Once Chosen (A Riley Paige Mystery—Book 17)

by Blake Pierce

  How could the police possibly believe they’d apprehended the killer?

  I’m the killer—no, the soldier!

  And I kill under orders from the god Pan himself!

  Suddenly, he heard a shrill, sharp sound. He recognized it at once. It was Pan’s sacred pipe. But the god wasn’t playing music. Instead, he was letting out a sharp, piercing cry of fury.

  The man felt his face redden and his pulse rising as he shared Pan’s outrage.

  Who was this anonymous individual who presumed to claim glory that rightfully belonged to Pan alone?

  How could the police be so stupid as to believe him?

  The discordant music grew louder.

  Then Pan was singing again. His voice was harsh and grating, but the words were loud and clear.

  The man welcomed the song with all of his heart. He felt the god rising within him.

  This very night, the barriers between this feeble world and the mighty world of legend would fall.

  Tonight we will prove them wrong.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

  Ann Marie was seething as she followed Agent Paige and Sheriff Wightman back inside the police station. She kept reminding herself that what they’d said at the press conference shouldn’t have come as a complete surprise. After all, her senior partner had hastily outlined her plan to both Ann Marie and the sheriff before they went out to face the eager reporters. But Agent Paige hadn’t gone into a lot of detail beforehand and things had happened in an awful hurry. Ann Marie hadn’t fully grasped the reality of what Agent Paige had in mind—not until everything had been said and the press conference was over.

  Now she was embarrassed and upset. Her superiors had just misled the public. They knew that they didn’t have the killer locked up. They knew that the public wasn’t safe. Of course she’d had no real choice about keeping quiet. She was the rookie here and she certainly couldn’t challenge her superiors in public.

  As she followed her two colleagues along the police station hallway, Ann Marie was surprised at how angry she felt with her senior partner. When they reached the room where they intended to confer about what to do next, Wightman went inside, and Riley was right behind him

  Ann Marie came to a stop outside the door. She just couldn’t bring herself to go in with them.

  Agent Paige turned back and saw her still standing outside.

  “Aren’t you going to join us?” her senior partner asked.

  Ann Marie paced uneasily. She didn’t yet know what to say.

  Agent Paige politely told the sheriff that she and Ann Marie would be joining him in a moment. Then she stepped back into the hallway and shut the door behind her.

  The senior agent crossed her arms and said, “Maybe there’s something you’d like to get off your chest.”

  “Yeah, there kind of is,” Ann Marie said in a tense voice.

  “Spill it,” Agent Paige said.

  Ann Marie inhaled sharply and said, “We just lied to the public.”

  Agent Paige said, “We did nothing of the kind.”

  “But the sheriff didn’t deny that we have a viable suspect in custody,” Ann Marie said.

  “We do have someone in custody,” Riley said

  “But not a viable suspect,” Ann Marie said. “Do we have any business misleading people like this?”

  Agent Paige squinted at her.

  “We don’t have a sworn duty to be honest with the public,” she said. “Our job is to protect the public, and that means stopping killers. And that’s what we’re going to do.”

  “And you’ve done this kind of thing before?” Ann Marie asked.

  “Sometimes,” Agent Paige said. “When it’s actually in the public interest.”

  “And who gets to decide when to lie?”

  “It’s my judgment call,” Agent Paige snapped impatiently. “And I shouldn’t have to explain it to you.”

  When Ann Marie just stared back wordlessly, her senior partner seemed to relent a little.

  “With some luck,” Agent Paige told her, “the killer already got the news that we think we’ve caught the killer. That should pique his ego and really piss him off. If it does, we’re likely to accomplish two things. One, we’ll make sure that he doesn’t go dormant. The other is—”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know,” Ann Marie interrupted. “We’ll shake him up, make him get careless, put him off his game.”

  “And you see something wrong with that?” Agent Paige said.

  “We’re playing games with a dangerous killer,” Ann Marie said.

  Agent Paige nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly what we’re doing. Whether you like it or not, this is a game—a deadly game—and the killer will keep right on playing it no matter what we do. We’ve got to play, and we’ve got to play to win. I’m using a tried-and-true tactic. If you can think of a better one, you’d better speak up.”

  Try as she might, Ann Marie couldn’t think of an argument against what Agent Paige was saying. All she knew was that she really didn’t like this plan of hers. It scared her, and it still offended her.

  “We misled the public,” she grumbled again.

  Agent Paige scowled at her and said, “You’re just a kid, Ann Marie. You’ve lived a sheltered life. You’ve been taught that honesty is always the best policy. You’ve been taught not to take risks. The trouble is, a lot of what you’ve been taught doesn’t apply to this kind of work. This isn’t the Girl Scouts. You’d better get used to that.”

  Ann Marie was stunned by Agent Paige’s condescending tone.

  “Are you saying I’m not adaptable?” Ann Marie said.

  “I’m not saying anything about you,” Agent Paige said. “I’m just telling you how things are in the real world of law enforcement. And if you don’t like it, and if you’re going to take criticism personally, you’d better look for another career.”

  Ann Marie’s mouth hung open.

