by Blake Pierce
O N C E C H O S E N
(A RILEY PAIGE MYSTERY—BOOK 17)
B L A K E P I E R C E
Blake Pierce
Blake Pierce is the USA Today bestselling author of the RILEY PAGE mystery series, which includes seventeen books. Blake Pierce is also the author of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising thirteen books (and counting); of the AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising six books; of the KERI LOCKE mystery series, comprising five books; of the MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE mystery series, comprising six books; of the KATE WISE mystery series, comprising seven books; of the CHLOE FINE psychological suspense mystery, comprising six books; of the JESSE HUNT psychological suspense thriller series, comprising seven books (and counting); of the AU PAIR psychological suspense thriller series, comprising two books (and counting); of the ZOE PRIME mystery series, comprising two books (and counting); and of the new ADELE SHARP mystery series.
ONCE GONE (a Riley Paige Mystery--Book #1), BEFORE HE KILLS (A Mackenzie White Mystery—Book 1), CAUSE TO KILL (An Avery Black Mystery—Book 1), A TRACE OF DEATH (A Keri Locke Mystery—Book 1), and WATCHING (The Making of Riley Paige—Book 1) are each available as a free download on Amazon!
An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.
Copyright © 2020 by Blake Pierce. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Jacket image Copyright used under license from Shutterstock.com.
BOOKS BY BLAKE PIERCE
ADELE SHARP MYSTERY SERIES
LEFT TO DIE (Book #1)
LEFT TO RUN (Book #2)
LEFT TO HIDE (Book #3)
THE AU PAIR SERIES
ALMOST GONE (Book#1)
ALMOST LOST (Book #2)
ALMOST DEAD (Book #3)
ZOE PRIME MYSTERY SERIES
FACE OF DEATH (Book#1)
FACE OF MURDER (Book #2)
FACE OF FEAR (Book #3)
A JESSIE HUNT PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES
THE PERFECT WIFE (Book #1)
THE PERFECT BLOCK (Book #2)
THE PERFECT HOUSE (Book #3)
THE PERFECT SMILE (Book #4)
THE PERFECT LIE (Book #5)
THE PERFECT LOOK (Book #6)
THE PERFECT AFFAIR (Book #7)
CHLOE FINE PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES
NEXT DOOR (Book #1)
A NEIGHBOR’S LIE (Book #2)
CUL DE SAC (Book #3)
SILENT NEIGHBOR (Book #4)
HOMECOMING (Book #5)
TINTED WINDOWS (Book #6)
KATE WISE MYSTERY SERIES
IF SHE KNEW (Book #1)
IF SHE SAW (Book #2)
IF SHE RAN (Book #3)
IF SHE HID (Book #4)
IF SHE FLED (Book #5)
IF SHE FEARED (Book #6)
IF SHE HEARD (Book #7)
THE MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE SERIES
WATCHING (Book #1)
WAITING (Book #2)
LURING (Book #3)
TAKING (Book #4)
STALKING (Book #5)
KILLING (Book #6)
RILEY PAIGE MYSTERY SERIES
ONCE GONE (Book #1)
ONCE TAKEN (Book #2)
ONCE CRAVED (Book #3)
ONCE LURED (Book #4)
ONCE HUNTED (Book #5)
ONCE PINED (Book #6)
ONCE FORSAKEN (Book #7)
ONCE COLD (Book #8)
ONCE STALKED (Book #9)
ONCE LOST (Book #10)
ONCE BURIED (Book #11)
ONCE BOUND (Book #12)
ONCE TRAPPED (Book #13)
ONCE DORMANT (Book #14)
ONCE SHUNNED (Book #15)
ONCE MISSED (Book #16)
ONCE CHOSEN (Book #17)
MACKENZIE WHITE MYSTERY SERIES
BEFORE HE KILLS (Book #1)
BEFORE HE SEES (Book #2)
BEFORE HE COVETS (Book #3)
BEFORE HE TAKES (Book #4)
BEFORE HE NEEDS (Book #5)
BEFORE HE FEELS (Book #6)
BEFORE HE SINS (Book #7)
BEFORE HE HUNTS (Book #8)
BEFORE HE PREYS (Book #9)
BEFORE HE LONGS (Book #10)
BEFORE HE LAPSES (Book #11)
BEFORE HE ENVIES (Book #12)
BEFORE HE STALKS (Book #13)
BEFORE HE HARMS (Book #14)
AVERY BLACK MYSTERY SERIES
CAUSE TO KILL (Book #1)
CAUSE TO RUN (Book #2)
CAUSE TO HIDE (Book #3)
CAUSE TO FEAR (Book #4)
CAUSE TO SAVE (Book #5)
CAUSE TO DREAD (Book #6)
KERI LOCKE MYSTERY SERIES
A TRACE OF DEATH (Book #1)
A TRACE OF MUDER (Book #2)
A TRACE OF VICE (Book #3)
A TRACE OF CRIME (Book #4)
A TRACE OF HOPE (Book #5)
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
PROLOGUE
Sheriff Emory Wightman held the big flashlight steady while two of his cops continued digging into the soft earth. The long, narrow hole was getting pretty deep now.
