Riley remembered what the chief prosecutor had said to her and Jake.
“We’ve got to be careful, or the bastard will walk. If we try to prosecute him on all possible charges, we’ll lose the whole thing. We can’t prove that Mullins was the only person who had access to the children when they were killed.”
Then came the plea-bargaining. Riley hated plea bargains. Her hatred for them had started with that case. Mullins’s lawyer offered the deal. Mullins would plead guilty to both murders, but not as premeditated killings, and his sentences would run simultaneously.
It was a lousy deal. It didn’t even make sense. If Mullins had really killed the children, how could he have also been merely negligent? The two conclusions were completely contradictory. But the prosecutor saw no choice but to accept the deal. Mullins finally faced thirty years in prison with the possibility of parole or early release for good behavior.
The families had been crushed and horrified. They’d blamed Riley and Jake for not doing their job. Jake had retired as soon as the case was over, a bitter and angry man.
Riley had promised the boys’ families she would do everything she could to keep Mullins behind bars. A few days ago, Nathan Betts’s parents had called Riley to tell her about the parole hearing. The time had come for her to keep her promise.
The general whispering came to an end. Hearing Officer Julie Simmons looked at Riley.
“I understand that FBI Special Agent Riley Paige would like to make a statement,” Simmons said.
Riley gulped hard. The moment she had spent fifteen years preparing for had arrived. She knew the parole board was familiar with all of the evidence already, as incomplete as it was. There was no point in going over it again. She had to make a more personal appeal.
She stood up and spoke.
“As I understand it, Larry Mullins is up for parole because he is an ‘exemplary prisoner.’” With a note of irony, she added, “Mr. Mullins, I congratulate you on your achievement.”
Mullin nodded, his face showing no expression. Riley continued.
“‘Exemplary behavior’ – what does that mean, exactly? It seems to me that it has less to do with what he has done than with what he hasn’t done. He hasn’t broken prison rules. He’s behaved himself. That’s all.”
Riley struggled to keep her voice steady.
“Frankly, I’m not surprised. There aren’t any children in prison for him to kill.”
There were gasps and murmurs in the room. Mullins’s smile turned into a steady glare.
“Pardon me,” Riley said. “I realize that Mullins never pleaded to premeditated murder, and the prosecution never pursued that verdict. But he pleaded guilty nonetheless. He killed two children. There is no way he could have done so with good intentions.”
She paused a moment, choosing her next words carefully. She wanted to goad Mullins into showing his anger, showing his true colors. But of course the man knew that if he did, he’d ruin his record of good behavior and would never get out. Her best strategy was to make the board members face the reality of what he had done.
“I saw Ian Harter’s lifeless four-year-old body the day after he was killed. He looked like he was asleep with his eyes open. Death had taken all expression away, and his face was slack and peaceful. Even so, I could still see the terror in his lifeless eyes. His last moments on this earth were filled with terror. It was the same for little Nathan Betts.”
Riley heard both mothers begin to cry. She hated bringing back those awful memories, but she simply had no choice.
“We mustn’t forget their terror,” Riley said. “And we mustn’t forget that Mullins showed little emotion during his trial, and certainly no sign of remorse. His remorse came much, much later – if it was ever real at all.”
Riley took a long, slow breath.
“How many years of life did he take away from those boys if you add them together? Much, much more than a hundred, it seems to me. He got a sentence of thirty years. He’s only served fifteen. It’s not enough. He’ll never live long enough to pay back all those lost years.”
Riley’s voice was shaking now. She knew she had to control herself. She couldn’t break down in tears or shout with rage.
“Has the time come to forgive Larry Mullins? I leave that up to the boys’ families. Forgiveness really isn’t what this hearing is about. It’s just not the point. The most important matter is the danger he still presents. We can’t risk the likelihood that more children will die at his hands.”
Riley noticed that a couple of people on the parole board were checking their watches. She panicked a little. The board had already reviewed two other cases this morning, and they had four more to finish before noon. They were getting impatient. Riley had to wrap this up immediately. She looked straight at them.
“Ladies and gentleman, I implore you not to grant this parole.”
Then she said, “Perhaps someone else would like to speak on the prisoner’s behalf.”
Riley sat down. Her final words had been double-edged. She knew perfectly well that not one single person was here to speak in Mullins’s defense. Despite all his “good behavior,” he still didn’t have a friend or defender in the world. Nor, Riley was sure, did he deserve one.