  “Why don’t you like me, Agent Paige?” she blurted.

  She and her partner locked eyes for a moment.

  “What makes you think I don’t like you?” Agent Paige said.

  Ann Marie shrugged with frustration.

  Agent Paige added, “Being liked is really important to you, isn’t it? I don’t even understand that.”

  Ann Marie said, “Yeah, well, I never know what to expect from you. Sometimes you seem to be perfectly OK with me. Sometimes you’re even nice to me, and you tell me I’m doing a good job. Other times you’re downright mean, or you act like you wish I wasn’t here.”

  Agent Paige seemed to be trying keep her temper in check.

  “I’m sorry I make you feel that way,” she said. “It’s just that you’ve got some pretty big shoes to fill.”

  Agent Paige looked if she’d blurted out something she hadn’t meant to say.

  Suddenly, everything made much more sense to Ann Marie. She knew that Agent Paige was used to working with a highly experienced partner who was very nearly as brilliant as she herself was. Their partnership itself had been something of a legend at the academy.

  “I’m not Agent Jeffreys,” Ann Marie said.

  Agent Paige winced sharply and looked away from Ann Marie.

  Ann Marie said, “Look, I don’t know why you’re not working with Agent Jeffreys on this case. But it wasn’t my idea, and you know it. And it wasn’t my idea for you to get stuck with a rookie like me.”

  Agent Paige looked both hurt and angry now.

  “This isn’t going to work,” Agent Paige murmured tensely. “We’ve both done our best, but we can’t do this together. It will just slow everything down and there’s no time for that.”

  “What are you saying?” Ann Marie asked.

  Agent Paige was silent for a moment.

  “I saw a car rental place just down the street,” she said. “Did you notice it too?”

  Ann Marie nodded.

  Agent Paige said, “Then I think you should walk on over there and rent a car and drive back to Quantico.”

>   Ann Marie could barely believe her ears.

  “Do you really mean that?” she said with a gasp.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll get a reimbursement from the Agency,” Agent Paige added.

  Their eyes locked again for a few seconds. Then, without another word, Ann Marie turned away had stormed back down the hallway. She could hear Agent Paige open the door to the conference room and then close it behind her as she joined the sheriff inside.

  Ann Marie strode down the hall, her throat tight and her eyes stinging.

  Don’t cry, she told herself.

  Don’t cry until you get out of this building.

  There would be plenty of time to cry during the drive back to Quantico.

  *

  As soon as Ann Marie walked away from her, Riley felt a pang of regret. She knew she’d said some things she shouldn’t have said.

  Why? she wondered.

  What got into me? Why was I so hard on her?

  She knew she’d been right about one thing. There was no time to work it out. She and the sheriff had set an audacious plan in motion and they had to stay on top of it. That was more urgent than a rookie’s hurt feelings.

  She hurried back into the conference room, where Wightman was seated and waiting at the table. He looked surprised to see that she was alone.

  “Agent Esmer won’t be joining us,” Riley said.

  Sheriff Wightman nodded uncertainly. To Riley’s relief, he seemed to realize that she didn’t want him to ask any questions about what had just happened.

  Grateful that the man seemed able to read her expression and body language, she sat down with him at the conference table and they began to pore over their plans.

  Wightman unfolded a map and they discussed how to deploy the local police throughout Winneway, especially the Aurora Groves neighborhood. Wightman drew lines on the map, sectioning the town into specific areas for small groups of cops to patrol.

  At one point Wightman asked, “How sure do you feel about this? Are you really convinced that the Goatman maniac will show himself tonight?”

  Riley nodded. She knew that her strategy was partially based on a profiler’s basic training in criminal behavior. But it also came from her personal sense of the killer. This wasn’t as strong an impression as she’d had in some cases, but she’d learned over many years that she could usually trust her intuition. Others on the case hadn’t experienced anything like that personal ability of hers, and she usually didn’t even try to explain it to them.

  She just replied, “Quite sure. If we’ve played our cards right, he’s gnashing at the bit right now. He’ll defy the curfew, hoping to find someone else who is defying it too.”

  Wightman grunted and said, “Yeah, well, he can count on that. There are always a few smart asses out there who think it’s cool to ignore my orders. I just hope the killer doesn’t find any of those people before we find him.”

  I hope so too, Riley thought.

  She couldn’t deny that her plan had its risks.

  Maybe that was one of the reasons she’d gotten mad at Ann Marie right now.

  “We’re playing games with a dangerous killer,” Ann Marie had said.

  And of course she’d been absolutely right. And of course it was the last thing Riley had wanted to hear.

  Still, the more she and Wightman discussed the plan together, the more sense it made. Wightman had already told the media that he would have cops on patrol enforcing the curfew. But only a few cops in uniform would be doing that. Most of the force would be out in plainclothes, and they’d constitute the real dragnet. With some luck, the killer would never catch on that a dragnet had been set for him until he was actually captured.

  If, as Riley suspected, the killer was flustered and was going to get uncharacteristically sloppy, they had a better than even chance of catching him.

