Page 135 of Compulsion
“Thank you.”He exhaled and inclined his head toward her.“Any news on Hatch Davis?”
“His body was found,” Sharon revealed.“It was…um, a pretty gory scene.”
Dammit.Poor kid.“Benedict Swain was an exceedingly disturbed individual.”
“Yes, I believe that he was.”Sharon closed the file in front of her.“Thank you for your time.”She nudged Gage.“I believe we are done here?”
Gage kept glaring at Atlas.
Sharon leaned closer to him.“You know what Brass said.Time to go.”
Ah, had Gage been given orders to stand down?
Atlas snapped his fingers.
Gage’s eyes narrowed.
“I forgot,” Atlas said smoothly.“How did you get to the fishing cabin so quickly?Were you…following me?”
“I was given orders to stay close,” Sharon revealed.“To keep you safe.When you left so quickly, I called Gage.”
Atlas lifted his brows at Gage.“Is that what it was about?Keeping me safe?”
“What else would it have been about?”Gage finally rose to his feet.“We have some statements for you to sign.Then you’re…free to go.”It almost sounded as if he had to choke out those last words.
Atlas smiled.“How fantastic.And my fiancée, she’s free, too?”
Gage’s lips pressed together.“Yes.Not like Lily has committed any crime.”
“Of course, not.She’s the victim.”His phone rang.A loud, insistent chime.Atlas pulled out his phone, glancing at the screen.Odd.This was his personal line, and the call was from a number that he didn’t recognize.Spam calls weren’t typically a problem for him.
“You’re really gonna get that?”Gage demanded, as Atlas swiped his finger over the screen.“Now?”
“We’re done here, aren’t we?”Atlas asked politely.
Gage whirled away.
Atlas put the phone to his ear.“Who the hell is this?”
Gage looked back.
“Atlas Bennett?”A man’s voice.“This is Warden Lawrence McHurley, from the Julia Tutwiler Prison For Women.I believe we need to talk.”
Gage was still watching him.
“This isn’t the best time.How about I call you back?Very, very soon.”
She wanted to see Atlas.She needed to see Atlas.And if she had to stay in that little office at the FBI’s Dallas field office for another moment?—
The door opened.
Lily surged toward it but quickly caught herself.That wasn’t Atlas in the doorway.It was Gage.
A Gage who looked…
Tired.Grim.
Apologetic.
