Page 87 of Girl, Unmasked
‘He was Drago LaChance’s caregiver.Well, unofficially.He was basically a deranged fan.He worked at Eagle Eye as a janitor, found LaChance’s manuscript and became obsessed with it.Then he ripped the contact details off the manuscript – which is why we couldn’t find them – then tracked him down in the flesh.’
‘Right.How does that explain the three dead bodies?’
‘Borgman thought LaChance’s book was a message meant for him.He turned the book into live action so that LaChance would get attention for his work.’
‘But why?What was so special about that crappy book?’
‘Borgman found an affinity with the main character.Both beaten down by life.Both had terminal cancer.’
‘Both had stupid haircuts,’ Ripley said.
‘That too.’
‘That guy learned a lesson tonight.If cancer doesn’t kill you, Ella Dark will.’
‘Not sure if I should laugh at that or not.’
‘So, he was trying to make his idol famous.People have killed for weirder reasons.’
Simple as that, Ella thought.Trying to make his idol famous.The irony was that, even though Borgman didn’t finish his mission, it probably worked.
‘You ready to get out of here?’she asked.‘I’m very much ready to go home.’
‘I was ready five minutes ago.’
Ezra Borgman might be headed for a jail cell, but Ella and Ripley were headed back to Washington D.C.
Ella watched the taillights of the patrol car carrying Borgman disappear into the night.Tomorrow there'd be paperwork and press conferences and a hundred questions to answer.But tonight, she and Ripley had stopped a killer from creating his final angel.
‘Think Vernon will be impressed?’Ella asked.
‘I don’t care what Vernon thinks, and neither should you.’
‘True.Let’s go.’
Ella took one last look at the Orpheum Theater, then she turned and followed her partner into the night.
Tonight, the angels could finally rest.
EPILOGUE
Ella's apartment felt like a stranger's home after three days in Connecticut.The Angel Maker case was closed, and the Norwalk cops had enough evidence to nail him with three life sentences.The Ultra-Violent Crime Unit had solved its first crime, and Ella was happy to be its author.
It was the early hours of the morning, and no doubt Luca would be dead to the world by now.She snuck into the kitchen and hit the coffee machine.It would hiss, but Luca couldn’t hear a dump truck crash into a nitroglycerine plant when he was asleep.She was midway through reaching for a cup when her cell rang.
The number wasn’t in her contacts.
‘Agent Dark.’
‘Agent Dark, this is Agent Dever with UVCU.I'm working the Austin Creed investigation.’The voice was deep and not familiar, even though Ella knew most active agents by face or voice.Creed had been ring-fenced since Louisiana, though: need-to-know only, names stripped from briefs to keep her conflict clean.If Dever was calling her directly, either the wall had come down or he was stepping over it.
‘Good to meet you, Agent Dever.What can I do for you?’
‘I’m sorry to bother you so late, but I saw you were moving on your tracker so I assumed you were still available.My SAC cleared this call, given your history with Creed.’
‘Yes, it’s fine.I’ve just returned from a case.Are there any developments with the Creed investigation?’
‘That's why I'm calling.We executed a warrant on Creed's cell today.Full search.Confiscated everything.Books, papers, anything he'd written or received.’
