Page 3 of Once Vanished
Riley walked alongside Bill through the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit building at Quantico.Special Agent in Charge Brent Meredith had summoned them here to discuss the ongoing search for Leo Dillard.
“You okay?”Bill asked, his voice low enough that only she could hear.
Riley nodded, a reflexive response rather than an honest one.In her twenty-plus years with the Bureau, she’d never felt so haunted by a case.Of course, this one was dangerously personal.Leo had been threatening her by stalking her family.And she knew that he was still out there, watching, waiting, planning his next move with her at the center of his twisted game.
Bill knew better than to believe her easy acceptance.“No, you’re not,” he said, his hand briefly touching the small of her back.“And that’s okay.”
Like an old married couple, Riley and Bill often found themselves thinking the same things and finishing each other’s sentences.Their partnership had weathered divorces, trauma, and the occasional bureaucratic storm, emerging stronger each time.The past year and a half, with their relationship deepening beyond friendship, had only heightened that connection.
They paused outside Meredith’s office door.Riley took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders and willing her expression into professional composure.
Bill’s knock on the door was answered with Meredith’s gruff “Come in.”
Meredith’s office hadn’t changed in all the years Riley had known him.The same austere furnishings, the same photographs of his family on the credenza behind his desk.Special Agent in Charge Brent Meredith looked up from his computer, his broad frame imposing even while seated.His black, angular features arranged themselves into an expression of cautious welcome as he gestured toward the chairs opposite his desk.
“Paige.Jeffreys.Right on time.Agent Garner will be here momentarily.Have a seat.”
Riley sat first, resisting the urge to check her phone.April had texted an hour ago reporting on her activities at Jefferson Bell University, and Jilly would be home by now and focused on her homework.Gabriela would be there, of course, steady as always.Still, Riley couldn’t shake the persistent worry that had become her constant companion.
“How are you holding up?”Meredith asked without preamble, his gaze directed primarily at Riley.
“Fine,” she answered automatically.
Bill shot her a sideways glance.
“Really?Because you don’t look fine.Neither of you does.”Meredith leaned forward, resting his forearms on his desk.“This isn’t just another case, and we all know it.Dillard has made this personal for you.”
Riley sighed, relenting.“My nerves are shot,” she admitted.“Gabriela thinks I’m losing my mind, checking the locks three times every night.”
“And I’m checking them again, right behind you,” Bill added.
“And the girls?”Meredith asked Riley.
“They’re tough and brave.I wish they didn’t have to be.”
“I wish they didn’t, too,” Meredith agreed.
Bill took up the explanations.“Riley’s last contact with him was that night when he lured her to Echo Bridge, leading her to think she’d find him there.All she found was that written note you’ve already seen.”
Lines from that note kept running through Riley’s mind:Yes, I texted your daughter…Yes, I knew she would tell you about our conversation and the proposed meeting at this bridge… And yes, I knew you would forbid her from coming herself … So here you are, alone on Echo Bridge at 9:00 p.m., while I am elsewhere …I want you to understand, Riley, that I know you.I understand how you think, how you act, how you prioritize …
She shuddered with the feeling that Leo was crawling inside her very skin.
“Now he’s vanished again,” Riley told Meredith.“It’s worse than if he were making contact.Every hour of every day.I can practically feel him watching me.”
“That’s what concerns me,” Meredith said.“You’re giving him too much credit, Riley.You’re projecting.”
“Projecting?”Riley’s voice sharpened.“He was my student before I knew what kind of man he was.He studied me, learned my habits, my methods.He’s read every article ever written about me.He knows about my...ability.”
She paused awkwardly.Her so-called “gift” for getting into the minds of killers wasn’t something she discussed openly.In law enforcement circles, especially among detectives who worked homicide, Riley Paige was something of a legend.The whispers said she could see things at crime scenes that others missed, could piece together profiles from the barest fragments of evidence.Some even claimed she had some kind of sixth sense.
But sitting here with Bill and Meredith—two of only four people who truly understood the nature of her ability—Riley knew better.There was nothing supernatural about what she did.It was observation, deduction, and intuition fused together through years of experience and a willingness to wade into the darkest corners of human psychology.
“He knows how I think,” Riley continued.“And I’m starting to believe he might have the same kind of insight.”
“He’s not you,” Meredith said firmly.“What you do, this ability you have to understand these monsters—I know that it comes from your lifetime of experience plus a rare level of awareness.Dillard is obsessed with you because he sees something he wants but can never have.Don’t hand him more power by thinking that he can read your mind.”
Riley wanted to believe him.Wanted to accept the rational explanation that Leo was just another brilliant psychopath who’d fixated on her.Before she could form a reply, a knock at the door interrupted her.Meredith called for the visitor to enter, and Riley turned to see Special Agent Garner Hogue step into the office.