Lesser Evil by CJ Lyons

Author:CJ Lyons [Lyons, CJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Edgy Reads

Chapter Eighteen

Cassie and Stefi drove to the home of the woman who was attacked before Alina was. Her name was Tandi Jefferson, and she lived near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, but on the Maryland side of the Potomac. As Stefi reviewed the scant facts of Tandi’s case, what struck Cassie most was the timing.

“I don’t get it,” she told Stefi. “He killed his first two victims together, then attacked four more, each only weeks apart, then nothing for several months until he went after Alina. Why did he stop?”

Stefi shrugged. “Could have been in prison. Could be other victims who haven’t reported, so we have no idea they’re out there. Could just be ordinary life stuff—even sadistic rapists have jobs and families to deal with.”

“I don’t think he was in prison,” Cassie said. “He’s so damned careful about not leaving any forensic evidence.”

“Could’ve been picked up on a totally different charge. Stalking or harassment or trespassing—cops might have thought he was a burglar, not a sex offender.”

“Maybe.” Cassie scanned the file again. Like the others, it contained only the basic facts. Tandi was twenty-six at the time of her attack, was taken after leaving her gym, and was found four days later, naked and confused, in a strip mall’s parking lot in Youngstown, Ohio.

She’d lost her job, but she either came from money or had negotiated a nice severance package, because the house they drove up to sat on prime real estate overlooking the river. The well-maintained Victorian was guarded by a state-of-the-art security system, requiring them to buzz in and show their IDs at the gate and again at the front door.

The woman who greeted them was thin but muscular and wore leggings, a T-shirt, and a wraparound sweater. She squinted at the sun as if she didn’t make it outside the house much. As she waved them inside, Cassie noticed a stack of packages covering the dining room table, including a meal delivery service. Had her attack left Tandi Jefferson agoraphobic?

After she offered them coffee and tea, they settled into chairs in a glass-walled porch with a view of the river. Tandi curled up on her chair, legs tucked beneath her, taking a few breaths before answering each of Stefi’s questions about what she remembered of the events leading up to the attack.

“I was doing pharmaceutical research and development—the drug used on me? It was my creation.”

Cassie glanced first at Stefi and then back at Tandi. “You created the amnesia drug?”

“I designed it to help soldiers and people with PTSD, aid in their therapy.” Tandi grimaced. “Before they stole it from me.”

“Stole it? Besides you, who had access?” Stefi asked.

“Anyone in the lab. But don’t bother. I know who did this to me.”

That got their attention. “Who?” Cassie asked.

“The same man who stole my drug. Marcus Gold. It was his lab I was working in.”

“Do you have any proof?” Although they were recording the interview, Stefi was furiously jotting notes in her notebook.

“I know it’s him—before my attack, after he fired me and published my research under his name, I tried to sue him.

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