Once Chosen (A Riley Paige Mystery—Book 17) Page 23

  The delicious smell of bacon wafted through the house, and Riley realized that she actually was hungry. As she followed Jilly into the kitchen, Riley thought about how she’d reacted at the sight of her daughter’s costume just now. Her moment of shock had been silly, but she knew it was partly the result of having seen two corpses in much the same condition during the last few days. But surely she wouldn’t have let herself be startled this way back when she’d been at the peak of her abilities.

  An odd sort of silence fell as Riley and her family—Jilly, April, and Gabriela—sat down together and started eating.

  Finally, April said cautiously, “Mom, I think there’s something you should know.”

  Riley’s heart beat faster with apprehension.

  Then April confessed that she’d tried to go the party Riley had forbidden her to attend. Worse, she had taken Jilly with her. Before they’d gotten to the party, they’d been threatened by a couple of bullies.

  “But you should have seen Jilly, Mom,” April added. “She really beat the crap out of one of the guys. They both ran away, scared out their minds.”

  Riley couldn’t help but smile at the image of her small daughter in a zombie suit fending off a couple of obnoxious guys.

  She said to Jilly, “It sounds like you handled it well.”

  Then she added to April, “And I’m glad you told me what happened. Telling me was the right thing to do. It was a brave thing to do.”

  April smiled broadly.

  “Does this mean I’m not grounded anymore?”

  Riley mulled that over. April had been honest but she had broken the rules, or been about to. She was about to say “still grounded for a little while” when her phone buzzed. Seeing that the call was from Brent Meredith, she left the kitchen before answering.

  Meredith said sharply, “Agent Paige, you need to get over here right now.”

  “What’s the matter?” Riley asked.

  “Walder’s what’s the matter,” Meredith said. “He’s furious with you about something. He wants to see you in the conference room right now. Right this minute. Whatever is wrong, it’s serious, Agent Paige.”

  Meredith ended the call without saying another word.

  Riley stared at the silent phone for a moment as though it could tell her what turn her life was taking now, then went back into the kitchen to tell her family that she had to go.

  *

  When Riley walked into the spacious conference room to meet with Special Agent in Charge Carl Walder, she found her baby-faced superior on his feet and pacing the floor.

  Riley gulped hard.

  This really is serious, she thought.

  “I’ll get right to the point, Agent Paige,” Walder said, waving a piece of paper that he held in his hand. “I want to know who this ‘A.C.’ is.”

  Riley squinted with surprise.

  A.C.? she wondered.

  Then she flashed back to the message she’d received last night.

  Aunt Cora.

  Could that possibly be who Walder was talking about?

  She said cautiously, “I’m not sure what you mean, sir.”

  “Oh, I believe you do, Agent Paige,” Walder said, pointing to the paper in his hand. “And you also know who ‘JR’ is. And so do I. It’s Special Agent Jenn Roston. And now I know for a fact that you’ve been concealing information concerning Roston’s disappearance.”

  Riley felt a flash of anger as she realized what was on the printout he was holding.

  She said, “You had no business reading that email.”

  Walder smirked smugly.

  “You received it on your FBI account,” he said. “Those emails are company property. That makes it my business.”

  “But why were you reading my emails in the first place?” Riley demanded. She was tired and already having trouble sounding appropriately respectful to the head of BAU.

  “I’ve got my reasons,” Walder replied with a smirk.

  Reasons? Riley wondered.

  Then she remembered the taciturn Senator Danson, who apparently knew Carl Walder. She’d been worried all along that Danson was just another politician who would take any opportunity to contact Walder to complain about progress on the case.

  “Has Senator Danson been in touch with you?” Riley asked.

  Walder raised an eyebrow with a look of apparently genuine surprise.

  “As a matter of fact, he has,” Walder said. “He called early this morning to tell me how pleased he was with you. I regretted having to tell him that I didn’t share his high regard for you—and that you were about to suffer the consequences of your behavior.”

  Riley felt swept by confusion now. She hadn’t imagined that Danson would call Walder to compliment her on her work. But now that she’d thought about it, he’d never actually criticized her to her face. He’d only wanted to know how the case was progressing. And now that it had been solved without a new Halloween murder, he had every reason to think well of her.

  Walder continued, “But Danson has nothing to do with the matter at hand. And he has nothing to do with why I felt compelled to monitor your communications.”

  “So why did you …?”

  Riley’s voice trailed off as she remembered what Bill had told her yesterday. Walder had eavesdropped on Bill’s end of an especially intimate phone conversation.

  Suddenly her predicament made much more sense.

  Walder had obviously gone poking through her emails hoping to find details of her relationship with Bill. Instead, he’d found the message from Jenn.

  Walder began to pace again. He looked at the printout in his hand and read aloud.

