Page 14 of Once Vanished
“Thank you,” Riley said, infusing those two words with the gratitude she couldn’t fully express.April would be devastated when she got all the news about Jilly, but at least with Bill, she would be protected.
“Be careful,” Bill added, his eyes searching hers.“Leo knows you’ll come after him.That’s part of what he wants.”
“I know,” Riley replied.“But he doesn’t know everything about me.”
As Bill headed toward the front door, Riley moved toward her own keys hanging by the entrance.Her mind was already racing ahead, plotting the quickest route to Georgetown, anticipating what she might learn from Elizabeth and Charles Dillard.What had driven their son to this?What secrets might they hold that could help her understand where Leo would take Jilly?
She knew that Bill had spoken with Elizabeth Dillard during an earlier case, but she felt the need to talk with the parents herself, in person.
She stepped outside into the fading afternoon light.Somewhere in the city, Leo was watching, waiting, perhaps even expecting her next move.He thought he understood her completely, thought he could manipulate her like one of his psychological experiments.
But Leo had made a critical error.He’d taken one of those that Riley loved most in the world, and in doing so, he’d unleashed something he couldn’t possibly understand.A mother’s fury.A hunter’s determination.And the full force of a mind that had tracked down dozens of killers just like him.
Riley slid into her car, started the engine, and pulled away from the curb.As she accelerated toward Georgetown, one thought burned in her mind:I’m coming, Jilly.Hold on.
CHAPTER SIX
The Georgetown streets glided past Riley’s window, historic brick townhouses and manicured hedges a surreal backdrop to the nightmare unfolding in her life.Jilly’s face flickered through her mind—not the occasionally defiant teenager, but the fragile girl who still sometimes woke crying from dreams of her life before Riley had found her.Before Riley had promised to keep her safe.A promise now shattered by Leo Dillard’s calculating hands.
Jilly’s phone, now her contact with Leo, felt heavy in her jacket pocket.Riley fought to maintain her focus on the road ahead.Every instinct in her body screamed for action—to run, to hunt, to tear apart the world until she found her daughter.But Leo was too smart for blind rage to be of any use against him.
Glancing at the empty passenger seat, she repeated her plea to Jilly, “Hold on.”
The navigation system announced her arrival at the Dillard townhouse, its robotic voice jarringly calm.Riley pulled to the curb behind a police cruiser, exactly where she’d instructed Hogue to send protection.Another unmarked car further down the street registered instantly in Riley’s trained eye.
Good.Hogue had taken her warning seriously.
Georgetown townhouses were far older and far larger than the new ones of the kind that Riley and her family occupied.The Dillard mansion was three stories of red brick façade with black shutters.
Riley climbed the short flight of steps to the front door.Soon after she rang the bell, the heavy oak door swung inward, revealing a thin man in in his sixties wearing a crisp white shirt and dark vest.
“Agent Paige,” he said in a smooth voice that reeked of elitism.“Mrs.Dillard is expecting you.Please follow me.”
Riley didn’t bother asking how the butler knew her name.In a house like this, efficiency was expected.
“Thank you,” she said, stepping into the foyer.
The interior matched the promise of the exterior—tasteful wealth expressed through a marble-floored entryway, a sweeping staircase, and walls hung with artwork in gold frames.
“This way, please,” the butler said, leading her through an archway and along a corridor lined with framed photographs.Riley’s gaze snagged on them as she passed—family portraits spanning decades, capturing moments of carefully curated happiness.In several, she spotted a younger Leo, his smile perfect, his eyes empty even then.
The butler stopped at a set of pocket doors and slid them open.“Agent Paige, ma’am,” he announced, then stepped aside with a small bow.
The room beyond was a library, its walls lined with leather-bound volumes that Riley suspected were actually read, not merely displayed.Sitting rigidly on a blue velvet settee was Elizabeth Dillard, flanked by two uniformed officers.In her early sixties, she wore her silver-streaked hair pulled back in a smooth chignon.Even in this moment of disruption, she maintained the composure of her class—back straight, ankles crossed, hands folded in her lap.Only the tightness around her eyes betrayed her distress.
“Mrs.Dillard,” Riley said, crossing to her.“I’m Special Agent Riley Paige with the FBI.”
Elizabeth’s gaze swept over Riley, taking in her practical clothing and the shadows of exhaustion beneath her eyes.
“Yes, I was told you would explain this disruption to me.”Her voice carried the refined tones of old money and expensive education.“I don’t understand why my home has suddenly become a police matter.I once told another FBI agent, Jeffreys, I believe, as much as I could about … my son.These officers arrived twenty minutes ago but have explained nothing beyond assuring me it’s for my protection.”
Riley glanced at the officers—a young woman and an older man, both looking uncomfortable in these rarefied surroundings.Appearing rather relieved, they both stepped away to one side of the room.
“They were following protocol, Mrs.Dillard.I’ll explain everything shortly.”
The woman gestured to a nearby armchair, and Riley sat down.“Where is your husband?”she asked.
“Charles is at his office.The same kind of officers who appeared on my doorstep apparently appeared at Lawson and Dillard as well.He called me in quite a state.Charles doesn’t appreciate disruptions to his day.”