Page 54 of Once Vanished
“Looking a bit frantic there, Riley,” Leo observed from the screen, his voice containing a note of satisfaction that made her skin crawl.“What about his car?”
Riley yanked the front door open and stared out at the parking lot.The streetlights revealed an empty space where Bill’s car should have been.But the patrol car guarding them was still out there.
Riley muted the phone, scrambled down the stairs, still in her pajamas.One of the officers, eyes wide with surprise, opened his car door.
“Where’s Bill?”she demanded.
The officer shook his head.“Ma’am, he left about an hour ago.Said he’d be back shortly.”
“Did he say where he was going?”
“Just that he had something to take care of.He sounded stressed, but we didn’t think—”
Riley didn’t wait for him to finish.She turned and sprinted back into the house, slamming the door behind her.She rushed into the kitchen and unmuted the phone and stared at Leo’s face again.
“He’s gone,” she said.
“Yes, he is.But don’t worry,” Leo said, his voice dropping to a near whisper.“I’ve found him.”
The camera angle shifted abruptly.The view wobbled momentarily before settling on a new scene—still against sheer darkness, but now showing a figure standing on what appeared to be a small stool.A man, hands bound behind his back, a bag over his head, a noose hanging loosely around his neck.Even without seeing his face, Riley recognized Bill’s build, the set of his shoulders now slumped in resignation.
“No,” Riley breathed, her legs nearly giving way beneath her.
“A well-placed taser can subdue even the most determined FBI agent,” Leo said, his voice coming from off-camera now.“And of course, he was already so tired.”
The camera panned slowly around Bill’s figure, revealing the precariousness of his position.The stool beneath his feet was short, the noose adjusted just high enough that if the stool were removed, Bill would have to stand on tiptoes to avoid strangulation.
“As you can see,” Leo continued, almost clinically.“He wouldn’t be able to stand very long.Not after being tased and drugged.”
“What do you want?”she asked again, fighting to keep her voice from cracking.
“Patience, Riley,” Leo chided.“I’m not finished with the tour yet.”
The camera swung away from Bill, moving through the darkness until it settled on another figure—smaller, slumped in a chair.A figure Riley recognized instantly despite the bag over her head.Jilly.Her daughter was bound to the chair, hands secured behind her, feet tied to the legs.A soft groan emanated from beneath the hood.
“She’s been quite resilient,” Leo remarked, stepping into the frame beside Jilly.In his free hand, he held a knife—the same type of knife, Riley realized with horror, that he had used on Susan Martinez.“Much stronger than I expected.The streets taught her well.”
Riley’s entire body went cold.“Let them go, Leo.This is between you and me.”
“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong,” Leo said, using the flat of the blade to lift Jilly’s hooded chin.“This is about all of us now.About the choices we make.About the consequences of those choices.”
He moved away from Jilly, the camera following him as he approached Bill again.“You’ve made so many choices in your career, Riley.Decided who lived and who died.Officer Chen.Susan Martinez.”He reached out, gently adjusting the noose around Bill’s neck.“Now I’m giving you another choice.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s quite simple,” Leo said, his voice eerily calm.“You can save one of them.Only one.”He gestured toward Jilly with the knife.“If you choose to save your daughter, I’ll let her go.I’ll leave her somewhere she can be found.But you’ll seal Bill’s fate.I’ll hang around long enough to watch him die, and then I’ll be a ghost.”
The camera panned back to Jilly, lingering on her bound form.
“Or,” Leo continued, “you can choose to save Bill.I’ll let him go.But Jilly,” he held up the knife.“Jilly will suffer the same fate as Susan Martinez.And again, I’ll become a ghost.”
Riley struggled to breathe.“You’re insane,” she whispered.
“No,” Leo corrected her.“I’m curious.I want to see what you’ll do when forced to choose between the man you love and the child you’ve worked so hard to save.The devoted partner versus the desperate mother.”
He turned the camera back to his face, his expression calm, almost contemplative.“So, Riley.Who lives?Bill or Jilly?You need to choose right now.”
Riley’s mind spun wildly, searching for options, for a way out of the impossible choice.There had to be another way, something she was missing.