  “Roston writes, ‘You think I have gone back to A.C. and her crime network.’ I demand to know who ‘A.C.’ is, and the nature of your connection with her.”

  He folded the paper and held Riley’s gaze.

  “Agent Paige, it’s no secret that you’ve consorted with criminals in the past. Shane Hatcher comes to mind.”

  Riley bristled at the mention of Hatcher’s name. Her relationship with that master criminal had begun as a purely professional matter when Hatcher had offered his expertise to help her with a case. But their relationship had turned into a sinister entanglement that had finally come to a violent end last spring. Walder had never learned all the details of that relationship, but Riley knew he’d been suspicious about it—and not without good reason.

  She said, “My relationship with Shane Hatcher has been over for some time now.”

  “I know. Now you’ve got a new criminal crony—a certain ‘A.C.’ And I’m sure your dealings with this person are unsavory, to say the least. And I think you should come clean about it right here and now.”

  Riley’s anger was mounting by the moment.

  “I’ve got nothing to explain to you, sir,” she said.

  Walder chuckled sardonically.

  “No? Well, there’s no hurry. You’ll have plenty of time to decide how to explain yourself while you’re waiting in a holding cell.”

  Riley gasped aloud.

  “Are you saying I’m under arrest?”

  Before Walder could reply, his secretary came into the conference room door and spoke to him.

  “Sir, I’m sorry to interrupt, but Director Gavin Milner is on the phone. He wants to talk with you.”

  At the sound of the FBI director’s name, Walder’s pale, freckled face turned a shade paler.

  “Did he say what this is about?” Walder asked.

  His secretary said, “No, but he insists on speaking with you right this minute.”

  “I’ll be there in just a moment,” Walder said.

  Walder turned toward Riley again.

  “I’ll be back soon,” Walder said to her. “This conversation we’re having isn’t over. Meanwhile, I think you should put your badge and your gun on the table. I’ll be taking them shortly.”

  Walder followed his secretary out of the room.

  Riley was completely stunned now. She obed
iently took out her badge and gun and put them on the table. They had been taken from her before, but always soon returned. Would they be gone for good this time? Even worse, did Walder have any basis for pressing criminal charges against her?

  She doubted it. Aside from a single phone call some time back, she’d never had any direct communication with the mysterious Aunt Cora, much less any criminal dealings with her. While it was true that Riley had concealed the truth about Jenn’s disappearance, that probably wasn’t illegal.

  But Walder had been Riley’s adversary for years now. She had to admit her sometimes-insubordinate behavior had given him some justification. This time, she had no doubt that he’d succeed.

  Riley sat there at the table, just staring at her gun and her badge. As she waited for Walder’s return, her whole FBI career seemed to pass in front of her.

  She couldn’t count the murderous minds she’d thwarted over the years. She remembered one killer who had dressed dead women up like dolls, a young man obsessed with chains, a health worker who poisoned her own patients, a high school coach and his wife who murdered teenaged girls together … and many others. She’d also faced danger and personal trauma, especially when a psychopath named Peterson had caged her like an animal and tortured her with fire. She had struggled with PTSD for a long time after that, but with the help of a psychiatrist friend, she had managed to get back to work.

  And she was good at that work. Riley knew she had an outstanding record of success in her cases, even if she had also stirred up some complaints. In just a few years, she could retire from the FBI with a full pension, but if her career ended early at the whims of a petty bureaucrat, she’d face some pressing problems. Her two daughters would be headed for college soon. She had depended on her ex to help with those expenses, but in his debauchery Ryan had lost everything. She’d thought about taking on less field work at the BAU but never considered quitting altogether.

  And now …

  Her future seemed desperately uncertain.

  CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

  Riley heard Bill whisper in her ear.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  Riley snapped out of her reverie and remembered where she was—sitting in a high school auditorium with Bill at her left and Jilly and Gabriela on her right.

  This was April’s graduation ceremony. Right now someone was giving a speech that Riley hadn’t been paying attention to.

  She chuckled and whispered back, “I was just thinking of Walder’s untimely demise.”

  Bill chuckled as well.

  “I’m glad you were thinking happy thoughts,” he said.

  Riley had to admit to herself, revenge was sweet.

  A year and a half ago, Walder had grilled her in the BAU conference room, threatening to fire her and even to jail her. Riley had long ago learned why he’d been suddenly called away for that phone call from Director Milner—and also the true nature of his relationship with then–State Senator Walker Danson.

  It had turned out that Danson and Walder had been enemies for many years, ever since they’d been students at Yale together. Danson had kept close tabs on Walder’s career during all the years since then, knowing that he was dishonest and hoping for a chance to trip him up.

