Page 1 of Girl, Unmasked
PROLOGUE
Ella Dark pulled to a stop in front of the barrier, then rolled down the window of her rental car.The guard leaned out of his booth.
‘Yes ma’am?’
‘Agent Ella Dark with the FBI.Unscheduled visit.’
‘I.D.?’
Ella flashed her badge, fully aware that it wouldn’t be enough to get her beyond the iron gates up ahead.However, she wanted to assess this place’s capacity for security.The guard took her badge and scanned it with his PIV reader.It bleeped red.
‘Thank you, Agent Dark, but I can’t grant you clearance on this alone.What’s the purpose of your visit?’
‘Confidential.’
‘Understood, but this is a Supermax.We can’t let people waltz in here unannounced, badge or not.’
‘Of course.Maybe this will help.’Ella unfolded her golden ticket and passed it to the guard.He took it, glanced over it, then regarded Ella with a keen eye.
‘This is signed by the FBI Director.’
‘Yes, it is, sir.’
'And you're looking for access to a prisoner,' – the guard skimmed the affidavit once more, then his eyebrows shot up – '0847291.’
‘Correct.’
'Creed.'The guard scratched his beard, looking like he'd never been in this situation before.Maybe he hadn't, because Austin Creed had been inaccessible to everyone except his legal counsel ever since he'd been handed a death sentence last year.The guard leaned out of his booth and handed Ella's documents back.'Alright, head on through, but you'll need to pass this affidavit to the warden's office.They'll need to check it once you're inside.'
The barrier rose, and the guard gestured for Ella to head through.A tunnel swallowed her car, and then she emerged in front of a metal gate crowned with barbed wire.Two armed guards stood on either side as the gate slid open, and then they ushered her through.The gate closed behind her, and now Ella was in front of Louisiana State Penitentiary, known around these parts as simply The Farm, because the giant, concrete complex had been built on an old slave plantation in the early 1900s, and still retained the same purpose: caging men who'd never see freedom again.
Ella parked up in a visitor's spot and jumped out before she could think too hard about this.There were 6,000 inmates from all across America in this building, 40 of which were awaiting the lethal injection.The place was home to multiple high-profile serial killers and mass murderers, including Derrick Todd Lee, Daniel Blank, and Anthony Bell.
And of course, Austin Creed.
Creed was the first serial killer Ella ever caught, and whilesheknew him as Austin Creed, most of the world knew him as the Mimicker, because his M.O.was to copycat infamous serial murders of yesteryear.Ed Gein, Richard Ramirez, Edmund Kemper, John Wayne Gacy, and finally a haphazard attempt at mimicking Ted Bundy before Ella intercepted and put him behind bars.
At the end of last year, Ella had been present for Creed’s sentencing hearing, and her testimony had helped secure him a death sentence.
But since that day, people in Ella’s circle had wound up dead.First Julianne, her landlord, who’d been stabbed to death with her lips sewn shut with locks of Ella’s own hair.Then Jenna, her old roommate.Same method.
And finally Ben.Beautiful, admirable Ben, who'd been smart enough to run all the way to California to escape the death that followed Ella everywhere.He'd gotten a bullet instead of a blade because even the killer knew you couldn't get close enough to stab someone who could outrun the wind.
Just yesterday she’d been to Ben’s funeral in California, and amongst the flowers and tributes there’d been a card.A smiling photo of Ella and Ben had adorned the front, and inside there’d been a message:
Death is the greatest form of love.
Ella hadn’t sent that card, and the quote inside was straight out of Charles Manson’s mouth.
Creed had an obsession with serial killers, and Manson had once been caught manipulating people on the outside.
For Ella, that had been confirmation that Austin Creed was behind this whole thing, and while he couldn’t kill anyone from inside his cell, it didn’t mean that – like Manson – he couldn’t employ a puppet.
She entered the reception area, and behind the bullet-proof glass counter, she caught the eye of a corrections officer, heavy-set, north of fifty.The nameplate read C.WASHINGTON.
‘Can I help you?’
Ella placed her badge and affidavit on the metal tray and slid it to her.‘Agent Ella Dark with the FBI.I’m here to see Austin Gareth Davies Creed, inmate number 0847291.’
