Page 133 of Compulsion
Then a siren screamed in the distance.
“Warned you that they’d follow us,” Desmond snapped.“Damn Feds.”
Sure enough, the Feds came rushing in a few minutes later.The agents wore bulletproof vests and had their guns at the ready.When the Feds arrived, Atlas still held a cuffed Lily while Desmond stood beside them.She made sure to look traumatized.Because she was, after all.She’d been kidnapped.She’d been drugged.She’d been taken from the man she loved.
But…
She was still alive.She’d survived.
And Benedict was on the floor.Covered in blood.Twisting in agony.
Some poisons could be a real bitch.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
“When didyou realize that Benedict Swain was the one who’d taken Lily Gallo?”
He didn’t have the patience for this bullshit.
Atlas sat at the interrogation room table, with Theodora by his side.Like the good lawyer she was, Theodora had insisted on being present for his interrogation.Though why he was being interrogated, Atlas had no clue.
He wasn’t the bad guy.
That would be the dead man.
“Atlas?”Gage prompted, as he leaned forward.He sat across the table from Atlas, and his partner, FBI Agent Sharon Hinkle, hovered at his side.“When did you realize that Benedict Swain had taken Lily?Was itbeforeorafteryou attacked me at your house?”
“Did I attack you?”A shake of his head.“I don’t remember that.”Yes, he did.“Sorry.”Nope, not really.“I remember being terrified for my fiancée’s well-being.Just…I was not right in the head, emotionally.I was far too desperate to get her back.Everything from that scene is a blur for me.”Hehadbeen desperate.True story.And determined.
As soon as he’d realized that Benedict had to be the one who’d taken her…
The pieces were there.I put them together.
Benedict—his home had been trashed, but video footage showed no one other than Benedict entering or leaving the residence for days before the explosion at the cabin.And no one had gone inafteruntil Atlas and Lily had made their little visit.So if no one else had gone inside during that time frame…
Benedict, you tricky bastard, you trashed your own place.An attempt to throw them off the scent.And Benedict had deleted his own files at the police station.He’d hidden as much information as he could…because he’d been afraid people would realize the truth.
The detective was a killer.A monster.
But now he was dead.
Oh, sure, the EMTs and the doctors at the hospital had tried to save him.Dr.Phillip Owen had gone on the news—always eager to talk with reporters—and spoken about how the staff had done everything possible.But…
Some people couldn’t be saved.
It wasn’t the poison that had killed Benedict.Lily would probably be disappointed when she learned that news.The veryfirstshot Atlas had fired—ah, yes, that one had done the trick when it drove into Benedict’s carotid artery.The blood had pumped fast and furiously out of him.He’d been bleeding out, dying, right in front of them from the moment that bullet connected.
“When did you know the truth?”Gage slammed a fist onto the table.
“I really don’t like the tone you are using with my client,” Theodora informed him with a sniff.“He’s avictim.And he’s cooperating with you.”
Atlas nodded.“I am a victim.”
Beneath the table, Theodora kicked him with her high heel.
Gage exhaled.He seemed to grab for his patience.“Atlas, I need to know exactly when you realized the truth about Benedict Swain?—”
“You ever hear of the MacDonald Triad?”Atlas asked as he rubbed a hand along his jaw.
