Waiting (The Making of Riley Paige—Book 2)

by Blake Pierce

  The very thought of it boggled her mind. They were just getting started in their lives together, and they’d soon be sharing the greatest responsibility Riley could imagine—raising their own child.

  We’d better be ready, Riley thought.

  Meanwhile, she felt strange putting her old psychology textbooks onto the shelves. Ryan had tried to talk her into selling them, and she knew that she probably should …

  God knows, we need every cent we can get.

  Still, she had a feeling she’d be needing them in the future. She wasn’t sure just why or what for.

  Anyway, the box also contained a lot of Ryan’s law books, and he hadn’t even considered selling any of them. Of course, he probably would be using them in his new job as an entry-level attorney in the DC law firm of Parsons and Rittenhouse.

  When the box was empty and the books all on the shelves, Riley sat on the floor watching Ryan, who kept restlessly pushing and repositioning pieces of furniture as if trying to find the perfect place for everything.

  Riley suppressed a sigh …

  Poor Ryan.

  She knew he really wasn’t happy with this basement apartment. He’d had a nicer apartment back in Lanton, with the same furniture they’d brought here—a pleasantly bohemian collection of secondhand items.

  As far as she was concerned, Ryan’s stuff still looked quite nice here. And the little apartment didn’t bother her at all. She’d gotten used to a dorm room back at Lanton, so this place seemed positively luxurious, despite the covered pipes hanging over the bedroom and the kitchen.

  True, the apartments on the floors upstairs were much nicer, but this one had been the only one available. When Ryan had first seen it, he’d almost refused to rent it. But the truth was, this was the best they could afford. They were already seriously overextended financially. Ryan had maxed out his credit card with moving expenses, the deposit on the apartment, and everything else they had needed for this momentous change in their lives.

  Ryan finally looked over at Riley and said, “What do you say we take a break?”

  “Sure,” Riley said.

  Riley got up from the floor and sat down at the kitchen table. Ryan grabbed a couple of soft drinks from the refrigerator and sat down with her. The two of them fell silent, and Riley sensed right away that Ryan had something on his mind.

  Finally Ryan drummed his fingers on the table and said …

  “Uh, Riley, we’ve got to talk about something.”

  This really does sound serious, she thought.

  Ryan fell silent again, and he had a faraway look in his eyes.

  “You’re not breaking up with me, are you?” she asked.

  She was joking, of course.

  But Ryan didn’t laugh. He seemed to have barely noticed the question.

  “Huh? No, it’s nothing like that, it’s …”

  His voice trailed away, and Riley felt really uneasy now.

  What’s going on? she wondered. Had Ryan’s job fallen through or something?

  Ryan looked into Riley’s eyes and said …

  “Don’t laugh at me, OK?”

  “Why would I laugh?” Riley asked.

  A bit shakily, Ryan got up from his chair and kneeled beside her.

  And then Riley realized …

  Oh, my God! He’s going to propose!

  And sure enough, she laughed. It was nervous laughter, of course.

  Ryan blushed deeply.

  “I told you not to laugh,” he said.

  “I’m not laughing at you,” Riley said. “Go ahead, say what you want to say. I’m pretty sure … well, just go ahead.”

  Ryan fumbled around in his pants pocket and took out a little black jewelry box. He opened it to reveal a modest but lovely diamond ring. Riley couldn’t help but gasp.

  Ryan stammered …

  “Uh, Riley Sweeney, would—will you marry me?”

  Trying unsuccessfully to hold back her nervous giggles, Riley managed to say …

  “Oh, yes. Absolutely.”

  Ryan plucked the ring out of the box, and Riley held out her left hand and let him put it on her finger.

  “It’s beautiful,” Riley said. “Now get up and sit down with me.”

  Ryan smiled sheepishly as he sat down at the table next to her.

  “Was the kneeling too much?” he asked.

  “The kneeling was perfect,” Riley said. “Everything is just … perfect.”

  She stared at the little diamond on her ring finger raptly for a moment. Her spell of nervous laughter had passed, and now she felt a knot of emotion form in her throat.

  She really hadn’t seen this coming. She hadn’t even dared to hope for it—at least not this soon.

  But here she and Ryan were, taking yet another enormous step in their lives.

  As she watched the light play on the diamond, Ryan said …

  “I’ll get you a nicer ring someday.”

  Riley gasped a little.

  “Don’t you dare!” she said. “This is always going to be my only engagement ring!”

  But as she kept staring at the ring, she couldn’t help but worry …

  How much did this cost?

  As if reading her thoughts, Ryan said …

  “Don’t worry about the ring.”

  Ryan’s reassuring smile made her worry dissolve in an instant. She knew he was no fool when it came to money. He’d probably gotten a good bargain on this ring—although she’d never ask him about it.

  Riley then noticed how Ryan’s expression saddened as he looked around the apartment.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  Ryan let out a sigh and said, “I’ll make a better life for you. I promise.”

