Once Taken

by Blake Pierce

“Anything else?” the technician asked.

  “The suspect probably has a stutter,” she said.

  The lab technician said he’d make a note of that and they ended the call.

  Lucy tucked her cell phone back into her handbag without giving another thought to the picture she had just taken.

  Chapter 24

  As the van driver careened around the corner and sped away, the pile of chains in the passenger seat rattled loudly.

  “Be quiet!” he told the chains.

  But then came a bump in the road, and the chains rattled again. There was no doubt about it, the chains were calling for his attention. They were demanding that he exert mastery over them—or else they would prove their mastery over him, holding him captive as chains had when he was a child.

  “Be patient,” he pleaded.

  He forced himself to slow the van down. It wouldn’t do to get caught for a traffic violation now. He needed to make his way out of Reedsport without being noticed.

  But he knew the chains were furious. They had expected him to take the FBI agent for them. They had thought he would strike her right there in the street where she was walking. But she had turned and seen him following her in his van. There was no opportunity to strike her by surprise, and he was sure that she had a gun.

  “She wasn’t right,” he told them.

  The road was bumpy and the chains rattled at him again.

  “I know she is an authority,” he argued. “I saw her FBI badge when she pulled it out at the funeral. But she wasn’t wearing a uniform. We do like to see a uniform.”

  The rattle of the chains still sounded angry.

  “She was too young,” he explained. “She was really nothing like the women we chose before.”

  He drove very carefully the rest of the way out of town.

  “It would have been foolish to take another woman in this small town,” he told the chains. “We’ll drive north, all the way to Albany. There are lots of uniforms there. Lots of women of the right age and type. I’ll find someone you like.”

  The chains quieted down for a while and he thought he had made a convincing argument. As he drove up toward Albany he avoided the interstate and was careful not to exceed the speed limit. He explained to the chains that he didn’t want to attract attention. Even so, they rattled softly from time to time, reminding him that they were there and they were not pleased with him.

  He had lost his nerve back there in Reedsport, and he must not do that again.

  “I’ll find another one,” he promised the chains again and again. “I’ll find someone soon.”

  Chapter 25

  “I just read your report, Agent Paige,” Special Agent Meredith said as Riley walked into his office. “Congratulations are in order.” He shook her hand and added, “By the way, you look like hell.”

  Riley smiled weakly and sat down. Meredith was right on both counts. She deserved to be congratulated on taking down Peterson at long last. She also felt like hell, although she was trying not to show it. She’d spent the last couple of hours trying to pull herself together.

  Bill had taken care of notifying BAU and the D.C. police about Peterson’s death. He had wrapped the wet, muddy, and emotionally shaken Riley and April in blankets and driven them directly to Quantico. Riley and April had clung to each other during the whole ride, crying with desperate relief.

  Riley had taken April to the BAU clinic to take care of her many scrapes and cuts, none of which were serious. They had both showered there in the building and put on clean clothes that young Agent Emily Creighton had been kind enough to round up for them. April had settled down in the break area, and Riley had spent a couple of hours writing up her final report on the Peterson case.

  Agent Meredith thumbed through the written report.

  “I’m impressed,” Meredith said. “This was some pretty amazing work.”

  “Thanks, sir,” Riley said. “But he had my daughter. No way was he going to get by with that.” Then she added, “How soon can I get back to Upstate New York?”

  Meredith chuckled. “Not so fast. You’re not going anywhere.”

  Riley was surprised. “Why not, sir?”

  “Have you looked at yourself in a mirror? You’re exhausted—and with good reason. You need a rest. Besides, you’re not needed up there. That case is going nowhere.”

  “No clues at all?” Riley asked.

  Meredith shrugged. “Not enough to go on. Agent Vargas found a florist’s card that might have the killer’s handwriting. But aside from the florist’s prints and Vargas’s, there was only a partial print that we can’t track down. Vargas is just spinning her wheels up there, and we’ll probably bring her back soon.”

  Meredith leaned back in his chair.

  “Besides,” he said, “the locals are doing a good job, and if any new leads turn up in Reedsport they’ll let us know. The killer is probably in a completely new area by now. Unfortunately, we might not know where until he strikes again.”

  Riley felt strangely deflated.

  She began to protest. “But sir—”

  “You’re going on leave, Agent Paige. Consider it an order.”

  Meredith craned forward and looked at Riley with concern.

  “You’ve got a daughter who needs all your attention right now,” he said. “I saw her in the break room. That’s where you should be.”

  Riley thanked Meredith again and left his office. She went straight to the break room, where she found April clutching a soft drink can and staring off into space. Riley’s heart ached for her daughter.

  She sat down next to April and took her hand.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said for what seemed like the thousandth time.

  April swallowed hard and said, “He said I was a killer.”

  Riley squeezed April’s hand tightly.

  “He was the killer,” she said firmly. “And we took him down. The both of us. You did good back there. Don’t ever forget that.”

  A tear rolled down April’s cheek.

