Once Gone (a Riley Paige Mystery--Book #1)

by Blake Pierce

  *

  Bill sat in his office staring dumbly at his cell phone. He realized that his hands were shaking. He wasn’t sure why. Anger and frustration? Or was it from fear for Riley, for whatever reckless thing she was about to do?

  Her drunken phone call two nights ago had left him confused and devastated. It was something of a cliché that law enforcement partners often felt closer to one another than to their own spouses. And Bill knew that it was true. For a long time, he’d felt closer to Riley than he’d ever felt to anyone in his life.

  But there was no room for romance in their line of work. Complications or hesitations on the job could have deadly results. He’d always kept things professional between them and always trusted Riley to do the same. But now she had broken that trust.

  Well, she was obviously aware of her mistake. But what had she meant when she said she would be reinstated? Would they work together again? He wasn’t sure if he wanted to. Was the dynamic and comfortable professional rapport they’d long shared ruined forever?

  But he couldn’t worry about all of that now. Riley had asked him to check on the employees of a store. He’d pass that request on, but not to Carl Walder. Bill got on the phone and called the extension for Special Agent Brent Meredith. Meredith wasn’t in the proper chain of command on this case, but Bill knew he could count on him to get the job done.

  He planned to keep the call short and efficient. He had to drive to Shellysford right now and he only hoped he could get there before Riley Paige did something really stupid.

  Like get herself killed.