“Would anybody like to speak?” the hearing officer asked.
“I would just like to add a few words,” a voice said from the back of the room.
Riley gasped. She knew that voice well.
She whirled around in her seat and saw a familiar short, barrel-chested man standing in the back of the room. It was Jake Crivaro – the last person she expected to see today. Riley was delighted and surprised.
Jake came forward and stated his name and rank for the board members, then said, “I can tell you that this guy is a master manipulator. Don’t believe him. He’s lying. He showed no remorse when we caught him. What you are seeing is all an act.”
Jake stepped right up to the table and leaned across it toward Mullins.
“Bet you didn’t expect to see me today,” he said, his voice full of contempt. “I wouldn’t have missed it – you child-killing little prick of a weasel.”
The hearing officer banged her gavel.
“Order!” she shouted.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jake said mock-apologetically. “I didn’t mean to insult our model prisoner. After all, he’s rehabilitated now. He’s a repentant child-killing little prick of a weasel.”
Jake just stood there, looking down at Mullins. Riley studied the prisoner’s expression. She knew that Jake was doing his best to provoke an outburst from Mullins. But the prisoner’s face remained stony and calm.
“Mr. Crivaro, please take your seat,” the hearing officer said. “The board may make their decision now.”
The board members huddled together to share their notes and thoughts. Their whispering was animated and tense. Meanwhile, there was nothing for Riley to do but wait.
Donald and Melanie Betts were now sobbing. Darla Harter was weeping, and her husband, Ross, was holding her hand. He was staring straight at Riley. His look cut through her like a knife. What did he think of the testimony she just gave? Did he think it made up for her failure all those years ago?
The room was too warm, and she felt sweat breaking on her brow. Her heart was beating anxiously.
It only took a few minutes for the huddle to break up. One of the board members whispered to the hearing officer. She turned toward everybody else who was present.
“Parole is denied,” she said. “Let’s get started on the next case.”
Riley gasped aloud at the woman’s bluntness, as if the case were about nothing more than a parking ticket. But she reminded herself that the board was in a hurry to move on with the rest of their morning work.
Riley stood up, and both couples rushed toward her. Melanie Betts threw herself into Riley’s arms.
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you …” she kept saying
The three other parents crowded around her, smiling through their tears and saying “thank you” over and over again.
She saw that Jake was standing aside in the hallway. As soon as she could, she left the parents and ran to him.
“Jake!” she said, giving him a hug. “How long has it been?”
“Too long,” Jake said with that sideways smile of his. “You kids today never write or call.”
Riley sighed. Jake had always treated her like a daughter. And it really was true that she should have stayed in better touch.
“So how have you been?” she asked.
“I’m seventy-five years old,” he said. “I’ve had both knees and a hip replaced. My eyes are shot. I’ve got a hearing aid and a pacemaker. And all my friends except you have croaked. How do you think I’ve been?”
Riley smiled. He’d aged quite a lot since she’d last seen him. Even so, he didn’t seem nearly as frail as he was making himself out to be. She was sure he could still do his old job if he was ever needed again.
“Well, I’m glad you were able to talk yourself in here,” she said.
“You shouldn’t be surprised,” Jake said. “I’m at least as smooth a talker as that bastard Mullins.”
“Your statement really helped,” Riley said.
Jake shrugged. “Well, I wish I could’ve gotten a rise out of him. I’d love to have seen him lose it in front of the parole board. But he’s cooler and smarter than I remember. Maybe prison has taught him that. Anyway, we got a good decision even without getting him to freak out. Maybe he’ll stay behind bars for good.”
Riley didn’t say anything for a moment. Jake gave her a curious look.
“Is there something you’re not telling me?” he asked.
“I’m afraid it’s not that simple,” Riley said. “If Mullins keeps racking up points for good behavior, his early release will probably be mandatory in another year. There’s nothing you or I or anybody can do about it.”
“Jesus,” Jake said, looking as bitter and angry as he had all those years before.
Riley knew just how he felt. It was heartbreaking to imagine Mullins going free. Today’s small victory now seemed much more bitter than sweet.
“Well, I’ve got to be going,” Jake said. “It was great seeing you.”
Riley sadly watched her old partner walk away. She understood why he wasn’t going to hang around to indulge in negative feelings. That just wasn’t his way. She made a mental note to get in touch with him soon.
She also tried to find a bright side to what had just happened. After fifteen long years, the Bettses and the Harters had finally forgiven her. But Riley didn’t feel as if she deserved forgiveness, any more than did Larry Mullins.
