Page 42 of Compulsion
“What do you see?”Gage asked her.
“Destruction.”
“Ah, come on.You can do better than that.”
She blinked quickly.Yes, she could.“He knew what he was looking for.”
“Your laptop?”
“Yes.”It was missing.But it was more than that.She edged toward the desk.Two uniformed cops were buzzing in the bedroom.The desk drawers hung open.An empty manila file had fallen near the desk chair, a desk chair that had been tossed to the floor.“My files appear to be gone.”She’d had two dozen case files for her research on the adult children of serial killers.“But there is so much chaos here, it’s hard to tell for certain.I’ll need to clean up in order to properly assess everything.”
“Yeah.”Gage jerked his thumb toward the cops.“They’re not gonna let you clean anything, not anytime soon.”A low whistle escaped him.“So, where was your murder wall and did he find it?”
Her gaze darted to Atlas.His stare was already on her.
“Come on, Lily,” Gage chided, pulling her focus back to him.“Where was it?Where was the info you had on the case you were working with Detective Benedict Swain?You think you’ve got a punishment killer at play in Dallas, don’t you?”
She didn’t respond.
“Oh, come on.All the signs are there.He’s making them suffer.He wants them to hurt for their crimes.The guy has punishment written all over him.Don’t deny it.You and I both know that’s the type of perp you have hunting in Dallas, and I’m sure you told Detective Swain that very thing.”
He’d definitely been doing his homework on the way to Dallas.“I didn’t have a murder wall here.”
“Lily.”A sigh.“It’s me.No need for BS.We both know you live for things like this case.The killer must have fascinated you from the moment you learned about him.You would have plotted out every detail.The vics.Their connections.The would-be suspects.”His attention shifted to Atlas.
Her breathing remained steady even as her heartbeat raced.“Benedict—Detective Swain—had a file withhisfindings and suspicions.I’d suggest you go look at the police station for that data.”
A half-smile curved Gage’s lips.But it was a smile that held no humor.No dimples flashed when he smiled.Just those perfectly white teeth.“Want to hear a weird thing about that?”
Not particularly.
“Benedictdidhave files at the station, on his computer, but, looks like they were wiped.Techs are working on things now.But it’s not looking good.Benedict’s computer was completely scrubbed.”
That made zero sense.“There will be a backup,” she said.“The cloud.”
“There is no backup.”Flat.“Located a few physical files, Most of those, actually, contained info about Atlas.But pretty much everything else is missing, and don’t you find that suspicious?”He lifted his right hand and indicated the trashed bedroom.“Especially in light of this?”
One hundred percent, yes, it was suspicious.“When did you discover the detective’s files were wiped?”Just how long had Gage been in town?She’d originally believed that he’d driven all night or even flown in, but maybe…maybe he’d been in Dallas far longer than she suspected.Maybe his clothing appeared wrinkled because he’d beenworking the caseall night long.
“His captain figured it out, not me.The captain made the discovery about one hour after Benedict died.So someone worked very, very quickly.Someone who knew his way around tech.Someone who had no trouble bypassing the security in place at the PD.”Once again, Gage’s attention shifted to Atlas.“Got to ask, do you happen to know anyone like that?”
“Sure.”An easy response from Atlas.“I could do it.In my sleep.”
Oh, no.“Hedidn’tdo it,” she rushed to say.And, yes, she physically even jumped in front of Atlas.Why did she do that?No clue.Just some weird, instinctive thing.Like she had to personally protect him.“Atlas was with me all night.I can assure you that he never stopped to hack police files.Never pulled away long enough to give anyone orders to hack them.”
“He was with youallnight?”Gage emphasized thealleven as he raised his brows.“Lying so quickly for him?Look, just take a breath, Lily.”
She was about to take a swing at him.“I’m notlying.” On this point, she was not.“We were questioned by the cops together at the cabin.We left that scene in an ambulance together.We went to the hospital?—”
“And you were fucking holding hands the whole time?”Gage sliced through her words, voice tight.“Bullshit, Lily.Bullshit.Don’t cover for him when?—”
“Lily?Are you ready to leave?”Atlas’s very polite voice.
Too polite.
Goosebumps rose onto her skin as her head swung toward him.
He was watching her with a faint smile on his lips.The dimples just starting to flash.Uh, oh.“Leaving sounds great.”It sounded like heaven.She forced herself to bob her head toward Gage.“I can’t tell yet what all is missing.There is too much chaos.Once the crime scene team is done, and I have the all clear to come back, I’ll do a complete review.”
