by Blake Pierce
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.
And maybe it was just as well.
Maybe he wasn’t up to it just yet.
Or maybe he wasn’t up to it at all anymore—ever again.
He sighed into his coffee cup as he thought …
Maybe it really is time to retire.
That thought had been bugging him a lot lately. It was one reason why
he’d gone to the trouble of transferring Riley Sweeney to the BAU. It was
why he’d made such a green agent his partner. In all his years as a profiler,
he’d never met anyone else with a talent like his own—the ability to climb
into a killer’s mind.
Whenever he did retire, he wanted to leave someone like that behind to continue his work—a bright young agent who could fill his own shoes. But
he worried that getting Riley ready for all that might be no easy task. He
often described her as “a diamond in the rough.”
And she was a rough diamond indeed. Even now that she had graduated
from the Academy, Jake was sure it going to take a lot of work to get rid of
those rough edges—her impetuosity, her tendency to bend and even break the
rules and not follow orders, and her lack of discipline when it came to using
her own gift.
She’s got a lot to learn, Jake thought.
And he had to wonder if he was actually up to the task of teaching her all
that she had to know, especially now that he seemed to be past his own peak.
One thing seemed certain—he mustn’t go easy on her. Not that he’d
exactly pampered her so far. In fact, he often found it hard to hold onto his
temper when she did crazy, rookie things. But he liked her a lot, even though
he tried not to show it too much. She reminded him of himself when he was
much younger.
So he sometimes felt tempted to spoil her.
But he mustn’t do that.
He had to work her hard. He had to shape her up fast.
As Jake finished his breakfast, he found himself thinking again about
Harry Carnes, who was probably waiting for his return call right now.
Jake wondered …
Isn’t there anything I can do for the guy?
He had to admit, he could feel his spirit lift a little at the idea of getting out of this place.
And why not?
Erik Lehl didn’t seem eager to put him on any cases right now.
The alternative was to sit in his office and do boring paperwork, unless …
An idea took shape in Jake’s head.
He had lots of vacation time piled up. He could ask Lehl for two or three
days off, go out to Arizona, and see if there was anything he could do for
Harry.
Of course, Riley Sweeney was on her way here right now to report for
duty.
But there wouldn’t be much point in her starting to work here at the BAU
if her senior partner was going to be on vacation, so …
Why can’t she come with me?
This could provide some simple, safe training opportunities for the rookie
agent.
He smiled at the idea.
As Jake left the commissary and headed for Erik Lehl’s office, he thought
…
Who knows? This might actually be fun.
CHAPTER THREE
By the time she neared the BAU Headquarters in Quantico, Riley was in a
terrible mood. The drive from her apartment in DC had been worse than
she’d expected. The morning traffic had been so thick and heavy that she
almost missed her exit.
It would be worse if I were commuting the other way, she told herself.
Still, it wasn’t going to be any fun to face this traffic every morning. And
then returning after a day of work—would that be any easier?
Now, as she finally reached the BAU parking lot, she saw two entrances—
one for visitors and one for staff.
Which entrance should she use?
Nobody had told her. In fact, she hadn’t heard from anybody since she’d
received that note after her graduation the day before yesterday—the message
telling her she should report for duty at Quantico, not in DC.
When she’d gotten the note, she’d been certain the transfer must have
been Agent Crivaro’s idea. But now she wasn’t so sure. After all, they’d
already worked together on some demanding investigations. Wouldn’t Agent
Crivaro have made an effort to get in touch with her to talk about the change?
Meanwhile, she really had no idea what the day might have in store for her
—or, for that matter, what her foreseeable future might have in store.
Then Riley realized that whatever that future might be, everything she had
done over the past year had brought her to this place. When she had inserted
herself into an investigation of murders in her college dorm, when she had
worked with Jake on cases while she was still in training, this was what it had all led to.
She wasn’t a visitor.
She was an FBI agent.
She drove up to the staff gate, where a security guard was posted in a
booth.
Riley took out her badge and showed it to the guard.
The guard nodded and said, “You’re expected.”
