Once Gone Read Free Page A

partner, Riley Paige. The weather was extremely cold, and the body was frozen solid. It was hard to tell how long it had been left there, and the time of death was never exactly determined. Flores, show them.”
    Flores turned back to the slide show. The screen split and alongside the images on the screen, a new series of images appeared. The two victims were displayed side by side. Bill gasped. It was amazing. Aside from the frozen flesh of the one body, the corpses were in almost the same condition, the wounds nearly identical. Both women had their eyes stitched open in the same, hideous manner.
    Bill sighed, the images bringing it all back. No matter how many years he was on the force, seeing each victim pained him.
    “Rogers’s body was found seated upright against a tree,” Bill continued, his voice more grim. “Not quite as carefully posed as the one at Mosby Park. No contact lenses or Vaseline, but most of the other details are the same. Rogers’s hair was chopped short, not shaved, but there was a similar patched-together wig. She was also strangled with a pink ribbon, and a fake rose was found in front of her.”
    Bill paused for a moment. He hated what he had to say next.
    “Paige and I couldn’t crack the case.”
    Spelbren turned to him.
    “What was the problem?” he asked.
    “What wasn’t the problem?” Bill countered, unnecessarily defensive. “We couldn’t get a single break. We had no witnesses; the victim’s family couldn’t give us any useful information; Rogers had no enemies, no ex-husband, no angry boyfriend. There wasn’t a single good reason for her to be targeted and killed. The case went cold immediately.”
    Bill fell silent. Dark thoughts flooded his brain.
    “Don’t,” Meredith said in an uncharacteristically gentle tone. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have stopped the new killing.”
    Bill appreciated the kindness, but he felt guilty as hell. Why couldn’t he have cracked it before? Why couldn’t Riley? There were very few times in his career he had been so stumped.
    At that moment, Meredith’s phone buzzed, and the chief took the call.
    Almost the first thing he said was, “Shit.”
    He repeated it several times. Then he said, “You’re positive it’s her?” He paused. “Was there any contact for ransom?”
    He stood from his chair and stepped outside the conference room, leaving the other three men sitting in perplexed silence. After a few minutes, he came back. He looked older.
    “Gentlemen, we’re now in crisis mode,” he announced. “We just got a positive ID on yesterday’s victim. Her name was Reba Frye.”
    Bill gasped as if he’d been punched in the stomach; he could see Spelbren’s shock, too. But Flores looked confused.
    “Should I know who that is?” Flores asked.
    “Maiden name’s Newbrough,” Meredith explained. “The daughter of State Senator Mitch Newbrough—probably Virginia’s next governor.”
    Flores exhaled.
    “I hadn’t heard that she’d gone missing,” Spelbren said.
    “It wasn’t officially reported,” Meredith said. “Her father’s already been contacted. And of course he thinks it’s political, or personal, or both. Never mind that the same thing happened to another victim six months ago.”
    Meredith shook his head.
    “The Senator’s leaning hard on this,” he added. “An avalanche of press is about to hit. He’ll make sure of it, to keep our feet to the fire.”
    Bill’s heart sank. He hated feeling as though he were over his head. But that’s exactly how he felt right now.
    A somber silence fell over the room.
    Finally, Bill cleared his throat.
    “We’re going to need help,” he said.
    Meredith turned to him, and Bill met his hardened gaze. Suddenly, Meredith’s face knotted up with worry and disapproval. He clearly knew what Bill was thinking.
    “She’s not ready,” Meredith answered, clearly knowing that Bill meant to bring her in.
    Bill sighed.
    “Sir,” he replied, “she knows the case