“Twenty four hours and counting” she said quietly. That’s all it had taken was twenty four hours. Ella now had all the pieces together. Well, she would if she lived long enough to get this last piece with the rest of them, if she could find it.
She bashed her knee on the corner of a table in the dark. Slapping her hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t scream out loud. Frozen for a moment, she made sure no one heard her. Easing down on the couch, Ella rolled up her pant leg as best she could. There was a little blood, no real damage.
She yanked down the pant leg, and stood up. No time to loose. She had to get what she needed and get out of this rat’s nest. She started opening drawers and rifling through as quietly as she could.
“What the…?” She reached in one drawer and picked up a plastic bag. She recognized the two cell phones. She shook her head. “Ian hasn’t lost as many as he thought.” She shoved them in her over sized shoulder bag and decided she’d better be a little more detailed.
If, God forbid, she wasn’t able to blow the whistle on this, the least she could do was make it difficult for them to carry it out. She wasn’t exactly sure what they were planning, but she knew it entailed setting Ian up. At least they hadn’t gotten scared and cleaned the place out.
She knew this was where it all ended, or at least the diversion. As she canvassed the place she marveled at how detailed they’d been. It was all ready. She couldn’t figure out what they were waiting for, probably to get they’re hands on as much money as they could.
Blue was just supposed to scare the poor guy out of town. He was only supposed to threaten the boy enough to make Ian scoop him up and head out of town for good. They had promised him that all they needed was Justyn gone, not dead.
The plans had changed at the last minute. That’s what Blue had called and told her. She didn’t know how they’d changed, but she was pretty sure it didn’t include Blue ending up dead. Then again, she knew these guys played rough.
She stuffed some papers in her shoulder bag, and decided to look in the closet. When she opened the door, digging around she spotted exactly what she was looking for. She reached up and grabbed the stack of disks. “Jackpot…” she said quietly.
It was what she needed to link everyone together. It was Blue’s idea, man but he was kinky, and they thought he was dumb. Well he was, but he was smart enough to have a little insurance they didn’t know about.
Maybe Blue being dead was part of the plan. He was a talker. It’s how she pieced everything together, at least enough to start a quiet and very thorough dig.
Slipping the stack with the rest in her bag, she looked around. “Just in case….” Ella went back to the drawers in the table, yanking out an envelope. She quickly addressed it and slipped one of the discs in. “Stamps, stamps…how many stamps…”
Ella slid open drawers knowing good and well she had seen a book in there somewhere. As always it was the last drawer she looked in. She pulled out the book and put all but one of the self-adhesives on the envelope. She started to lick the seal but something in the drawer caught her eye.
She reached in the drawer. Surely that wasn’t a pile of…she stared in wonder at the pile of laminated plastic in her hands. She smiled dropping a handful in her bag. “He’ll never miss a handful will he?”
Plucking one more out and sticking it in the envelope with the disk. “Or this one.” She licked the flap shut and cracked the door, peering out to make sure there was no one in the hallway.
Free and clear, Ella slipped out. She walked as softly as she could. There was no sense in drawing attention to herself. If she could just get out of the building and disappear into the alley without being seen, there was no reason for her to come out of her hiding place until this was all over.
An old woman smiled at her as they passed each other in the stairway. “Are you new in the building honey?”
Ella just wanted ignore her, but the woman was rather large and blocking her way. “No ma’am, I was trying to find a friend, but it looks like he’s not home.”
“5D?” She asked curiously. “Don’t looked so surprised. I know everyone in this building. Haven’t seen Bruno in weeks. You want I should give him a message?”
“No.” Ella smiled. “Old girlfriend, I was going to surprise him.”
The old woman chortled. “Oh sweetheart, you’re the one in for a surprise.” She shuffled past her and laughed the rest of the way up the stairs.
Ella took a deep breath when she’d made it to the lobby doors. “Okay, girl, another hundred feet and you are home free.” She pushed open the door and strode outside.
The street was empty. It was late, that shouldn’t have surprised her. She saw the alley between the buildings out of the corner of her eye. She also spotted the mailbox, the big old fashioned metal mailbox.
Ella walked over and pulled down the lid with a heavy clunk, tossing the envelope inside. “Just in case.” She jumped at the loud sound it made when she let the lid drop.
She looked both ways. The street was still empty. Her head turned to a sound. Ella smiled. It was a stray dog. She darted into the seclusion of the alley, the dog following. She was home free, all bets hedged.
Feeling relieved she bent down to pat the dog on the head before turning the corner at the end of the alley, beginning the back street maze that would take her to complete safety.
“Good boy.” She said, giving the smelly mutt one last stroke.
Ella froze in mid-pat when a pair of feet appeared in front of her. She slowly lifted her head up.
“Ella.” The man said. “I almost didn’t recognize you.”
She stood up, slowly.
“I like the new look, though.” He smiled, the cool detached smile.
“I guess I went a little crazy with the scissors.” She said.
“Yes.” He sighed, looking almost convincingly mournful. “Terrible about poor Blue.”
She pointed back behind her. “I’ve just come from his sister. She lives a few blocks over that way.”
“Oh.” He smiled. “I was wondering what brought you all the way down here by the river. I didn’t realize Blue had family anywhere around.”
“Yes. A sister with three kids.” She started running with the lie until she saw her chance to run. “They’re going to have a hard time. Blue helped out financially as much as he could.”
“Sweet.” He took a step towards her. Ella tried not to flinch. “It’s late to be out by yourself. May I give you a lift somewhere?”
“I’m a born and bred River Rat. Thanks anyway.” Ella slid a hand deep into her purse and smiled, running with the lie. “There will only be a small memorial service, Danika’s still putting together details, but I think it will be Thursday.”
“Danika?”
“Blue’s sister.” Ella nodded. “I’ll let you know. Good night…Bruno.” She walked as nonchalantly as possible past him. She almost thought he’d bought it when she felt his hand clamp on her arm. She stopped dead in her tracks.
She could feel him step closely behind her. She could feel his breath on her ear. “You’re a lying bitch.”
That was her cue. She elbowed him in the stomach and took a step backward grabbing him as he bent forward. She shifted all her weight on her other foot and tossed him easily over her head into the wall at the end of the alley, then ran like hell.
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