Girl Cries So Pretty: An Ella Porter FBI Mystery Thriller Book 5 by Georgia Wagner

Author:Georgia Wagner [Wagner, Georgia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Ella froze, caught off guard by the question. She stammered, shook her head, and then, in some relief, found she was able to answer honestly. "I don't actually know."

"Huh. Well... sounded serious on that phone call of yours. Who was that? Really?"

"My CI."

"I know when you're lying Ella."

She looked him dead in the eyes. "It was Mortimer Graves. I give you my word."

He held her gaze for a moment then nodded, looking away sheepishly. "Okay. And he's..." A swallow. "He's not... something else, is he?"

Ella froze, her heart pounding. Did Brenner know? She couldn't let him know. If he found out, everything was ruined. But she didn't like lying to him either.

She hesitated and then gave a non-answer.

"He's just a contact, Brenner. Nothing more."

Brenner gave her a skeptical look but didn't push the issue. "Alright, alright. I believe you."

Ella let out a sigh of relief, but the tension between them didn't dissipate. They sat in silence for a few more moments, the only sound being the trickle of water.

"Good," Brenner said at last. He seemed to relax. He shrugged and flashed a quick, nervous smile. "I was worried maybe he was something more."

Ella blinked. And then the inference struck her like a punch. "Mortimer? Something... NO! Hell no. We're not. He's not. Yuck!"

Brenner chuckled now at her reaction. If anything, he seemed more at ease now. "Damn. I touched a nerve."

She was shaking her head furiously, wincing as she did at the mere thought. "He's... it's not like that. At all. At all." She cringed inwardly at the notion.

But Brenner seemed pacified. He was smiling contentedly, leaning back as he did, staring at the ceiling.

"Think we should give them another call?" Ella asked.

Brenner shook his head. "Gonna take them an hour to borrow a back-hoe and move it up the mountain pass."

"An hour just to get started?"

"Yeah."

"Great."

He looked at her. "You sure you're okay?"

"Positive. Stop asking. Please," she added sweetly. She reached out and flicked his ear.

But he caught her hand in his calloused, shooter's grip. He held her palm gently, his rough knuckles brushing her soft fingers.

They stared at each other for a moment.

"I mean..." Brenner trailed off. "I can think of a couple ways we might pass the time."

There was mischief in his eyes but also something else.

Ella realized now just how close they were sitting. How dark it was. How alone they were.

The smooth stone around them was padded with moss, and there was something almost idyllic about the meandering water through the granite.

"Really?" she said, returning his smirk. "At a time like this? You really do have a one-track mind."

"No," he said with a sniff. "I'm just... what was it? Contemplating my own mortality."

Ella snickered, shaking her head. Her hand was still held in his, and she didn't withdraw. He was leaning in now.

Such an odd thing, she realized.

The two of them were so often caught up in life-or-death circumstances, that it took a cave-in and a near-death experience just to give them some alone time.

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