CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

Riley was furious at herself as she drove back to the Harters’ mansion.

I should have known, she thought.

I should have paid attention to my instincts.

After all, she had been wary of Tisha’s amoral cunning since she’d first met her. She’d also been keenly aware of the young woman’s intelligence, her enormous capacity to learn things on her own. Riley had no doubt that if Tisha was interested in disabling security systems, she could have taught herself the necessary hacking skills. Or at least, she could have found out where to learn what she needed to know.

Judging from Tisha’s appearance, she also could be nimble enough to have gotten into Julian Morse’s pool area. She was certainly strong enough to stab someone multiple times. And Riley also believed that Tisha could have been angry enough to carry out the murders.

Riley worried while she drove. Was Tisha Harter even still there in the mansion?

She might well have realized that Riley was on her way to LifeGrasp to ask questions. Might Tisha have already fled, fearing arrest?

Riley knew that Tisha was shrewd and chameleon-like.

If she chose to disappear, how hard would it be to find her again?

And how could she be stopped from killing again?

I should have arrested her already, Riley thought.

But for what? Until just now, there had been no probable cause.

Would it be best to phone now and make sure the woman was still at home? And that she would stay there?

No, Riley decided. It was only a few minutes’ drive. There was no reason to raise an alarm.

When Riley arrived there and rang the doorbell, Vivian Bettridge answered the door, Riley charged inside right past her.

“Where’s Tisha Harter?” she demanded.

Bettridge was visibly alarmed by Riley’s agitation.

“She said she doesn’t want to be bothered for the rest of the day,” Vivian said.

Riley felt a twinge of relief.

It seemed that Tisha hadn’t fled the mansion.

She spoke sharply to the Bettridge, “I asked you, where is she? I need to see her right now.”

Bettridge appeared about to protest, but the expression on Riley’s face stopped her. Looking truly intimidated now, she said, “Upstairs in the rec room. But …”

Riley didn’t wait to hear the majordomo’s weak objections. She hurried into the house and took the elevator to the second floor.

When Riley got to the rec room, she found Tisha dressed as casually as when she’d first met her, again killing opponents in the violent video game. Gone was the more mature, sophisticated persona on display just a little while ago. The “lady of the manor” had reverted to the sullen, hostile young woman she really was.

Tisha looked up from the game as Riley strode into the room.

“Agent Paige! What the hell? I told Vivian I wanted—”

Ignoring the protests, Riley ordered, “Get on your feet.”

With a stunned look, Tisha got up from the couch. She looked like she didn’t know whether to fight or to run.

Riley said, “Tisha Harter, you’re under arrest for lying to an FBI agent—and also on suspicion of murder in the first degree.”

Riley took out her handcuffs and recited Tisha’s Miranda rights.

Tisha protested loudly as Riley slapped the cuffs on her.

“This is stupid. You don’t have anything on me. I didn’t do anything wrong. And you can’t prove I did anything wrong.”

Riley was leading her out of the rec room toward the elevator now.

“Yes, I can prove you did something wrong. You lied to me, in violation of Section 1001 of Title 18 in the US Code. Martha Stewart was jailed for that. Do you think you can get by with something she couldn’t?”

As they took the elevator down, Tisha was still cursing and complaining. Then she fell silent and looked like she was thinking hard, turning various possibilities over in her mind.

Finally she asked meekly, “What did I lie about?”

When they reached the ground floor, Riley just said “Come on” and marched Tisha into the living room.

Then she heard Bill’s voice.

“Riley! What the hell—?”

Riley saw that Vivian Bettridge was just then escorting Bill and Jared into the mansion. The two were still in their undercover outfits, but had apparently finished their investigations for today.

She told him, “I’m arresting Tisha Harter.”

“For what?” Bill said.

“For lying to me, for starters. That will hold her for a while. But don’t worry, we won’t have any trouble proving that she’s also a murderer.”

Bill said, “Riley, no, please listen—”

Riley interrupted, rapidly telling Bill about her visit to LifeGrasp and how she’d learned that Tisha Harter had deliberately lied to her.

Finally Bill interrupted her, almost shouting.

“Riley, stop! She’s not the one we’re looking for. Tisha is not a serial killer!”

Riley’s mouth dropped open. She was speechless.

Bill said, “Remember when you told me to call Chief O’Neill about those two domestic abusers? While I had him on the phone, he filled me in on how his investigative team was progressing. They’ve been doing good work. He told me they’d studied the security tapes for inside this house.”

Riley stammered, “But—but the security system here was hacked when Harter was killed. There wouldn’t be any video record—”

“Not for Harter’s murder, no,” Bill said. “But the tapes show that Tisha Harter was definitely here at home when the other two murders took place. She couldn’t have killed those men, Riley.”

Riley felt sick to her stomach.

What kind of mistake did I just make?

Tisha was glaring at her now.

She said, “You’re crazy, Agent Paige. Do you know that?”

Riley realized that she had no choice but to uncuff the woman. Arresting her now would just be a waste of valuable time.

As she did so, she said, “I know you lied to me about LifeGrasp. That was you being crazy, not me.”

“So what if I lied?” Tisha said.

“So what?” Riley snapped. But then she felt herself softening up. This wasn’t the first or last mistake this young woman would make, and surely not the biggest one. It wasn’t worth taking her in over.

Riley said tiredly, “It’s a crime, Tisha. What were you thinking, lying to an FBI agent? Why did you do that?”

Tisha shrugged and said, “I was embarrassed, OK? I was feeling weak and helpless when I went there. And I don’t like feeling like that. I like to think I can deal with anything, no matter how rough things get. I sure as hell didn’t want to admit I’d gone there. Especially not to a tough chick like you.”

Riley felt thoroughly mortified now. She had no doubt that Tisha was telling the truth—at least about this. And from what Bill had just said, Tisha obviously was not the murderer.

When she was freed from the cuffs, Tisha rubbed her wrists.

“I’ve got half a mind to sue your ass for what you just did,” she said.

Riley suppressed a growl of annoyance.

She wanted to say …

Go ahead and try.

She knew she had Tisha dead to rights for lying to an FBI agent, if nothing else. Tisha couldn’t make a case against her for attempting a false arrest.

But now that she knew the truth, questions started crowding into Riley’s mind.

Trying to calm herself, Riley said, “Tisha, you might have important information. Did anyone in the LifeGrasp group stand out to you? Someone especially angry? Someone who took special interest in your situation?”

Tisha snapped, “If you think I’ve got anything more to say to you, you’re even crazier than I already thought.”

Tisha turned and walked away. Riley took a couple of steps to follow her, but Bill’s voice stopped her.

“It’s no use, Riley. You aren’t going to get any answers from her, at least not now. Come on. Let’s get back to Atlanta.”

Feeling thoroughly defeated, Riley followed Jared and Bill out of the house.

I just blew it, she thought. I completely screwed up.

Meanwhile, she knew they were losing valuable time.

There was a serial killer at large who might well have already targeted another victim.