Deringer did not protest this, but the angered expression on his face told Rachel that it was taking great restraint for him to remain quiet. He remained that way, wordless and grudgingly cooperative, as the agents escorted him out of the office, through the polished waiting area, and right by the alarmed receptionist.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Rachel had to hand it to Dr. Pete Deringer. He really did seem to be that immovable force hed positioned himself as back at his office. Even when he was in an interrogation room and was clearly uncomfortable with his surroundings, he remained just as stubborn as ever. His attitude threw Rachel off a bit, though. He was displaying the sort of stubbornness shed often seen in men who were playing along because they knew they were innocent and just wanting the FBI to screw up royally so they could use it against the bureau, looking to sue or find some other advantageous play. She got some of that from Deringer, but she also sensed something different.

First of all, if this man was a respected therapist, it seemed to Rachel that hed be bending over backwards to make sure he could help find the reasons that two of his clients were dead. If they were legitimate suicides, surely hed want to be looking into solutions for damage control. Instead, he showed little to no remorse over their deaths and seemed more concerned with making some kind of a point. Rachel couldnt quite pin down any specific motive, though, and it was starting to irritate her.

Deringer had been sitting in the room for ten minutes, still not speaking. He sat behind a metal table, the room smelling like cleaning solution and strong black coffee. When Rachel and Jack came into the room, he gave them that same arrogant smile (a smile that was making Rachel want to punch him in the teeth more and more every time she saw it) and folded his hands on the table.

Get that warrant yet? he asked.

Working on it, Jack said.

Dr. Deringer, things escalated so quickly back at your office that we never even got to mention the most damning piece of evidence of all.

This should be good. Deringer smirked. Ive done nothing wrong. And if youre trying to suggest that I had something to do with the deaths of those two men, Im actually rather anxious to hear the story behind it.

Im glad you said that, Rachel said. She placed several copied printouts on the table in front of him. They were portions of the phone records that had been collected so far. Before coming into the room, Rachel had circled the blocked or unlisted number on each of the records. The final printout was from an email the bureau had sent Jack, showing the actual number that had been hidden behind whatever blocked device or method had been used to keep the number private.