Off Limits(59)

A man in a dark suit walked up, flashing a badge. “I'm sorry, Mrs. Rawlings. That might be a while. I'm Agent Morgan of the Atlanta FBI. I'd like to talk to your stepdaughter about her kidnapping.”

Doctor Jones came back, tapping his pen on a clipboard. “Not for at least twelve hours, Agent Morgan. Testing and observation. In the meantime, though, a bit of good news. Mr. Rawlings is going to be just fine. Mr. Bell's quick thinking turned what could have been a major, if not fatal, heart attack into a minor incident. He'll be here for a few days, but according to the guys I talked to in the cardiac unit, he should make a full recovery.”

I nodded, smiling for the first time in what felt like forever. “Then let's get my X-rays done too. After that, regardless of what you say, Doc, I'll be happy to talk to the cops. That piece of shit needs to pay.”



* * *



The FBI agents who accompanied Agent Morgan the next morning were your pretty typical group. One of them, who introduced himself as Agent Jacobi, came straight from FBI central casting. White, nondescript, but with an intensity to his eyes that spoke of his dedication to his work. I saw a plain gold wedding band on his finger, but there was something about it that made me think it was mostly there for show. He was married to the Bureau, not to any other person.

The other one, Agent Leeds, was a woman in her mid-thirties, and from the first time she opened her mouth, I could identify her for what she was—a lab geek. As a biology major, I've dealt with plenty of them in my studies. They're generally a good group of people, but they normally have social skills that are a little lacking. The little pink streak in her hair gave it away.

Agent Jacobi opened up the questioning. He asked me about my history with Chris Lake, including our dating history. “So you never had intimate relations with him?” he asked, all business. “Just to be clear.”

“Never,” I said clearly. “Previously, we went to second base, but never any further.”

Jacobi made a note in his notebook, while Leeds tapped at her tablet. I assumed she was recording the whole conversation using the computer. She had arranged it very specifically to point the back toward me. Besides, it struck me as just fitting her personality.

We moved on to the actual details behind Shawnie’s and my kidnappings, Jacobi asking a few questions related to the symptoms that I felt. “No, I didn't notice any sort of taste about the juice at all. It just tasted like normal orange juice.”

“And how fast did it take to kick in?” Leeds asked, the first time she had said anything since they had introduced themselves.

“I'm not sure, but I'd say fewer than five minutes,” I said. “I don't think I even finished the glass.”

Agent Leeds put her finger to her lips, nodding thoughtfully. I jumped at the chance. “Can you guys tell me what I was dosed with?”

Leeds shook her head. “Right now, we're not too sure. The problem is that your blood tests all came back pretty clear. Whatever it was, it gets filtered out very quickly.”

“Have you searched his apartment?” I asked, feeling dumb as soon as I did. Of course they had. They were the FBI.

“And his office,” Agent Morgan said. “Miss Rawlings, you're probably wondering why this is being handled by the FBI and not the Atlanta Police.”

“Not really,” I said. “Daddy is a fan of those procedural cop shows, and I know that while they're normally full of junk, there's some information that jives. I'm guessing you have investigations over multiple states?”

Morgan nodded, impressed. “Good catch. That, and the kidnapping gives us the ability to take the lead on this. Miss Rawlings, I'm not going to lie. We suspect Mr. Lake in a series of sexual assaults stretching back at least five years. If the statement Mr. Bell gave us holds water, it may even go back further, although the ones before the use of any drug would be nearly impossible to prove. You're quite lucky, Miss Rawlings.”

“Why?” I asked, a chill sweeping over me as I thought about all those victims, all those women who'd been seduced or assaulted by Chris for his sick game with Lloyd.

“Because a pattern was emerging in our investigations,” Leeds said, geeking out and not realizing how fast her mouth was running away from her. “We think he was getting ready to graduate from taking his thrill from sex to murder.”

I shivered, hugging my knees, and Leeds realized what she'd said. “Sorry,” she muttered, looking around sheepishly. “I shouldn't have said that.”

I shook my head, looking down. “It’s okay. Tell me, is Shawnie okay?”

“She's going to need a little more recovery time, but she’ll be okay,” Agent Jacobi said simply. “Mostly uninjured, but there are a lot of superficial cuts and a separated shoulder from her escape attempt.”

I nodded. “Then how about we wrap this up, and let me go see my friend and hopefully my dad?”

It was Agent Morgan's turn to look sheepish, and he ran a hand through his thinning brown hair. “Actually, Miss Rawlings, you might need to wait for your clothes. Uhm, unless you mind wearing a pair of scrubs or something. I'm sure your stepmother or Mr. Bell will bring a pair as soon as they’re done.”

“Where are they, anyway?” I asked. It was already mid-morning, and I had thought they'd already have been at the hospital. “With Daddy?”