Page 159 of Chameleon Killer

The unsub had reached somewhere that I’d been trying to get to and I thought Carter almost had. The unsub had her mind.

And Mallory valued that territory above everything else.

“He's enjoying this,” I said.

Carter didn't answer.

“He doesn't need this meeting. Nothing he's told her required face-to-face contact.”

“They aren't face-to-face.” Carter’s dry, deadpan answer dared me to deny it.

“You know what I mean.”

“Do I?”

I turned toward him. His attention had narrowed onto the monitor again.

“What?”

“Something's wrong.”

“You said that before.”

“No.” Carter leaned closer. “Something is wrong.” He pointed at Mallory. “She isn't reacting to him.”

I stared at the screen. “She clearly is.”

“To the screen.”

My attention sharpened.

Carter continued before I could answer. “Every time he speaks, there's a delay.”

“Network latency.”

“Not that kind.”

“How would you know?”

“Because Mallory interrupts people.”

I almost dismissed it. Then I didn't.

Carter looked at me. “When someone says something she disagrees with, she doesn't wait politely for them to finish. She steps on the end of the sentence.”

I knew that. Wait, I did know that. God knew that I’d experienced it with her. That shifted my entire focus.

“She hasn't interrupted him once,” Carter said.

I looked back at the screen. Mallory waited. The unsub spoke. She waited. Then answered.

Again and again and again.

Perfect conversational spacing.

Too perfect.

“Ruiz.”