LITMIR.BIZ

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she dialed the number of her partner, Bill Jeffreys, she thought …

      Maybe another case is just what Jenn needs right now.

      Riley hoped so.

      Meanwhile, she felt a familiar heightening of her own alertness as she hurried to find out what the new case might be.

      CHAPTER FOUR

      About a half hour later, Riley pulled into the parking lot at Quantico. When she’d asked Meredith how soon he wanted her there, she’d heard real urgency in his voice …

      “Already. Sooner if possible.”

      Of course, when Meredith called her at home, time was almost always running out – sometimes literally, as in her last case. The so-called Sandman had used sand timers to mark the hours that would elapse before his next brutal murder.

      But today, something in Meredith’s tone told her that this situation was pressing in some unique way.

      As she parked, she saw that Bill and Jenn were also just arriving in their own vehicles. She got out of her car and stood waiting for them.

      Without exchanging many words, the three walked toward the building. Riley saw that, like her, Bill and Jenn had brought their go-bags along. None of them had needed to be told that they’d likely be flying out of Quantico in short order.

      They checked into the building and headed toward Chief Meredith’s office. As soon as they got to his door, the burly, imposing African-American man burst out into the hallway. He’d obviously been notified of their arrival.

      “No time for a conference,” he growled at the three agents. “We’ll talk and walk.”

      As they hurried along with Meredith, Riley realized that they were headed straight to Quantico’s airstrip.

      We really are in a hurry, Riley thought. It was unusual not to have at least a brief meeting to bring them up to speed on a new case.

      Striding along beside Meredith, Bill asked, “What’s this all about, Chief?”

      Meredith said, “Right now there’s a decapitated dead body on a train track near Barnwell, Illinois. It’s a line out of Chicago. A woman was bound to the tracks and run over by a freight train, just a few hours ago. It’s the second such killing in four days and there are apparently striking similarities. It looks like we’re dealing with a serial.”

      Meredith began to walk a little faster, and the three agents scurried to keep up.

      Riley asked, “Who called for the FBI?”

      Meredith said, “I got the call from Jude Cullen, the Chicago area Deputy Chief of Railroad Police. He says he wants profilers there right away. I told him to leave the body where it was until my agents got a look at it.”

      Meredith grunted a little.

      “That’s a pretty tall order. Three more freight trains are scheduled along that track today, and a passenger train as well. Right now, they’re all on hold, and it’s already getting to be a mess. You need to get out there ASAP and get a look at the crime scene so the body can be moved and the trains can start running again. And then …”

      Meredith grunted again.

      “Well, you’ve got a killer to stop. And I’m pretty sure we all agree on one thing – he will kill again. Aside from that, you now know as much about the case as I do. Cullen will have to fill you in on anything else.”

      The group stepped out onto the tarmac of the airstrip where the small jet was waiting, its engines already rumbling.

      Over the sound, Meredith called out, “You’ll be met at O’Hare by some railroad cops. They’ll drive you straight to the crime scene.”

      Meredith turned around and headed back into the building, and Riley and her colleagues mounted the steps and boarded the plane. The hastiness of their departure almost made Riley dizzy. She couldn’t remember Meredith ever rushing them out like that.

      But it was hardly any surprise, considering that railroad traffic was stalled. Riley couldn’t imagine that enormous difficulties that might be causing right now.

      Once the plane was airborne, the three agents opened their computers and got online to look for what little information they might find at this point.

      Riley quickly saw that news of the most recent killing was already spreading, although the current victim’s name wasn’t yet available. But she saw that the previous victim’s name was Fern Bruder, a twenty-five-year-old woman whose decapitated body had been found on a train track near Allardt, Indiana.

      Riley couldn’t find much else online about the murders. If the railroad police had any suspects or knew of any motive, that information hadn’t leaked to the public yet – which was a good thing as far as Riley was concerned.

      Still, it was frustrating not to be able to learn more right now.

      With so little to think about regarding the case, Riley found herself mulling over what had happened so far today. She still felt a pang about losing Liam – although she also realized …

      “Losing” isn’t exactly the right word.

      No, she and her family had done their very best for the boy. And now things had turned out for the best, and Liam was in the care of people who would love him and take good care of him.

      Even so, Riley wondered …

      Why does it feel like a loss?

      Riley also had mixed feelings about buying April a gun and taking her to the shooting range. April’s show of maturity had certainly made Riley proud, and so had her budding marksmanship. Riley was also deeply touched that her daughter wanted to follow in her footsteps.

      And yet … Riley couldn’t help but remind herself …

      I’m on my way to view a decapitated body.

      Her whole career was one long string of horrors. Was this really a life she wanted for April?

      It’s not up to me, Riley reminded herself. It’s up to her.

      Riley also felt strange about that awkward phone conversation she’d had with Jenn a little while ago. So much had been left unspoken, and Riley had no idea what might be going on right now between Jenn and Aunt Cora. And of course, now was no time to talk it out – not with Bill sitting right here with them.

      Riley couldn’t help but wonder …

      Was Jenn right? Should she turn in her badge?

      Was Riley doing the young agent any favors by encouraging her to stay with the FBI?

      And was Jenn in the right frame of mind to take on a new case right now?

      Riley looked over at Jenn, who was sitting in her seat staring raptly at her computer.

      Jenn certainly seemed fully focused at the moment – more so than Riley was, anyway.

      Riley’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Bill’s voice.

      “Tied to railroad tracks. It almost sounds like …”

      Riley saw that Bill was also looking at his computer screen.

      He paused, but Jenn finished his thought.

      “Like one of those old-time silent movies, huh? Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.”

      Bill shook his head.

      “I sure don’t mean to make light of it … but I keep thinking of some mustachioed villain in a top hat tying a young damsel to the train tracks until some dashing hero comes along to rescue her. Isn’t that what always happened in silent movies?”

      Jenn pointed at her computer screen.

      She said, “Actually, not really. I’ve been doing some research on that. It’s a trope, all right, a cliché. And everybody seems to think they’ve seen it at one time or another, like some sort of urban legend. But it never seemed to show up in actual silent movies, at least not seriously.”

      Jenn

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