’re going New Orleans to party? Vernon would never be that nice.’
‘He just sent you to London, didn’t he?’
‘That was a political move. A brown-nose move. Don’t tell me this is the same?’
Ella shook her head. ‘We’re going to New Orleans to be escorts.’
‘No kidding? We’ll make a ton more money than we do at the Bureau.’
‘Not that kind of escort. Austin Creed is being transferred from Louisiana State to D.C. We’re the lucky ones who get to keep an eye on him on the journey home.’
Ripley froze, then tapped her left ear. ‘Say that into my good side, Dark, because I thought I heard you say that we’re escorting Austin Creed back to D.C.’
‘You got it.’
Her partner put her bag on her lap, then pulled out a bottle of water and some tablets from within. She took two, then put everything back. ‘You see that? Doctor says I’ve got high blood pressure, and I’m starting to think it’s because of you.’
‘What? This is your kind of trip. It was me who requested your presence.’
Ripley eyeballed her bag again, like she was contemplating knocking back even more medication.
‘Slow down, woman. So this morning I was having a grand old time working from home – on full pay, keep in mind – and now I’m being dragged to NOLA to guard some weedy little bitch murderer on his class outing? And you thought this was a good idea?’
‘Yeah,’ Ella said. ‘The good news is that we could be there a few days, too.’
Ripley rubbed her forehead with both hands. Ella knew the routine by now. Ripley needed to complain before she agreed to anything.. Ella wasn’t sure if it was some kind of psychological barrier or if Ripley just enjoyed making Ella work for her cooperation, but either way, it was predictable.
‘You’re going to be the death of me,’ Ripley said.
‘You love it.’
‘I really don’t. It’s lucky I don’t have Max this week, or you’d be screwing up my whole life instead of just half of it.’
‘I know you don’t have him. I saw your schedule on your calendar at your place.’
‘And you memorized it?’
‘Maybe.’
Ripley shook her head. ‘Unbelievable. As if you and Hawkins knocking boots in my spare room last week wasn’t enough. Why didn’t you drag him south instead?’
‘There’s a joke in there somewhere,’ Ella said. ‘He’s busy, though. He has to plaster over the bullet holes in our ceiling.’
Ripley summoned the stewardess over and ordered a neat whiskey. Ella guessed it was the first of many she’d be consuming on this trip. ‘You didn’t get a tradesman to do it?’
‘Not after what the last tradesman tried to do.’
‘Fair point. Please tell me it’s not just me and you on this trip.’
‘No. There’ll be a SWAT team with us too. And Terrance Dever.’
‘Ugh. Dever. He’s not on this flight, is he?’
‘Nope. He’s flying out tomorrow. I don’t think he wanted to be stuck on a plane with me and you.’
‘Good. So, what’s the plan, exactly?’ asked Ripley.
‘We go to New Orleans, we meet with local PD because they’re the ones providing the muscle. Dever and Vernon are dealing with the legal stuff, and once we’ve got clearance, Creed will be ushered out of that prison the same day. SWAT team will be on standby. That’s as much as I know.’
‘Fun. Let’s hope Creed is still the barrel of laughs he was last time we saw him. Which, if memory serves me, was in the back of a police car outside a women’s shelter.’
Ella grinned, despite the topic. ‘And here’s me thinking that you forgot about your old cases as soon as they were over.’
‘I remember that one because it was my first case with you, and yes, I’ve been trying to forget about it ever since. Anyway, what’s the latest with Lindsey Doyle? Has she confessed yet?’
Ella wasn’t looking forward to this part. She took a breath.
‘She hasn’t confessed. She hasn’t said anything at all, actually. Complete radio silence since we brought her in.’
‘Classic. Give me five minutes with her and I’ll loosen her up. I’ve got a bone to pick with that bitch for what she left on my doorstep.’
‘Well, it gets weirder than that. Lindsey Doyle has a twin sister. Tracy Doyle.’
Ripley accepted her drink from the stewardess and put it on the table. ‘I knew she had a sister, but a twin sister? Really?’
‘Yeah. Identical. And we can’t confirm which one we have in custody.’
Ripley said, ‘Dark, you’ve read Sherlock Holmes, haven’t you?’
‘Of course.’
‘It’s never twins.’
‘No, it definitely is twins. We knew she had a sister, but we didn’t know they were identical.’
Ripley snorted. ‘Did the date of birth not give it away?’
‘I didn’t see her date of birth! That was Dever’s job.’
‘In that case, I can’t say I’m surprised. So let me get this straight: both of these women are dangerous, and only one is in custody?’
Ella didn’t know the extent of Tracy’s involvement, but given that she covered for her sister by lying about her whereabouts, Ella had to assume Tracy was involved somehow. ‘Yes.’
‘And we don’t have any idea where Twin Number Two is? Or what she might be planning?’
‘No. I told Luca to hide out at a hotel for the next few weeks in case she tries to finish what her sister started. He said he’d sleep there, but wouldn’t stay there all day.’
‘Stubborn, but I get it.’
Luca had survived one Doyle sister. He seemed to think that made him invincible.
‘So why are we bringing Creed into this?’ Ripley asked. ‘If we can’t tell which sister is which, what’s the point?’
‘He spent a year with Lindsey, or at least we hope he did. He knows her better than anyone.’
‘And you think he’s going to help us out of the goodness of his heart?’
‘No. We’re offering him a deal. Life imprisonment instead of the death penalty.’
‘And you’re okay with that?’
Ella looked out the window. The plane was taxiing now. The runway stretched out ahead. ‘What choice do I have?’
Ripley drained her whiskey and set the glass down. ‘You know, this is stupid but it might just work. Creed will love it too. He gets to play detective, he gets to see the outside world one more time and he gets to live. Win, win, win.’
That part annoyed Ella more than she cared to admit. Creed was getting exactly what he wanted, but what could she do? Vernon had already made the deal.
The plane’s engines roared and the acceleration pushed Ella back into her seat. She watched the terminal fall away beneath them and tried to shake the feeling that had been sitting in her stomach since she left Dever’s office.
Something about this didn’t add up.
Twin sisters, mismatched DNA and a woman who refused to speak.
It was incredibly convenient, and Ella had learned a long time ago that when things looked convenient, they usually weren’t.