Page 10 of The Girl He Claimed

Right then, though, Paige didn'tcare what made him happy or unhappy. Not when he'd lost Adam Riker. Again.

"It's Agent King, Dr.Neil," Paige said. "And I want to know exactly what happened herethat meant that Adam was able to escape."

"As I understand it, this is apolice investigation," the director said, obviously not liking that shewas there. "Not a matter for the FBI."

Christopher was there then, readyto back Paige up. Paige appreciated that. In any other environment, any othersituation, Paige could handle herself, but this was the place where she'dworked, and this was Adam. Both of those things made the situation far morecomplex.

"Dr. Neil, the last time AdamRiker escaped, I was the one assigned to catch him. Paige and I did so, when noone else could."

"And how many people died inthe meantime?" Dr. Neil shot back.

Paige realized then that he waslashing out because he wanted to shift the blame for what had happened. Oneescape from his facility would be bad enough for his career. For the sameprisoner to escape twice... Dr. Neil was probably going to lose his job overthis. But if he was thinking about that, then he wasn't thinking about thethings that really mattered in this situation.

Paige didn't let his words deterher. "Adam Riker is a dangerous fugitive. He's shown time and time againthat he knows how to manipulate people, how to escape the best efforts torecapture him. I need to know what happened so I can catch him before he hurtsanyone else."

Dr. Neil hesitated for a momentbefore sighing. "Fine. One of our orderlies reported that Riker was actingsuspiciously in his cell, so we went to investigate. By the time we got there,he had already escaped. We're not sure how he did it this time. We called thepolice, and they're sweeping the surrounding area. I'm still not convinced thatthis is an FBI matter."

"That's it?" Paige said."He just disappeared?"

Dr. Neil sighed, clearly realizinghe wasn't going to be able to avoid giving an explanation. "We had himunder surveillance, Agent King. But somehow, he managed to slip away. We're notsure how he did it, but he's gone. If you'll excuse me, I need to coordinatewith the police."

Christopher held up a hand to stopthe facility's director from going anywhere. He took out his phone.

"Who are you calling?" Dr.Neil asked with a frown.

"My boss. We don't have enoughtime for you to obstruct us, and I obviously can't convince you that we havejurisdiction here without his help."

Paige heard Agent Sauer's voice asChristopher put the phone on speaker.

"Marriott, I was just about tocall you. There's chatter on the police bands, suggesting-"

"Adam Riker has escaped,"Christopher said, beating Sauer to the punch on that one. "Paige and I areon the scene now, with the director of the St Just Institute, Dr. Neil. He'sarguing that this is a police matter, not an FBI one."

"That's not something he getsto decide," Sauer said. "This involves an active serial killer, andit's a case we've assisted with before."

Paige looked over to Dr. Neilpointedly, checking that it was good enough for him. She saw him nodreluctantly, then back off, obviously going to speak to the uniformed officerson the other side of the parking lot.

"Dr. Neil has gone, sir,"Paige said.

"Did it look like he got themessage about your involvement?"

"Yes, sir. I don't think he'llinterfere in our investigation."

"In the FBI investigation. Youtwo already have a case. You still need to find the Exsanguinaton Killer. Youdon't have time to start chasing Riker. I can send over other agents."

That caught Paige a little bysurprise. It had seemed obvious to her that they should chase after Adam. Now,it seemed that she had to make a case for it to her boss in a way she hadn'tanticipated having to do.

"Sir, with respect, I thinkthe two cases are inextricably linked to one another," Paige said.

"How so?" Sauer asked,not sounding immediately convinced.

"Well, for one thing, findingAdam and getting information out of him represents our best and quickest chanceof getting the identity of the Exsanguination Killer," Paige pointed out.

Adam Riker wasn't just a deadlyserial killer. He was a potential witness with information they needed, whichbrought her to her second point. One whose enormity settled in Paige's chestlike a lead weight, making it hard to get across everything she needed to say.

"There's also the timing ofthis," Paige said. "I went to my assessment, I asked to see Adam.Then he escaped. Why now?"

"Okay, I'll bite," Sauersaid on the other end of the phone. "Why now?"

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