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Ann Marie followed Riley into the quaint lunch spot that Prendergast had recommended.

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafted through the air, along with the scent of baked goods.

The chairs held plush cushions; the walls were decorated with eclectic art pieces and shelves lined with books, creating a homely and welcoming environment.

What are we doing here? Ann Marie wondered again. Do we really have time for this?

She felt that every second counted if they were going to prevent another tragedy.

The Cipher Society loomed in the background, and Derek Aldrich was their current best lead.

Of course she knew that Putnam was having the FBI track Aldrich, but she thought that there must be other leads they could follow up in the meantime.

Then, as Riley chose a secluded booth where no other diners would hear them, her directive was clear and concise. “Just order some coffee and maybe a pastry,” she instructed, her tone indicating this was no leisurely detour. “We won’t be here long enough to eat a full meal.”

“Sure,” Ann Marie replied in surprise. She slid into the booth, her gaze following Riley’s every move.

The menu in her hands felt like a prop—a distraction from the pressing work at hand.

She flagged down a waitress and ordered two coffees with an air of confidence she wasn’t entirely sure she felt, adding a pair of brownies to the request.

“Brownies,” she murmured to herself. “As if sugar could sweeten today’s discoveries.”

Then she saw that Riley had fished out her phone.

“Who are you calling?” she asked.

Riley glanced up, her eyes sharp and calculating. “I’m contacting someone who can get us what we need quickly,” she said, an air of mystery lacing her words. “Sometimes you have to color outside the lines to catch a ghost.”

“Color outside the lines?” Ann Marie echoed.

“His name is Van Roff,” Riley continued, unbothered by the ambiguity of her own explanation.

“He’s FBI, but not from our neck of the woods.

A technical analyst in the Seattle field office.

And he knows every trick in the book—a lot more than our tech guys at Quantico.

” Her lips curled into a half-smile that spoke of secrets and shortcuts, of doors opened with unorthodox keys.

“I want you to listen closely,” Riley added. “You might need this kind of help yourself some time. Building up your own trusted contacts is so important.”

Ann Marie watched as Riley entered a number.

The café around them hummed with the idle chatter of lunchtime patrons, but at a distance and indistinct.

Then Riley’s call connected, and she put the call on speaker.

It wasn’t turned up very loud, so they sat with the phone between them as they both leaned over to hear the man’s voice on the other end.

Riley’s voice, so often commanding, warmed considerably. “Van, it’s been too long,” she said.

“Riley Paige, back from academia to grace us mere mortals?” Van Roff’s voice crackled through the phone, his playful jest poking through the speaker. “How goes the teaching life?”

“Teaching’s fine, Van,” Riley replied smoothly. “But at the moment, I’m knee-deep in the field again—for one case only. And I need your expertise.”

“You’ve got it,” he replied.

“Listen, Van,” Riley’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial hush, “I’ve got you on speaker so my current partner can listen. Her name is Ann Marie Esmer.”

“Nice to meet you, Ann Marie Esmer,” Van Roff said.

“Uh, likewise,” Ann Marie replied, still wondering where this conversation was about to lead.

“We’re looking for an IT freelancer named Derek Aldrich,” Riley said.

“He’s based in Basingstoke, Virginia—might be tangled up in a murder or two.

There’s a local warrant out for his arrest—cyberstalking and libel—but he’s slipped off the grid.

This guy is a ghost. We need to find him before he does more damage or disappears for good. ”

Ann Marie watched as Riley, with a mischievous smile, laid out the bait for Van. “We’ve got Quantico’s finest trying to track him down, but …”

“But I’m finer, aren’t I?”

“Well, this is your chance to prove it—by finding Aldrich first.” Her eyes were lit with the thrill of the hunt, a spark that Ann Marie had come to recognize; it was the same look she’d seen when Riley dissected a case down to the bone.

The server arrived with their order and set it down their order, the rich aroma of coffee and the sweet scent of brownies bolstering Ann Marie’s spirits.

“Sounds like you guys are in some kind of an eatery,” Van Roff remarked.

“We’ve stopped for coffee,” Riley told the tech specialist, “and it just arrived, with brownies.”

“Brownies, mmm!” Van said. “Well, sit back and enjoy and let me work my wizardry. If he’s so much as touched a keyboard recently, consider him found. I’ll have his location before you can finish your coffee.”

