Page 48 of Once Vanished
Riley stood, swaying slightly as fatigue washed over her.“I should check in with him before I leave.”
“He’s been briefed,” Mike said, rising as well.“Your only responsibility right now is to take care of yourself.”
Handing her the prescription, he added, “This is for both you and Bill.It will help you sleep.”
As she stepped into the hallway, Bill was already there, leaning against the wall.His face was lined with exhaustion, the stubble on his jaw now well on its way to becoming a beard.His eyes met hers, a silent question.
“He pulled me too,” Riley said, her voice flat.
Bill nodded, unsurprised.“I figured as much.Twenty-four hours?”
“Minimum.”
They moved down the corridor together, their steps slow, like survivors emerging from a battlefield.Neither spoke as they descended in the elevator, passed through the lobby, and stepped into the cool night air.
The parking lot was half-empty this time of evening, their car looking lonely under the harsh glare of a security light.Riley fumbled in her pocket for the keys, then remembered Bill had driven them here after the waterworks.
“You okay to drive?”she asked.
“Yeah.”His hand found the small of her back, a brief, steadying touch.“Let’s go home, Riley.”
She nodded.Home, to a house still bearing the scars of Jilly’s abduction.Home, to wait for news, for a phone call, for the next move in Leo’s game.Home, to try to rest, knowing that somewhere out there, Leo still had their daughter.
They walked toward the car together, in silence.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Bill stared at the dining room table, tracing a faint coffee ring on the placemat in front of him.Even the familiar warm light from overhead emphasized those dark circles beneath Riley’s eyes, the tightness around Gabriela’s mouth, the hollowed look of April’s cheeks.Four people sitting together, connected by one missing – the empty chair where Jilly should have been marking an absence that pulled at them all.
After he and Riley had finally returned home, no one felt like having the late dinner that Gabriela offered.Still, they’d gravitated to the dining room table, none of them ready to face the solitude of their bedrooms despite their bone-deep fatigue.Four people sitting together, connected by one missing – the empty chair where Jilly should have been marking an absence that pulled at them all.
“We need to establish some ground rules,” Riley said, her voice sandpaper-rough from too many hours of questioning, too little sleep.“Hogue’s team is handling the investigation, but that doesn’t mean we’re helpless.”
Bill nodded, though the motion felt mechanical.“There’s still a patrol car outside.That’s not changing.”
“And April doesn’t go anywhere alone,” Riley continued, turning to her older daughter.“Nowhere at all without Bill or me or an armed officer we’ve approved in advance.”
April’s replied softly, “What about the rest of the semester?My professors—”
“I’ve already emailed them,” Riley said.“They understand.You can complete your coursework remotely until...”She faltered, the remainder of that sentence unspoken.
Until we find Jilly.Until this is over.Until we know if she’s alive or dead.
Bill watched Riley struggle to regain her composure, wishing he could reach across the table and take her hand.But something held him back—a new distance had formed between them that felt somehow impenetrable.
“We can’t just sit around waiting for something to happen,” April said, her voice now unnaturally steady.Bill recognized that tone—it was the same one Riley used when she was keeping herself together through sheer force of will.
“We’re not,” Bill assured her.“Every available resource is being deployed.Van Roff is trying to find Leo’s digital accomplice.The FBI’s cyber division is analyzing Leo’s digital footprint.”
Gabriela, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.“And what about us?What do we do while they search?”
Bill found the question unanswerable.What could any of them do except wait, except hope?
“We take care of each other,” Riley said finally.“We stay vigilant.And we trust the team that’s working the case.”Bill caught her glance, a flicker of something—resentment?frustration?—crossing her features.
He understood.Being sidelined while someone else searched for Jilly felt like having a limb amputated.Both of them were accustomed to action, to being the ones who solved the puzzles and caught the killers.Now they were reduced to waiting for updates, for shared information.
“I think we should try to get some sleep,” Bill suggested, knowing even as he said it that sleep would likely elude all of them.“It’s been over forty hours for some of us.”