Just then, Larry Mullins was led out in handcuffs.
He turned to look at her and smiled wide, mouthing his evil words silently.
“See you next year.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Riley was in her car and headed back home when she got the call from Bill. She put her phone on speaker.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“We’ve found another body,” he said. “In Delaware.”
“Was it Meara Keagan?” Riley asked.
“No. We haven’t identified the victim. This is just like the other two, only worse.”
Riley let the facts of the situation sink in. Meara Keagan was still being held captive. The killer might be holding other women captive as well. It was all but certain that the killings would continue. How many killings was anybody’s guess.
Bill’s voice was agitated.
“Riley, I’m losing my mind here,” he said. “I know I’m not thinking straight. Lucy’s a great help, but she’s still awfully green.”
Riley understood perfectly how he felt. The irony felt palpable. Here she was beating herself up about the Larry Mullins case. Meanwhile in Delaware, Bill felt as if his own past failure had cost a third woman her life.
Riley thought about the drive to wherever Bill was. It would probably take nearly three hours to get there.
“Are you finished there?” Bill asked.
Riley had told both Bill and Brent Meredith that she would be in Maryland today for the parole hearing.
“Yeah,” she said.
“Good,” Bill said. “I’ve sent a helicopter to pick you up.”
“You what?” Riley said with a gasp.
“There’s a private airport near where you are. I’ll text you the location. The chopper is probably there already. There’s a cadet on board who’ll drive your car back.”
Without another word, Bill ended the call.
Riley drove in silence for a moment. She had been relieved when the hearing had ended during the morning. She wanted to be home when her daughter got out of school. There had been no more arguments yesterday, but April hadn’t said much at all. This morning Riley had left before April was awake.
But the decision had obviously been made for her. Ready or not, she was on the new case. She would have to talk to April later.
But she didn’t have to think long before it seemed perfectly right. She turned her car around and followed the directions Bill had sent her. The surest cure for her feeling of failure would be to bring another killer to justice —real justice.
It was time.
*
Riley stared down at the dead girl lying on the wooden bandstand floor. It was a bright, cool morning. The bandstand was housed in a gazebo right in the center of the town square, surrounded by nicely kept grass and trees.
The victim looked shockingly like the girls in the photos Riley had seen of the two victims from earlier months. She was lying face up and so emaciated that she appeared to be positively mummified. Her dirty, torn clothing might have once fit but now looked grotesquely large on her. She bore old scars and more recent wounds from what looked like the lashes of a whip.
Riley guessed that she was about seventeen, the age of the other two murder victims.
Or maybe not, she thought.
After all, Meara Keagan was twenty-four. The killer might be changing his MO. This girl was too wasted away for Riley to be able to determine her age.
Riley was standing between Bill and Lucy.
“She looks like she was starved more than the other two,” Bill remarked. “He must have kept her for a lot longer.”
Riley heard a world of self-reproach in Bill’s words. She looked at her partner. The bitterness showed in his face as well. Riley knew what Bill was thinking. This girl had surely been alive and held captive when he’d investigated this case and come up with nothing. He was blaming himself for her death.
Riley knew that he shouldn’t blame himself. Even so, she didn’t know what to say to make him feel better. Her own regrets about the Larry Mullins case still left a bad taste in her mouth.
Riley turned around to take in her surroundings. From here, the only completely visible structure was the courthouse across the street – a large brick building with a clock tower. Redditch was a charming little colonial town. Riley wasn’t really surprised that the body could have been brought here in the dead of night without anybody noticing. The whole town would have been fast asleep. The square was lined with sidewalks, so the killer hadn’t left any footprints.
The local police had taped off the square and were keeping onlookers away. But Riley could see that some press had gathered outside the tapes.
She was worried. So far, the press hadn’t caught on that the two previous murders and Meara Keagan’s disappearance had all been connected. But with this new murder, somebody was liable to connect the dots. The public would know sooner or later. Then the investigation would become a lot more difficult.
Standing nearby was Redditch’s police chief Aaron Pomeroy.
“How and when was the body found?” Riley asked him.
“We’ve got a street cleaner who goes out to work before dawn. He found her.”
Pomeroy looked badly shaken. He was an overweight, aging man. Riley figured that even in a little town like this, a cop his age had handled a murder or two somewhere along the line. But he’d probably never dealt with anything this disturbing.