John and Frankie were also here today. Because the graduating class was seated according to names, Riley and her two pals hadn’t been able to sit together, and she didn’t really know the classmates who were beside her.
Riley reminded herself that she and her fiancé, Ryan Paige, were already—or almost—a family. She would move back in with him in their DC apartment, and they planned to marry soon. Riley had lost one pregnancy to an early miscarriage, but they would surely have children in the coming years.
She wondered if Ryan was there in the audience. It was Saturday, which could be a workday for an entry-level attorney like Ryan. Besides that, Riley knew he had mixed feelings about the career she had chosen.
Director Cormack finished his speech, and the time had come to swear in all the new agents. One by one, he would call out their names. Each of them would go up to the stage, take the FBI oath of office, receive their badge, and return to their seat.
They were being called in alphabetical order, and as Cormack worked his way through the list, Riley found herself wishing her last name didn’t begin with the nineteenth letter of the alphabet. It was a long wait. Frankie, of course, went up onto the stage before her, then waved and grinned at Riley as she returned to her seat.
When the director finally called out Riley’s name, her knees felt weak as she stood up and pushed her way past other seated graduates until she got to the aisle. By the time she stepped up onto the stage, she felt as though she was no longer inside her own body.
Finally she stood on the stage, raised her hand, and repeated after Director Cormack …
“I, Riley Sweeney, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic …”
She had to blink back a tear as she continued.
This is real, she told herself. This is really happening.
It was a short oath, but Riley felt as though her voice would give out before it was over. Finally she said the closing words …
“… and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
Riley held out her hand, expecting Director Cormack to hand the badge to her. Instead, the big man grinned at her somewhat impishly and set the badge on the podium.
“Now hold on, young lady. We’ve got a little business to take care of.”
Riley gasped. Had she failed to graduate after all?
The director took a small black box out of his jacket pocket and said …
“Riley Sweeney, it is my distinct honor to bestow upon you the Director’s Leadership Award for Excellence.”
Riley was stunned.
The director opened the little box and took out a ribbon with a medal attached. A burst of applause broke out as Cormack hung the medal around her neck. Cormack praised Riley for her initiative and leadership during her weeks at the Academy.
Riley tried to listen carefully to his words, but she felt lightheaded.
Don’t faint, she ordered herself. Stay on your feet.
She hoped somebody was recording whatever the director was saying because it was all blurring together for her.
Cormack handed her something.
My FBI badge, she realized as she accepted it.
Then he held out his hand. She shook it and turned to leave.
As Riley Sweeney, brand new FBI agent, stepped down from the stage, she saw that not all the graduates looked happy for her. In fact, there was a palpable resentment in some of their faces. She could hardly blame them. When she’d gotten back from working on the murder case, she’d been designated team leader over and over again for Academy activities. It was no secret that some students felt that Riley’s recent fieldwork had given her an unfair advantage over them. She was sure that some who came from law-enforcement backgrounds must be especially annoyed.
Riley went back to her seat, feeling flushed with emotion at having been chosen for the award. She couldn’t remember anything like that ever happening to her before.
Meanwhile, the rest of the recruits filed one by one onto the stage, swearing the oath and accepting their badges. When John went up, Riley smiled and waved at him, and he shyly waved back at her.
After the last students took their oaths, Director Cormack again congratulated the recruits on their achievement and brought the ceremony to an end. The students got up from their seats and eagerly sought out their friends.
Riley quickly located John and Frankie, who were glowing with pride as they clutched their new badges.
“We did it!” John said, hugging Riley.
“We’re FBI agents for real!” Frankie said, hugging Riley in turn.
“We sure are,” Riley said.
Frankie added, “And best of all, we’ll all be working at the DC Headquarters. We can stick together!”
“Won’t that be great!” Riley agreed.
She took a deep breath. After that rough summer, everything was working out just fine. Better even than she had imagined.
She glanced around for Ryan and saw him moving through the crowd toward her.
He’d made it here after all, and he had a pleasant smile on his face.
“Congratulations, sweetie,” he said, kissing her on the cheek.
“Thanks,” Riley said, kissing him back.
Taking Riley’s hand, Ryan said, “And now we can go home.”
Riley smiled and nodded. Yes, that was one really great thing about today. During all her weeks in the Academy, she’d had to live in the dorm while Ryan had stayed in their DC apartment. They hadn’t spent nearly as much time together as either of them had wanted.
Her assignment to the DC FBI Headquarters meant that she’d be working just a short subway ride from their apartment. They could settle down to life together, and maybe decide soon just when they planned to get married.
