Once Taken Read online

  Peterson drove ahead and circled a block, forcing himself to be patient. He suppressed a smile at the joy to come. With what he had in mind for her daughter, Riley would suffer in ways she didn’t think possible. Although she was still gangly and awkward, the girl looked a lot like her mother. That would make it extra satisfying.

  As he circled around, he saw that the girl was walking briskly along the street. He pulled over to the curb and watched her for a few minutes, until he realized that she was taking a road that led out of town. If she was going to walk home alone, then this might be the perfect moment to take control of her.

  His heart pounding, wanting to savor the delightful anticipation, Peterson circled another block with his car.

  People needed to learn to put off certain pleasures, Peterson knew, to wait until just the right time. Delayed gratification made everything more pleasurable. He had learned that from years of delicious, lingering cruelty.

  There’s just so much to look forward to, he thought contentedly.

  When he came back around and saw her again, Peterson laughed aloud. She was hitchhiking! God was smiling down upon him on this day. Taking her life was clearly meant to be.

  He pulled the car up beside her and gave her his most pleasant smile.

  “Give you a lift?”

  The girl smiled back broadly. “Thanks. That would be great.”

  “Where are you headed?” he asked.

  “I live just a little way out of town.”

  The girl told him the address.

  He said, “I’m going right past there. Hop in.”

  The girl got into the front seat. With increasing satisfaction, he observed that she even had her mother’s hazel eyes.

  Peterson pressed the buttons to lock the doors and windows. Over the quiet rumble of the air conditioner, the girl didn’t even notice.

  *

  April felt a pleasant rush of adrenaline as she fastened the safety harness. She’d never hitchhiked before. Her mother would have a fit if she found out.

  Of course, it served Mom right, April figured. It was really rotten to make her stay at Dad’s last night—and all because of some crazy idea of hers that Peterson had been in their home. It wasn’t true, and April knew it. The two agents who had driven her to Dad’s house had said so. From what they’d said to each other, it sounded kind of like the whole agency thought Mom was a bit bonkers.

  The man said, “So what brings you into Fredericksburg?”

  April turned and looked at him. He was an agreeable-looking, big-jawed guy with shaggy hair and a stubble of beard. He was smiling.

  “School,” April said.

  “A summer class?” the man asked.

  “Yeah,” April said. She certainly wasn’t going to tell him that she’d decided to skip the class. Not that he looked like the kind of guy who wouldn’t understand. He seemed pretty cool. Maybe he’d even get a kick out of helping her defy parental authority. Still, it was best not to take any chances.

  The man’s smile turned a bit mischievous.

  “So what does your mother think about hitchhiking?” he asked.

  April flushed with embarrassment.

  “Oh, she’s fine with it,” she said.

  The man chuckled. It wasn’t a very pleasant sound. And something occurred to April. He’d asked what her mother thought, not what her parents thought. What made him say it that way?

  The traffic was fairly heavy this close to the school at this time of morning. It was going to take a while to get home. April hoped that the man wasn’t going to make a whole lot of conversation. That could get really awkward.

  But after a couple of blocks of silence, April felt even more uncomfortable. The man had stopped smiling, and his expression seemed rather grim to her. She noticed that all the doors were locked. She surreptitiously fingered the button of the passenger-side window. It didn’t budge.

  The car came to a stop behind a line of cars waiting for a light to change. The man clicked on the left turn signal. April was seized by a sudden burst of anxiety.

  “Um … we have to go straight here,” she said.

  The man said nothing. Had he simply not heard her? Somehow, she couldn’t get up the nerve to say it again. Besides, maybe he planned to go by a different route. But no, she couldn’t think of how he could drive her home from that direction.

  April wondered what to do. Should she scream for help? Would anybody hear her? And what if the man hadn’t heard what she said? Didn’t mean any harm after all? The whole thing would be horribly embarrassing.

  Then she saw someone familiar slouching along the sidewalk, his backpack slung over his shoulder. It was Brian, her sort-of-boyfriend these days. She rapped sharply on the window.

  She gasped with relief when Brian looked around and saw her.

  “Do you want a ride?” she mouthed to Brian.

  Brian grinned and nodded.

  “Oh, that’s my boyfriend,” April said. “Could we stop and pick him up, please? He’s on his way to my house anyway.”

  It was a lie. April really had no idea where Brian was headed. The man scowled and grunted. He wasn’t at all happy with this. Was he going to stop? April’s heart beat wildly.

  Brian was talking on his cell phone as he stood on the sidewalk and waited. But he was looking straight at the car and April was sure that he could see the driver pretty clearly. She was glad to have a potential witness just in case the man had something ugly in mind.

  The man studied Brian, and he clearly saw him talking on his cell, and saw him looking back right at him.

  Without saying a word, the man unlocked the doors. April signaled for Brian to get in the back seat, so he opened the door and jumped in. He shut the door just as the light changed and the line of cars started to move again.

  “Thanks for the ride, mister,” Brian said brightly.

  The man didn’t say anything at all. He kept on scowling.

  “He’s taking us to my house, Brian,” April said.

  “Awesome,” Brian replied.

