Expired Cache - Lisa Phillips Page 0,51
pray, of all things.
“Whoever brought him here, they beat him pretty badly,” Conroy said. “I’d guess they carried him, because I’m not sure he’d have made it under his own steam. Though, it’s possible. We’ll have to see what the doctor says about his state.”
While he spoke, the EMTs carried the lawyer past them, headed away and down the path at a steady clip that was almost a run.
“Jess needs to go too.”
“I’ll take her in a second.” Conroy watched Jess make her way over.
“Are you okay?”
Ellie’s sister snuggled up to her side. “My head’s going to hurt like a mother tomorrow.”
She frowned at Jess’s use of language.
Her sister chuckled. “Other than that, I feel like I’ve been blown up, and I want to hurl.”
“Great.” She didn’t like how many people were getting hurt. But it felt good to hug her little sister right now.
“We need to get this guy.” Jess said, “If my head didn’t hurt, I’d probably have an idea how to do that. I’m sure I would.”
Conroy nodded. “I’m sure, too.”
“I have to figure this out.” She asked Dean, “The house is okay, right? Because all the things of my grandfather’s that I collected are there.”
Assuming what she’d taken would even help her now. Maybe she’d missed the solution that was right in front of her, and now it was blown up. Everything he’d given her that she’d left behind was now smoldering rubble.
Dean went to retrieve his backpack. Maybe that had been blown up as well.
Ellie couldn’t lose it. Even if she wanted to, nothing would come of grieving this loss. Not right now. Maybe later, when she was alone in the bathtub like before. Or not, since it would be much better to actually take a bath to just relax.
But how could she do that when there was so much going on? A man was in the hospital. The mystery was still a mystery, and now it wasn’t just her that was at risk. The lives of people she cared about were in danger.
“Okay, let go.” Jess shifted away from her.
Ellie realized she’d been squeezing her sister way too hard. “Sorry.”
Dean finally looked up from his tablet. “The house is good, Ellie. For now.”
“So what’s next?” Ted glanced between them.
Dean answered, “Ellie saw his face.”
“You did?”
She nodded in response to Conroy’s question. Jess looked about ready to blow. Ellie said, “I saw him, so I grabbed Dean’s gun and chased after him. But he got away.”
“With the gun.”
Ellie pressed her lips together.
“Sorry,” Dean said. “I was just remembering aloud what happened to it.”
Conroy tapped on the screen of his phone, then said, “If I get you to look at mug shots, Ellie, do you think you’d be able to ID him?”
“Maybe.” She thought about it. “I’ve seen him twice, but I’ve never gotten a good look at his face.”
Jess squeezed her hand. “It’s worth a try, right? He nearly killed the lawyer, just for doing his job reading us the will.”
Conroy said, “Maybe.”
Her sister whirled on him. “What?”
Ellie had no idea what “cop” thing was transpiring between them. “Someone should probably explain this to me, as well.”
“It’s like you said.” Conroy nodded to her. “He might be in the same position as you, and knowing too much makes him a threat to whoever wants to keep their secret.” Conroy turned his phone so she could see the screen. “I took this photo of his shoulder when they were taking him out of here. I’ve never seen it before, so I snapped a picture. Considering everything, I didn’t want to take a chance.”
“So you do know what’s been happening.”
“Only what has Jess told me.”
Ellie was about to argue with him when her sister said, “Pop had one of those.”
“What?” She turned to her sister, then looked at the screen of the phone. “He did?”
“I saw it when he was sick. I had to help him dress a few times.” Jess’s eyes were dark, full of grief. “It was on his shoulder. He said it was an old Navy tattoo.”
“So maybe they got the tattoos at the same time.” Ellie shrugged. “What does it mean?”
“They served together.” Dean’s expression darkened. “Holmford, Ridgeman, and my father.”
She swallowed. “Mr. Holmford was one of the men in the photo as well?”
Dean said, “We really do need to find my father then.”
Conroy said, “What if all those military guys in that photo of yours are the founders of Last Chance?”
Ellie gritted her teeth. “They buried a secret, and then built a