After passing Corinne off to the EMTs, Brantley took a stroll around to the back of the house. He found he wasn’t alone though. Reese had already come back here, pacing. Without saying a word, he fell into step with the man and they just walked. No words were necessary.
This was their first official case on the governor’s task force, although technically, they’d solved two at one time. Not only had they found Corinne, bringing her home safe and sound, they’d also found Lauren Tyler. That girl had a long, long road ahead of her based on what Brantley had witnessed. She had been willing to take her own life because the bastard who’d kidnapped her had brainwashed her into doing so. He didn’t even want to think about what might’ve happened if Reese hadn’t been there to stop her.
He had been there though. That was all that mattered.
A few hours later, after receiving an invite from Baz to join him down at the station to observe Dugan’s interrogation, Brantley was standing in a small room. The two-way mirror revealed the brightly lit room where Dugan was sitting at a table, hands cuffed behind his back. There was a sinister smile on the man’s face and it took every ounce of his control not to stroll into that room and punch the fucker in the face.
“You’ve waived your right to counsel,” Baz stated as he stepped into the room to join Dugan. “Is that correct?”
“I don’t see a reason to pay for a lawyer,” Dugan answered easily. “I know my rights.”
Baz nodded, then pulled out the chair across from him. “Do you understand what you’re being charged with, Mr. Dugan?”
“Whatever it is, it won’t stick,” the other man stated. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Nothing wrong?” Reese muttered from beside Brantley. “Guy is a complete fucking lunatic.”
“Mr. Dugan, we found Lauren Tyler living in your home. She’s been missing for nine years.”
“The woman living with me is Emily Dugan,” the man countered. “My wife.”
Brantley noticed the way Baz’s shoulders tensed. He could practically feel his anger, the need to get the truth out of this crazy psycho so they could bring closure to Lauren’s family.
“She’s Lauren Tyler,” Baz repeated. “I don’t care what you call her, that doesn’t change who she is. And she didn’t willingly go with you nine years ago, did she?”
Dugan didn’t respond.
“Why did you kidnap her?”
Dugan’s right eyebrow lifted. “Kidnap her?” He smiled, that evil smirk holding firmly on his face. “I didn’t kidnap her, I invited her into my home. I took care of her. I raised her.” His eyes narrowed. “I fixed her.”
Baz’s shoulders relaxed. “Fixed her? What exactly needed to be fixed?”
“Lauren Tyler was a confused young woman when I invited her into my life.”
“Confused how?”
Dugan leaned back in his chair. “She fancied herself in love with her best friend. A woman. She was an abomination when I took pity on her.”
“That explains what the parents were eluding to,” Reese muttered.
Yes, it certainly did.
“I showed her the error of her ways,” Dugan continued. “Over time, her misguided ideals were eliminated, replaced by my sweet, devoted Emily.”
“And the others?” Baz prompted. “Did you fix them, too?”
Dugan didn’t refute that there were others and Brantley wondered if that was Baz’s plan. A trap to get him to admit to the other women.
“I attempted to,” Dugan said. “Some would last, some wouldn’t.”
“How many did you fix?” Baz inquired. “And how many didn’t … last?”
“Emily’s the only one who truly saw the error of her ways.” Dugan’s eyes seemed to go blank, as though he was looking into his own past. “The others … I tried. I tried so hard, but I could only do so much.”
“And if you couldn’t fix them? What did you do to them?”
“I put them out of their misery,” he said easily, still with that far-off look.
“How many?”
“I lost count a long time ago.”
Brantley’s gut churned at the admission. He wanted to wrap his hands around that bastard’s neck and squeeze until his fucking eyeballs popped out of his head.
“And Corinne Greenwood?” Baz asked from inside the room. “Why did you take her?”
“Because she knows too much.” His voice turned cold. “I was going to kill her, make sure she didn’t talk, but then I figured I could give Emily a playmate. We could be a family.”
“Bullshit,” Brantley groaned. “He wanted to prove to himself that he’d fixed Lauren. By bringing Corinne in, he could see for himself that she wasn’t in love with her. Which made him the hero.”
“Guy’s a psychopath,” Reese stated, his anger evident.
“How’d you bypass the security cameras in her apartment?” Baz asked. “The night you took her?”
“Easy. The little pervert who works the desk. It only cost me a hundred. If I were him, I would’ve charged more.” The asshole grinned, then seemed to come back to himself. “I’d like to see my wife now. I’m sure she misses me.”