  “Just don’t make me stay with Dad tonight,” she said. “Don’t make me stay there ever again.”

  Riley was startled that such a thing was on April’s mind. But as she thought about it, it made sense. She had phoned Ryan when they’d gotten to Quantico. She’d told him what had happened, but not all the harrowing details. He’d sounded shocked, then relieved, then not terribly interested.

  No, Ryan was not who April needed right now.

  “Let’s just go home,” Riley said.

  “No,” April said with a gasp. “Not yet. Not there either.”

  Riley understood this reaction all too well. Their house was where Peterson had stalked both of them. Riley wasn’t eager to rush back there either. She realized that it was a good time to talk about something that had been on her mind for a while.

  “April, I’ve been thinking about moving,” she said.

  April looked up at her with sudden interest.

  Riley continued, “I think I will be able afford to buy a townhouse in Fredericksburg. That way we wouldn’t be so isolated. And you’d be closer to your school and your friends.”

  She could see April’s whole body relax a little.

  “And I’ve been thinking,” Riley added, “that maybe Gabriela could move in with us. I haven’t asked her yet.”

  April smiled. It seemed to Riley that she hadn’t seen that smile in a long time.

  “I’ll ask her,” April said. “She’ll do it. I know she’ll do it.”

  Riley squeezed her daughter’s hand and smiled too. She felt a flood of relief that maybe she had a good solution to at least one longtime problem. And now she was on leave so she and April could have some time together. But where? They were both exhausted and they both needed a break.

  Then a thought came to her.

  “April,” she blurted, “let’s go to New York. Let’s just enjoy ourselves for a few days.”

  April’s face brightened even more.

 
; “Really? New York City? Do you mean it?”

  “Yes. Right now. Bill can drive us to the airport. There’s no need to go back to the house. Let’s just go.”

  “But what will I wear?” April cried, looking down at the jeans and shirt that Emily Creighton had loaned her.

  Riley laughed with pleasure at the so-typical-teen question.

  “Don’t worry about clothes,” she said. “We’ll buy what we need right there. We’ll splurge. Get a nice hotel room and catch a couple of shows.”

  “But can we really afford it?” April asked.

  Riley shrugged. “No, but I’ll charge it up to all the vacations we haven’t taken. I’ll hit the savings account hard. We deserve it.”

  April laughed aloud.

  “That sounds just great, Mom!”

  April’s laughter was the sweetest sound that Riley could hope to hear.

  *

  Later that afternoon, Riley and April stepped out of a cab in front of their Manhattan hotel. April’s expression was positively wonderstruck as she looked around at the bustling traffic, then up at the towering buildings. It did Riley’s heart good to see that look on her daughter’s face.

  “Oh, Mom!” April said. “Where do we even start?”

  Riley laughed. “First things first,” she said. “I guess we need to do some serious clothes shopping. Do you want to check into our room first?”

  “Can we go shopping right now?” April begged. “These things that Emily got for me are kind of embarrassing.”

  “Let me think,” Riley said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

  The hotel was just a few blocks south of Central Park. Riley led April along Seventh Avenue toward Times Square. She remembered a couple of shops in midtown that didn’t have outrageous prices.

  At their first stop, April bought ankle pants and a shirt. Riley picked out a pants suit that challenged her budget, but after all, she did have to wear something decent in the city. At their next stop, Riley had to catch her breath when she saw April in the dress she’d picked out. Her daughter was clearly becoming a young woman rather than a child.

  “Please, Mom,” April said. “I love it.”

  The dress actually was very pretty and suited April perfectly. They bought it, and they both topped off the shopping spree with shoes and handbags.

  Finally, they made their way back to the hotel, laden with bags and laughing happily. They checked in and took the elevator up to their twelfth-floor room.

  As they hung up the clothes, Riley could see that April was looking tired. It was no wonder, after all that she’d been through.

  “I think we should stay in tonight,” Riley told her. “Order dinner in the room and do our touristy stuff tomorrow.”

  “That would be good,” April said. She went into the bathroom.

  Riley stared out the hotel window. Their room had a fine view of the city skyline. She started running some plans through her head. Maybe they could catch a Broadway matinee tomorrow. She would check and see what might be available.

  Riley sighed. When had she stopped taking her daughter on vacations? When had she forgotten how to enjoy one herself? When April was small, she and Ryan had taken her on vacations. They’d gone to Chincoteague to see the wild ponies and to resorts in the mountains.

  But in more recent years? Not so much. Several years ago, she’d taken a few days off when April had been on summer break and Ryan had been too busy to go anywhere. So she and April had rented a condo at Virginia Beach. She’d done nothing like that since.

  She knew that April had always dreamed of coming to New York. But she wondered if this trip really would feel to April like a dream come true. Her daughter had been through so much. The excitement of being here and shopping was sure to drain away soon.

  When April came out of the bathroom, she sat down on the edge of one of the beds. She had that distant, troubled look again.

  “Mom,” she said quietly, “I can’t look in the mirror.”

  Riley sat down and put her arm around April.