  Danson’s private investigations had revealed that Walder harbored more than his own share of “unsavory” secrets. One of them was a serious gambling problem. Danson had finally found proof that Walder had skimmed off enormous amounts of BAU funds to pay off vicious loan sharks. He’d already reported his discoveries to FBI Director Milner. They’d both been watching Walder closely for several months, to see what else might turn up.

  When Danson had called Walder that day to praise Riley for her work, he’d been infuriated to hear that his longtime nemesis planned to fire her. As soon as he’d hung up, Danson had contacted Director Milner to urge him to close in on Walder right away, before he could do further damage to the Quantico office.

  Walder had been arrested, and Riley had been reinstated.

  Now Walker Danson was in the U.S. Senate, and Brent Meredith was Special Agent in Charge at the BAU.

  And Carl Walder was in prison.

  Happy thoughts indeed, Riley thought with a smile.

  With Walder out of the way, Riley now had true job security at long last. She’d chosen to spend most of her time lecturing and teaching at Quantico instead of working in the field. Whenever she did accept a field assignment, she always insisted upon having Ann Marie Esmer as a partner. They had developed a fine rapport, with Riley serving as Ann Marie’s mentor. More than that, they had become great friends.

  Just like me and Jake Crivaro, Riley thought.

  But Riley’s field assignments were few and far between. To her surprise, she hadn’t missed the excitement of field work. She’d soon realized she’d put in quite enough time in conflict with crazed minds.

  Instead, she had really enjoyed the added time she was able to spend with her girls. They were doing very well. April was headed for Georgetown University this fall, and she had substantial scholarship help for college. She was planning to pursue a psychology degree.

  Typically for a girl her age, Jilly was still trying to find her passion in life. But she was doing well enough in school that Riley felt confident that she, too, would get her share of financial help when she headed off to college.

  The principal called April’s name, and Riley’s oldest daughter crossed the stage to pick up her high school diploma.

  Riley cheered and applauded, and Bill, Jilly, and Gabriela cheered even louder. Then Riley took hold of Bill’s hand and squeezed. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

  It was no longer a mystery where things were going between them. Their relationship had deepened and grown over the last year and a half. The addition of a romantic sex life to their strong friendship had bonded them in ways that neither of them had ever imagined. In about another year they would both retire, still in their forties, and then decide what they were going to do with the rest of their lives together.

  All in all, Riley Paige felt happier than she’d ever been. She’d had a long and successful career, and the years to come were sure to be even richer and more rewarding.

  Life is good, she thought, squeezing Bill’s hand again.

  A NEW SERIES!

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  LEFT TO DIE

  (An Adele Sharp Mystery—Book One)

  “When you think that life cannot get better, Blake Pierce comes up with another masterpiece of thriller and mystery! This book is full of twists and the end brings a surprising revelation. I strongly recommend this book to the permanent library of any reader that enjoys a very well written thriller.”

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  LEFT TO DIE is book #1 in a new FBI thriller series by USA Today bestselling author Blake Pierce, whose #1 bestseller Once Gone (Book #1) (a free download) has received over 1,000 five star reviews.

  FBI special agent Adele Sharp is a German-and-French raised American with triple citizenship—and an invaluable asset in bringing criminals to justice as they cross American and European borders.

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  LEFT TO DIE

  (An Adele Sharp Mystery—Book One)

  Blake Pierce

  Blake Pierce is the USA Today bestselling author of the RILEY PAGE mystery series, which includes seventeen books. Blake Pierce is also the author of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising thirteen books (and counting); of the AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising six books; of the KERI LOCKE mystery series, comprising five books; of the MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE mystery series, comprising six books; of the KATE WISE mystery series, comprising seven books; of the CHLOE FINE psychological suspense mystery, comprising six books; of the JESSE HUNT psychological suspense thriller series, comprising seven books (and counting); of the AU PAIR psychological suspense thriller series, comprising two books (and counting); of the ZOE PRIME mystery series, comprising two books (and counting); and of the new ADELE SHARP mystery series.

  ONCE GONE (a Riley Paige Mystery--Book #1), BEFORE HE KILLS (A Mackenzie White Mystery—Book 1), CAUSE TO KILL (An Avery Black Mystery—Book 1), A TRACE OF DEATH (A Keri Locke Mystery—Book 1), and WATCHING (The Making of Riley Paige—Book 1) are each available as a free download on Amazon!

  An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.

  BOOKS BY BLAKE PIERCE

  ADELE SHARP MYSTERY SERIES

  LEFT TO DIE (Book #1)

  LEFT TO RUN (Book #2)

  LEFT TO HIDE (Book #3)

  THE AU PAIR SERIES

  ALMOST GONE (Book#1)

  ALMOST LOST (Book #2)

  ALMOST DEAD (Book #3)

  ZOE PRIME MYSTERY SERIES

  FACE OF DEATH (Book#1)

  FACE OF MURDER (Book #2)

  FACE OF FEAR (Book #3)