Page 54 of The Girl He Crowned

Edward did as sheasked, turning to set Paige down on the firm ground of the roof once more andletting go of her. Paige breathed a sigh of relief at no longer hanging out inspace above the city.

That was whenEdward Hales threw himself backwards, flinging himself off the roof.

Paige flungherself forward on pure instinct, grabbing for Edward as he started to fall.She felt her hands grab onto his wrist while at the same time she threw herselfflat, knowing that if she tried to stay standing she would only be pulled withhim over the edge.

Edward’s weighthit her then as he fell far enough to reach the limits of Paige’s reach. Thatimpact felt as though it was about to tear her arms out of their sockets, painshooting through her with the effort of trying to hold on.

“No!” Edward criedout as Paige held onto him. “No, let go of me! Let me fall!”

Paige held on asfirmly as she could, determined not to let go.

In that moment,she found herself thinking once more about what Adam Riker had said to her:that he would give her the identity of the Exsanguination Killer if she wasjust prepared to kill someone, anyone.

If her gripslipped, if she just let go, then no one would be able to blame her. No onewould expect her to be able to hold the weight of a fully grown man like this.Even now, Paige could feel pain flooding through her shoulders with the effortof holding on. If she just relaxed for a moment…

No! She couldn’t,shewouldn’t. She wasn’t going to kill Edward, wasn’t going to even lethim die. He didn’t deserve such an easy way out of all of this, didn’t deservea sudden impact and a swift end. He deserved to rot in prison for what he’ddone, and the families of the victims deserved to see justice done.

So Paige clung onwith all her strength, ignoring the pain as she laid full length and tried tostop Edward from falling.

Christopher wasthere then beside her, lying down next to her, grabbing for Edward. His handsclamped onto Edward’s arms alongside Paige’s and now his greater strength startedto pull Edward up in spite of Edward’s best efforts to fight against the two ofthem. He kicked and thrashed, but now they hauled him up, over the lip of theroof, dragging him bodily.

He was stillfighting back, lashing out at Paige and Christopher with his fists and feet. Hewas obviously trying to break free long enough to fling himself off the roofagain.

Paige focused onthe arm that she currently had a grip on, wrenching it to try to force Edwardover onto his stomach. Between her and Christopher, they managed it, givingPaige a chance to get her handcuffs onto Edward’s wrists. They dragged himbodily away from the edge of the roof, making sure that he couldn’t get awayagain.

“Edward Hales,you’re under arrest.”

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

Paige stoodoutside the interrogation room with Christopher, watching Edward Hales confesseverything to Sheriff May. He was hunched over the table, the public defenderbeside him barely able to do anything given that he’d just been caught redhanded trying to murder one of the town’s councilors and was openly confessingto it.

Christopher wasoff getting a witness statement from Yolanda Vert now. They also had thependulum that had been used in the killings and Hales’s work gloves. The case againsthim was watertight. He was going to be locked away where he couldn’t hurtanybody else.

Paige kept hergaze on Edward Hales, watching his expression as he confessed. There wasn’t anyguilt there in his face; whatever his pathology was, it wasn’t one that couldaccept that he’d done the wrong thing by killing innocent people. He probablycouldn’t accept that theywereinnocent.

She saw angerthere and disbelief instead, as if Edward couldn’t believe that he’d beencaught. He didn’t seem to be about to stop talking, though. If anything,Sheriff May seemed to be having trouble keeping up with it all.

Finally, shecalled a halt to it and stepped outside to talk to Paige. Sheriff May lookedpleased.

“He’s confessingto everything. He says that he won’t hide behind lies anymore, so he’s givingus all the details.” She paused for a moment or two. “It’s just… disturbingthat anyone could think like that.”

Paige nodded. “Istudied serial killers for years, and that’s still the hardest part to get usedto: that for them, the way they’re thinking is normal, even right.”

She saw SheriffMay shudder.

“At least he’s offthe streets now. I spoke to Councilor Vert when you brought her here to give astatement. She wants to say a few words in front of the station to the press.She’d like you to be there.”

Paige shook herhead. She’d learned her lesson about talking to the press too much. “You cantake this if you want, Sheriff.”

“But thecouncilor-”

“Sheriff May, yourtown might be full of wealthy, powerful people, but that doesn’t mean you haveto do what they say. There are parts of Eddis that could use a sheriff whodoesn’t back down just because someone has expensive lawyers.”

“You’re thinkingof Harry Connaught?” Sheriff May asked.

Actually, Paigewas thinking of a lot of things, but Connaught was definitely on the list.

“He might not beguilty of the murders,” Paige said, “but having met him, I’m pretty sure he’sguilty of plenty of other things. All you have to do is prove it.”

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