“Eloise,” she murmurs.
“Is that your name? Or is that what they call you? I want to know your name. Your real name.”
“Devon.”
Her lips twitch as she says it, like she has to remember how, but it feels good.
“Devon. Hi, Devon. I’m Emma. How long has it been since someone has said your name?”
“Five years.”
“Well, Devon, I will say it as many times as you need me to. We need to move again. Okay, Devon? We’re going to head for that group of trees. I’m going to get you out of here. I promise, Devon. Now let’s go!”
She nods, and we take off for the trees. Every time we run, we’re in the open. I brace myself for the sound of heavy footfalls or the men shouting.
But that’s not what I hear.
First, there is a gunshot. The bullet whizzes just past us into the night. They see us. My blood goes cold.
I hold Devon under my arm and duck, trying to find cover. But it’s no use. There are too many of them, and I have nowhere to hide behind.
I rest Devon to the ground and stand, prepared to face them, and protect her as much as I can. An instant later, the air around me splits.
Sirens. Blue lights washing over me.
My knees give way, and I sink down beside her.
The rest is a blur.
Booming voices over a megaphone. Officers scrambling over the wall. A car smashing into the gate. Arms scooping me up.
“Agent Griffin?” a voice asks. “Are you hurt? Do you need medical attention?”
“I’m fine,” I insist. I’m tired and woozy and overwhelmed, but I’m not seriously hurt.
“Thanks for your tip. Great thinking out there. We were able to triangulate your location from the car.”
My heart sinks.
“I, um,” I try, but my words are slurred. Maybe Ian hit me harder than I thought. “Do you… I was working with Sherriff Sam Johnson in Sherwood, Virginia…”
“He’s fine. A bit battered up, but he’s going to pull through. He’s in the hospital in Virginia. He told me to tell you Eric is on his way.”
I nod, suddenly exhausted. With the help of another agent, I stagger my way to the ambulance, Devon passed out on my shoulder, but am only dimly aware of handing her off to the EMT before I slump off into unconsciousness.
Two days later, I make my way down the hall into another hospital room. The doctors insist on keeping me for another couple of days even though I know I’m fine to go home. I just got punched in the face once and had some minor cuts and bruises. But I can move around, and that means I have a visit to make.
This time when I walk into the room, she’s partially sitting up. Her hair is clean and brushed, spread out on the pillow around her, and the IV in her arm has brought some color to her cheeks.
“Hi, Devon,” I smile. “It’s good to see you awake.”
“How can I thank you?” she asks, her voice still soft. “You saved my life.”
I shake my head. “You don’t need to. But there’s something I want to show you.” I take out my phone and bring it to the side of the bed. Sitting on one of the chairs, I lean close and hold the picture up to her. Devon’s eyes well with tears as she runs her fingertips across it. “She’s the one you should thank. Her name is Everly Zara.”
Epilogue
One month later
“I asked you that earlier!”
“You did not ask me that earlier.”
“Yes, I did! And you said you couldn’t disprove me.”
“Nope.”
“I suspected Mrs. White in the ballroom with the revolver. And you said you couldn’t prove me wrong,” I insist.
“You started to suspect Mrs. White, then you changed your mind and suspected Miss Peacock instead,” Sam tells me.
“Which I really didn’t appreciate because I was on my way to the lounge,” Janet pipes up.
I look down at my clue sheet in front of me.
“Well, shit.”
Everybody laughs, and I toss the paper and pen onto the board.
“It’s alright, babe. You’ll solve a murder one of these days,” Sam winks, leaning over to kiss my cheek.
“Mr. Boddy just needs to stop getting his ass killed. That’s a solution.” My phone rings, where I left it on the counter across the room, and I stand up to get it. “Let this be my official nomination for Twister next week.”
“I’ll start stretching now,” Paul says.
I laugh and reach up to loosen my pendant from where it’s gotten tangled in my hair. I don’t remember wearing this necklace with my mother, but every time I put it on, I can feel her closer. I pick up my phone and send a smile over my shoulder to Sam.
“Hello?” I say.
“Emma?”
“Yes?”
The call ends, and I look down at the screen. “That was weird.”
“Who was it?” Sam asks.
My phone alerts to a new message coming in, and I open it.
“Listen carefully,” I read.
“To what?” Sam asks, coming across the room to me. We turn away from Paul and Janet. They’re wonderful to have as friends and all, but I don’t exactly want to involve them in this whole tangled mess that is my last few months.
“There’s a video.”
I open it and immediately recognize the Richmond bus station. A face appears in front of the camera.
“That’s one of the victims of the bombing,” Sam says. “Mary. She was a vlogger.”
The pretty young girl grins at the camera she holds high above her and scans back and forth to show more of her surroundings. She’s saying something about picking up luggage tags at the desk. The camera swoops to the side and suddenly catches the man in front of her.
“That’s Greg,” I say, jumping slightly.
He leans toward the man behind the desk and says something, but I don’t understand him.
“Listen carefully,” Sam reminds me, pointing at the screen.
I scan back several seconds, turn up the volume, and try to drown out Mary’s voice. When I see Greg lean toward the man, I zoom in and notice he’s handing him something. Then he speaks.
“Give this to Emma Griffin.”
Dear Reader,
Thank you for your continued support. I really appreciate that you now read the third book in my series. No worries if this is the first book you read, you can checkout the rest here and they can all be read as standalone.
If you enjoyed this book, please leave me a review on Amazon. Your reviews allow me to get the validation to keep this series going and also helps attract new readers.
Just a moment of your time is all that is needed.
I promise to always do my best to bring you thrilling adventures.
Yours,
A.J. Rivers
P.S. Keep a look out for The Girl Next Door the next book in Emma Griffin FBI Mysteries coming soon.
P.S.S. If for some reason you didn't like this book or found typos or other errors, please let me know personally. I do my best to read and respond to every email at aj@riversthrillers.com