He then handed her a parking permit tag and waved her on in.
badge to identify herself, and it had made a difference.
I’ve actually got a place to park!
The thrill quickly passed, though, as Riley drove around looking for an
empty slot. Memories of yesterday came creeping into her mind.
After all those weeks of dormitory living, she’d finally gotten to spend
two nights and all of Sunday with Ryan. Their first night had been plenty
exciting because they’d been apart for so long, but the next day things hadn’t
been especially pleasant. Ryan wasn’t at all happy about Riley’s new
assignment and the inconvenience it was going to cause.
Inconvenience!
Riley scoffed aloud.
The main inconvenience to Ryan was that Riley was going to need the car
for her daily commute, leaving him to use the subway to get to and from
work. That had been a blow to his pride. His Ford Mustang was one of the
few luxuries of his life, and he loved driving it to work every day. She knew
it made him feel more like the big-time lawyer he someday hoped to be.
Ryan hadn’t complained openly about the transportation thing, but he
hadn’t hidden his feelings either. He’d made way too much of a show of
magnanimity and self-sacrifice, trying to make it seem like he was going to
great lengths and taking great pains to support her in her new career.
And all on account of this stupid car, she thought, pulling into an empty parking spot and turning off the engine.
She got out of the vehicle and stood looking at it for a moment. She
remembered the first time she’d seen the Mustang. She and Ryan had both
been college students going out on their first date. She’d been quite
impressed when he’d arrived at her dormitory in this car, and also by his
gallantry in getting out and opening the passenger door for her.
Gazing at the vehicle now, she sighed.
Those giddy days when she and Ryan were just starting to get to know
each other seemed awfully long ago now. The Mustang didn’t impress her
anymore, and she wished it didn’t still seem like such a big deal to Ryan.
And what’s wrong with having to take the subway, anyway?
She’d taken the subway every day during the summer, when she’d been in
the FBI’s Honors Internship Program. It was very efficient, and she’d
actually gotten to enjoy riding with the mix of other passengers.
But then, she wasn’t afflicted with Ryan’s masculine pride.
She walked on inside the building and presented her credentials at the
security gate. The guard looked up her name and told her she was supposed to report straight to Agent Crivaro’s office.
As Riley took the elevator, she was sure this proved her original hunch—
that it had been Agent Crivaro’s idea for her to transfer to Quantico. She
couldn’t help but feel proud that he wanted her there. Crivaro wasn’t just a
good senior agent, he was nearly legendary in the FBI.
But what would he want a beginner like her to do on her first day on the
job?
Paperwork, probably, she guessed.
It seemed like a boring prospect, but she knew her work in the FBI wasn’t
going to be all adventure. Although she’d had more than the usual field
experience for a rookie, she was still just that—a rookie. Taking things slow
seemed like a pretty good idea. It wouldn’t be all adventure, but it wouldn’t
be all hazardous either.
And it might be nice to be working regular hours, at least for a while. A
dependable schedule might help ease things between her and Ryan, give them
a chance to get used to each other again.
She exited the elevator and headed down the hall to Crivaro’s office, then
knocked on his door. She heard a familiar gruff voice telling her to come on
in.
When she opened the door, Crivaro was standing beside his desk. He was
wearing a hat and jacket.
A go-bag was by his feet.
He glanced at his watch and said, “It’s about time you got here.”
Riley looked at her own watch and saw that she wasn’t late at all. In fact,
she was somewhat early. But she was too startled to say so.
“Where’s your go-bag?” Crivaro asked.
“Um, out in my car,” Riley said.
Although she didn’t know much about working as a BAU agent, she knew
that it was always important to be packed up and ready to go on a moment’s
notice. Not that she’d been expecting to use her bag so soon.
Crivaro asked, “Are you parked in the staff lot?”
Riley nodded.
“OK, then,” Crivaro said, slinging his own go-bag over his shoulder.
“We’ll pick it up on the way to my car.”
Crivaro strode right past Riley out the office door. Riley trotted along to
keep up with him.
She stammered, “B-but where are we going?”
