Page 39 of The Girl He Wanted

"We need to search the house," Christopher said. "Dr. Kostopoulos could still be in here. Either he’s the killer, hiding from us, or he’s in some kind of danger."

Paige nodded, and together, they started to make their way through the building, looking for any sign of the academic.

They moved quickly, clearing each room as they went, checking the corners, keeping their guns at the ready. Paige's eyes darted across every surface, looking for any clues that could lead them to their suspect.

It wasn't long before they found something. In a room at the end of the hallway, they found a small office. It was cluttered with papers and books, but Paige's eyes were drawn to a large model that sat on the desk there.

It was an octagonal tower, constructed in white marble. Paige could see the intricate details etched into the marble, the carvings of figures that she recognized as the wind gods of Ancient Greece. There were eight levels to the tower, each one depicting a different wind deity. And at the top, there was an opening, which would have been just big enough for a person to crawl through in the actual tower.

Paige felt a shiver run down her spine as she realized what she was looking at. This was a model of the Tower of the Winds. If anything showed the depths of Dr. Kostopoulos's obsession, this was it.

It showed more than that, though. As Paige leaned closer, she saw tiny red marks on some of the deities around the top of the tower: Boreas, Apeliotes, Notus.

“Christopher," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She barely dared to speak at all. "Look at this."

Christopher leaned over her shoulder and looked at the marks. "What do you think they are?"

"I think they're blood," Paige said. "And I think these marks have been made recently."

Paige's brain struggled to take in what they’d just found. This was it. They had found evidence that connected Dr. Kostopoulos to the murders.

But where was he now? That was the point of them being there, after all.

Even as Paige thought it, she heard a sound from somewhere above, the sound of a man keening as if in immense physical or emotional pain.

"Upstairs," Christopher said. "Quickly."

The two of them raced up the stairs, their guns drawn and ready. The noise had stopped now, making it impossible to know where it had come from, but at least they knew now that they weren't alone in the house.

They started to check the second floor. There were bedrooms, but they were all empty, at least of people. Each seemed to have been filled almost at random with more of the detritus of Ancient Greece, so that Paige had to pick her way through it with care, not wanting to crush anything valuable beneath her feet.

There was still no sign of Dr. Kostopoulos.

"This floor is clear," Christopher said. He sounded professional now, ready for trouble. "Let's check the third floor."

Paige nodded, her heart racing with anticipation. They climbed the narrow staircase that led up to the third floor, their guns still drawn. As they reached the top, they paused, listening for any sound.

There was a faint rustling coming from behind one of the closed doors. Christopher nodded to Paige, indicating that they should approach it. She nodded back, steeling herself for whatever lay beyond.

Even as they did so, the same anguished cry as before came, this time from somewhere beyond the door. There was no time to hold back or be subtle now. Paige saw Christopher take a step back, then he kicked the door.

The door burst open, revealing a room that was completely empty except for one thing: a spiral staircase leading up to a small trapdoor in the ceiling. The screaming was coming from above.

Paige and Christopher exchanged a look, then started up the stairs. The screaming grew louder with each step, filling the air with a sound that was almost unbearable.

The trapdoor led out onto the roof, and there, on the edge, stood Dr. Kostopoulos. Paige recognized him from the pictures on his social media: he was in his fifties, solidly built, with greying hair and a slightly wild looking beard. He was standing there, looking out over the city while storm clouds burst overhead and cold, hard rain began to fall. He screamed out at it in a mixture of pain and rage, as if everything he saw made him angry.

"Dr. Kostopoulos?" Paige said, her voice shaking slightly as she tried to think of a way to calm him down. "We need you to come with us. Please."

He looked around as Paige spoke, then took a step back, right to the edge of the roof.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "What are you doing up here? This is my home. You have no right to be here."

"We're with the FBI, Dr. Kostopoulos," Paige said. "We need to talk to you. Why don't you step away from the edge for a moment so we can talk?"

"Step away? No, no! Today is the day the wind claims me! Today is the day when I pay for my mistakes!"

Paige realized to her horror that the academic was planning on throwing himself off the roof. Which meant that she and Christopher had walked into the middle of a life and death situation, one where their guns and their training wouldn't even begin to help.

---