Officer Tyrone Baldry paused and climbed out of the excavation. Leaning on his shovel, he wiped his forehead with his dirty sleeve.
“Hey, Sheriff,” Baldry said, “care to take over for one of us for a little while?”
“We could use a little breather,” Officer Newt Holland echoed, still scraping at the earth at the bottom of the pit.
Wightman scoffed. “Somebody’s got
to hold the light.”
Both of the cops grunted sarcastically.
But indeed, the little clearing in the woods had grown dark while they worked. Wightman considered stopping everything until they could bring in proper lighting. But if there was anything in this grave-shaped hole, he wanted to know it now.
There had been nothing at all here the last time.
He felt a flash of déjà vu as he glanced into the surrounding darkness. It had been on a cool fall night just like this, almost a year ago. They’d come out here on a sinister tip, looking for a missing person—a young woman named Allison Hillis, who had vanished a few nights earlier on Halloween. An anonymous note had directed them to dig here, where freshly turned earth had looked like it might actually be a grave. But when they had removed all the soft dirt, they had found nothing.
Now, nearly a year later, the woman was still missing, and no body had ever been found. A newly delivered note had led them here again. And again, loose earth had made it appear that something—or someone—could be buried in this place.
And again, this was beginning to seem like a cruel hoax, dragging the police out here for the same fool’s errand.
I’d like to get my hands on that prankster.
Maybe I’d even press charges.
Staring down into the pit, Baldry asked, “How much deeper do you want us to go?”
That’s a good question, Wightman thought.
How deep did they need to dig before they could feel confident that this late-night errand was an act of futility? That it was again based on a prank.
“Just keep digging,” Wightman replied. “I guess it’s getting tight down there. You can take it in turns.”
Holland started shoveling again, while Baldry just stood on the edge of the hole. Glancing into the surrounding darkness, Baldry said with a smirk, “Sheriff, I hope you’re keeping an eye out for the Goatman.”
Wightman growled under his breath.
It wasn’t a very funny joke, given how those anonymous messages had mentioned the old legend, both then and now. The vicious Goatman was just a regional tale, of course, but when Wightman had been a kid, it had seemed scary enough to keep him awake nights.
He was about to call an end to the digging when he heard a shaky voice from within the excavation.
“Sheriff,” Holland said. “Bring the light closer.”
Wightman and Baldry leaned over the edge of the hole.
Holland was brushing loose dirt aside with his hand, uncovering something.
Baldry’s voice sounded frightened now.
“Oh, Jesus. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.”
Wightman held his hand out to shine the light directly where Holland was working.
“It looks like black cloth,” Holland said.
As Holland cleared more dirt away, they could see white paint on the black background—white stripes that looked like ribs. The cloth was part of a Halloween costume.
The missing woman had been wearing exactly that sort of costume when she’d disappeared last year on Halloween—a skeleton costume, black with white bones painted on it.
“Oh, no,” Holland said. “Oh, Christ, no.”
He kept scraping the dirt away with his hands. He hesitated when he uncovered the skull mask.
“Lift it,” Wightman said, knowing all too well what they’d find behind it.
Holland lifted the mask, then let out a cry as he scrambled backward away from the sight.
It was another skull—a real one. Desiccated flesh clung to the bones, and there were mangy tufts of raggedy hair on the scalp.
The truth flooded over Sheriff Wightman like a tidal wave.
Allison Hillis was no longer a missing person.
She was a dead one.
Baldry retreated away from the edge of the hole, whimpering with horror.
Wightman stared down at the skull with his mouth hanging open.
“What do we do now, Sheriff?” Holland asked in a hushed voice.
For a moment, Wightman had no idea what to say.
What does this mean? he wondered.
Why had the anonymous tipster led them here on some pointless errand last year, only to bring them out here again to find an actual corpse?
And why had Allison Hillis been murdered to begin with?
Wightman remembered what the cryptic note had said in cut-out letters …
THE GOATMAN IS STILL HUNGRY
Whatever else it might mean, Wightman felt sure of one thing.
This was obviously a murder, and there are going to be more.
Holland repeated his question. “What do we do now?”
Wightman took a long, deep breath.