But before Ryan and Riley could walk away, John called out to her.
“Wait a minute, Riley. We’ve got one more bit of business to take care of.”
Riley’s eyes widened as she remembered …
Yes, there’s one more thing to do.
She and her friends went outside into the cold winter air, where the new agents were all lining up and heading across the quad toward the FBI gun vault. Riley and her two friends hurried to join the line, while Ryan followed along with them.
Riley noticed that Ryan looked rather perplexed.
He doesn’t realize what’s going on here, she thought.
There was no time to discuss this right now. Riley and her friends were approaching the quartermaster.
As they reached him, the man handed each of them a service weapon—a 22-caliber Glock pistol.
Ryan’s mouth gaped with surprise—and also some alarm, Riley felt pretty sure.
He’ll just have to get used to my having a firearm, she thought.
Riley smiled at him and said, “OK, we can go home now.”
She was relieved that he made no comment about the lethal weapon she was carrying as they said goodbye to her friends and headed back across the quad.
Everything is going to be all right, she thought.
That was when a young man approached her holding an envelope.
“Are you Riley Sweeney?” the young man asked.
“Yes,” Riley said.
The young man handed her the envelope and said, “I’m supposed to give you this. You’ve got to sign for it.”
Riley signed for the envelope, then hastily pulled it open.
She staggered back a few steps at what she read.
“What is it?” Ryan asked.
She gulped hard and told him, “It’s a change of assignment.”
“What does that mean?” he demanded.
“I won’t be working at DC Bureau Headquarters after all. I’m assigned to the Behavioral Analysis Unit right here in Quantico.”
Ryan stammered, “But—but you said … we’re supposed to be living together.”
“We will be,” Riley hastened to assure him. “After all, it’s not that long a commute.”
Even so, she knew that the change was definitely going to complicate their lives. This wasn’t going to make it impossible for them to be together, but it wasn’t going to be easy.
Ryan snapped, “Well, you can’t do that. They’ll have to change it.”
“I can’t make them change anything,” Riley replied. “I’m just an underling here, like you are in the law office.”
Ryan was silent for a long moment, then he grumbled, “Whose idea was this, anyway?”
Riley thought about that. She’d had hadn’t even listed Quantico among her three assignment choices. Who would have intervened to place her here?
Then she realized with a sigh …
I’ve got a pretty good idea.
CHAPTER TWO
Special Agent Jake Crivaro stared discontentedly at his scrambled eggs.
I should have gone to that graduation, he thought.
He was sitting in the commissary of the BAU building in Quantico, thinking about Riley Sweeney, his young protégé. Her graduation from the FBI Academy had been two days ago, and he was feeling bad about having skipped it.
Of course, he’d made an excuse for himself—too much paperwork piled up on his desk. But the truth was, he hated those kinds of ceremonies, and he just hadn’t been able to muster up the will to go and sit there in the crowd and listen to speeches he’d heard in so many variations before.
If he had gone, he could have taken the opportunity to tell her face-to-face that he’d personally arranged for her transfer from DC to the Behavioral Analysis Unit here in Quantico.
Instead, he’d let a messenger do that job.
But surely she’d taken the BAU transfer to be good news. After all, her unique talents would be put to much better use here than they would have been in DC.
Then it occurred to Jake that Riley might not even know yet that he’d had her assigned to be his own partner.
He hoped she’d find it a nice surprise to learn that they’d be working together. They’d already made a good team on three pretty tough cases. The youngster could be erratic at times, but she always managed to surprise him with the unusual power of her insight.
I should have at least called her, he reprimanded himself.
Jake looked at his watch and realized that Riley must be on her way here right now, to report for her first day at work.
As he took a sip of coffee, his cell phone rang.
When he took the call, a voice said, “Hey, Jake. Harry Carnes here. Am I catching you at an OK time?”
Jake grinned at the sound of his old friend’s voice. Harry was a retired police detective from Los Angeles. Several years ago, they’d worked together on a celebrity kidnapping case. They’d hit it off well and had stayed in touch.
“Sure, Harry,” Jake said. “It’s great to hear from you. What’s up?”
He heard Harry sigh, then say, “I’ve got something bothering me. I was hoping you might be able to help me out.”
Jake felt a surge of concern.
“I’d be glad to, buddy,” he said. “What’s the problem?”
“Do you remember that Colorado murder case last year? The woman who got killed in Dyson Park?”
