Page 1 of Once Vanished

PROLOGUE

Leo Dillard switched off his car engine and sat motionless in the alley, allowing himself to savor this moment.He reached into the passenger seat for the leather satchel with his tools, then stepped out of the car and walked about fifty yards.From the shadowed alley behind Riley Paige’s townhouse, he could see the girl sitting with her back to a main-floor window.She was exactly where his observations had told him she would be — in the family room, probably doing homework.Perfect timing.

A daylight abduction hadn’t been his original plan.He’d imagined this happening under the cover of darkness, slipping into the house like a phantom while the family slept.But this...this was better.Earlier, in his apartment, he had watched with satisfaction as his video feed showed Riley Paige and Bill Jeffreys leaving the townhouse together, climbing into Bill’s car.

As he walked calmly across the back yard, he recognized an unexpected gift—telltale white cords of her headphones snaked from the girl’s ears.They would muffle any sound that he made.Now it was time to be bold.

As he approached the elevated deck, Leo mentally reviewed the part of the security system that ShadowCipher had neutralized.The hacker had assured him that the alarm for the rear entrance had been disabled remotely — a digital sleight of hand that would leave no immediate evidence of tampering.The system would appear functional, but would fail to alert anyone when the door was breached.Although ShadowCipher’s abilities weren’t cheap, Leo considered them worth every penny of his grandfather’s inheritance.

He was aware that the security cameras were still working, but the chances were slight that anyone was watching those feeds at this very moment.He also knew that the cameras would capture his face clearly, but that was part of his design.Leo wanted Riley to know exactly who had taken her daughter.

He mounted the steps to the deck with the confidence of someone who belonged there.He withdrew his lock-picking tools and crouched slightly as he inserted the tension wrench into the bottom of the keyhole, applying gentle pressure to create binding.With his other hand, he slipped in the rake, feeling for the pins.The lock was of good quality, but no match for his technique.Leo felt the familiar satisfaction as the pins yielded one by one, the slight clicks and shifts perceptible to his trained touch.

As the final pin yielded and the cylinder turned, allowing the deadbolt to retract, Leo paused.He eased the door open a crack, listening for any sound from inside the house.The housekeeper — Gabriela, he recalled from his research — might be in the kitchen, or somewhere downstairs in her living quarters.If she interfered, he was prepared to deal with her.The taser would work just as effectively on her as it would on Jilly.

Leo slipped inside, closing the door silently behind him.He moved toward Jilly with calculated steps, the taser now held at the ready in his right hand.Three more steps and he would be close enough to strike.

*

Jilly’s fingers flew across the keyboard, the bass-heavy beat of her music drowning out the world around her.History homework wasn’t her favorite, but she’d promised Mom she’d maintain her grades this year, and promises meant something in this house.The essay on the Civil War was almost finished, just a conclusion paragraph to go.She bobbed her head slightly to the rhythm, lost in the cocoon of sound her headphones created.

Then, despite the music, she heard her little dog, Darby, barking downstairs in Gabriela’s room.A flicker of movement reflected across her laptop screen caught her attention—a shadow where there shouldn’t be one.

Jilly whipped around, her headphones sliding askew as she pivoted in her chair.Standing mere feet away was the man from the photographs Riley had shown her—Leo Dillard.The stalker.The man Mom had warned the whole family about.His hand extended toward her, gripping something dark and rectangular.And he was holding a taser.

“GABRIELA!”Jilly screamed.She lunged sideways off the chair, her body responding with the instant survival instincts honed from her years on Phoenix streets.When you grew up having to fight for everything—food, space, respect—you learned quickly, or you suffered.Jilly had been smaller than most, but what she lacked in size, she made up for in speed and dirty tactics.

Darby rushed into the family room at that moment, his little ears flapping as he yapped at the intruder and darted about snapping at his feet.Darby couldn’t do Leo any real harm, but he had definitely taken him by surprise.The taser missed its mark as Jilly ducked beneath Leo’s outstretched arm.

“You picked the wrong girl, asshole,” she snarled, dropping into a fighting stance, weight balanced on the balls of her feet.

As Darby kept snapping and barking, Jilly lashed out with a swift kick aimed at Leo’s knee, connecting with enough force to make him stagger.She followed with a straight punch toward his groin, but he twisted, catching her wrist in a grip like iron.Pain shot up her arm as he wrenched it, trying to spin her around.

“Let GO!”she hissed, driving her elbow backward with all her strength.She felt it connect with something solid—his ribs or stomach—and heard his grunt of pain.For a fleeting second, triumph surged through her.With Darby helping to keep Leo off balance, she could do this.She could fight him off until Gabriela came.

But Leo was stronger, trained, and prepared.He recovered quickly, wrapping an arm around her torso, pinning one arm to her side.Jilly thrashed wildly, her free hand clawing at his face, her feet kicking back at his shins.Her nails caught skin—his cheek or neck—and she felt the satisfying sting of contact, heard his sharp intake of breath.

“You little—” he started, his voice tight with controlled rage.

Jilly slammed her head backward, aiming for his nose, but hit only the solid plane of his jaw.Pain exploded across the back of her skull, but she didn’t relent, twisting and struggling with every ounce of her strength.

“GABRIELA!HELP!”she screamed again, hoping the housekeeper would hear her from the lower level of the townhouse.

They bumped against the table, and Leo almost tripped over Darby.He kicked out at the dog, and Jilly seized the moment to throw her weight forward, trying to break Leo’s grip.That was when she saw the thing in his hand again—a taser, too close to dodge.The prongs hit her side, and her world exploded into white-hot agony.

Every muscle in her body seized at once, the pain unlike anything she’d ever experienced.Her legs gave way beneath her, and she would have collapsed completely if not for Leo’s arm still around her waist.The room tilted and spun as the current ceased, leaving her gasping and twitching, her muscles spasming involuntarily.

“My mom is going to kill you,” Jilly managed to gasp, her voice a ragged whisper.“She’ll hunt you down...”

She could hear Leo murmur in her ear over the racket of Darby barking as he lowered her partially to the floor.“That’s exactly what I’m counting on, Jilly.”

Then something pressed against her face—a cloth that smelled sharp and chemical.She tried to hold her breath, to turn her head away, but the cloth covered her mouth and nose, the fumes burning her throat and lungs when she finally had to gasp for air.The chemical scent overwhelmed her senses.

*

Gabriela had just settled onto her small sofa, a cup of chamomile tea steaming on the side table beside her, with Jilly’s little dog Darby and April’s black-and-white cat Marbles both asleep at her feet.The basement apartment was cool and quiet.She closed her eyes, allowing herself fifteen minutes of rest before starting dinner preparations.The townhouse above her was peaceful—April away at college, Riley and Bill at an appointment in Quantico, and Jilly diligently tackling her homework.

Suddenly, Darby snapped awake and started yapping, then headed up the stairs.