  April felt safe now. If the man really had bad intentions, he surely wasn’t going to snatch both her and Brian. He’d surely drive them straight to Mom’s house.

  Thinking ahead, April wondered whether she should tell her mother about the man and her suspicions about him. But no, that would mean admitting to skipping her class and hitchhiking. Mom would ground her for good.

  Besides, she thought, the driver couldn’t be Peterson.

  Peterson was a psychotic killer, not a regular man driving a car.

  And Peterson, after all, was dead.

  Chapter 5

  Brent Meredith’s tight, grim expression told Riley that he didn’t like her request at all.

  “It’s an obvious case for me to take,” she said. “I have more experience than anybody else with this kind of kinky serial killer.”

  She had just described the call from Reedsport, Meredith’s jaw set the entire time.

  After a long silence, Meredith finally sighed.

  “I’ll allow it,” he said reluctantly.

  Riley breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Thank you, sir,” she said.

  “Don’t thank me,” he growled. “I’m doing this against my better judgment. I’m only going along with it because you’ve got the special skills to deal with this case. Your experience with this kind of killer is unique. I’ll assign you a partner.”

  Riley felt a jolt of discouragement. She knew that working with Bill wasn’t an option right now, but she wondered if Meredith knew why there was tension between the long-time partners. She thought it more likely that Bill had simply told Meredith that he wanted to stay close to home for now.

  “But sir—” she began.

  “No buts,” Meredith said. “And no more of your lone wolf shenanigans. It’s not smart, and it’s against policy. You’ve nearly gotten yourself killed more than once. Rules are rules. And I’m breaking enough of them right now as it is, not putting you on le
ave after your recent incidents.”

  “Yes, sir,” Riley said quietly.

  Meredith rubbed his chin, obviously considering all the options. He said, “Agent Vargas will go with you.”

  “Lucy Vargas?” Riley asked.

  Meredith just nodded. Riley didn’t much like the idea.

  “She was on the team that showed up at my house last night,” Riley said. “She seems very impressive, and I liked her—but she’s a rookie. I’m used to working with someone more experienced.”

  Meredith smiled broadly. “Her marks at the academy were off the charts. And she’s young, all right. It’s rare that students right out of the academy get accepted to BAU. But she really is that good. She’s ready for experience in the field.”

  Riley knew she had no choice.

  Meredith continued, “How soon can you be ready to go?”

  Riley ran the necessary preparations through her mind. Talking to her daughter was at the top of her list. And what else? Her travel kit wasn’t here in her office. She’d have to drive to Fredericksburg, stop at home, then make sure that April would stay at her father’s and drive back to Quantico.

  “Give me three hours,” she said.

  “I’ll call for a plane,” Meredith said. “I’ll notify the police chief in Reedsport that we have a team on the way. Be at the airstrip in exactly three hours. If you’re late, there’ll be hell to pay.”

  Riley rose nervously from her chair.

  “I understand, sir,” she said. She almost thanked him again, but hastily remembered his command not to. She left his office without another word.

  *

  Riley made it to her house in half an hour, parked outside, and made a beeline for the front door. She had to grab her travel kit, a small suitcase she always kept packed with toiletries, a robe, and a change of clothes. She had to get them super fast and then go into town, where she’d explain things to April and Ryan. She wasn’t looking forward to that part at all, but she needed to be sure that April was safe.

  When she turned the key in the front door, she found that it was already unlocked. She knew she had locked it when she left. She always did, without fail. All of Riley’s senses snapped into alertness. She pulled out her gun and stepped inside.

  As she moved stealthily into the house, peering around at every nook and corner, she became aware of a long, continuous noise. It seemed to be coming from outside the house, in back. It was music—very loud music.

  What the hell?

  Still on the lookout for any intruder, she went through the kitchen. The back door was partly open and a pop song was blaring outside. She smelled a familiar aroma.

  “Oh, Jesus, not this again,” she said to herself.

  She put her gun back into its holster and walked outside. Sure enough, there was April, sitting at the picnic table with a skinny boy about her age. The music was coming from a pair of little speakers sitting on the picnic table.

  Upon seeing her mother, April’s eyes lit up with panic. She reached under the picnic table to extinguish the joint in her hand, obviously hoping to make it disappear.

  “Don’t bother to hide it,” Riley said, striding toward the table. “I know what you’re doing.”

  She could barely make herself heard over the music. She reached over to the player and turned it off.

  “This isn’t what it looks like, Mom,” April said.

  “This is exactly what it looks like,” Riley said. “Give me the rest of it.”

  Rolling her eyes, April handed over a plastic bag with a small amount of pot in it.

  “I thought you were working,” April said, as if that explained everything.

  Riley didn’t know whether to feel more angry or disappointed. She’d caught April smoking pot just once before. But things had gotten better between them, and she’d thought those days were behind them.

  Riley stared at the boy.

  “Mom, this is Brian,” April said. “He’s a friend from school.”

  With a vacant grin and glassy eyes, the boy reached out to shake hands with Riley.

  “Pleased to meet you, Ms. Paige,” he said.

