LITMIR.BIZ

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wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” Jake said.

      Riley felt a renewed wave of guilt as she hugged Bill.

      “Bill, Jake – this isn’t fair.”

      “What isn’t fair?” Bill asked.

      “My getting this award. You two did as much work as I did.”

      Lucy took her turn to hug Riley.

      “Sure, it’s fair,” Lucy said. “Director Milner mentioned them. He gave them credit too.”

      Bill nodded and said, “And we wouldn’t have done anything at all if you weren’t so damned stubborn about reopening the case.”

      Riley smiled. It was true, of course. She’d reopened the case when nobody else had thought it was possible to solve.

      Suddenly she felt a new wave of confusion over what had just happened.

      She looked around and said to Bill, Jake, and Lucy, “All these people – how did they know about this?”

      Lucy said, “Well, it was in the news, of course.”

      That was true, but it didn’t explain things as far as Riley was concerned. Her award had been announced in tiny news items that scarcely anyone would have noticed unless they were looking for it already.

      Then Riley noticed a sly grin on Bill’s face.

      He contacted people! Riley realized.

      He may not have reached out to every single person from her past, but he’d put the wheels in motion.

      She was startled by the contradictory emotions she felt.

      Of course she was grateful to Bill for making sure that this day was nothing short of extraordinary.

      But to her surprise, she was angry too.

      Without seeming to realize it, Bill had set an emotional ambush for her.

      Worst of all, he had made her cry.

      But she reminded herself that he’d done it out of friendship and respect.

      She said to him, “You and I are going to have a little talk about this later.”

      Bill smiled and nodded.

      “I’m sure we will,” he said.

      Riley turned toward her waiting family and friends, but she was stopped in her tracks by her boss, Team Chief Brent Meredith. The big man with black, angular features didn’t appear to be in a celebratory mood.

      He said, “Paige, Jeffreys, Vargas – I need to see you in my office right away.”

      Without another word, Meredith walked out of the room.

      Riley’s heart sank as she headed over to Blaine, Gabriela, and the girls to tell them to wait a little while for her.

      She remembered that lurking sense of darkness she had felt over dinner yesterday.

      It’s here, she thought.

      Some new evil was about to enter her life.

      CHAPTER THREE

      As Riley followed Bill and Lucy down the hallway toward Chief Meredith’s office, she tried to figure out why she felt so unsettled. She couldn’t put her finger on just what was troubling her.

      She realized that it was partly a sensation she was long since used to – that familiar heightened apprehension she got whenever she was about to get new orders.

      But something else was mixed in with that feeling. It didn’t feel like fear or foreboding. She’d been on too many jobs in her career to be unduly worried about what was ahead.

      It was something she barely recognized.

      Is it relief? Riley wondered.

      Yes, maybe that was it.

      The ceremony and the reception had felt so bizarre and unreal, stirring up conflicting thoughts and waves of emotions.

      Heading to Meredith’s office was familiar, comfortable … and it felt like an escape of sorts.

      But an escape into what?

      Doubtless into a well-known world of cruelty and evil.

      Riley felt a shiver go up her spine.

      What did it say about her that she was more comfortable with cruelty and evil than she was with celebration and praise?

      She didn’t want to dwell on that question, and she tried to shake off that anxious feeling as she walked. But she couldn’t quite do it.

      It seemed that she was feeling less and less comfortable in her own skin these days.

      When Riley, Bill, and Lucy reached Meredith’s large office, the chief was standing beside his desk.

      Someone else was already there – a young African-American woman with short straight hair and large, intense eyes. She stood up at the sight of Riley and her companions.

      Meredith said, “Agents Paige, Jeffreys, and Vargas, I’d like you to meet Special Agent Jennifer Roston.”

      Riley eyed the woman she’d spoken to on the phone right after solving the Matchbook Killer case. Jennifer Roston wasn’t tall, but she looked athletic and completely competent. The expression on her face was that of a woman who was secure in her own abilities.

      Roston shook hands with each of them.

      “I’ve heard great things about you,” Lucy told her.

      “You’ve reset some records at the Academy,” Bill said.

      Riley had also heard great things about Agent Roston. She already had an amazing reputation and had received some excellent commendations.

      “I’m so honored to meet all of you,” Roston said with a sincere smile. Then, looking Riley straight in the eye, she added, “Especially you, Agent Paige. It’s great to meet you face to face.”

      Riley felt flattered. She also felt a slight, nagging concern.

      As they all made their way to chairs and sat down, Riley wondered what Roston was doing here today. Was Meredith going to put her on an assignment with Riley and her two colleagues?

      The thought made Riley a little uneasy. She, Bill, and Lucy had built an excellent rapport, a seamless working relationship. Wouldn’t a new addition to their little team disrupt that, at least temporarily?

      Meredith answered her question. “I wanted the three of you to meet Agent Roston because I’ve got her working on the Shane Hatcher case. The bastard has been at large for way too long. Headquarters has decided to make him a priority. It’s time to bring him in, and we need fresh eyes assigned to that specific case.”

      Riley squirmed a little on the inside.

      She already knew that Roston was working on the Hatcher case. In fact, that was what they had discussed over the phone. Roston had asked for access to Quantico’s computer files about Shane Hatcher, and Riley had given her that access.

      But what was going on right now?

      Surely Meredith hadn’t brought them all together to work on the Hatcher case. She wasn’t sure how much Meredith actually knew about her own connections with Hatcher. She would have been arrested if her boss was fully aware that she had let the escaped killer go because he’d helped her out.

      She knew perfectly well Hatcher was probably up in the mountains hiding in the cabin she had inherited from her father – staying there with Riley’s full knowledge and approval.

      How could she possibly even pretend to be trying to bring him to justice?

      Bill asked Roston, “How is it going so far?”

      Roston smiled.

      “Oh, I’m just getting started – I’m only doing research at this point.”

      Then looking at Riley again, Roston said, “I appreciate the access you gave me to all those

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