Page 23 of Once Vanished
Riley managed a nod.“Thank you, Gabriela.We’ll clean up our own dishes tonight.You should get some rest yourself.”
“I will try.”Gabriela hesitated.“If you need anything, anything at all...”
“We’ll let you know,” Riley assured her.
After Gabriela disappeared down the stairs to her apartment, the silence between Riley and Bill stretched taut again.Riley could feel his unspoken anger, his need for an explanation.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”Bill asked finally, his voice controlled but strained.
“I was still processing it myself.And frankly, I didn’t want to add to your burden while we were still in the middle of searching for Jilly.”
“That was not your call to make,” Bill said, each word precise.“You knew what that would mean to me, and you kept it from me.”
“What good would it have done?”Riley felt her own anger rising to meet his.“Would knowing it was Pope have helped us find Jilly any faster?Would it have changed anything except to distract you with an old trauma in the middle of a crisis?”
“That’s not the point!”Bill’s palm came down on the table, rattling the silverware.“The problem is that you didn’t trust me enough to handle it.You made a decision about what I could and couldn’t know, like I’m some kind of—”
“I’m telling you now!”Riley shot back.“What more do you want from me, Bill?Should I have blurted it out over the phone while I was still at the scene?Should I have let it distract us both?”
Bill pushed back from the table and stood, pacing into living room, staring out the front window, his back turned to Riley.She watched him, her own anger subsiding as quickly as it had flared.She understood his reaction.The incident at Fort Nash Mowat had nearly destroyed him.The guilt of shooting Pope by mistake, combined with losing Lucy Vargas in the final confrontation with the sniper, had sent Bill into a spiral of self-recrimination and depression that had taken months to emerge from, driving him to the brink of suicide.
And now Leo had reopened that wound, using Pope as a prop in his sick revenge fantasy.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.“You’re right.I should have told you as soon as I realized who it was.”
Bill turned back to her, his expression softening slightly.“No, you were probably right to wait.I just...”He ran a hand through his hair.“God, Riley.Pope.Of all people.”
“I know.”
“How did Leo even know about that?”Bill asked, returning to the table and sinking into his chair.“About Pope specifically?”
Riley leaned forward.“That’s what I’ve been thinking about.This isn’t just about records, Bill.Leo knows things about us—about our reactions, our triggers, our deepest psychological vulnerabilities.It’s more than just knowing facts.”
“You think he’s had access to our psych evaluations?”Bill’s brow furrowed.“Our therapy records?”
“I’m almost certain of it,” Riley said.“He’s using Mike Nevins’s insights against us.That level of understanding...it’s too precise to be guesswork.”
Bill absorbed this, his face grim.“If he can access that kind of information...”
“Then we’re dealing with someone who not only wants to hurt us, but who knows exactly how to do it most effectively.”Riley finished his thought.“And he’s using those insights to torment us while he has Jilly.”
The mention of her daughter’s name brought a fresh wave of anguish.Riley closed her eyes briefly, trying to center herself.As she opened them, Bill reached across the table to cover her hand with his.
“We can’t let him succeed in turning us against each other,” Bill said quietly.“That’s what he wants.You were right about that part.”
“I know,” Riley squeezed his hand.“But it’s working, isn’t it?Even though we know better, we’re still fighting.We’re still letting him get to us.”
“It’s hard not to,” Bill admitted.“Especially when it feels like we’re getting no closer to finding Jilly than we were this morning.”
The sound of Riley’s phone ringing cut through their conversation.She pulled it from her pocket, checking the screen.It was the BAU technician Riley had asked Jay Mathers to call to find out who might be helping Leo with digital skills.
“It’s Sam Flores,” she told Bill, then answered, putting the call on speaker.“Sam, you’re on speaker with Bill and me.”
“Riley,” Sam’s voice was warm with concern despite the tinny quality of the speakerphone.“How are you holding up?”
“About as well as you’d expect,” Riley replied.“Any news on the digital front?”
“That’s why I’m calling,” Sam said.“I’ve been running diagnostics on the code that was used to hack your home security system, and I’m convinced that we’re looking at the work of a character known as ShadowCipher.”