Nothing.
“And what’s her word worth?” Jeremy said. “The girl who found her poor dead daddy. Who doesn’t even know the full truth about his death.”
Paige stood there staring at him, not knowing what to say in response to that. What did he mean? She didn’t have enough time to ask, though, because Christopher was already speaking again.
“Mr. Smithers, we didn’t come for that,” Christopher said, although he sounded reluctant, as if he would have liked nothing more than to arrest Jeremy. Paige was grateful for that, but it didn’t make any difference.
“Then why are you here?” Jeremy demanded. “Why have you brought that bitch to my home? Why did you come here, Paige?”
Paige was beginning to wonder that herself. It might have been far easier if she’d never told Christopher about Jeremy, if she’d just stood back and let Adam do everything that he wanted to the man who’d hurt her like that.
Even so, she couldn’t. It wasn’t about what he’d done. It was about what she chose to do now.
“We’re here because a serial killer named Adam Riker may be targeting people who have wronged Paige here,” Christopher said. “You’re top of the list, Jeremy.”
He said it in a tone that made it perfectly clear what he thought of Jeremy in that moment.
“Me? No, I’m not… I didn’t do anything.”
Paige couldn’t hold herself back in that moment. She stepped past Christopher and hit Jeremy one more time. It felt almost as good as the first time that she’d struck him. He went down, hard.
“Paige, as much as I wish I could, I can’t let you beat him.”
“You should arrest her!” Jeremy insisted. “Arrest her!”
“For what? For defending herself when you made an aggressive move towards her when I went to arrest you?”
“When you what?” Jeremy demanded.
Christopher took a step forward, grabbing him and pushing him face first against a wall, none too gently. He got out handcuffs, and slapped them onto Jeremy’s wrists, apparently not caring how tight they were.
“You can’t do this!” Jeremy said.
“I can’t arrest you for a crime you committed?” Christopher said.
“The charges will never stick! I’ll be out in a day or two, at most!”
“Probably,” Christopher said. “For all that you’re a disgusting, child molesting scum, you’re right about there not being enough supporting evidence to convict you. But there is enough to hold you for as long as we’re allowed to question you. And while you’re being questioned, you’re probably safe from Adam Riker. You’d better hope that we catch him before you get out again.”
It felt good to see Jeremy in cuffs, and even better as Christopher started dragging him to the car. The only pity was that there was no chance that he would be convicted, no chance that Paige would get to see him put away the way he deserved to be.
For now, it also meant that a man she would have gladly seen dead was going to get to live. Assuming that Adam was coming here. There was no sign of him here, and no obvious sign that he was going to show up. Were they going to sit here, the way they had at Adam’s family home, waiting for the serial killer to show up?
No, Paige knew that there was no way that was going to happen, not after they’d struck out before. They might get local PD to watch it, but they couldn’t stay. They kept striking out, and maybe they were protecting people who might be attacked, but that wasn’t getting them Adam.
Paige needed to think of something else.