  When they finished making their plans, Wightman left the conference room to set up a conference with his cops. Riley found herself sitting alone, thinking again about her unpleasant altercation with Ann Marie. She wondered again just why she had been so harsh with the kid.

  She remembered Ann Marie saying, “Why don’t you like me, Agent Paige?”

  Riley realized it was actually a pretty good question.

  Ann Marie seemed to charm everybody else she met.

  Maybe that’s the problem, Riley thought.

  As far as she was concerned, a BAU agent had no business trying to be likeable all the time. Every successful agent Riley had known had been rough around the edges at the very least, and sometimes downright disagreeable.

  Most of all, they didn’t have the luxury of caring about being liked.

  I was right to send her packing, Riley thought.

  Maybe it was for her own good.

  And anyway, Riley felt better about the prospect of not having Ann Marie around to distract and annoy her. Something big was coming up tonight, and Riley knew that she had to be at the top of her game.

  But I could also use a partner, she thought.

  Her heart lightened as something occurred to her.

  Why not ask Bill?

  She picked up her phone and punched in his number.

  When she got him on the phone she said, “Hey, how busy are you right now?”

  She heard Bill sigh.

  “I’m still office-bound, at Meredith’s orders,” he said. “I keep staring at my computer, searching through whatever records and information I can get my hands on. But the truth is, I don’t even know what I’m looking for. I’m just spinning my wheels. But judging from the morning news, you might have the killer in custody. Is that for real, or is it a ruse?”

  “It’s a ruse,” Riley said.

  “I see,” Bill said. “Well, it’s a ruse we’ve used before. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Good luck with it this time.”

  “Thanks, I’ll probably need it,” Riley said.

  She took a sharp breath and added, “I could also use your help. As it happens, I’m between partners at the moment.”

  Bill let out a chuckle, “You and the sorority sister didn’t see eye to eye, huh?”

  Riley smiled. Bill obviously had a pretty good idea of why things hadn’t worked out with Ann Marie.

  “It’s my fault as much as hers,” she said. “I’m just a grouchy old woman fixed in her ways, and I don’t get along with much of anybody except …”

  Riley paused, expecting Bill to jump right in and tell her he’d be thrilled to join her.

  Instead, he remained silent for a moment.

  “Riley, I don’t think so,” he finally said.

  “Why not?” Riley asked.

  “I’d have to clear it with Meredith, and he might tell Walder we’re working together, and …”

  A longer silence fell.

  Then Bill said, “Riley, I think Walder knows about us. How we feel about each other, I mean.”

  Riley’s heart jumped up in her throat.

  “How does he know?” she asked.

  “The night before last, when we were talking on the phone, I’d left my office door open. When we finished talking, he was right there in the doorway. I’m pretty sure he was eavesdropping. And I’m pretty sure he knew I was talking to you. He didn’t exactly say anything, but … he had that gloating look he gets when he knows he’s got the best of somebody.”

  Riley’s eyes widened with alarm. She knew that look of Walder’s very well.

  Bill went on, “I was stupid not to shut the damned door. But hardly anyone is around the building at that time of night. Least of all Walder. I thought we had some privacy. Believe me, it’s shut tight right now. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s OK,” Riley said.

  She almost asked, “How much did he overhear?”

  But she quickly remembered one of the last things Bill said to her before they ended the call …

  “I miss you more than I can say.”

  If Walder had overheard nothing but those words, he knew more tha
n she and Bill wanted him to.

  Bill said, “Anyway, I’m afraid he’s just waiting for the best opportunity to screw us over. If I come out there to work with you now …”

  “I understand,” Riley said with a sigh. “As it happens, there may be other Walder issues brewing.”

  She told Bill about Senator Walker Danson—how impatient he was about solving the case of his niece’s murder, and how he and Walder seemed to know each other, and how she thought he might complain directly to Walder.

  Bill let out a grunt of dismay.

  “It sounds like a perfect storm is brewing,” he said. “I’d better let you get back to work.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” Riley said. “I miss you. I wish you were here.”

  “I do too.”

  They ended the call, and Riley sat staring at her phone.

  Walder’s going to make problems for us, she thought.

  She didn’t know how or when, but she knew it was going to happen, and probably soon.

  But she also knew she couldn’t think about that right now. She had to work with Sheriff Wightman to prepare for tonight’s ambush.

  She was all but sure the killer was going to show himself this very night.

  And we can’t let him slip through our hands.

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

  Riley rubbed her tired eyes. She was feeling worn out and frustrated and anxious after being cooped up most of the day, working alone in Sheriff Wightman’s office.

  I’ve got to get out of here or I’ll scream, she thought.

  She’d decided that she needed to stay somewhere out of sight to support the story they’d told the public at the news conference this morning. If she were seen still investigating, people might get the idea that the case hadn’t been solved after all. Having a few police out and about could seem natural, but an FBI agent would surely arouse the media’s interest.

  But it had been a long and dull day so far, just poring over records and information she’d already looked at dozens of times. Worse, her work had produced no helpful results. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was just a few minutes before dusk, when the curfew was set to take effect. She figured it would be all right to slip outside then and do her own part in helping the police to track down the killer.