Page 26 of The Girl He Wanted

"We focused on exposure therapy. Do you know what that is?"

Of course, Paige did. She had a doctorate in psychology, but the part of her that was a trained FBI agent knew that Lauren wanted the excuse to talk. Paige stayed silent, letting the other woman explain it.

"We help people to confront their fears, little by little," Lauren said. "The group I lead ... I'm not a medical professional, just a group leader, they all have very similar fears regarding heights."

"So, that's a common enough phobia for a whole group to tackle it together?" Christopher asked.

Lauren nodded. "Yes, exactly. We found that it can be helpful to have a support system when it comes to facing our fears. And for some, it can be easier to do it in a group setting."

"And when you say that they confront their fears ..." Paige prompted.

"We go to high places together. With the right encouragement, our group members can grow accustomed to something they would otherwise find terrifying. A couple of them have even taken up climbing, would you believe?"

Like Ellie Kane, possibly. Or like the killer.

Paige leaned forward. "Did anyone in the group ever express anger or frustration towards Bea? Or perhaps jealousy of her progress in therapy?"

Lauren shook her head. "No, not that I'm aware of. Everyone was very supportive of each other."

There was a slight hesitation in her voice, though. That was enough to make Paige follow up. If there was information that she and Christopher needed to have, Paige was going to get it.

"What is it you're not saying, Ms. Michaels?"

That got another moment of hesitation. "Well ... there was one member, now a former member. We had to ask him to leave the group. He was ... we found out that he was secretly recording the conversations people had as we went up into higher places. It was like he got off on hearing how frightened they were."

That caught Paige's attention instantly.

"Did this person have any issues with Bea specifically?" she asked.

Lauren hesitated again, but this time, there was a clear look of concern on her face. "I can't say for sure, but he did seem to have a particular interest in her progress. He would ask her a lot of questions, and it made her uncomfortable. When we found out about the recordings, we had to ask him to leave the group immediately."

"What was his name?" Christopher asked.

"I'm really not sure if I—”

Paige cut her off before she could finish her objection. "As you say, you're not a medical professional. This is a support group, not a psychiatry session. You're not bound by patient confidentiality. We're asking for the name of one person who has left the group, who is no longer a part of it, and who already broke its rules. Someone who might be a killer. Someone who might have killed one of the people you worked with."

That was enough to stop Lauren Michaels short. “A killer? You really think that?”

“I think it’s more than possible,” Paige said.

That seemed to be enough to get through to Lauren. She blinked a couple of times, then said, "Linus Brink. His name is Linus Brink."

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Paige looked up Linus Brink in the car, trying to get a sense of who this man was who had been thrown out of the group therapy sessions for secretly recording the others. This man who seemed to enjoy their fear.

"You want to go see Brink now?" Christopher asked.

Paige nodded. She wanted to make as much progress on this as possible today. She wanted to find answers before there was a chance for the killer to strike again.

“Unless you think we should head back to Winterly PD first?”

Christopher shook his head, looking just as determined as Paige felt.

"No, let's go straight away. The faster we can get this done, the better. And ... it's better to keep busy."

Paige could understand that need to keep busy. That need to think about anything other than the pain that threatened to rise up inside. Paige had the same need a lot of the time. She forced herself to focus on the case and their attempts to make progress on it, turning her attention back to Linus Brink.

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