Jake was surprised to hear Harry bring it up. When Harry had retired from the LA police force, he and his wife, Jillian, had moved to Gladwin, a tiny town in the Rocky Mountains right next to Dyson Park. A young woman’s body had been found on a hiking trail. Despite his civilian status, Harry had tried to help the police solve the case, but without success.
“Sure, I remember,” Jake said. “Why do you ask?”
A short silence fell.
Then Harry said, “Well … I think it’s happened again.”
“What do you mean?” Jake asked.
“I think the killer has struck again. Another woman has been murdered.”
Jake felt a jolt of surprise.
He asked, “You mean right there in Dyson Park?”
“No, this time it’s in Arizona. Lemme explain. You know how Jillian and I like to travel south during the winter? Well, we’re in Arizona right now, at a campground not far from Phoenix. This morning on the local news, they said that a young woman’s body had been found on a hiking trail somewhere north of here. I called the local cops, and they were willing to give me a few details.”
Harry cleared his throat. “Jake, the girl’s wrists were all cut up. She must have bled to death somewhere, but not where her body was found. It’s just like the victim in Dyson Park. I’ll bet anything it’s the same killer.”
Jake felt a twinge of skepticism.
“Harry, I don’t know,” he said. “A lot of time has passed since the Colorado killing. There’s a pretty good chance that any resemblance between the two murders is just a coincidence.”
Harry’s voice took on a more urgent tone.
“Yeah, but what if it’s not a coincidence? What if the guy who did the Colorado crime did this one too? What if it turns into some kind of spree?”
Jake suppressed a sigh. He could understand his friend’s reaction. Harry had told him how bitterly disappointed he’d been about not being able to help the Gladwin cops and the Colorado State Patrol catch the local killer. It wasn’t surprising that a new murder with some similar details pushed Harry’s buttons.
But people hiking in a wilderness alone did get killed sometimes. And some people persisted in going out there by themselves in spite of all warnings.
Jake didn’t want to tell Harry flat-out that he thought he was wrong.
But what can I tell him?
Jake didn’t know.
Harry continued, “Jake, I was wondering … do you think you could take this on as a BAU case? I mean, now that there have been two murders in two different states?”
Jake was feeling more and more uneasy.
He said, “Harry, that’s not how things usually work. It’s up to the police out there in Arizona to ask for the FBI’s help. And as far as I know, they haven’t done that. Until they do, it’s none of our business. Now maybe if you could get them to call the FBI …”
Harry interrupted. “I’ve already tried that. I can’t convince these cops that the murders are connected. And you know how local cops can be about the FBI stepping onto their turf. They’re not crazy about the idea.”
Jake thought, No, I don’t guess they are.
He found it easy to imagine how the police in Arizona might react to some retired cop trying to convince them they were missing something important. But Harry was actually right about one thing. If a killer committed murders in more than one state, the FBI didn’t need an invitation to get on the case. If Harry was right about it being the same killer, the FBI could open an investigation.
If Harry was right.
Jake took a long, slow breath. “Harry, I really don’t know if I can do anything about this on my end. It would be a hard sell, trying to get the people in charge here to make this an official FBI thing. For one thing, you know perfectly well the FBI won’t take a case if the local cops think it’s just a single murder. But …”
“But what?”
Jake hesitated, then said, “Let me think about it. I’ll get back to you.”
“Thanks, buddy,” Harry said.
They ended the call.
Jake winced a little, wondering why on earth he’d promised to get back to Harry.
He knew perfectly well that he could never convince Special Agent in Charge Erik Lehl that this ought to be an FBI case. Not on such a slim connection.
Hell, I don’t really believe it myself.
But he’d said what he’d said, Harry was out in Arizona waiting for Jake to call back at pretty much any minute. And the only thing Jake was going to be able to tell him was what he should have told him before they’d ended that call—that there was no way for him to get the FBI involved.
Jake stared at his cell phone for a moment, trying to get up the nerve to make that return phone call. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it—at least not yet.
Instead he hunkered down and began eating his breakfast in earnest. He figured maybe more coffee might help him think better about how to handle this situation.
Or maybe not.
Jake knew he hadn’t been especially sharp lately. In fact, he’d already been feeling low when Harry called him, and it wasn’t just because he’d blown off Riley Sweeney’s graduation.
That case he and Riley had solved some weeks ago—the nasty case of the barbed wire killer—had left him feeling exhausted and burnt out. That seemed to be happening more and more as he grew older. His energy just didn’t bounce back like it used to. And he suspected that his colleagues here at the BAU knew that. In fact, he guessed that was why Erik Lehl hadn’t assigned him to anything out in the field since that last one.