  Riley kept her own hands at her sides.

  “What are you even doing here?” Riley asked April.

  “This is where I live,” April said with a shrug.

  “You know what I mean. You’re supposed to be at your dad’s house.”

  April didn’t reply. Riley looked at her watch. Time was running short. She had to resolve this situation quickly.

  “Tell me what happened,” Riley said.

  April was starting to look somewhat embarrassed. She really wasn’t prepared for this situation.

  “I walked to school from Dad’s house this morning,” she said. “I ran into Brian in front of the school. We decided to skip today. It’s okay if I miss it once in a while. I’m acing it already. The final exam isn’t till Friday.”

  Brian let out a nervous, inane laugh.

  “Yeah, April really is doing great in that class, Ms. Paige,” he said. “She’s awesome.”

  “How did you get here?” Riley asked.

  April looked away. Riley easily guessed why she was reluctant to tell her the truth.

  “Oh, God, you kids hitchhiked here, didn’t you?” Riley said.

  “The driver was a really nice guy, very quiet,” April said. “Brian was with me the whole time. We were safe.”

  Riley struggled to keep her nerves and her voice steady.

  “How do you know you were safe? April, you’re never supposed to accept rides from strangers. And why would you come here after the scare we got last night? That was incredibly foolish. Suppose Peterson was still around?”

  April smiled as if she knew better.

  “C’mon, Mom. You worry too much. The other agents say so. I heard two of them talking about it—the guys who drove me to Dad’s house last night. They said Peterson was definitely dead, and you just couldn’t accept it. They said whoever left those stones probably did it as a prank.”

  Riley was steaming. She wished she could get her hands on those agents. They had a lot of nerve, contradicting Riley within earshot of her daughter. She thought about asking April for their names, but she decided to let that go.

  “Listen to me, April,” Riley said. “I’ve got to go out of town on a job for a few days. I have to leave right now. I’m taking you to your Dad’s house. I need for you to stay there.”

  “Why can’t I go with you?” April asked.

  Riley wondered how on earth teenage kids could be so stupid about some things.

  “Because you’ve got to finish this class,” she said. “You’ve got to pass it or you’ll be behind in school. English is a requirement, and you blew it for no good reason. And besides, I’m working. Being around while I’m on the job isn’t always safe. You ought to know that by now.”

  April said nothing.

  “Come on inside,” Riley said. “We’ve only got a few minutes. I’ve got to get some things together, and so do you. Then I’m taking you to your father’s house.”

  Turning to Brian, Riley added, “And I’m driving you home.”

  “I can hitch,” Brian said.

  Riley simply glared at him.

  “Okay,” Brian said, looking rather cowed. He and April got up from the table and followed Riley into the house.

  “Go on and get in the car, both of you,” she said. The kids obediently left the house.

  She latched the new slide bolt that she’d added to the back door and went from room to room making sure that all the windows were fastened.

  In her own bedroom, she picked up her travel bag and made sure that everything she needed was still inside. As she left, she glanced nervously at her bed as though the pebbles might have returned. For a moment, she wondered why she was headed off to another state instead of staying here and trying to track the killer who had put them there to taunt her.

  Besides, this stunt of April’s had her scared. Could she trust her d
aughter to stay safe in Fredericksburg? She’d thought so before, but now she had her doubts.

  Still, there wasn’t anything she could do to change things. She was committed to the new case and had to leave. As she walked outside to the car, she glanced into the thick, dark woods, scanning them for any sign of Peterson.

  But there was none.

  Chapter 6

  Riley glanced at her car clock as she drove the kids into an upscale part of Fredericksburg and shuddered to see how little time she had left. Meredith’s words came rushing back.

  If you’re late, there’ll be hell to pay.

  Maybe—just maybe—she’d get to the airstrip on time. She had planned to just stop at home and grab a bag, and now things were getting a lot more complicated. She wondered if she should she call Meredith and warn him that family problems might hold her up. No, she decided; her boss had been reluctant enough as it was. She couldn’t expect him to cut her any slack.

  Luckily, Brian’s address was on the route to Ryan’s house. When Riley pulled up to a big front yard and stopped the car, she said, “I ought to come in and tell your parents what happened.”

  “They’re not at home,” Brian said with a shrug. “Dad’s gone for good, and Mom isn’t there much.”

  He got out of the car, then turned and said, “Thanks for the ride.” As he walked toward his house Riley wondered what kind of parents would leave a kid like that on his own. Didn’t they know what kind of trouble a teenager could get into?

  But maybe his mother doesn’t have much choice in that matter, Riley thought miserably. Who am I to judge?

  As soon as Brian went inside his house, Riley drove away. April had said nothing during the whole drive so far, and she didn’t seem to be in any mood to talk now. Riley couldn’t tell whether that silence was due to sullenness or shame. She realized that there seemed to be a lot she didn’t know about her own daughter.

  Riley was upset with both herself and April. Just yesterday they’d seemed to be getting along better. She’d thought that April was beginning to understand the pressures on an FBI agent. But then Riley had insisted that April go to her father’s house last night, and today April was rebelling against being forced to do that.