Page 22 of The Girl He Wanted

"I think we need to go talk to Bea Milling's boyfriend," Paige said.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Paige found herself hoping that this would be the break they needed. They were so close to finding the killer, she had to believe that.

As they drove to the ex-boyfriend's house, Paige felt a sense of unease. She didn't know what to expect. Would he be defensive? Would he be angry? Would he be a suspect?

"Tell me about the ex-boyfriend," Christopher said to her as they drove over to the address that was on the police files for him.

"His name is Mark Stoltz," Paige said. "He's a local guy, grew up in Winterly. He and Bea dated for a few months before she broke up with him about a year ago," Paige said, going over the details she had read in the file. "He works in construction, has no criminal record. From what I can tell, he's not a suspect."

"And we're going to see himjustbecause he mentioned that Bea Milling was afraid of heights."

Paige nodded. At this stage, she would follow up on any lead they could get, no matter how small.

"That's significant because both of the victims were killed at a high altitude. It could be a coincidence, but I’m not sure that I believe it in this case."

Christopher nodded in agreement, and it was only a minute or two more before they arrived at the ex-boyfriend's house. The house was an old, brownstone structure near the middle of town—quite an imposing structure.

When they knocked on the door, a tall, muscular man answered. He was in his mid-twenties, with light blond hair and blue eyes. He was good looking in a boy-next-door kind of way, with broad shoulders that obviously came from his construction work.

"Mr. Stoltz?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, that's me," he replied, eyeing them both suspiciously. "Are you with the cops?"

"We're with the FBI," Christopher said, flashing his badge.

"The FBI?" Mark said. He looked suddenly worried. "The cops already cleared me."

He sounded as if he were afraid that they might think he was a suspect. That made Paige wonder why, but she suspected that it was just the usual kind of worry that came from having the FBI show up out of nowhere.

"We're not here to accuse you of anything, Mr. Stoltz," Paige said, trying to reassure him. "We just have a few more questions about Bea Milling."

Mark hesitated but eventually stepped aside and let them in. The inside of his house was relatively clean but sparsely furnished. It seemed to be undergoing renovations, with plastic sheeting down in the hall and one wall half-painted.

“Ignore the mess,” he said. “I got this place cheap because it needed a lot of work.”

He led them to the living room, where they all took a seat.

"What do you want to know?" Mark asked, sitting down across from them.

"We're just trying to understand what happened to Bea Milling," Paige said.

"I don't know anything," Mark said. "Do you think if I knew who had done that to Bea, I would be sitting here? I'd find him, and I'd make him pay for what he's done."

There was a greater depth of feeling there than Paige had expected.

"Mark, tell me about your feelings for Bea."

Mark looked surprised at the question, as if he hadn't expected it. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, she broke up with you a year ago, but you’re still reacting like you’re in love with her," Paige clarified.

Mark hesitated before answering. "Yeah, I loved her. I thought she was the one. But she broke up with me, and I guess that's just the way it goes sometimes."

Paige nodded, but she didn't believe him. She sensed that there was more to his story than simply that they broke up. She decided to press him further.

"But you stayed friends afterwards?"

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