  Riley felt strangely jolted.

  She asked, “What’s wrong with the life we’ve got now? We’re young and we’re in love and we’re going to have a baby and—”

  “You know what I mean,” Ryan said, interrupting her.

  “No, I’m not sure I do,” Riley said.

  A silence fell between them.

  Ryan sighed again and said, “Look, I’m starting work tomorrow on an entry level salary. I’m not exactly feeling like a huge success in the world. But it’s a good firm, and if I stay with it, I’ll be moving up and I might even become a partner someday.”

  Riley gazed at him steadily.

  “Someday, sure,” she said. “But you’re off to a great start already. And I like what we’ve got right now.”

  Ryan shrugged. “We don’t have much. For one thing, we’ve only got the one car, and I’ll be needing that to go to work, which means …”

  Riley interrupted, “Which means I’ll be taking the metro to the training program every morning. What’s wrong with that?”

  Ryan reached across the table and took her hand.

  “It’s a two-block walk to and from the nearest metro stop,” he said. “And this isn’t the safest neighborhood in the world. The car got broken into once already. I don’t like it that you have to go out there on your own. I’m worried.”

  A strange, unpleasant feeling was starting to come over Riley. She wasn’t yet sure just what that feeling was.

  She said, “Hasn’t it occurred to you that I actually like this neighborhood? I’ve spent my whole life in rural Virginia. This is an exciting change, an adventure. Besides, you know I’m tough. My dad was a Marine captain. He taught me how to take care of myself.”

  She almost added …

  And I survived an attack by a serial killer a couple of months ago, remember?

  Not only had she survived that attack, she’d helped the FBI track the killer down and bring him to justice. That was why she’d been offered the chance to join the training program.

  But she knew that Ryan didn’t want to hear about any of that right now. His masculine pride was feeling delicate at the moment.

  And Riley realized something …

  I really resent that.

  Riley chose her words carefully,
trying not to say the wrong thing …

  “Ryan, you know, making a better life for us isn’t just up to you. It’s up to both of us. I’m going to have something to do with it. I’m going to have a career of my own.”

  Ryan looked away with a frown.

  Riley fought down a sigh as she realized …

  I said the wrong thing after all.

  She’d almost forgotten that Ryan didn’t really approve of her summer internship. She’d reminded him that it was only ten weeks and it wasn’t physical training. She was just going to be watching agents at work, mostly indoors. Besides, she thought it might even lead to an office job right there in the FBI headquarters.

  He’d become more agreeable about it, but he certainly wasn’t enthusiastic.

  But then, Riley really didn’t know what he might prefer for her.

  Did he maybe want her to be a stay-at-home mother? If so, he was going to be disappointed sooner or later.

  But now was no time to get into all this.

  Don’t spoil this moment, Riley told herself.

  She looked at her ring again and then at Ryan.

  “This is beautiful,” she said. “I’m really happy. Thank you.”

  Ryan smiled and squeezed her hand.

  Then Riley said, “So who are we going to share the news with?”

  Ryan shrugged. “I don’t know. We don’t really have any friends yet here in DC. I guess I could get in touch with some of my old friends from law school. Maybe you could call your dad.”

  Riley frowned at the idea. Her last visit to her father hadn’t been pleasant. Their relationship had always been deeply troubled.

  And besides …

  “He doesn’t have a phone, remember?” Riley said. “He lives all alone up in the mountains.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Ryan said.

  “What about your parents?” Riley asked.

  Ryan’s smile faded a little.

  “I’ll write to them about it,” he said.

  Riley had to stop herself from asking …

  Why not give them a call?

  Maybe then I could actually talk to them.

  She’d never met Ryan’s parents, who lived in the small town of Munny, Virginia.

  Riley knew that Ryan had grown up among working-class people, and he was very anxious to put that kind of life behind him.

  She wondered if he was embarrassed by them or …

  Is he embarrassed by me?

  Do they even know we’re living together?

  Would they approve?

  But before Riley could think of how to broach the subject to him, the phone rang.

  “Maybe we could just let the machine take that,” Ryan said.

  Riley thought about it for a moment as the phone kept ringing.

  “It might be something important,” she said. She went to the phone and took the call.

  A cheerful, professional-sounding male voice said, “May I speak with Riley Sweeney?”

  “This is she,” Riley said.

  “This is Hoke Gilmer, your supervisor for the FBI training program. I just wanted to remind you—”

  Riley said excitedly, “Yes, I know! I’ll be there bright and early at seven o’clock tomorrow morning!”

  “Great!” Hoke replied. “I look forward to meeting you.”

  Riley hung up the phone and looked at Ryan. He had a wistful look in his eye.

  “Wow,” he said. “Everything’s getting real, isn’t it?”

  Riley understood how he felt. Ever since the move from Lanton, they’d seldom been away from one another.

  And now, tomorrow, they were both off to their new jobs.

  Riley said, “Maybe we need to do something special together.”

