Page 43 of The Truth You Told (Raisa Susanto #2)

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Raisa

Now

“Dr. Tori Greene,” Raisa said out loud. It was there in black and white on the list of people Conrad had met with in Houston. And there in Isabel’s file: “Dr. Victoria Langston.”

“There’s a chance it’s two different people,” Kilkenny said. She slid him a look, and he held his hands up in surrender. “It had to be said.”

“Both psychiatrists working with children and teens who have faced life-altering trauma,” Raisa drawled. Perhaps she could see the bones of that name shift better since her own—and Isabel’s and Delaney’s—had been altered in similar ways. Just enough to hide them in plain sight.

“Okay, let’s say they’re the same person,” Kilkenny said. “And that she’s our impostor. Why is Kate after her?”

Raisa thought of Isabel. Of Conrad. Of Shay’s siblings. Of the male victims.

They all had the one thing in common.

For you, H.

“Her sister,” Raisa said quietly. “Hana. She stayed in Texas. She was a kid who experienced life-altering trauma at a young age.”

“And maybe Tori targeted her,” Kilkenny said. “I don’t know what that woman’s methods were, but if she was trying to nurture a personality disorder in these kids ... maybe she screwed with Hana’s life enough to leave permanent damage.”

“Enough that Kate would blame Tori for Hana’s death?” Raisa asked.

Kilkenny lifted one shoulder. “Absolutely. It’s true that we don’t know exactly what creates a serial killer, but we have enough evidence that abuse contributes to it. I don’t think she was exactly giving them hugs and praise to bring out their inner monster.”

“Okay, well, then, maybe Hana and Kate reconnected,” Raisa said, gaming it out. “Maybe Hana mentioned a Victoria Langston, but then died soon after. Kate couldn’t find her and correctly assumed she was using a different name now.”

“So she contacted the person she thought could help her,” Kilkenny said. “Conrad.”

“And she made a deal,” Raisa said softly. “Kate films a documentary memorializing Conrad for all of history—or at least the next few years. Kate gets the name of the woman she views as responsible for her sister’s death.”

And Conrad would win the game.

“Shit,” Kilkenny said, and then stood. “We need to find her now.”

“How?” Raisa asked, but Kilkenny was already on his phone.

He pulled it away from his ear after a minute, frowning down at it.

“Pierce isn’t answering.”

“He’s driving,” Raisa reminded him, but he shot her an incredulous look.

“When has that stopped him before?” Kilkenny tapped the screen and brought the phone back to his ear once more. Again, no answer.

Raisa stood now, too, energy thrumming beneath her skin. “Why did he drive all the way out to see Max?”

“I don’t know. It made sense when he said it.” Kilkenny was still staring at his screen as if willing it to ring. “He hasn’t wanted to use resources other than himself for this case.”

“Did he ask you to go?”

“No, he knew I was waiting for Conrad,” Kilkenny said. “But I did tell him to check with you.”

“He asked me,” Raisa said, staring at the floor. “We haven’t exactly been buddy-buddy, though. He probably just asked in case you texted me to make sure he did.”

“But why would he ...?” Kilkenny trailed off. She couldn’t guess what the end of that question was, and she bet that neither could he.

“Do you have his office number?” Raisa asked, and almost before she got the question out, Kilkenny was already tapping away at his screen.

“Hi, Betsy. Do you know where Pierce is?” A beat. “No, he said he was driving out to talk to Maxine Baker.” Another pause. “You don’t have that address? Or he wasn’t given it yet? Okay, thank you.”

Kilkenny looked at her. “She says the address for Max still hadn’t come in last time she checked with him.”

“Maybe he got it while he was here?” Raisa suggested.

“His secretary has access to his inbox,” Kilkenny pointed out.

“Shit.”

“Yeah,” Kilkenny said on an exhale. “I don’t get it.”

Raisa shook her head. “I don’t know. If we’re right about Tori Greene, there’s no reason for him to lie to us about anything. It’s not as if he’s the impostor and he’s trying to cover his ass right now.”

“Except maybe he is trying to cover his ass,” Kilkenny said, and then strode to the door and left the room. Raisa stared at his retreating back for a moment before scrambling to follow.

With his long strides, he made it to the guards’ room so far ahead of her that she missed his request. But in the next minute, security footage played on one of the screens.

Pierce.

They must have backed up to the morning, when Pierce had arrived. The guard managed to track him through the parking lot, into the building, through the check-in process. He then paused at a hallway intersection. Then he glanced up at the camera for a moment before turning toward the visitors’ lounge area.

“He’s looking for Kate,” Raisa murmured.

“Maybe,” Kilkenny said, his eyes locked on the screen.

There were a few people in the room, only one of whom looked up when Pierce walked in. He went straight to the coffee vending machine, and Raisa wondered if that was what he’d been searching for all along. But he shifted so that his body was angled toward the woman tucked in the back corner of the room.

He watched her for what felt like a significant amount of time but was probably only a minute and a half or so.

It was enough for her to feel his gaze.

She glanced up. Even from the terrible quality of the security footage, it was easy to tell she was gorgeous, with thick hair styled in a way to reveal a hip undercut. She had arresting features and a stubborn tilt to her jaw that made her seem intimidating despite her small frame.

Kilkenny had the guard freeze the picture, and she could tell from his expression.

“You know her?” Raisa asked anyway.

“Yes,” Kilkenny breathed out, eyes locked on the woman, knuckles white where he gripped his elbows. “That’s Max.”