Page 21 of Just Now

“Actually, you did,” she said, deciding to interrupt him there and then.

He swung around and this time, she saw the aggression in his face, visible for the first time, carefully concealed until now.

“What do you mean?” he asked in threatening tones.

“You know, don’t you? That you’ve been sending them messages with explicit content? Invitations and then threats?” she said, feeling a flare of pride, because her software had worked better than she’d thought it would. And faster, too.

“How do you know that?” He made a grab for her phone but she twisted away, and a moment later, somehow, Connor was standing beside Gavin and holding his arm firmly. He’d moved so fast that she hadn’t even seen him until he was there. He’d clearly been prepared for Gavin to try to grab the phone.

“I did some research as we spoke,” she said cagily. “It’s true, isn’t it? You were emailing both Katie and Gracie repeatedly. You continued doing that for weeks after they stopped replying. And you were depicting some pretty dark fantasies.”

Gavin’s face contorted, and Cami could see the fear in his eyes. She had him trapped. He hadn’t thought anyone would know about that secret email folder that her digging had produced. Now it was clear that she knew, although she hadn’t said how. But the knowledge was enough. Maybe he assumed she’d accessed the victims’ emails and got the information from there. She could do that if she needed to. The messages would probably be long deleted, but now that she knew about them, she could track them down, find fragments of them, and piece together enough to provide proof from that side.

“You’re lying,” he said, but his voice was wobbly as he fell into a chair. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It seems you were obsessed with both women and that you were fantasizing about hurting them and humiliating them. I think Gracie must have blocked you, and I see here that Kate threatened you with legal action. Then you backed off. But maybe you didn’t. Maybe you found another way to get to them.”

Gavin’s gaze darted back and forth between Connor and Cami, and Cami could see his panic growing with each passing moment. He looked like a cornered animal, and Cami knew that he was capable of doing something drastic if he felt like his back was against the wall.

“Did you back off?” Connor asked sharply.

For a moment, the air seemed to smolder as if it was about to ignite, and Cami tensed. She saw something in Gavin, something disturbing. She worried that he was going to try something violent, that he was going to leap up from that seat opposite Connor and try to strangle him, or that he was going to attack her.

The intent was there. Visible. Tangible. She could see it in the movement of his eyes, the way his legs braced against the floor. And the way that Connor subtly shifted his weight, ready to react instantly to anything this man might do.

And then, with a visible effort, Gavin bunched his fists, digging them into the chair cushion. He shifted his feet on the floor. He took a deep breath. It felt like curls of smoke were wisping into the air.

She knew for sure that this man had a violent side. The emails had proved it. But now, he was exerting self-control.

They had caught Gavin in a lie, but they had also seen a glimpse of his inner demons. Cami wondered how many other women had been on the receiving end of his twisted fantasies.

Gavin stared at Cami, then glanced at Connor, and then he let out a deep sigh.

“Okay, you got me,” he said, his voice low. “I took it further than I should have. But I never would have hurt them. It was all just a fantasy. I let my fantasies out that way and I admit I lost control for a while.”

Cami wasn’t convinced. She had seen the dark depths of his imagination in those emails. She knew he had crossed a line, and the fact that he had kept his violent fantasies hidden away in a secret folder only confirmed it.

Connor leaned forward, his eyes narrowing as he studied Gavin.

“You’ve been in contact with both victims. And now they’re both dead. We need some answers from you about your whereabouts at the time of the crimes. Talk me through your movements last night.”

“Last night?” Gavin looked wary.

“From about six p.m. onward,” Connor said.

“I was here. At home.”

Connor stared at him. “Alone?”

“Alone,” Gavin said. Now his jaw was clenching. He looked scared.

“Anyone able to account for your time?”

“I was working,” he said. “Look, I know this seems bad for me. You probably think I’m some kind of psycho. I swear I’m not, although I can see how it might look that way. But really—just because I sent a few damned emails?” His voice rose incredulously. But Connor stayed calm.

“Can you account for your time? Were you communicating with anyone?”

Only now did Cami see his tightly bunched fists start to relax.

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