Once Pined

“She’s absolutely great. I’m still blown away by how fighting with Rhodes made her feel stronger. And she’s already very fond of Jilly.”

After a pause, she asked, “What kind of case have you got, Bill?”

Bill was silent for a moment.

“I’m on my way to meet with the chief about it,” he said. “I really do need your help, Riley.”

Riley looked directly at her friend and partner. His expression was one of deep distress. When he’d said he needed her help, he’d really meant it. Riley wondered why.

“Let me take a shower and get into some dry clothes,” she said. “I’ll meet you at headquarters right away.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Team Chief Brent Meredith wasn’t a man to waste time with niceties. Riley knew that from experience. So when she walked into his office after her run, she didn’t expect small talk – no polite questions about health and home and family. He could be kindly and warm, but those moments were rare. Today, he was going to get right down to business, and his business was always urgent.

Bill had already arrived. He still looked extremely anxious. She hoped she would soon understand why.

As soon as Riley sat down, Meredith leaned over his desk toward her, his broad, angular African-American face as daunting as ever.

“First things first, Agent Paige,” he said.

Riley waited for him to say something else – to ask a question or give an order. Instead, he simply stared at her.

It only took Riley a moment to understand what Meredith was getting at.

Meredith was taking care not to ask his question aloud. Riley appreciated his discretion. A killer was still on the loose, and his name was Shane Hatcher. He’d escaped from Sing Sing, and Riley’s most recent assignment had been to bring Hatcher in.

She’d failed. Actually, she hadn’t really tried, and now other FBI agents were assigned to apprehend Hatcher. So far they’d had no success.

Shane Hatcher was a criminal genius who had become a respected expert in criminology during his long years in prison. So Riley had sometimes visited him in prison to get advice on her cases. She knew him well enough to feel sure that he wasn’t a danger to society right now. Hatcher had a weird but strict moral code. He’d killed one man since his escape – an old enemy who was himself a dangerous criminal. Riley felt certain that he wouldn’t kill anybody else.

Right now, Riley understood that Meredith needed to know whether she’d heard from Hatcher. It was a high-profile case, and it seemed that Hatcher was quickly becoming something of an urban legend – a famed criminal mastermind capable of just about anything.

She appreciated Meredith’s discretion in not asking his question out loud. But the simple truth was, Riley knew nothing about Hatcher’s current activities or his whereabouts.

“There’s nothing new, sir,” she said in reply to Meredith’s unspoken question.

Meredith nodded and seemed to relax a little.

“All right, then,” Meredith said. “I’ll get right to the point. I’m sending Agent Jeffreys to Seattle on a case. He wants you as a partner. I need to know whether you’re available to go with him.”

Riley needed to say no. She had so much to deal with in her life right now that taking on an assignment in a distant city seemed out of the question. She still had occasional returns of the PTSD she had suffered since being held captive by a sadistic criminal. Her daughter, April, had suffered at the same man’s hands, and now April had her own demons to deal with. And now Riley had a new daughter who had been through her own terrible traumas.

If she could just stay put for a while and teach a few classes at the Academy, maybe she could get her life stabilized.

“I can’t do it,” Riley said. “Not right now.”

She turned toward Bill.

“You know what I’m dealing with,” she said.

“I know, I was just hoping …” he said, with an imploring expression in his eyes.

It was time to find out what was the matter.

“What’s the case?” Riley asked.

“There have been at least two poisonings in Seattle,” Meredith said. “It appears to be a serial case.”

At that moment, Riley understood why Bill was feeling shaken. When he was still a boy, his mother had been poisoned to death. Riley didn’t know any of the details, but she did know that her murder had been one of the reasons he had become an FBI agent. It had haunted him for years. This case opened up old wounds for him.

So when he’d told her he needed her on the case, he’d really meant it.

Meredith continued, “So far, we know of two victims – a man and a woman. There may have been others, and there may be others still to come.”

“Why are we being called in?” Riley asked. “There’s an FBI field office right there in Seattle. Can’t they handle it?”

Meredith shook his head.

“The situation there is pretty dysfunctional. It seems that the local FBI and the local police can’t agree on anything about this case. That’s why you’re needed, whether you’re wanted or not. Can I count on you, Agent Paige?”

Suddenly, Riley’s decision seemed perfectly clear. In spite of her personal problems, she was really needed on this job.

“Count me in,” she finally said.

Bill nodded and breathed an audible sigh of relief and gratitude.

“Good,” Meredith said. “You’ll both fly out to Seattle tomorrow morning.”

Meredith drummed his fingers on the table for a moment.

“But don’t expect a cozy welcome,” he added. “Neither the cops nor the Feds will be happy to see you.”

CHAPTER SIX

Riley dreaded taking Jilly to her first day at her new school almost as much as she’d dreaded some cases. The teenager was looking rather grim, and Riley wondered if she might even might make a scene at the last moment.

Is she ready for this? Riley kept asking herself. Am I ready for this?

Also, the timing seemed unfortunate. It worried Riley that she had to fly off to Seattle this morning. But Bill needed her help, and that decided the matter as far as she was concerned. Jilly had seemed all right when they had discussed the matter at home, but Riley really didn’t know what to expect now.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to take Jilly to school alone. Ryan had offered to drive, and Gabriela and April also came along to offer moral support.

When they all got out of the car in the school parking lot, April took Jilly by the hand and trotted along with her straight toward the building. The two slender girls were both wearing jeans and boots and warm jackets. Yesterday Riley had taken them shopping and let Jilly choose a new jacket, along with a bedspread, posters, and some pillows to personalize her bedroom.

Riley, Ryan, and Gabriela followed behind the girls, and Riley’s heart warmed as she watched them. After years of sullenness and rebellion, April suddenly seemed incredibly mature. Riley wondered if maybe this was what April had needed all along – someone else to take care of.

“Look at them,” Riley said to Ryan. “They’re bonding.”