“The second shot would have hit you square in the chest.”
All eyes turned to Van, who didn’t even try to look sorry for the blunt comment. Ellie appreciated his candor. Sugar-coating the situation wouldn’t do any of them any good.
“If that one didn’t do the trick”—Chase chimed in—“the third bullet would have.”
While she took a moment to process, well,everything, Lucky and the other men of Eagle’s Nest began discussing it all aloud.
“Okay,” Archer started. “So a serial killer Ellie helps to convict escapes, and while she’s at a press conference to discuss that whole situation, someone tries to shoot her.”
“George Ray Harvey?” Chase posed the question to the room. “I mean, it stands to reason, the guy would hold a hefty grudge against the woman who prosecuted him.”
Ellie’s lips parted to argue against that fact, but Logan spoke before she got the chance.
“The guy’s obviously not above taking an innocent life,” the team’s leader pointed out. “So yeah, I’d say he’s definitely at the top of the list.”
“Cassie said Harvey was the reason you left the D.A.’s office,” Archer announced. “That it was after his trial when you decided to switch teams and become a full-time defense attorney.”
Mental note…remind Cassie that not everything has to be shared with her soon-to-be-husband.
“I left for several reasons,” she avoided giving a direct answer. “But—”
“Was it because he’s a serial killer?” Chase’s interruption was filled with genuine curiosity. “Or was it because of what happened in the courtroom that day? Not that I’d blame you, either way.” The well-intended man had rushed to add that last part. “That guy’s one sick fuck.”
The sickest.
“There were a lot of factors that went into my decision to leave Pierce County five years ago,” she kept her answer vague.
“But Harvey was one of them,” Archer stated.
From the look on the man’s face, Ellie suspected he already knew the truth. Part of it, anyway. The part that had made the news.
But no one knew the whole story. No one but her, a serial killer…and whoever had helped him after his conviction.
If they don’t know already, they’re going to find out sooner or later. May as well get this part out of the way now.
Knowing her inner voice was right, Ellie straightened her spine and prepared herself for what she had to do. It had been years since she’d discussed this part of the story. But Lucky’s findings had been clear…
Someone wanted her dead. And in order for the men in this room to keep that from happening, they needed to know it all.
Nerves danced inside her belly, and the trembling in her hands returned. Not because she was afraid of Harvey, but because she feared what the men in the room would think of her once they knew.
Her gaze lifted to Lucky who, along with the others, was patiently waiting for her to respond. It was in that moment Ellie realized she didn’t care what the others thought about her. The only opinion that mattered was his.
“I’m sure you all know what happened the last day of Harvey’s trial.” Still, she went for a very short recap, just in case. “I gave my closing arguments, Harvey’s attorney did the same, and just as the judge was finishing everything up, all hell broke loose.”
“Is it true that Harvey killed his attorney with the man’s own ink pen?”
A flash of a memory filled her vision, but Ellie shook it off and forced herself to remain focused. “Yeah,” she answered Chase’s next question. And…shit. Had her voice just cracked? Giving it a good clearing, she sat herself up a little straighter. “He, uh…he grabbed his lawyer’s pen and stabbed him in the side of the neck. Then he and the guard who was supposed to escort him fought. Harvey managed to get the man’s gun andturn it on him and then the judge.” Her lungs felt tight when she tried pulling in a deep breath. “All three died before help could arrive.”
Several low curses filled the room as the men around her shook their heads in disgust.
“Harvey attacked you, too, didn’t he?”
Ellie’s eyes flew to Lucky’s, the answer evident in his intelligent stare. That part of the story had been in the papers, too. The papers. The news. Social media. It was everywhere. For a while, her face was plasteredeverywhere.
Just made it that much easier for him to find me.
“Why ask the question if you already know the answer?” she challenged back.