Page 34 of The Girl He Claimed

Paige's heart raced as she realizedhow close she had come to being injured or worse. This was a man who would stopat nothing to get what he wanted. She could feel the adrenaline coursingthrough her veins, and the overwhelming mixture of relief and guilt that shewasn't the one who'd been hit by the shotgun blast.

"Get the medic in here,"Harris barked out, his voice tense with urgency. "We need to get this manout of here, and fast."

Paige moved forward, her gun at theready, as she scanned the room for any sign of Adam. It was clear that he'd beenhere recently, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"He's gone," Paige said.While the tactical team moved around the room, checking it, she could onlystand still, thinking about what had happened.

"It's all right, Paige,"Christopher said, reaching out to put a hand on her arm. "You'resafe."

"I am, but... a part of mewonders if Adam knew I would be," Paige said.

Christopher frowned at that."What do you mean?"

"He must have known that for asighting like this, I wouldn't be the first one through the door. He arrangedthis to hurt someone else, maybe even kill them, just as a reminder to me. Ifit hadn't been someone in full tactical gear, they might have died."

That was a sobering thought. Evennow, the downed team member was in pain, receiving medical attention from hiscolleagues. He looked as though he wasn't in immediate danger, but Paige stillfelt guilty about it.

"Come on," Christophersaid. "It's obvious that Riker isn't here and there's nothing more we cando. Let's head back to Sauer and give him the bad news."

Paige nodded, following Christopherout of the apartment. As they made their way back through the corridors, shecouldn't shake the feeling of unease that had settled over her.

Adam Riker was playing a game withthem, and it was a game that he was winning. He was always a step ahead, alwaysable to anticipate their moves.

As they stepped out into the brightsunlight outside of the apartment building, Paige took a deep breath, steelingherself for what was to come. She and Christopher headed over to Agent Sauer,and his expression looked every bit as grim as Paige felt at that moment.

"There's no sign of Rikerinside, sir," Christopher said.

"I know," Sauer replied.

"It looks as though the wholething was a trap," Paige said.

Sauer shook his head. "Not atrap, a distraction."

Paige's heart sank at those words."What do you mean, sir?"

"A call just came through.Another pair of bodies has been found."

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Was it wrong that Paige's firstreaction as she and Christopher pulled up outside the old garage was relief?Relief that it wasn't anywhere she knew? That made it more likely it wasn'tanyone she knew.

Paige knew that she couldn't thinklike that, but she also couldn't stand the thought of losing anyone else theway she'd lost the Thorntons. Adam and the Exsanguination Killer had murderedthem just to hurt her, and they'd succeeded. Even now, it felt as though herheart had been torn open, making it hard for Paige to think through the pain.

"You don't have to dothis," Christopher said. Paige appreciated the sentiment, but she knewthat she couldn't just leave this to him.

"I have to be a part ofthis," Paige said. "I'm not going to let Adam win."

The garage in front of them wasrundown and abandoned, the kind of place that no one would think twice about.There were a couple of police cars outside, while the whole perimeter wascordoned off with police tape. A CSI team's van was parked outside whilereporters crowded on the edge of the police tape.

Paige dreaded what it would be likewalking through a storm of their questions, but she knew that she had to do it.She had to get in to the crime scene. She had to know what Adam and theExsanguination Killer had done.

Taking a deep breath, Paige steppedout of the car with Christopher.

"Agent King! Is this anotherAdam Riker kill?" one of the reporters called out instantly.

"We don't have enoughinformation to say for certain at this time," Paige called back, keepingmoving.

"Is it true that Francis andHaley Thornton were your friends?" another called, and that hurt Paige asmuch as if the reporter had stepped forward and slapped her.

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