Page 58 of Once Vanished
Look at your cellphone.
Riley grabbed her phone from the desk.A notification had appeared—a new text message containing nothing but a map link.She tapped it, and her screen filled with a GPS location, a pulsing red dot on a map.Just like the coordinates Leo had sent to direct her to the waterworks where Susan Martinez had died.
But this location wasn’t unfamiliar territory.It was just about three miles from her house—the old Westridge Elementary School building that had been abandoned for years after the district consolidated with neighboring schools.Riley had driven past it countless times, a hollow shell of brick and graffiti standing over an empty playground where weeds pushed through cracked asphalt.
Leo’s words from two days ago rushed back to her with stunning clarity: “Isn’t it ironic that I’m actually not far from where you’re sitting right now?In geographic terms, we’re practically neighbors.”
The realization sent a jolt through Riley.Leo had been telling the truth.He was hiding practically in plain sight, within walking distance of her home.But he hadn’t counted on her finding him.He couldn’t have anticipated ShadowCipher’s betrayal.
You can take things from here, I believe,ShadowCipher added.My debt to Leo Dillard is now paid in full.
Before Riley could respond, the connection terminated.The chat window closed itself, leaving her staring at her desktop wallpaper—a photo of April, Jilly, and herself at the lake last summer, their faces bright with laughter, unaware of the darkness that would engulf them.
“Riley?You still there?”Van’s voice crackled through her phone, which she’d forgotten was still connected.“Did you get anything useful?”
“I think so,” Riley said, her voice unsteady as hope and terror warred within her.“He gave me a location.The old Westridge Elementary School.It’s about three miles from my house.”
“Wow,” Van said, sounding stunned.
“Got to go,” she said to Van as she leaped to her feet and headed for the stairs.She had reached her bedroom when her phone pinged with another call.It was 1:52 a.m.exactly, which meant it was Leo.She forced herself to sit on the edge of the bed and accept the video call.
Leo’s face filled her screen.His expression was calm, almost pleasant—the face of a man who believed himself to be in complete control.He was still surrounded by that darkness, but Riley now knew that the green screen was masking the shabby interior of an abandoned school.
“Hello, Riley,” Leo said, his voice smooth as silk.“I trust you’ve had time to consider your options carefully.”
“Leo,” Riley said, fighting to keep her voice steady.“This doesn’t have to end with more deaths.”
Leo’s eyebrow arched.“Oh, but it does.That’s the nature of the choice I’ve given you.One lives, one dies.That’s the only rule.”He angled the phone, showing her what lay beyond him in the corridor.
Riley’s stomach lurched at the sight.On one side was Jilly, bound to a chair, her eyes wide with terror above a gag that muffled her cries.A few feet away was Bill, standing on a stool, his hands bound behind his back, a noose around his neck secured to a pipe overhead.If that stool was kicked away...
“You see the elegant simplicity of it?”Leo asked, his voice almost dreamy as he turned the camera back to his face.“If you choose Bill, I’ll cut Jilly’s throat before you could possibly reach us.But if you choose Jilly, I’ll merely remove the support from under Bill’s feet.A slower death, perhaps—but death all the same.I’ll hang around long enough to watch.Either way, I’ll be gone before you can find me.”
Riley felt sickness rise within her, bile burning the back of her throat.She had to appear defeated, had to play along just long enough to get to that school.
“Why are you doing this?”she asked, her voice breaking.Real emotion—she didn’t have to fake that.“What do you want from me?”
“I want you to feel what I’ve felt,” Leo replied, his voice hardening.“Powerlessness.The agony of impossible choices.The knowledge that no matter what you do, you lose something precious.You rejected me, Riley.I can’t let that go unpunished.”His expression softened to something almost sympathetic.“Now, your decision please.Bill or Jilly?Who lives?”
So if she chose Jilly, Leo would kick away Bill’s stool immediately.Bill was strong, but how long could he stand on tiptoe with a noose cutting into his throat?Minutes?Five at most?But if she reached the school fast enough, she might be able to save him.
If she chose Bill, Jilly would die instantly.There would be no chance at all to save her.
The decision crystallized in her mind with terrible clarity.
“Jilly,” Riley choked out, the name tasting like ash in her mouth.“Save Jilly.”Leo’s eyes widened slightly.Had he expected her to choose Bill?
“Interesting,” he murmured.“A mother choosing her child over her lover.I wonder what that says about your relationship with Bill.”
“Just keep your word,” Riley said, keeping her voice steady through sheer force of will.“Let Jilly live.”
“As promised,” Leo said with a slight bow of his head.“Though I’m afraid you’ve just sentenced Agent Jeffreys to death.”
The video feed cut out.Riley thought about Gabriela and April.Gabriela had taken one of the sedatives, and April slept with noise-cancelling air pods.They’d both be fast asleep.
No time to tell them anyway, no time …
Shoving her bare feet into boots, Riley raced to the closet and retrieved her gun from the safe.She ran down the stairs and burst through her front door, sprinting toward her vehicle.When she saw the squad car door began to open she yelled to the guards, “Keep a sharp watch,” and kept going.