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“That’s fine.” Tom smiled and crossed the room, pulling up a seat and sitting beside the bed. “How are you feeling, Taylor?”
“I'm okay,” Taylor replied warily. It was clear she didn't trust anyone but him right now.
“We spoke with Dr. Abbott. He says you should be able to go home tomorrow,” Tom continued, seemingly undaunted by Taylor’s hostility.
Since she still held his hand, Fin felt the small shiver that rippled through her. They hadn’t discussed it—they hadn’t really spoken much at all—but he knew the prospect of leaving the hospital scared her. Being here offered some measure of safety and stability, but once she left, she had to reenter the real world. And that was going to be a lot harder to do with the man who had abducted her still on the loose.
“Taylor, before you were taken, do you remember anything unusual happening, or anyone suspicious hanging around?” Chloe asked, jumping straight into the interrogation.
With her gaze fixed firmly on Tom, she said, “There was something.”
“What was it?” Tom asked.
“There was a car. I thought it might be following me,” Taylor said hesitantly.
“Thought?” Chloe echoed.
Again, Taylor focused on Tom—it seemed she didn't like Chloe. Perhaps she saw her as some sort of threat. She couldn’t be more wrong. Chloe wasn't the least bit interested in him. “I thought I was probably just being paranoid. Who would be following me?”
“Did you tell anyone?” Tom asked.
Taylor shook her head. “I thought it was just my imagination, but then …”
“Then what, Taylor?” Tom prompted gently.
“Then I thought someone might have been inside my house.”
“What made you think that?” Tom asked. It seemed he and Chloe had somehow decided without discussing it that Taylor responded better to him, so he would lead the questioning.
“It was silly,” Taylor hedged.
“Nothing you thought was silly. Anything, no matter how small, could be important,” Tom assured her.
“A vase was broken. It could have just been my cat,” Taylor added quickly.
Immediately, Fin knew that it wasn't the cat. He knew who The Breaker was and what he did. Taylor had said that was what the man who’d held her captive for nineteen months had called himself. Maybe if Taylor had realized the significance of the broken vase, she might have reported it and possibly even have avoided being the serial killer’s next victim.
“But you don’t think so,” Tom said.
Slowly, Taylor shook her head.
“Why?”
“Because the vase was downstairs in my lounge room and I usually kept the cat upstairs during the day because otherwise, she used to love to rip my couches.”
“You didn't report the break-in.”
“I couldn’t. It was the day he took me. I got home late from work; I saw the vase, I cleaned it up. I heated a frozen meal for dinner, ate it, then studied for a test I had the next day. Then I went upstairs to start getting ready for bed and went to take a shower.”
“What do you remember about the abduction itself?” Tom asked.
“Not a lot. I went upstairs, turned the shower on, then while the water was heating, I stripped off my clothes, put them in the hamper, then got in. I was just rinsing the shampoo out of my hair when I felt a prick in my leg. I instantly felt dizzy, my limbs went numb, and my vision went all fuzzy. Then I passed out.” Taylor paused, looking lost in thought. “He was in there the whole time, wasn't he?”
Even Fin knew the answer to that.
The killer had broken in, smashed the vase, then hid and waited for Taylor to come home. As soon as he knew she was distracted and wouldn’t notice him coming or attempt to get away from him, he had struck.
“He probably was,” Tom said gently. Having eased Taylor into the interview slowly, the agent moved on to the harder questions. “Where were you when you woke up?”