  “I know what that’s like,” she said.

  She didn’t need to ask April why she felt this way. The poor girl’s face was still cut and bruised. Just looking at it was enough to bring back the horrible trauma she’d endured at Peterson’s hands.

  April leaned her head against Riley’s shoulder.

  “Tomorrow’s my birthday,” April said.

  Riley’s heart sank. She’d forgotten, of course.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “No, I don’t want you to feel like that,” April said. “You’ve just bought me lots of things. That’s not why I’m telling you. The thing is, tomorrow’s my birthday, and …”

  April heaved a single sob.

  “And suddenly I don’t even care,” she said. “I don’t care about anything.”

  “I know how you feel,” Riley said.

  “I know you do.”

  They sat there in silence for a few moments. How life had changed in just the last few days! One of Riley’s greatest frustrations as a parent had always been trying to get April to understand her job—why she was so obsessed with it, how important it was, and how dangerous.

  Now April understood it all perfectly. And Riley wished with all her heart that she didn’t.

  It was Riley’s turn to go to the bathroom. But she hesitated. She remembered something that Meredith had said …

  “Have you looked at yourself in a mirror?”

  Just like her daughter, Riley was apprehensive about looking into the mirror. She knew what she was likely to see there—the faces of countless victims and their tormentors. And in her own face, she’d see something that she really didn’t want to see.

  She’d see the face of a woman who had no business, no right, to hope for a normal, happy life, who was a fool to imagine that she could raise a daughter in this terrible world. There were still too many monsters out there.

  At the core of her being, Riley always felt it imperative to stop them, whoever they were, wherever they were. And despite all that Meredith had said, she couldn’t stop thinking about the monster who was still loose in Upstate New York.

  Chapter 26

  The man was nodding, almost asleep, when the chains in the passenger seat began to grumble again. His van was parked in a shopping center parking lot in Albany. The chains weren’t actually rattling, but he could hear them grumbling even so. And he knew what they were complaining about. It was that FBI woman yesterday—the one he hadn’t taken.

  “How many times do I have to tell you she wasn’t right?” he snapped. “If I’d taken her, you wouldn’t be happy. You’d ask why she wasn’t older, wasn’t wearing a uniform, hadn’t done what she was supposed to do. You’d only complain.”

  The chains quieted a little, but didn’t stop their grumbling altogether. It didn’t surprise him that he and the chains were especially at odds right now. They’d been cooped up together in the van for most of twenty-four hours. Naturally, they were getting on each other’s nerves.

  After the incident with the woman yesterday, he’d driven straight to Albany and made this parking lot his base. Sooner or later, he knew the right victim was sure to come by. But the rest of the day came and went without that happening. After the mall closed that night, he’d moved the van to a nearby side street and slept on its floor. He’d come back here first thing this morning.

  Now it was getting dark, and he was wondering whether he was going to have to spend another night here. The chains would definitely get more and more irritable. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could take that.

  He, too, was tired and irritable. But patience and vigilance were essential. He took a candy bar out of his glove compartment and began to eat it. It wasn’t much, but it would have to suffice for nutrition and energy. He couldn’t get out of the van and go buy something to eat. The chains wouldn’t allow it. And of course they were right. If he left his post even for a few moments, he might miss the perfect
victim.

  At this hour, more people were leaving the mall than entering it. They consisted mostly of young, childless couples and families with kids. He saw no one who came close to suiting what both he and the chains needed.

  Even so, the candy bar lifted his spirits. He felt better about everything. Really, he had all that he needed in life. He was especially pleased with his van. It had brought him here years ago and served him well all this time. It was big enough that he could sleep in it when he needed to and also convenient for transporting the women. He had quickly realized that the women, too, could sleep here—the beginning of their final sleep.

  And he had certainly never regretted leaving his former home. It had been the scene of too many childhood horrors. He’d been perfectly happy to drive away all alone until he’d finally decided on a new hometown and settled in.

  He’d been eighteen then. He’d liked his new home from the start, and the people there were kind to him. For several years he’d lived quietly and hadn’t caused anybody any harm. That had changed five years ago when he took his first victim.

  Nibbling the last of the candy bar, he wondered what had gone wrong. He never wanted to hurt or kill anybody. He still didn’t.

  Perhaps he shouldn’t have stolen those straitjackets when he was released from the mental hospital. It’s just that he had an irresistible feeling that someday he was going to need them. And the chains that he accumulated little by little over the years insisted that he keep them.

  But what was going to happen now? If he didn’t claim another woman, he knew that the chains would overpower him, bind him up, fasten his door so he couldn’t get out, render him as helpless as he’d been as a child. He needed to find a third victim, and quickly.

  Suddenly, the chains murmured, telling him to look sharp. Sure enough, two women were coming out of the mall—both of them wearing nurse’s uniforms. One was slender and much too young. But the other was stout and middle-aged, exactly the woman he was looking for.

  He watched as the two walked to a car in the next parking lane. The woman he needed was going to drive. He started the van and drove along after the car.