Ella said nothing. She gently felt her cheek with her hand. Her skin was scalding to the touch. Mark reached out to put his arms around her, but Ella moved back and held him at arms’ length.
“Don’t fucking touch me.”
“Please, that was an accident. I can’t control my temper. I’m seeing a therapist about it, I swear.”
Ella had reached her limit. After the past few weeks, her body and mind were both worn down to the nub. Humans were not designed to be exposed to this much stress, this much tragedy. She felt like every little thing chipped away at the very core of her being until there was nothing left but an empty shell.
“Ella? I’m sorry. Can we talk?”
No, they couldn’t.
Ella pushed Mark out of the way, the force burning her forearm injury. She ignored it. She didn’t care anymore. Pain be damned, she could handle it.
“Don’t go. We need to talk.”
She pushed herself up against Mark, brought her eyes to his. She curled her fist so hard it felt like a ball of granite on the end of her wrist.
“When I get back, you better not be here.”
She wasn’t going to hit him back. No way would she stoop so low. Ella stormed out of the front door and didn’t look back.
She had somewhere else to be.
***
Ella had never been here before, but she found the address in one of her old files. She stood out in the road, in the impenetrable country darkness, looking up at the lone house. Forbidding, unknown, silent.
The house was a grandiose piece of work. A driveway big enough for ten cars, three-stories of magnificent brick work and acres of green in every direction. It overlooked the beautiful Ozette Lake, and the nearest neighbor must have been a mile away or more.
It didn’t surprise her.
Ella shuffled up the cobblestone driveway to the front door, telling herself over and over again that this needed to be done. When she reached it, she raised her hand to knock, then lowered it again.
Midnight had come and gone. Would this be better at a more appropriate hour? Or was it equally as inappropriate at any hour?
Ella smelled the homely scent of the porch, saw the coats and boots hanging up on the inside. This was someone’s home, and she was invading it. Just like Mark had done, just like Tobias has done. Maybe she should learn lessons from those monsters and do everything she could to be the opposite of them?
This was wrong. She hadn’t been invited.
Ella stood still for a few minutes, feeling a comfort she hadn’t felt in a long time. But it was not her comfort to have. She was stealing it and she had to give it back.
She turned back down the driveway, leaving behind comfort but taking morality with her. A small victory if ever there was one.
“Dark,” the voice said.
Ella stopped, stared out at the crystalline lake in the distance. How much she’d missed that simple remark. She spun back around, locking eyes with her once-partner from twenty feet away.
“Mia.”
The woman at the door looked as immaculate as ever. Flowing red locks, a sculpted figure that any woman would kill for, let alone ones aged 55. The only difference was that Mia was wearing a satin gown, making it the only time Ella had seen in anything but her work clothes.
Mia walked out into the porch and flipped a switch. A blinding orange light burned down from above. After rehearsing this conversation over and over for the past two weeks, Ella found herself unable to speak. Ella knew Mia wouldn’t miss a thing, either. By now she would have seen the bruise on her cheek and the soreness in her eyes.
“Have you been crying?” asked Mia.
“Yes.”
“Why are you here?”
“Because I didn’t know where else to go.”
Mia stormed back towards the door, pulled it open and waited.
It was an invitation.
Ella couldn’t believe it.
“I’ve heard the news,” Mia said. “Come inside. We need to talk.”
NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!
GIRL, ERASED
(An Ella Dark FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 6)
FBI Special Agent Ella Dark has studied serial killers from the time she could read, devastated by the murder of her own sister, and has gained an encyclopedic knowledge of murderers. When doctors are found murdered in brutal ways, their bodies crammed into tubes and left on display, Ella struggles to see the connection. Has her knowledge reached its match?
“A MASTERPIECE OF THRILLER AND MYSTERY. Blake Pierce did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.”
--Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone)
GIRL, ERASED (An Ella Dark FBI Suspense Thriller) is book #6 in a long-anticipated new series by #1 bestseller and USA Today bestselling author Blake Pierce, whose bestseller Once Gone (a free download) has received over 1,000 five star reviews.
FBI Agent Ella Dark, 29, is given her big chance to achieve her life’s dream: to join the Behavioral Crimes Unit. Ella’s hidden obsession of gaining an encyclopedic knowledge of serial killers has led to her being singled out for her brilliant mind, and invited to join the big leagues.
But what is the common thread between these latest murders?
And can Ella figure it out and save the next victim’s life?
A page-turning and harrowing crime thriller featuring a brilliant and tortured FBI agent, the ELLA DARK series is a riveting mystery, packed with suspense, twists and turns, revelations, and driven by a breakneck pace that will keep you flipping pages late into the night.
Books #7-#9 are also available!
GIRL, ERASED
(An Ella Dark FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 6)
Did you know that I've written multiple novels in the mystery genre? If you haven't read all my series, click the image below to download a series starter!
Blake Pierce
Blake Pierce is the USA Today bestselling author of the RILEY PAGE mystery series, which includes seventeen books. Blake Pierce is also the author of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising fourteen books; of the AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising six books; of the KERI LOCKE mystery series, comprising five books; of the MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE mystery series, comprising six books; of the KATE WISE mystery series, comprising seven books; of the CHLOE FINE psychological suspense mystery, comprising six books; of the JESSE HUNT psychological suspense thriller series, comprising twenty one books; of the AU PAIR psychological suspense thriller series, comprising three books; of the ZOE PRIME mystery series, comprising six books; of the ADELE SHARP mystery series, comprising fifteen books, of the EUROPEAN VOYAGE cozy mystery series, comprising four books; of the new LAURA FROST FBI suspense thriller, comprising six books (and counting); of the new ELLA DARK FBI suspense thriller, comprising eleven books (and counting); of the A YEAR IN EUROPE cozy mystery series, comprising nine books, of the AVA GOLD mystery series, comprising six books (and counting); and of the RACHEL GIFT mystery series, comprising six books (and counting).