Crazy = Genius

Chapter 40: Faking it

'I'm way too good at faking it, I'm way too good at making it look like I don't need nobody else, I even started losing myself'

"I can't help you. I'm sorry."

"Dr. Wallon, you were the last person outside of the Elitists to have contact with her. I need to know everything and anything about your time as a therapist with Vendetta. All info helps."

"I told you everything I know. The man is sick and thinks Lilianna is the reincarnation of his dead girlfriend. I didn't know that going into the experiment. I just thought having a pretty blonde girl who didn't match his M.O. was something worth testing. It worked, she got him to talk and open up. He wanted to know more about her and he always wanted to see her. He was obsessed. When he broke out he took her because he was so infatuated. I don't understand why he would kill her unless he finally realized she wasn't his dead lover. I'm telling you, Boseman, if I knew something important I would tell you. That is all I know."

"There has got to be something!" The lawyer yelled, standing from his desk and slamming his fists on the wood.

"I'm not the one to ask." Hardy sighed, resting his head in his hands. He had aged considerably since Lilianna had disappeared. After all, she was the daughter he never got. His wife had been hysterical when she heard the devastating news and refused to accept her death.

"Does her body turning up in Fresno mean anything?" Emmet asked the therapist.

"Lilianna wasn't from Fresno. Her father still lives in Bakersfield where she grew up and she lived in San Fran, worked at Stanford. There is no sense to any of this." Hardy told him, looking up from his hands and shaking his head.

"Did she say anything to you the day the breakout happened?" He pushed.

"I already told you I was sick and she called me from the tarmac where I told her I wouldn't be joining her. She told me she would stop by with soup after the session. She never did and then I got the call about the breakout. I called her and it was then that I knew she was gone." The old man repeated slowly.

"The days leading up to it?"

"Nothing out of the usual. There were the sketchy calls she got and house visits from his crew members at the beginning but she called WP every time."

"There has to be something."

"Even if we knew who was watching her what does it do for us? She's dead. We know who killed her. All we have left to do is find him and put him in the chair like we should've done the first time he got caught."

"There was one man. His name was Mikale. I remember her saying that." Emmet started.

"Hold on, how do you know that? When did you talk to Lilianna?" Hardy stopped him. He eyed the lawyer carefully and Emmet hung his head before responding.

"I met her at a bookstore the day before the break. She was buying some mystery novels and such when we bumped into each other and struck up a good conversation. She gave me her number and then this brooding man came over and was very hostile towards me. He had the Elitist tattoo on his forearm and he dragged her off. She begged him to leave her alone and she looked so sad. I knew something was wrong and I tried to get a hold of her and she never responded. By the time I had managed to get through and informed witness protection she was on her way to the session." He explained. His tone was full of regret and pain.

"You saw her with an Elitist and she didn't ask you for help?" Hardy gasped.

"She knew him by name and went with him fairly willingly. She wasn't scared of him, in fact, she stopped him from coming at me." He nodded.