  “Good idea,” Ryan said. “Maybe go to a movie and find a nice restaurant and …”

  Riley laughed as she grabbed him by the hand and pulled him to his feet.

  “I’ve got a better idea,” she said.

  She pulled him into the bedroom, where they both fell laughing onto the bed.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Riley felt her breath and heartbeat quicken as she walked from the metro stop toward the massive white J. Edgar Hoover Building.

  Why am I so nervous? she asked herself. After all, she had managed her first solo trip on a metro through a larger city than she had even visited before moving here.

  She tried to convince herself that this wasn’t such a big change—that she was just going to school again, the same as she’d done in Lanton.

  But she couldn’t help feeling awed and daunted. For one thing, the building was on Pennsylvania Avenue, right between the White House and the Capitol. She and Ryan had driven past the building earlier this week, but the reality was only now hitting her that she was going to be coming here to learn and work for the next ten weeks.

  It seemed almost like a dream.

  She walked through the front entrance and passed on through the lobby to the security gate. The guard on duty found her name on a list of visitors and gave her a clip-on identification card. He told her to take an elevator three floors down to a small auditorium.

  When Riley found the auditorium and went inside, she was handed a packet of rules, regulations, and information that she was supposed to read later. She sat down among about twenty other interns who appeared to be in her general age range. She knew that some, like her, were recent college graduates; others were undergraduates who would be returning to college in the fall.

  Most of the other interns were male, and all of them were well dressed. She felt a little insecure about her own pantsuit, which she’d bought at a thrift shop in Lanton. It was the best business-type outfit she had, and she hoped she looked sufficiently respectable.

  Soon a clean-cut, middle-aged man stepped in front of the seated interns.

  He said, “I’m Assistant Director Marion Connor, and I’m in charge of the FBI Honors Internship Summer Program. You should all be very proud to be here today. You are a very select and exceptional group, chosen from thousands of applicants …”

  Riley gulped hard as he continued congratulating the group.

  Thousands of applicants!

  How strange it seemed. The truth was, she hadn’t put in an application at all. She’d simply been chosen for the program straight out of college.

  Do I really belong here? she wondered.

  Assistant Director Connor introduced the group to a younger agent—Hoke Gilmer, the training supervisor who had called Riley yesterday. Gilmer instructed the interns to stand and raise their right hands to take the FBI oath of office.

  Riley felt herself choke up as she began to speak the words …

  “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.

  She had no idea what awaited her from this moment on.

  But she felt sure that her life would never be the same.

  *

  After the ceremony, Hoke Gilmer took the students on a long tour of the J. Edgar Hoover Building. Riley grew more and more amazed at the size and complexity of the building, and at all the different activities that took place here. There were various exercise rooms, a basketball court, a medical clinic, a printing shop, many kinds of labs and computer rooms, a firing range, and even a morgue and a car repair shop.

  It all boggled her mind.

  When the tour was over, the group was taken to the cafeteria on the eighth floor. Riley felt exhausted as she put food on her tray—not so much from the miles of walking she’d done, but at everything she’d seen and tried to absorb.

  How much of this wonderful facility could she hope to experience in the ten weeks she was to spend here? She wanted to learn everything she could, as fast as she possibly could.

  And she wanted to get started right this very minute.
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  As she carried her tray looking for a place to eat, she felt strangely out of place. The other interns already seemed to be forming friendships and sitting in groups, chattering away excitedly about the day they were having. She told herself she ought to sit down among some of her young colleagues, introduce herself and get to know a few of them.

  But she knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

  Riley had always felt like something of an outsider, and making friends and fitting in had never come naturally for her.

  And right now, she felt shyer than she could remember ever feeling.

  And was it just her imagination, or were some of the interns glancing at her and whispering about her?

  She had just decided to sit alone when she heard a voice next to her.

  “You’re Riley Sweeney, aren’t you?”

  She turned to see a young man who had caught her eye back in the auditorium and during the tour. She hadn’t been able to help noticing that he was remarkably good-looking—a bit taller than she was, rugged and athletic, with short curly hair and a pleasant smile. His suit looked expensive.

  “Um, yes,” Riley said, suddenly feeling even more shy than before. “And you … ?”

  “John Welch. I’m pleased to meet you. I’d offer to shake hands, but …”

  He nodded at the trays they were both carrying and laughed a little.

  “Would you care to sit with me?” he asked.

  Riley hoped she wasn’t blushing.

  “Sure,” she said.

  They sat down across a table from each other and started eating.

  Riley asked, “How did you know my name?”

  John smiled impishly and said, “You’re kidding right?”

  Riley was startled. She managed to stop herself from saying …

  No, I’m not kidding.

  John shrugged and said, “Pretty much everybody here knows who you are. I guess you could say that your reputation precedes you.”

  Riley looked over at some of the other students. Sure enough, a few of them were still glancing at her and exchanging whispers.

  Riley began to realize …

  They must know about what happened back at Lanton.