Page 18 of The Girl He Wanted

"Clearly. You ran over several rooftops just to avoid talking to me." Paige tried to keep her tone light. "Why is that?"

Reynolds shifted in his seat, his eyes flicking towards the door as if he were considering making a run for it again. But then he seemed to change his mind, and he slumped back in his chair.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, his voice low and tight.

"People who don't have anything to hide don't run from the FBI, Jack," Paige said. "You know that you're in a lot of trouble already? Assaulting a federal agent? With the way you tried to jump me in the alleyway, that’s jail time straight away. But you know that, don’t you?"

Paige tried to keep her tone even, rather than threatening. She needed Reynolds to see her as the way out of his problem, rather than the source of it.

Reynolds didn't answer, instead staring at Paige with a cold expression. Paige leaned forward slightly, her eyes locked on his.

"But I want to help you, Jack," she said softly. "I want to understand why you did what you did. Why did you attack me? Why did you run? If you can give me a good explanation, maybe we can resolve this, and you can go."

Reynolds looked away, his jaw clenched tight. Paige could see the muscles in his neck bulging. "I don't have to answer any of your questions," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Paige leaned back in her chair, her eyes never leaving Reynolds's face. She could see the fear in his eyes, the panic just below the surface.

"What are you afraid of, Jack?" she asked quietly.

Reynolds looked back at her, his eyes narrowed. "I'm not afraid of anything," he said, but Paige could hear the tremble in his voice. “Especially not you.”

"Then why did you run?" she asked.

Reynolds looked away again, his jaw working. Paige waited patiently, knowing that sometimes all it took was a little silence to get a suspect to crack.

"You know why. If you found me there, that means you went to my house. That bitch Sophia told you all about it, didn't she?"

Paige thought back to what she'd seen at Reynolds's house. "You mean the bruises on her arms? You thought we were there to arrest you for assaulting her?"

He looked at Paige with surprise then. "You mean that's not what this is about?"

Paige could barely keep herself from laughing.

"We're the FBI, Jack," Paige said. "Domestic assault is a matter for the local PD. We deal with some of the most serious crimes out there."

She didn't say what, not then. She let it sink in for a moment or two before she kept talking. "You did some work on a water tower outside town recently."

She saw him shrug. "It's my job," he said.

"A water tower where a woman was found killed," Paige said then. It was time to let him see how serious this was, just so that she could watch how he reacted. Was that a flicker of fear in his eyes at the accusation?

"I didn't kill anyone!" Reynolds shouted, his voice rising in anger. "I don't know anything about any murder."

Paige leaned back in her chair, letting the silence hang for a moment. "Okay, let's assume for a moment that you're telling the truth. Tell me about Ellie Kane. You knew her?"

The change in direction seemed to catch Reynolds off guard.

"Yes, I knew her," Reynolds admitted.

"How well did you know her?" Paige asked, playing a hunch.

"I might have asked her out for coffee a couple of times," Reynolds admitted.

"So, there was some trouble between you? An unwanted advance?"

"That's all it was," Reynolds said. "Is a guy not even allowed to hit on a good-looking woman anymore?"

"It depends on what he does when he's rejected," Paige replied. "You see, Jack, the murder at the water tower is linked to Ellie Kane's death. So, we know you were previously at one murder scene, a scene at which we found strands of climbing rope. We know you knew the other victim and had a potential motive to kill her. And you’ve already shown me that you’re happy using violence towards women you get involved with. If you don't want me to think that you're the killer, then you're going to have to give me something. An alibi, a reason it couldn't be you. Something."

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