Page 44 of The Girl He Claimed

"Look at this," he said,holding it out to Paige.

"What am I looking at?"Paige asked him.

"The techs unlocked her phone.She's tried to hide them, but there are videos on here of her hurting patients.Torturing them."

He started one of the videos, andPaige saw a patient on the floor, begging for mercy, while Gia stepped intoshot and kicked her repeatedly. The look on her face then wasn't scared or lost.It was terrifying.

Paige took the phone fromChristopher.

"I'm going back in," shesaid.

"I should-"

"No," Paige said firmly.She couldn't risk Christopher being in there. "I need to do thisalone."

She walked in and sat down oppositeGia. In silence, she set the video playing. Paige watched Gia's face while shedid so, watching as the woman's expression shifted from fear and panic tosomething much darker, something emptier and more dangerous. When it was over,Paige turned off the phone and put it away carefully.

"Good," Paige said."It's nice to meet the real you, Gia."

"I don't-"

"There's no point in hidingit. I've seen the look you get when you hurt them. You enjoy it. Let me guess,most of the time, you don't feel alive, right? Like everything's dull and grey?Meaningless?"

Gia looked at her coldly. There wasno attempt to hide behind fear now.

"Yes."

"Which is why you do so manydrugs, why you hurt so many people," Paige said.

"And now you ask me if Ikilled anyone, and I say no, and we go around the whole thing again," Giasaid.

"Which is why I won't askyou," Paige said. "I'll simply play all of these for a jury. We'llfind enough evidence to convict you. The question now is whether you see anadvantage in giving up Adam Riker."

"I told you before, I hadnothing to do with that," Gia said.

"The evidence points to you,Gia," Paige replied. "If you weren't out killing two people earliertoday, where were you when you slipped away from work?"

Gia sat there for several seconds,and for a moment, Paige thought she wasn't going to say anything. But then Giaspoke, her voice barely audible.

"I was with my dealer, over inBaltimore. At his place."

"That's not much of an alibi,Gia."

"You can check camera footage,can't you? Trace my movements? There's a 7/11 across the street. Their cameraswill have picked me up."

Even if that proved to be true andthis wasn't some fresh game, it still didn't prove anything. Gia could havegone there after committing the murders to give herself an alibi. She couldhave slipped back after to do it.

Paige looked at her again and triedto weigh up the evidence against the woman she saw in front of her. Was thisyoung woman the one who had killed so many people? Who had killed Paige'sfather?

Paige froze, then. Young. Gia wasyoung.

"How old are you, Gia?"

"Twenty-three. What does thathave to do with anything?"

Paige got up without another word,stalking out of the interrogation room and leaning back against the one-waymirror with Christopher staring at her.

"Paige, what is it? Why didyou just leave?"

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