Hell's Angel: Devil's Backbone (BK 2)

Partners in Crime

Alison's POV
(bellamysgirl)

Let's go to the Bulletin, she said. It will be fun, she said. I sighed heavily, walking into the Bulletin offices behind Karen. This was a bad idea. I would only get more guff from Ellison because of this. Of course, Karen needed proof that it wasn't Frank. And...I think I almost did, too. It was all too coincidental. I mean, the very day after I tell him about Chase, he's suddenly out on the streets again?

He was not the happiest camper in the cabin when I left him. Good job, Alison. Provoke a killer. It's kind of what I do. Ellison held up his arms as he walked toward us. "Tell me you were there," he said, stopping a foot from us.

"Yeah, we were there," Karen nodded.

"Well, do you guys need anything? A med eval, a blanket-?"

I inhaled and pointed a finger at him. "Dumb question."

He nodded. "Right. Was this Frank Castle?" he asked, mostly looking at me. I didn't know what to say. I wanted to say no. Everything in me was begging for it. But I couldn't, because Karen answered first. "That's what we're trying to figure out," she nodded once. "If Castle did this—if—he's not gonna stop."

"Well, we gotta stay ahead of him. He already took out the DA-"

"Allegedly," I shook my head.

"Fine," Ellison sighed. "Who'd be next on the short list?" Both Karen and Ellison looked to me. I sighed heavily and ran my hand back through my hair, thinking. I shook my head a little, throwing a hand up in a gesture. "Probably the people that crossed him," I wrapped my arms around myself. "Maybe the medical examiner that falsified the records?"

"Tepper. He's probably still holding up in that rat hole we found him in last time," Ellison agreed.

Karen nodded. "Exactly. We were gonna go over there now."

"Wait, what?" I eyed Karen.

"Not alone, you aren't," Ellison said, not seeming to notice my question. He sighed heavily and grabbed his coat off the nearby coat rack. "Let's do this." We took my car—mostly because that's the car Karen and I took to get here. I didn't know where we were supposed to go so Karen gave me directions from the passenger seat. My heart sank at the sight of police cruisers outside of the hotel. I pulled into a space beside one of them and cut the engine.

No. No, no, no. I quickly got out and shut my door, stifling a plea from Karen to wait. My heart was thumping in my ears now. I took quick steps into the building and through the halls. All I had to do was follow the occasional cop passing by. It lead me right to the room. My feet froze in the doorway, my hand instantly clapping over my mouth. There was a bloodied sheet draped over an obvious body center room, at the end of the bed.

We were too late. The medical examiner was dead. Shot multiple times by the look of it. "Geez, Fletcher," Ellison mumbled hurrying down the hall toward me, Karen right behind him. I turned to them as they slowed to a stop a few feet from the door. I shook my head, dropping my hand. "He's gone," I said, stepping away. "One body, many bullets—it's just like at the courthouse."

"Alison, I'm sure it's not Frank-" Karen shook her head.

"Are you kidding me? All the signs point right to him," Ellison interjected. "You wanna report the news, or really get to the truth? The first step is you gotta put aside your personal feelings. And I mean about everything. Now, I know how much it hurts-"

"I'm fine," I shook my head, turning to them. Karen looked at me sympathetically.

She looked to Ellison. "You think we projected?"