Into the Night(78)

Samantha tapped her fingers on the conference table. “Dr. Lang is in interrogation. Macey, I want you to have a run at her.”

Macey nodded as she turned for the door. Exhaustion pulled at her, but, determinedly, Macey pushed it back. She had a job to do. She couldn’t afford weakness. Not right then.

*

JONAH TWISTED AGAINST the ropes that bound him. This should never have happened to him. He’d been tied up all damn day. He could barely feel his fingers. Were the FBI agents looking for him? Were they still searching?

Shit, shit, shit. This screwed everything to hell. When he vanished, they would have immediately started digging into his life. And that meant...

They went to my house. They’d know that he’d been hacking at the FBI. But they didn’t understand...he’d just wanted to see what made the other agents so special. He’d wanted to find out what he was doing wrong in his sessions with the shrink. How could he fix things if he didn’t understand the problem first?

It was dark again. The light had vanished from the window. His stomach growled, reminding him that he’d been without food and water all day.

But the ropes...they were starting to give. He could feel it. He’d worked on them long enough. Hard enough. He’d be able to break away soon.

Soon.

The door to his room opened. His prison. A low, long squeak, and his head lifted. He couldn’t see the face of the man before him, there was too much darkness, but he knew he was looking at the bastard who’d ruined everything for him.

“They found my sister today,” the guy told him. And he sounded...happy. “Susannah is finally coming home.”

*

“I DIDN’T KNOW!” Dr. Amelia Lang jumped to her feet as soon as Macey stepped into the interrogation room. “I swear, I didn’t know he’d...he’d taken someone else’s name! He came to me as Carlisle. Carlisle Adams was the graduate assistant that had been approved to help me. I never had any reason to suspect otherwise—”

“We can’t locate the real Carlisle,” Macey told her. “At this point, we fear he may be dead. It’s possible that Wesley murdered him so that he could take the other man’s identity.”

Dr. Lang shook her head. “No, no, no...” Her body seemed to hunch in on itself.

“When did Wesley start working with you?”

Dr. Lang wrapped her arms around her midsection. “About...a month ago? Two? I needed help desperately for a project. He was like a godsend.” She rocked onto her toes. “You think he was involved in...all of this mess, don’t you? Curtis Zale, the police captain—”

“About that,” Macey interrupted smoothly. “You told me before that you saw a man in a police uniform near Agent Murphy’s SUV. You told us that you only saw the back of that individual’s head.”

Dr. Lang quickly nodded. “Yes, yes, he had dark hair and broad shoulders and—” Her eyes became saucers. “It could have been Carlisle—I mean, Wesley. I didn’t even realize...” She hurried back to the table and sat down, hard. She appeared shell-shocked. “The...the night that Captain Harwell died, Car—Wesley wasn’t at the motel. I went there, and I knocked on his door, but he didn’t answer. I just assumed he was sleeping, but now I have to think...he wasn’t there.”

Because he’d been killing Henry Harwell? “Where was he when Daniel Haddox was killed?”

Dr. Lang just blinked at her.

Macey unclenched her back teeth and gave Dr. Lang the specific date of the crime.

“I don’t know. We were on a small fall break at the university. I thought he was taking some time to relax, maybe he’d gone hiking in the mountains...” Her words trailed away. “When I got the call to come to Gatlinburg, I texted him. Told him that I needed him.” Her voice dropped. “And he was here within the hour.”

Because he’d already been there? All along? “You know that FBI Agent Jonah Loxley is missing.”

Dr. Lang’s hands twisted in her lap.

“Where was Wesley last night? When Jonah went missing, where was he?”

Dr. Lang could only shake her head. “I don’t know. I was dead tired. I passed out at the motel, and I don’t remember anything else.”

Not helpful.

“He could have been gone the whole night,” Dr. Lang whispered, “and I didn’t know.” She stared into Macey’s eyes and then said once more, as if ashamed, “I didn’t know.”

I didn’t know that I was working side by side with a killer.

Macey nodded and she slipped out of the room. She closed the door behind her, and then stood there for a moment, her shoulders slumping.

“You need rest.”

Samantha.

Macey’s head whipped up.

“How long has it been since you slept, Agent Night?”

Macey stared at her, honestly not sure. It had been twenty-four hours since Jonah went missing and she had been awake at least—

“I booked you a room at a lodge on the edge of town. A place that I’ve made sure is completely secure.” Samantha waved toward her. “Go there. Get some sleep. Because you are no good when you’re dead on your feet.”

Bowen slipped into the hallway. He’d been in the room next to the interrogation area, and she knew he’d watched her interview with Dr. Lang through the one-way mirror on the right wall.