“We’re going to call the FBI,” he said.
CHAPTER ONE
Rounding up her daughters for breakfast seemed to be an impossible task for Riley this morning. After arguing over who was taking too long in the bathroom, April and Jilly kept popping in and out of each other’s room to chatter about nothing in particular. When they finally came downstairs, they even started playing games in the family room until Riley dragged them out.
Have I got more than two girls? she almost wondered.
“Come on, let’s eat,” Riley kept saying. “You’re going to miss the bus to school. And I’m not going to drive you this morning.”
Finally she managed to herd both girls into the kitchen, where their Guatemalan housekeeper, Gabriela, had a delicious breakfast ready as usual. As soon as they sat down at the table, Jilly asked a question.
“Mom, can I have forty dollars?”
“What do you need it for, honey?” Riley asked.
“I need to rent a zombie costume,” Jilly said.
For a moment Riley wondered, Zombie costume?
Then she remembered—Halloween was just a couple of days off.
“You don’t need a zombie costume,” Riley said.
Sixteen-year-old April poked her younger sister and said gleefully, “I told you she wouldn’t let you have it.”
A whine rose in Jilly’s voice as she said, “But I need a costume to go trick-or-treating!”
“You’re too old to go trick-or-treating,” Riley said.
“I’m fourteen!” Jilly said.
“Exactly what I mean,” Riley said, taking a bite of her breakfast.
“This isn’t fair,” Jilly said. “I’ve never been trick-or-treating in my life. I’ll definitely be too old next year. This will be my last chance.”
Riley felt a pang of surprised sympathy. “You’ve never been trick-or-treating?”
Jilly shrugged and said plaintively, “When would I have had the chance to do anything like that?”
April added, “You know she’s telling the truth, Mom.”
Indeed, Riley was sure of it. It had just never occurred to her before.
Jilly had only recently become part of the family. Last October Jilly had still been in a social services home in Phoenix, and before that she had spent her childhood in the care of an abusive father. Riley had finalized her adoption in July and gotten her settled into a more normal life, but she knew that Jilly had missed out on a lot of ordinary activities—including trick-or-treating, apparently.
She asked Jilly, “Who will you go trick-or-treating with?”
Jilly shrugged again. “I dunno. Can’t I go by myself?”
Riley shuddered a little at the very idea.
“Absolutely not,” she said. “It can be dangerous for kids to go trick-or-treating on their own. You need to go with somebody older. Maybe April will take you.”
April’s eyes widened with alarm.
“I’m not taking Jilly anywhere!” she said. “I’ve got a party to go to!”
“What party?” Riley asked.
“At Scarlet Gray’s house,” April said. “I’m sure I told you about it.”
“And I’m sure you didn’t,” Riley said. “Anyway, you’re not going to any party. You’re still grounded.”
Apr
il rolled her eyes. “God, am I going to be grounded for the rest of my life?”
“Just until Thanksgiving,” Riley said. “That’s what we agreed to.”
“Oh, that’s just great,” April said, poking at her breakfast with her fork. “I’m grounded and I have to go out with my kid sister trick-or-treating. It doesn’t even make sense.”
“It doesn’t have to make sense,” Riley said sternly. “I make the rules here.”
Riley glimpsed Gabriela nodding at her with sage approval. The stout, no-nonsense housekeeper had taught her to say “I make the rules” once when Riley had gotten too wishy-washy with the kids. Gabriela often seemed to be as much a parent to April and Jilly as Riley herself could ever be, and Riley was deeply grateful to have her around.
“All right,” Riley told Jilly, “you can have the money for your zombie costume. But we’ll still have to work out the details before you go anywhere.”
Jilly seemed to be perfectly happy now, and April seemed to be perfectly miserable. But at least the matter was settled. As they finished their breakfasts in silence, Riley found herself thinking that Thanksgiving was coming up fairly soon and her strong-minded older daughter would no longer be grounded.
What April had done was deadly serious. When Riley had bought a pistol for April to train with during the summer, she’d felt confident that her older daughter would handle the weapon responsibly.
But it had turned out that Riley’s confidence was misplaced. Not only had April failed to make sure the gun wasn’t loaded after bringing it home from the firing range, she’d dropped the weapon while trying to put it away in Riley’s bedroom. Riley could still hear the accidental gunshot echoing through the house. And she’d only recently repaired the holes the bullet had made in two walls.
We were lucky nobody got hurt—or killed, Riley thought. That grateful refrain had been running through her mind every day since then.
She wondered if she should have grounded April for longer—all the way through Christmas and New Year’s, maybe. But it was too late to change her mind now. She had to be consistent. Gabriela had helped her learn that lesson too.