As she and April teased each other lightheartedly about what to pack, Riley realized that she was having fun. That abyss that she and Mike had talked about a little while ago seemed far away. She still had a life outside of that abyss. It was a good life, and whatever she decided to do, she was determined to keep it.
While they were sorting things, Gabriela stepped into the room.
“Señora Riley, my cab will be here pronto, any minute,” she said, smiling. “I’m packed and ready. My things are at the door.”
Riley had almost forgotten that Gabriela was leaving. Since April was going to be away, Gabriela had asked for time off to visit relatives in Tennessee. Riley had cheerfully agreed.
Riley hugged Gabriela and said, “Buen viaje.”
Gabriela’s smile fading a little, she added, “Me preocupo.”
“You’re worried?” Riley asked in surprise. “What are you worried about, Gabriela?”
“You,” Gabriela said. “You will be all alone in this new house.”
Riley laughed a little. “Don’t worry, I can take care of myself.”
“But you have not been sola since so many bad things have happened,” Gabriela said. “I worry.”
Gabriela’s words gave Riley a slight turn. What she was saying was true. Ever since the ordeal with Peterson, at least April had always been around. Could a dark and frightening void open up in her new home? Was the abyss yawning even now?
“I’ll be fine,” Riley said. “Go have a good time with your family.”
Gabriela grinned and handed Riley an envelope. “This was in the mailbox,” she said.
Gabriela hugged April, then hugged Riley again, and went downstairs to wait for her cab.
“What is it, Mom?” April asked.
“I don’t know,” Riley said. “It wasn’t mailed.”
She tore the envelope open and found a plastic card inside. Decorative letters on the card proclaimed “Blaine’s Grill.” Below that she read aloud, “Dinner for two.”
“I guess it’s a gift card from our neighbor,” Riley said. “That’s nice of him. You and I can go there for dinner when we get back.”
“Mom!” April snorted. “He doesn’t mean you and me.”
“Why not?”
“He’s inviting you out to dinner.”
“Oh! Do you really think so? It doesn’t say that here.”
April shook her head. “Don’t be stupid. The man wants to date you. Crystal told me her dad likes you. And he’s really cute.”
Riley could feel her face flushing red. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had asked her on a date. She had been married to Ryan for so many years. Since their divorce she had been focused on getting settled in her new home and decisions to be made about her job.
“You’re blushing, Mom,” April said.
“Let’s get your stuff packed,” Riley grumbled. “I’ll have to think about all this later.”
They both went back to sorting through clothes. After a few minutes of silence, April said, “I’m kind of worried about you, Mom. Like Gabriela said …”
“I’ll be fine,” Riley said.
“Will you?”
Folding a blouse, Riley wasn’t sure what to answer. Surely she’d recently faced worse nightmares than an empty house – murderous psychopaths obsessed with chains, dolls, and blowtorches among them. But might a host of inner demons break loose when she was alone? Suddenly, a week began to feel like a long time. And the prospect of deciding whether or not to date the man who lived next door seemed scary in its own way.
I’ll handle it, Riley thought.
Besides, she still had another option. And it was about time to make a decision once and for all.
“I’ve been asked to work on a case,” Riley told April. “I’d have to go to Arizona right away.”
April stopped folding her clothes and looked at Riley.
“So you’re going to go, aren’t you?” she asked.
“I don’t know, April,” Riley said.
“What’s there to know? It’s your job, right?”
Riley looked into her daughter’s eyes. The hard times between them really did seem to be over. Ever since they’d both survived the horrors inflicted by Peterson, they’d been linked by a new bond.
“I’ve been thinking about not going back to field work,” Riley said.
April’s eyes widened with surprise.
“What? Mom, taking down bad guys is what you do best.”
“I’m good at teaching, too,” Riley said. “I’m very good at it. And I love it. I really do.”
April shrugged with incomprehension. “Well, go ahead and teach. Nobody’s stopping you. But don’t stop kicking ass. That’s just as important.”
Riley shook her head. “I don’t know, April. After all I put you through – ”
April looked and sounded incredulous. “After all you put me through? What are you talking about? You didn’t put me through anything. I got caught by a psychopath named Peterson. If he hadn’t taken me, he’d have taken someone else. Don’t you start blaming yourself.”
After a pause, April said, “Sit down, Mom. We’ve got to talk.”
Riley smiled and sat down on the bed. April was sounding just like a mother herself.
Maybe a little parental lecture is just what I need, Riley thought.
April sat down next to Riley.
“Did I ever tell you about my friend Angie Fletcher?” April said.
“I don’t think so.”
“Well, we used to be tight for a while but she changed schools. She was really smart, just one year ahead of me, fifteen years old. I heard that she started buying drugs from this guy everybody called Trip. She got really, really into heroin. And when she ran out of money, Trip put her to work as a hooker. Trained her personally, made her move in with him. Her mom’s so screwed up, she barely noticed Angie was gone. Trip even advertised her on his website, made her get a tattoo swearing she was his forever.”
Riley was shocked. “What happened to her?”
“Well, Trip eventually got busted, and Angie wound up in a drug rehab center. That was just this summer while we were in Upstate New York. I don’t know what happened to her after that. All I know is that she’s just sixteen now and her life is ruined.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Riley said.
April groaned with impatience.
“You really don’t get it, do you, Mom? You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. You’ve spent your whole life stopping this kind of thing. And you’ve put away all kinds of guys like Trip – some of them forever. But if you stop doing what you do best, who’s going to take over for you? Somebody as good at it as you? I doubt it, Mom. I really doubt it.”
Riley fell silent for a moment. Then with a smile, she squeezed April’s hand tightly.
“I think I’ve got a phone call to make,” she said.
Chapter Seven
As the FBI jet lifted off from Quantico, Riley felt sure that she was on her way to face yet another monster. She was deeply uneasy at the thought. She had been hoping to stay away from killers for a while, but taking this job had finally seemed like the right thing to do. Meredith had been clearly relieved when she’d said she would go.
That morning, April had left on her field trip, and now Riley and Bill were on their way to Phoenix. Outside the airplane window the afternoon had turned dark, and rain streaked across the glass. Riley stayed strapped into her seat until the plane had made its way through rough-and-tumble gray clouds and into clearer air above. Then a cushiony surface spread out beneath them, hiding the earth where people were probably scurrying about to stay dry. And, Riley thought, going about their everyday pleasures or horrors or whatever lay in between.
As soon as the ride smoothed out, Riley turned to Bill and asked, “What have you got to show me?”
Bill flipped open his laptop on the table in front of them. He brought up a photo of a large black garbage bag barely submerged in shallow water. A dead white hand could be seen poking out of the bag’s opening.
Bill explained, “The body of Nancy Holbrook was found in an artificial lake in the reservoir system outside of Phoenix. She was a thirty-year-old escort with an expensive service. In other words, a pricey prostitute.”
“Did she drown?” Riley asked.
“No. Asphyxiation seems to have been the cause of death. Then she was stuffed into a heavy-duty garbage bag and dumped into the lake. The garbage bag was weighted with large rocks.”