Page 29 of The Girl He Wanted

Paige didn't buy it for a second. "We both know that's not true. You were playing games with us, trying to make us scared."

Brink's eyes flickered with something that Paige recognized as annoyance. He obviously didn’t like being challenged. "I was just ... having some fun."

"The same way you were having fun when you stalked your ex-girlfriend?" Christopher asked in a tone that had no give in it.

Brink's eyes widened, and he glanced between Paige and Christopher nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"That won't work, Linus," Paige said. "We looked at your file before we came here. We know about the restraining order your ex-girlfriend got against you and about the complaints from other women."

"I wasn't doing anything wrong!" Brink insisted. "Christine messed with my head, so I decided to mess with hers a little, that's all."

"To scare her?" Paige asked, watching Brink closely to gauge his reaction. There wasn’t any hint of remorse there.

"There wasn't any harm in it," Brink insisted.

Paige exchanged a look with Christopher; they both knew that Brink was lying about that part.

"The judge didn't agree," Christopher said, "and you're not doing a very good job of convincing us, Linus. Why don't you just tell us the truth?"

"What truth?" Brink asked.

"That you like it when women are scared," Paige said. "That's why you did your best to frighten me out there, isn't it? Because you like getting that reaction."

Brink's eyes darted back and forth between Paige and Christopher, and for a moment, he didn't say anything. Then he let out a sigh and leaned back in the chair.

"Fine," he said. "Maybe I get a little thrill out of scaring people. But it's not like I hurt anyone. It’s not my fault if they’re all so sensitive."

"Except for your ex-girlfriend," Paige pointed out. "And who knows how many other women you've scared or harassed."

Brink didn't respond, but the guilty look on his face said enough.

Now that they'd gotten him to admit to that part, it was time to talk to him about the main reason they'd come here: the group therapy sessions.

"Was it thrilling for you when you went to the exposure therapy sessions? Was it thrilling for you to watch as people afraid of heights went up into high places?" Paige asked. “As you filmed them?”

Brink's eyes widened in surprise. "What? How did you know about that?"

"We did our homework, Linus," Christopher said. "We know about your involvement in those therapy sessions. And we know that you stopped attending them because you were told to leave."

"We know that you recorded the people who went to the sessions,” Paige added.

"What's it to you?" Brink asked, defensive. "Doesn't the FBI have anything better to do than ask me about all this?"

"Bea Milling was a member of that group," Paige said.

She saw Brink pale at the mention of her name, obviously realizing what this was about, and why the FBI had come to speak with him.

"What about her?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"She was murdered," Paige said. "Found in exactly the kind of high place that would have terrified her. My current theory is that someone set out to frighten her as she died. Someone who would have enjoyed that fear."

Brink's eyes widened in shock as he realized the accusation implicit in that, then quickly narrowed in anger. "I don't know anything about that! I haven't seen Bea since the last session!"

"We know you had a motive," Paige said, leaning forward. "Bea was afraid of heights. You liked scaring people. It's not that big of a leap to think that you wanted to take things to the next level. A fatal level."

"I'm telling you that I didn't do anything to Bea."

"What about Ellie Kane?" Paige asked.

---