Page 75 of Ripper
There was a woman standing next to him with long, black hair, and they looked close in age. It dawned on me then that this wasn’t just a house that Ray picked up to operate out of. It was special.
“This is his childhood home,” I said, getting a better look at the photos.
“Yeah, and he’s not the only one that still comes down here,” Tank chimed in, holding up a diner menu with something scribbled on the front.
“Pink ink. Someone named Ella. Looks like we found Ray’s dirty little secret. I don’t know who she is, but if she works here, we better find out.”
Tank tapped the front of the menu with the address circled on it like someone grabbed it from the place and quickly jotted down that number.Crystal’s Diner.
“Call it,” I said.
“What?”
“Call the number. The diner name is circled and someone jotted the number down. Call it and find out.”
Ripper pulled his cell phone out, calling it, and he put it on speakerphone.
“Hello?”
“Is this Ella?”
“Who’s asking?”
“I’m a friend of Ray’s. He wanted me to call you to talk to you about something.”
“I told Ray to only call me if there was an emergency. I don’t talk to him. I don’t want anything to do with him,” she said.
“This is an emergency. You still work at Crystal’s?”
“How do you know that?”
“Ray told me. So, can I come down? He may be in trouble.”
There was silence for a moment, and I could hear the sound of her shifting around on the other end of the line.
“Fine. I’m working tomorrow.”
“Great. See you then,” Ripper responded, hanging up.
“Back to Sedona, huh?”
“Back to Sedona we go.”
Epilogue
Ripper
Crystal’s was bustling with people when we arrived. The scent of incredible diner food filled my nostrils and made my stomach rumble. A woman with strawberry blonde hair just took the order for the table closest to the door, whipping around to tell us she’d be with us in a second. When she came back over, I saw the resemblance. She had the same dark eyes as Ray. I glanced down at her neck to see the pink pen hanging around it, and I knew we had the right girl.
I looked over at the window to see Tank standing outside on the phone, dealing with some business before he came in to join us. He looked up at me, and I gave him a single nod which he quickly returned.
“You here to talk about my brother?” she asked, looking us all up and down.
“Yes, Ella. We are,” I responded, glancing down at her name tag to be sure.
“Come with me.”
She led us to the back of the diner to the most secluded booth. Ronnie and I slid in on one side while Claymore slid in on the other.
