“No” she declared loud enough for the others to hear. “You?”
“We’ve got nothing,” Detective Carroll answered.
Because the Staunton PD lacked Quantico’s resources, Trey said, “Continue your investigation, Detective Carroll. Talk to witnesses. Expand the search for the Andersons. An APB is already out on them. Keep us in the loop. In the meantime, we’re returning to Quantico and interrogating Dr. Manfredi again.”
“All right,” Detective Carroll agreed. “I’ll have a patrol officer drive you back to the airfield.”
QUANTICO, VIRGINIA
FBI HEADQUARTERS
Miguel and Julia
In the BehavioralAnalysis Unit at the FBI headquarters, Trey led Miguel and Julia to his private office as Bureau Chief. It was a coveted position by ambitious men and women with political aims. But not Trey McAdams. He couldn’t be bribed or extorted and that earned him both respect and envy.
As soon as he closed the door, Trey locked eyes with Julia. “What evidence did you remove from Axalia Anderson’s room?”
Julia didn’t blink at his abrupt question. She reached into her coat pocket and handed him Axalia’s journal. “Look at the last entry.”
Trey read it aloud for Miguel’s benefit. “Now there’s no doubt that Axis and Axalia know your identity, Julia. They must have seen your mother’s televised press conference.” He slammed his fist on his desk and cursed. “I could strangle Dr. Manfredi for ignoring my diagnosis of the Andersons and giving them access to the outside world. Who knows how long they’ve been off their meds. The level of violence they committed during their escape,the writing on Axis’ wall, and this journal entry speak to the depth of their psychosis.”
“My family is in danger, and we have no idea where Axis and Axalia are.”
“Since your mother’s public announcement, we’ve increased security around your parents and your brothers and sisters. And in two days, Justice and his team will begin their Secret Service duty.”
“So, where do we go from here?” Julia asked.
“I think it’s time for you and Dr. Manfredi to meet face to face.”
Trey called someone and requested that Dr. Manfredi be taken to an interrogation room. He, Julia, and Miguel rode an elevator down into the bowels of the building. Julia had been here twice, escorting highly sought after drug runners to interrogation. The room where Dr. Manfredi sat waiting at a metal table was approximately eight feet long and twelve feet wide and painted a dull, institutional gray. Dr. Manfredi wore a crumpled shirt, suit jacket, and pants. His short light brown hair stood up in greasy spikes all over his head.
Speaking directly into a camera in one corner of the ceiling, he declared, “You can’t keep me prisoner. I have rights.”
“Julia and Miguel, wait here,” Trey ordered. “I’m going in alone for a few minutes.”
Miguel pressed an intercom button so he and Julia could listen to and watch the interview without being seen.
Dr. Elias Manfredi glared at Trey. “You can’t keep me here. I have rights.”
Trey opened a file folder and laid a series of gruesome crime scene photos in front of Dr. Manfredi. Sweat broke out on his forehead, and he turned pale. Trey tapped on six photos. “These victims were your colleagues.”
Dr. Manfredi grimaced and averted his gaze.
“No. Don’t look away.” Trey tapped on two more glossy 8x10 photos. “Two patients with their throats slit.Yourpatients, Dr. Manfredi. All these victims had rights, too. The right to a reasonable expectation of safety. You unleashed a veritable pair of monsters on them and society at large. All because you were too damn egotistical to listen to me when I explained how dangerous Axis and Axalia were. You violated every single one of my mandates regarding them. The Andersons are incapable of reason or empathy. They will leave a trail of destruction on their way to where exactly, Dr. Manfredi?”
The man shrank beneath Trey’s verbal attack. Guilt and shame replaced the previous fire in his eyes. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know.” Trey removed another photo from the file folder. “I assume you’ve seen Axis’ handiwork. The carvings in the wall of his room.”
Dr. Manfredi’s eyes widened somewhat, and an expression that Julia interpreted as admiration crossed his sweaty face. “So, Axis finished it.”
Trey’s jaw tightened. Anger flared in his unique amber orbs. “Yes, he did. The question is, Dr. Manfredi, who’s Julia?”
The psychiatrist shrugged. “I thought she was a figment of their imagination, though both insisted she was their mother’s long-lost daughter. I conducted online searches of birth records but never found anything.”
“That’s because there isn’t any record of Julia’s birth.” Trey beckoned for Julia to join them.
She met Miguel’s intense stare, and he nodded. Julia took a deep breath and entered the interrogation room.
