Once Gone (a Riley Paige Mystery--Book #1)

Chapter 20

The chair was comfortable and the surroundings were elegant, but the soft lighting in Mike Nevins's office did nothing to raise Riley's spirits. Cindy was still missing. God only knew what was happening to her right now. Was she being tortured? The way Riley had been?

The agents sweeping the neighborhood still hadn't found her, not even after twenty-four hours. That came as no surprise to Riley. She knew they were looking in the wrong area. The problem was that neither she nor anyone else had any clues to the right area. She didn't want to wonder how far away the killer had taken her—or if she was still alive.

"We're losing her, Mike," Riley said. "With every minute that goes by, she's in more pain. She's closer to death."

"What makes you so sure they've got the wrong man?" forensic psychiatrist Michael Nevins asked her.

Always immaculately groomed and wearing an expensive shirt with a vest, Nevins had a meticulous, fussy persona. Riley liked him all the more because of it. She found him refreshing. They had first met over a decade ago, when he was a consultant on a high-profile FBI case that she worked on. His office was in D.C., so they didn't get together often. But over the years they'd often found that weaving together her instincts and his deep background knowledge gave them a unique insight into devious minds. She'd driven to see him first thing this morning.

"Where do I begin?" Riley replied with a shudder.

"Take your time," he said.

She sipped at a mug of the delicious hot tea he had given her.

"I saw him," she said. "I asked him some questions, but Walder wouldn't let me spend any time with him."

"And he doesn't fit your profile?"

"Mike, this Darrell Gumm guy is a wannabe," she continued. "He's got some kind of fanboy fantasy about psychopaths. He wants to be one. He wants to be famous for it. But he doesn't have what it takes. He's creepy, but he's not a killer. It's just that right now he gets to act out his fantasy to the hilt. It's his dream come true."

Mike stroked his chin thoughtfully. "And you don't think the real killer wants fame?"

She said, "He might be interested in fame, and he might even want it, but it's not what makes him tick. He's driven by something else, something more personal. The victims represent something to him, and he enjoys their pain because of who or what they stand for. They're not chosen randomly."

"Then how?

Riley shook her head. She wished she could put it into words better than she could.

"It's got something to do with dolls, Mike. The guy's obsessed with them. And dolls have something to do with how he targets the women."

Then she sighed. At this point, this didn't even sound very convincing to her. And yet she was sure that was the right track.

Mike was silent for a moment. Then he said, "I know that you have a talent for recognizing the nature of evil. I've always trusted your instincts. But if you're right, this suspect they're holding has got everybody else fooled. And not all FBI agents are fools."

"But some of them are," Riley said. "I can't get the woman he took yesterday out of my mind. I keep thinking about what she's going through right now." Then she blurted out the point of her visit with the psychiatrist. "Mike, could you question Darrell Gumm? You'd see through him in a second."

Mike looked startled. "They haven't called me in on this one," he said. "I checked on the case this morning and I was told that Dr. Ralston interviewed him yesterday. Apparently he agrees that Gumm's the killer. He even got Gumm to sign a written confession. The case is closed as far as the Bureau is concerned. They think that now they just need to find the woman. They're sure they'll get Gumm to talk."