Once Taken Read Free

seriously from any agent other than Riley. Lucy had also handled April well.
    Not only had Lucy had spotted the picked lock, she also demonstrated empathy. Empathy was an excellent quality in a BAU agent, and it was all too often worn away by the stress of the job.
    This woman is good, Riley thought.
    “Come on,” Lucy said to April. “Let’s go call your dad.”
    April stared daggers at Riley. Even so, she got up from the table and followed Lucy into the living room, where they started making the call.
    Riley and Bill were left sitting at the kitchen table alone. Even though there seemed to be nothing left to do, it seemed right to Riley that Bill was there. They had worked together for years and she had always thought of them as something like a matched pair—both were forty with touches of gray showing in dark hair. They were both dedicated to their jobs and troubled in their marriages. Bill was solid in build and temperament.
    “It was Peterson,” Riley said. “He was here.”
    Bill said nothing. He looked unconvinced.
    “You don’t believe me?” Riley said. “There were pebbles in my bed. He must have put them there. They couldn’t have gotten there any other way.”
    Bill shook his head.
    “Riley, I’m sure there really was an intruder,” he said. “You weren’t imagining that part. But Peterson? I doubt that very much.”
    Riley’s anger was rising now.
    “Bill, listen to me. I heard rattling against the door one night, and I looked outside, and I found pebbles there. Marie heard someone throw pebbles at her bedroom window. Who else could it be?”
    Bill sighed and shook his head.
    “Riley, you’re tired,” he said. “And when you’re tired and you get an idea fixed in your head, it’s easy to believe just about anything. It can happen to anybody.”
    Riley found herself fighting back tears. In better days, Bill would have trusted her instincts without question. But those days were over. And she knew why. A few nights ago she’d called him drunk and suggested that they act on their mutual attraction and begin an affair. It had been an awful thing to do, and she knew it, and she’d not had a drink since then. Even so, things hadn’t been right between her and Bill after that.
    “I know what this is about, Bill,” she said. “It’s because of that stupid phone call. You don’t trust me anymore.”
    Now Bill’s voice crackled with anger.
    “Damn it, Riley, I’m just trying to be realistic.”
    Riley was seething. “Just go, Bill.”
    “But Riley—”
    “Believe me or don’t believe me. Take your pick. But right now I want you to go.”
    With an air of resignation, Bill got up from the table and left.
    Through the kitchen doorway, Riley could see that almost everybody had left the house, including April. Lucy came back into the kitchen.
    “Agent Huang is leaving a couple of agents here,” she said. “They’ll watch the house from a car for the rest of the night. I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to be alone inside. I’ll be glad to stay.”
    Riley sat and thought for a moment. What she wanted—what she needed right now—was for somebody to believe that Peterson wasn’t dead. She doubted that she could convince even Lucy of that. The whole thing seemed hopeless.
    “I’ll be all right, Lucy,” Riley said.
    Lucy nodded and left the kitchen. Riley heard the sound of the last agents leaving the house and shutting the door behind them. Riley got up and checked both the front door and back door to make sure they were locked. She moved two chairs up against the back door. They would make noise enough if anybody picked the lock again.
    Then she stood in the living room and looked all around. The house looked weirdly bright, with every single light burning.
    I ought to turn some of them off, she thought.
    But as she reached for the living room light switch, her fingers froze. She just couldn’t do it. She was paralyzed with terror.
    Peterson, she knew, was coming for her