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“Interesting. Although one can’t discount professional jealousy or personal conflicts between personnel, the usual reasons for someone in Sedgewick’s position to be fired would be inappropriate relationships with patients, not maintaining boundaries, fraud, falsifying records or not documenting them properly. ”

“Patient safety might have figured into it.” She pulled out a chair and sat. Her legs were more unsteady than she’d admit. A belated response to the day’s events. “Price said some of her patients were escalating in their violence against staff.”

Hayes didn’t look up from his task. “When you start getting into treatment options, things get a little trickier. Aggressive role play isn’t outside the standard of care when administered properly.

But if it’s not aligned with the patient’s best interests, it becomes an issue.

Processing the client’s feelings and reactions is key. ”

“And that’s where Price said the problem was.” She remembered her conversation with the doctor that morning. It’d felt… manipulative was the word, Reese decided. Almost like she was intentionally finding and touching bruised areas of her psyche.

But she’d had enough experience with therapists to have felt similarly with them over the years. Trauma hurt. And the mental contusions it left in its wake remained painful.

He glanced at her. “Do you think she would have used that treatment on your brother?”

The question hung in the air between them. Reese didn’t talk about her early life with Ben. Not with anyone. Realizing he was waiting for a response, she selected her words carefully. “He suffers from delusions. At home, he was mostly aggressive with me.”

“Tough way to grow up.” His voice was laced with sympathy. “But none of us are defined by what’s happened to us.”

“It’s how we respond to it.” She managed a slight smile. “I’ve heard that before.”

He took the weapon and ammo to his bedroom and returned with his cell in his hand. “I think you’re the most resilient person I’ve ever met. You have that quality in common with Adam.”

She sent him a sidelong glance. Did he just compare her to Adam Raiker? The man was more than a little formidable. But he’d survived a terrible ordeal. And the scars that lingered hadn’t stopped him from building a state-of-the-art forensics corporation with an international reputation.

“How did you manage to capture his attention in the first place?”

“A combination of factors probably.” His gaze was fixed on his cell. “As I said, I was working at Quantico in the Behavioral Science Unit. Adam’s wife, Jaid, still works for the Bureau.”

“He’s married?” The news managed to refocus her attention. “That’s…surprising.”

“It’s not something they broadcast. Their personal information has been sealed, via court order. He presents a pretty big target, as you can imagine. I can’t recall how many assassination attempts he’s survived. The last one nearly killed him. Their son was kidnapped a couple of years ago.”

“I can’t imagine the security it takes to protect them.”

“Well, no one’s better in that area. I worked with Jaid a couple of times. And Raiker came from the BSU, so I’m sure he still has contacts in the department. But it wasn’t until after we’d solved the Beach Butcher case that he reached out to me.”

“Beach Butcher. I remember reading something about that. Somewhere on the east coast, right?”

“In,” he breathed with satisfaction. “Raiker’s security is a real pain using the cell.”

“What are you doing?”

“Accessing the TK interviews on the agency’s system.

” Seamlessly, he picked up the thread of their conversation.

“The Beach Butcher operated in the Carolinas. He was a sadistic thrill killer. Preyed on men and women equally. Chopped them up with an ax and then formed messages out of their body parts. From the wording in those, and other evidence that was uncovered, I concluded he was a musician of some sort. And probably not a particularly successful one, since those types of killers are often mired in inadequacy.”

She recalled more of the details now. “The cellist.”

He nodded. Seemed to find whatever he’d been looking for and enlarged the print on the screen to read it more closely.

“Anyway, a month or two later, I arrived home after work to find a car idling in my drive. Paulie, Adam’s right-hand man got out and told me Raiker wanted to speak with me.

I invited them inside for a long conversation.

A week later he reached out to make me an offer. ”

Although the conversation should have been a diversion, knowing the task he was immersed in splintered her attention. A fist clenched in her belly. “What are you trying to find?” she asked, nodding toward his phone.

“It’s unclear how or why Thorne would be involved in the car bombing or Greenley’s death.

You’ve mentioned his skill level a few times.

From my interview with him, I found his ability to integrate into society to be functional.

The difference between our two perceptions may well come from seeing him on and off his medications.

The chaotic thought patterns and violent impulses you witnessed firsthand would be quieted with the right meds.

I remembered something you told Adam about Thorne hearing voices. ”

“That’s not precisely correct.”

“I see that now. You said, ‘But in the jumble of chaotic half-formed thoughts, memories, and violent images, was a repeated clear phrase: “Good, goodies, goodness.” Like a voice of lucidity in an otherwise disordered mind.’ That’s how you knew to look for him in Goodness, Mississippi.”

“It was a gamble. Based not just on that, but yeah.” She wrapped her arms around her waist, suddenly cold. Reese wondered, not for the first time, how different her life would be if she hadn’t followed that hunch, made possible by the “gift” she’d never wanted.

“People, especially those with disorganized minds, can have thoughts of startling clarity among a puddle of otherwise tangled reasoning. But what if that repeated thought you picked up on wasn’t his own?”

She stared at him, comprehension slowly dawning. “You mean that voice didn’t originate with him at all. Maybe it was someone’s instructions he was recalling.”