Page 6 of The Girl He Claimed

Put like that, Paige had to agreewith Sauer. But deep down, she knew that there was a risk that if theExsanguination Killer was done with her current cycle of kills, she mightsimply disappear. The longer the Exsanguination Killer went free, the morevictims she would claim.

"I'd rather act quickly,"Paige said, determined to make up for lost time. "Before she has a chanceto disappear. We can start by going back over all the evidence we have andseeing if we missed anything."

Sauer nodded, looking at both ofthem. "I'm confident that we didn't, but I'll trust your judgement inthis, Agent King."

Paige and Christopher exchanged alook. They both knew what was at stake.

Paige also knew that shepotentially had one way of getting information that might cut short the entireinvestigation, landing the Exsanguination Killer in their lap.

"Sir, can you arrange for usto be able to question Adam Riker?" Paige asked.

"You've said before that hewouldn't provide further information, even if he knows the real identity of theExsanguination Killer," Sauer replied with a frown. "If he would talkto us that easily, then we should have done this weeks ago."

"He wouldn't talk then,"Paige said, "but I think he might talk to me, specifically, now."

Now that she was responsible for adeath. Now that she had, without meaning to, fulfilled the cruel terms of thedeal he had offered to her. Kill someone, prove that she was a killer like him,and he would tell her everything she wanted.

Sauer stood there, consideringthat. "So why haven't you talked to him already? I assume that's why youchose to be assessed at the St Just Institute?"

Of course her boss would understandwhat Paige had been trying to do there. He knew enough about Paige's obsessionwith the serial killer to work that out easily. And he was clearly okay with itwhen it meant trying to catch someone that dangerous.

"The director of the St JustInstitute, Dr. Neil, doesn't want me to talk to Adam."

That earned another frown fromAgent Sauer. "All right, I'll see what I can do, but it will take time.See what progress you can make with the investigation through other channelsuntil then."

"Yes sir," Paige replied.She was determined to get started.

She and Christopher headed out ofthe conference room and headed back towards their desks in the department. Thewhole place bustled with activity, but Paige's mind was focused on one thingand one thing only—finding the Exsanguination Killer.

As they walked, Christopher spokeup. "Do you really think you'll be able to get the identity of the killerout of Adam Riker?"

Paige shrugged. "I hopeso."

"But that assumes he's evenwilling to talk," Christopher said. "You really think that he'll giveyou that information, even though he promised to?"

Paige shrugged. "I don't know.With a psychopath like Adam, anything is possible. He set these terms; it hasto be worth a shot. If he keeps his word, we could finally have ananswer."

As they settled back into theirwork, Paige couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency. They had to catch thiskiller before she struck again. And if talking to Adam Riker was the key tounlocking the case, then she had to do it, no matter how uncomfortable theprospect made her.

"Do you want to go over thefiles while we wait for Sauer to arrange a visit with Riker?" Christopherasked.

Paige shook her head. "I cando that in the car."

"In the car? Where do you wantto go? It could be hours before we can get into the St Just Institute."

"I know," Paige said, andthat was frustrating in the extreme. "I want to go somewhere else. I wantto take a look at the latest crime scene."

CHAPTER FOUR

"It looks as though Sauer andhis people went through most of the obvious suspects."

Paige was using the drive out tothe crime scene to go over the files on the Jacob Matthews murder. She read andre-read the crime scene reports, the statements from the witnesses who hadfound the body, and the pages of the follow-up investigation.

"Jacob Matthews appears tohave been out there hiking when the Exsanguination Killer ambushed him,"Paige said, summarizing it for Christopher's benefit while he drove them asclose as he could to the spot where Jacob had been found.

Around them, Paige could see tree-coveredhills rising. She had to admit that it was kind of beautiful. Had she andChristopher been going there under different circumstances, Paige might evenhave enjoyed it, but they weren't.

As it was, the location felt almostoppressive, the knowledge of what had happened there pushing at the edges ofPaige's mind. She tried to tell herself that her mind was focused solely on thetask at hand, but a part of her knew that she was thinking about more thanthat, about the similarities to her father's death.

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