Then Van’s curiosity shifted gears; his tone softened, almost human now. “Enough about work. Catch me up, Riley—what’s new with you?”

Riley leaned back, allowing herself a momentary reprieve from the case. “April’s gearing up for college. Can you believe it? And Bill... he’s moved in with us.” Her voice held a note of domestic warmth that seemed almost at odds with her usual razor-sharp focus.

“Bill moved in? Now that’s news,” Van chuckled. “You always were full of surprises, Riley Paige.”

Even as he talked, Van was definitely on the job.

Ann Marie could hear the sound of his keystrokes, never missing a beat.

She sipped her coffee, observing the interplay between these two, connected by mutual respect and a shared goal.

Here was Riley Paige, the relentless hunter, having an ordinary conversation about home life.

“Keep talking,” Van said, “I’m listening.”

Riley obliged, recounting stories of April’s burgeoning independence and Bill’s new place in their family.

Each word seemed to pull her further from the grim realities of their pursuit, even as Van worked away, his mind apparently split between domestic anecdotes and the chase at hand.

Ann Marie could see the dichotomy of Riley’s life spread out before her: one moment a hardened agent, the next, just another parent navigating life’s ever-shifting currents.

“Almost got him,” Van mumbled. The anticipation tightened the air around them, drawing Ann Marie’s breath into shallow gasps.

“Gotcha!” Van’s voice rang out triumphant, slicing through their background noise of clinking dishes and murmured conversations. “Bingo!”

The word ricocheted in Ann Marie’s mind, a sudden jolt of adrenaline that made her sit up straighter. She leaned forward, eager for the revelation.

“Coordinates are coming through now,” Van announced, the pride in his achievement clear even through the phone’s tinny speaker.

Riley’s eyes met Ann Marie’s in silent acknowledgment of the moment’s gravity. They both listened as Van recited the address, words and digits forming the key to unlocking this stage of their investigation.

“Looks like our guy’s holed up in an unoccupied house,” Van declared, the finality in his tone matching the click of his keyboard going silent. “He’s squatting—probably thinks he’s safely off the grid.”

“Thank you, Van. You’re incredible,” Riley said, her voice tinged with both gratitude and urgency. She ended the call, and Ann Marie couldn’t stop herself from gasping.

She sat looking at Riley, whose still casual demeanor belied the steel trap of her mind at work.

This was a woman who thrived under pressure, who turned the screws tighter when others would balk.

Ann Marie respected that—maybe even envied it.

It was these glimpses into Riley’s world outside of the BAU that painted a fuller picture, one not solely defined by the darkness she chased.

“That was amazing!” she exclaimed, her words echoing the thrill of the hunt and the awe of witnessing expertise in action.

Riley merely nodded. “Now to get things moving,” she said. “After all, calling for backup is the proper thing to do.”

Ann Marie watched as Riley’s fingers moved across the screen of her phone again, a look of devilish satisfaction on her features. The call connected, and Riley’s tone was light, almost playful.

“Putnam, have you had any luck tracking down our elusive Mr. Aldrich?” she asked, leaning back in her chair with an air of nonchalance.

On the other end of the line, there was a brief pause before Putnam’s voice crackled through, his words laced with a hint of irritation.

“Are you kidding, Agent Paige? Our guys have just gotten started. You know how these things go. We’ll have it soon.”

But Riley’s grin only widened. “Well, it seems fortune favors the bold—or perhaps just the well-connected. I have an address for you.”

There was a sharp intake of breath from Putnam as he digested this information. Ann Marie could almost picture him, standing rigid in his immaculate suit, his calculating eyes betraying only a slight flicker of surprise.

“He’s in an unoccupied house,” Riley continued, her voice steady with the weight of certainty.

“Looks like Derek Aldrich has been squatting there. I’m sending you the address.

Prendergast already has a warrant for Aldrich’s arrest. I’m going to call him and ask him to meet us there with a couple of local cops to make an arrest. Let’s not keep him waiting any longer than necessary. ”

The phone went silent as Putnam’s surprise turned into a reluctant acknowledgment. With that, Riley ended the call, her expression holding a touch of triumph that was both unsettling and oddly inspiring to Ann Marie.

“Time’s up,” Riley said, snapping the younger agent out of her reverie. “Let’s roll.”

“I think maybe you enjoyed that more than you should have,” Ann Marie ventured with a chuckle.

Riley let out a laugh, the sound rich and genuine. “Yeah, maybe I did.”