“We’ve got a case in Arizona,” Crivaro said. “We’re taking a commercial
flight to Phoenix, so I’ll drive us to the airport.”
Riley felt dizzy from this sudden development.
“How long are we going to be in Arizona?” she asked.
“As long as it takes,” Crivaro said. “I never speculate about such matters.”
Riley stifled a gasp. This was about the last thing she’d expected to
happen today.
And it certainly threw a wrench into her hopes of settling back down with
Ryan.
“Could you give me just a few minutes before we go?” Riley asked
Crivaro. “I’ve got to call my fiancé and let him know.”
Still walking, Crivaro asked, “Have you got your cell phone?”
“Yeah,” Riley said, still keeping up with him.
“Well, you can walk and talk at the same time, can’t you?”
As Riley and Crivaro continued on down the hall, Riley took out her cell
phone and called Ryan.
When she got him on the line she said, “Ryan, something’s come up. I’m,
uh, flying out to Phoenix today. Right now, actually.”
She could hear Ryan gasp. “You’re what?”
“Yeah, it’s a surprise to me too,” Riley said as she and Crivaro got into the
elevator.
Ryan was sputtering now.
“Riley, this is crazy. This is your first day on the job.”
“I know,” Riley said. “I’m sorry.”
“How long are you going to be gone?”
Riley gulped and said, “I, uh—I’ve got no idea.”
“What do you mean, you’ve got no idea? What are you going to be doing
out in Arizona, anyway? Are you even going to be back home in time for
Christmas? It’s just a few days off, you know.”
That’s a good question, Riley thought.
Instead of trying to answer it, Riley said, “Look, as soon as I find out
when I’m coming back, I’ll let you know.”
“Are you driving out there, or what?” Ryan said.
“Of course not. We’re taking a commercial flight.”
“Who’s ‘we’?”
“Me and Agent Crivaro.”
Riley and Crivaro got out of the elevator and headed out of the building.
Ryan said, “If you’re flying out there, what about my car?”
Riley was startled. She hadn’t had time to think about the car.
She said, “It’s in the BAU parking
lot here in Quantico. Don’t worry, it’ll
be safe.”
“How long am I going to have to do without it?”
Riley felt a twinge of anger.
“You’ll manage somehow, Ryan,” she said.
“Yeah, but for how long?”
“Like I said—I’ll call you when I know myself.”
As Riley and Crivaro were heading outside the building, Ryan kept
jabbering over the phone.
Mostly about his car, Riley couldn’t help but notice.
The more he went on, the more it irritated her.
She and Crivaro were walking through the parking lot when Riley finally
said …
“Look, Ryan—I really can’t talk now. I promise to get back to you as soon
as I can. I love you.”
She could hear Ryan’s voice still complaining as she ended the call.
Opening the car door for Riley, Agent Crivaro said, “Everything OK at
home?”
“Couldn’t be better,” Riley grumbled, climbing into the passenger seat.
Her anger was fading, and now she felt embarrassed that Crivaro couldn’t
have helped overhearing her words to Ryan.
Crivaro got into the car and started the engine.
Then he smiled at Riley ever so slightly and said, “Hey, in case I didn’t
mention it—we’re partners now.”
Yeah, I kind of figured that, Riley thought as Crivaro drove out of the parking lot.
So a few things were clear.
She was an FBI agent.
She was Jake Crivaro’s partner.
And they were going to Arizona.
She wished she had some idea of what else to expect today.
CHAPTER FOUR
Riley couldn’t help wondering …
Is he mad at me or something?
Agent Crivaro had barely spoken to her as he drove them from Quantico
to the Reagan Airport.
But why …?
She knew Crivaro could be gruff, impatient, and even angry whenever she
made mistakes or disobeyed orders—which unfortunately had been all too
often. But what could she possibly have done wrong during the short time
they’d been together this morning?
He’d just rushed her out of the BAU offices without much explanation,
not even giving time to stop and make a private call to Ryan. Of course, now
Ryan was mad at her, and she realized he had some reason to be annoyed.
But what could be the problem with Agent Crivaro?
Maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with me, she thought hopefully.