Chapter 20 #2
"Ahh, there we go," Ellington teased. "All I needed to do was dangle your bestie to get your attention. Are you ready to wake up, Lara?"
I shook my head, thumb hovering over my phone.
"What?"
"He's fucking with you." Beck rolled his eyes.
Ellington growled, the playful tone evaporating.
"I'm the only chance you have of not ending up dead.
The council is corrupt and has been for decades.
They send agents to eliminate threats and use the fallout to rake in cash.
Who are the criminals going to go to? The police?
We're the law behind the lawless, and the council has been exploiting that power.
When an agent talks back or asks too many questions, they get taken care of too. "
Beck let out a bark of laughter. "Can you believe this guy?"
My stomach twisted, and I thought of Amato's face. The desperation and resignation were etched on his expression. I'd combed through the data but had been unable to find anything that backed up what The Unseen said about him. I'd never told Beck that.
"What does this have to do with Adelaide?"
"Thornridge, Amato…Orazio's next on the list. Why do you think I'm here? I'm going to stop them if it's the last thing I do."
The back of my neck prickled. Beck tossed his hands in the air like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Why are you telling us this?" I said.
The red light blinked and blinked.
Ellington's rattling sigh came through the speaker. "I believe they're going to pin it on you, Lara. You killed Amato, as far as they know. They sent you here knowing you'd never find me. When they take down Adelaide with false evidence, they can blame it on you."
My insides clenched with instant denial. Beck bent over and laughed. The sound echoed like a macabre warning in the empty strip club. I couldn't look away from the camera.
"You expect us to believe you when you live for playing games…" Beck's jaw tightened.
"I'm only human. I tried to warn Amato too, but he didn't listen." Ellington's voice was silky. "Does that irk you, Beck? You rescued your Little Liar, and she moved on and forgot all about you. I have a big ego, but yours must be crushed now you have to share her."
Beck slashed his hand at the red blinking dot. He leaned close, as if contemplating tearing it apart.
"Lara's mine. Your fucked up little games change nothing. You're too smart to think this would work. It's just another way to mess with your toys."
What about Ray? Hiding because Adelaide thought he was dangerous to her. Was this all connected to The Unseen? My wrists ached as if a string knotted around them.
"You're right." Ellington sighed, and it sounded regretful.
"You realize how difficult it is to believe this, right? You could say anything." I explained. Frustration ate at my insides, but I didn't let my reaction show.
"I had to try," Ellington said. "Do you have room between your legs for one more, darling?"
Beck pointed toward the camera. "You can hide behind this camera, but when I smash it, I'll be imagining your face."
A peal of rough laughter exploded from the camera, almost choking.
"How swoony. I love a sincere throw-down threat. So rare these days. When you end up with a bullet in your head, I hope you think of me. I tried, I really did."
My thumb shook as I hit my phone, downloading all the tracing data before the red light winked out.
"He's taunting us. Feeding us shit. This was a power play, nothing more." Beck launched from the booth and ripped the camera off the table. He threw it across the room. It hit the wall with a satisfying crunch. Beck, not done, lifted his boot and ground it into the mess.
"Who does he think we are? Fucking flies in a web? I don't think so. He'll get my bullet before he ever gets close to me," Beck ranted, and I slapped my hands down on his shoulders.
His chest heaved. I held his gaze, staring into his eyes.
"You don't think there was…" some truth to what he said? I rubbed my hands down Beck's arms. "It sounded like he had a personal connection to Thornbridge."
His eyes fluttered closed, and his nostrils flared as he calmed himself.
"I hate to break it to you, Little Liar, but people can be twisted assholes and still have people they truly love. Maybe they're monsters for the people in their circle, like me." Fury brightened in his expression.
"Okay, let's get out of here. The gloom is creeping me out."
"Did you get something on there?" Beck jerked his head at the phone in my white-knuckled hand.
"Yeah, it's unlikely he's there, but it's worth a try." I shrugged as my stomach swooped.
My knees were watery as we walked down the alleyway.
Ellington toyed with me like a cat, and I felt phantom scratch marks.
What he said threatened to shatter the eggshell foundations supporting my world.
I worked with The Unseen because we controlled the bad from getting worse.
The Unseen would have kept my mom from dying the way she did.
They could have kept the gangs running my hometown in check, but I'd relied on the police force, the judges, but with my mom's reputation justice wasn't forthcoming.
If Ellington spoke the truth, and The Unseen were truly corrupted?
I couldn't let his lies sink into me. It would mean I'd wasted my entire life on something that wasn't real.
"Stop." Beck slipped in front of me and clamped his hands on my arms. "I can hear your thoughts racing. Every word that asshole said was a lie, and he wants to get under our skin. He was a top agent for a reason."
But his words hit my weak point. Adelaide.
I shook my head and gave Beck a shaky smile.
Ellington had done a good job of throwing me.
I had to be smarter than this. Something caught my eye.
I pointed at a tech shop across the street.
The kind you could take a stolen laptop into and get reset for cash under the table.
I smiled. "They've got cameras."
It pointed directly down the alleyway.
"Good spot. Let's hope our man was sloppy enough to let it slide."
"He rattled me about Adelaide. I couldn't handle anything happening to the people I care about."
Beck pulled me to his side and nosed my hair, taking a deep breath.
"You worried about me, Little Liar?"
"Don't you feel like a sitting duck?"
"No. You have me on your side."
Beck prowled toward the shop as my heart rate thundered, but I meant what I said. I didn't like the idea of someone knowing my secrets. Ellington made many threats and, unfortunately, he had the upper hand.
"Can I help you?" a man said, lowering the laptop he was working on underneath the counter.
"Yeah, Simon." Beck dropped his gaze to the man's lanyard. "Do you have cameras that point at the alleyway?"
Beck walked behind the counter and started searching. Simon's Adam's apple bobbed in his pasty neck, and he stuttered out a protest.
"Y-you can't be behind here."
Beck made a noise, dug around in his pocket, and pulled out a badge.
"I'm a chief of police, and you can show me the cameras or the stolen goods you've got stashed under your bench, your choice."
Simon wisely waved us into the back, his forehead dotted with sweat. I tried to reassure him as his fingers slipped on the keys. He looked like he was about to keel over.
"The stuff you saw—it's not stolen, just secondhand and—" Simon explained, but Beck waved him off, shoulders hunched over the computer.
"We're more interested in the feeds, thanks."
Beck pursed his lips, turning his attention back to the screens. He scrolled through the last few days to see if anyone had entered the alleyway.
"We've got this, thanks," I said, but Simon lingered for a moment, licking his lips with indecision.
Beck shot him a dark look, and he scurried away, preferring to deal with the wrath of his bosses than the man perusing his security feed.
"I'm not a fan of games," Beck said, and I rolled my eyes until he added, "unless I'm playing them. This gives a pretty good view of the alleyway. We just have to hope he turned right after setting up."
Beck stiffened, rolling back the tape with a gust of satisfaction.
"Ah, look familiar?" Beck pulled my chair in, and I searched the grainy background.
A lanky, tall man with a dark jacket and backpack.
He ducked into the alleyway. Beck rewound it and paused right as the man looked over at the computer shop.
He stared right at the camera for a beat.
His hair flopped over his forehead, but something was familiar about the slash of his nose and his long, wide mouth flattened with determination.
"What the fuck?" I turned to the screen. "I can't believe this."
Air rushed out of my lungs at the same time Beck clapped his hands in the air, placing who the familiar face was.
"What is Connall doing here?"