As such, Paige followed Christopher towards the house, keeping low and trying to stay out of sight, feeling nervous. Something felt off about this whole place. That was just what was going through Paige’s head, but maybe it was more than that.
"Does this feel as creepy to you as it does to me?" Paige asked, and then realized that she should be trying to look more professional in front of the FBI agent. She was meant to be there as a consultant, not as some worried tag along.
"It's a bit run down," Christopher replied, "but I'm sure it's just fine."
They paused at the front door. It hung open and unlocked.
He led the way through the rickety old door, into what looked like a living room. Paige couldn't imagine anyone living here, couldn't imagine Adam staying here, but he’d told her that he had. She wondered if Riker was the only one who'd stayed here, or whether he had other accomplices. He was good at manipulating people to help him.
"Hello?" Christopher called out, his voice echoing through the empty house as he gave up on trying to move quietly. "Is there anyone there? This is the FBI!"
The large empty rooms of the house threatened to swallow up his voice, echoes seeming to come from its nooks and crannies. Obviously, the idea was to get some kind of reaction out of Adam if he was there.
"Hello?" Paige called out, adding her own voice to it. She half-suspected that if Adam was there, he might answer when he heard her voice, just for the effect that he could have on her.
If there was anyone there, though, they didn’t answer. If Adam was waiting there, it was silent and in the shadows.
Both she and Christopher were looking over their shoulders as they walked, to make sure they weren't ambushed by Riker. Paige couldn't help feeling that they were making a mistake, moving through the place, that they weren't safe here.
"Riker, if you're there, give yourself up," Christopher called out.
It was as if the silence in the house was fighting to keep hold of them, to keep them from stumbling into the rooms that Adam Riker had been in. Paige shivered, looking around nervously and trying to make some sense of the emptiness of the place.
Something about the house was beginning to unsettle Paige more than she wanted. She wanted to get out of it, but at the same time, she wanted to know more about the man who had killed so many, wanted to know about the man who had escaped from prison and who might be here now.
Paige was looking around the front room, trying to spot anything that would tell her more about Adam Riker.
There was some old furniture, covered in dust. There were pieces covered in sheets, as if someone had been waiting to decorate the place, or as if they'd just closed off the whole building, waiting for its owner to return. There were absolutely zero personal items there, as if the idea of having anything warm or homey there were anathema to the owner, or as if he were being deliberately careful about leaving any trace of himself.
That made Paige feel hopeful. It felt exactly like the kind of thing Adam would do, trying to leave no trace, trying to make it as hard as possible for anyone to find anything real about him.
They made their way through the house carefully, checking every room. Christopher had a blocky pistol out ready, obviously in case Adam chose to attack them, but he didn’t need it. They cleared the last room. There was no sign of Adam Riker.
"It's like he's a ghost," Christopher said.
Paige didn't reply to that, instead just looking at the old rooms with their hand-made furniture, their blankets and quilts. She tried to imagine the family that had lived here a hundred years ago, people who probably weren't really related to Adam Riker. This was just a place that he'd bought as a bolt hole.
"I guess he's not here," Christopher said, sounding disappointed.
Paige wasn't convinced yet. There were so many rooms, and Riker could have hidden almost anywhere. It was entirely possible that he was there, and that he was just waiting for the right moment to make his move.
"I just don't think we've looked in the right place," Paige replied, thinking of the old barn. “There are still the outbuildings.”
The barn was the one building on the property that was closed up. Paige swallowed, suddenly realizing that this was the perfect place for a killer like Adam to hide. Better than the main building, in a lot of ways, because he would assume that anyone arriving to search would go there first. He could be watching them right now, waiting until they were close enough to attack.
Or he might have slipped away, already.
"We'll check the outbuildings," Christopher said. He led the way back out of the house, moving towards the barn. The two of them went quickly, not wanting to spend more time out in the open than they had to. They picked their way between the discarded machinery, and Paige was only too aware that they would make great targets if someone were watching them with a weapon.
They reached the barn and Christopher opened the door, taking a breath and going inside. Paige followed him, looking around nervously.
The barn was mostly empty. There were a few pieces of old machinery, a couple of old cars, and a few stacks of furniture. Paige could see that it used to be quite a large building, but now it seemed to be falling apart.
As with the house, there was no sign of Adam Riker.
Paige could see an old tractor sitting nearby, and a whole bunch of old furniture and equipment, but there was no sign of Riker, and no sign that anyone had been there recently.
Paige felt dejected in that moment. She'd been so sure that this would be the place where they would find Adam, where they would be able to end all of this, but instead, they'd found empty buildings. She’d led Christopher on a wild goose chase.
That was when Paige heard the sound of footsteps outside.
For a moment or two, Paige could barely breathe. Had they found him, just when it seemed that they’d come to an empty place?
She looked out, and there, by the side of the house, was a figure, bundled up in a jacket and hooded sweater. He took one look at her and Christopher there and turned to run.