she said.
Her father smirked at her surprise.
“You hoped I was dead, didn’t you?” he said. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
Riley opened her mouth to contradict him.
But then she realized he was right. She hadn’t grieved when he had died last October.
And she certainly didn’t want him back in her life.
After all, he’d scarcely ever said a kind word to her in all his days.
“Where have you been?” Riley asked.
“Where I’ve been all along,” her father said.
The scene began to change from a vast expanse of broken glass to become the outside of her father’s cabin in the woods.
He was now standing on the front stoop.
“You might need my help on this case,” he said. “It sounds like your killer’s a soldier. I know a lot about soldiers. And I know a lot about killing.”
It was true. Her father had been a captain in Vietnam. She had no idea how many men he’d killed in the line of duty.
But the last thing she wanted was his help.
“It’s time for you to go,” Riley said.
Her father’s smirk twisted into a sneer.
“Oh, no,” he said. “I’m just settling in.”
His face and body changed shape. In a matter of moments, he was younger, stronger, dark-skinned, even more menacing than before.
He was now Shane Hatcher.
The transformation struck Riley with terror.
Her father had always been a cruel presence in her life.
But she was coming to dread Hatcher even more.
Much more than her father ever did, Hatcher had some kind of manipulative power over her.
He could make her do things that she’d never imagined she’d do.
“Go away,” Riley said.
“Oh, no,” Hatcher said. “We’ve got a deal.”
Riley shuddered.
We’ve got a deal, all right, she thought.
Hatcher had helped her find her mother’s killer. In return, she allowed him to live in her father’s old cabin.
Besides, she knew she owed him. He’d helped her solve cases – but he’d done much more.
He’d even saved her daughter’s life along with that of her ex-husband.
Riley opened her mouth to speak, to protest.
But no words came out.
Instead, it was Hatcher who spoke.
“We’re joined at the brain, Riley Paige.”
Riley was awakened by a sharp jolt.
The plane had landed in the San Diego International Airport.
The morning sun was rising beyond the runway.
The pilot spoke over the intercom, announcing their arrival and apologizing for the bumpy landing.
The other passengers were gathering their belongings and preparing to leave.
As Riley groggily got up and pulled down her bag from the overhead luggage compartment, she remembered her disturbing dream.
Riley was hardly superstitious – but even so she couldn’t help but wonder …
Were the dream and the rough landing somehow portents of things to come?
CHAPTER EIGHT
It was a bright, clear morning by the time Riley got into her rental car and drove out of the airport. The weather really was wonderful, with a temperature in the comfortable sixties. She realized that it would make most people think of enjoying the beach or at least lying beside a pool somewhere.
But Riley felt a lurking apprehension.
She wondered wistfully if she could ever come to California just to enjoy the weather – or go to any other place to relax.
It seemed that evil awaited her wherever she went.
The story of my life, she thought.
She knew she owed it to herself and her family to break out of this pattern – to take some time off and take the girls somewhere just for the sheer joy of it.
But when was that ever going to happen?
She let out a sad, tired sigh.
Maybe never, she thought.
She hadn’t gotten much sleep on the plane, and she was feeling the jet lag from the three-hour time difference between here and Virginia.
Nevertheless, she was eager to get started on this new case.
As she headed north on the San Diego Freeway, she passed modern buildings punctuated by palm trees and other greenery. Soon she was out of the city, but the traffic on the multi-laned freeway didn’t diminish. The fast-moving procession of closely crowded vehicles wound among rough hills where the early sunlight accentuated a steep, brush landscape.
The scenery notwithstanding, Southern California struck her as less easygoing than she had expected. Like her, everyone in the crush of cars seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere important.
She took an exit marked “Fort Nash Mowat.” After a few minutes, she pulled up to the camp gate, showed her badge, and was allowed to enter.
She had messaged ahead to let Bill and Lucy know she was on her way, so they were waiting by a car. Bill introduced the uniformed woman standing with them as Colonel Dana Larson, the commander of the Fort Mowat CID office.
Riley was instantly impressed by Larson. She was a strong, sturdy woman with intense dark eyes. Her handshake immediately conveyed to Riley a feeling of confidence and professionalism.
“I’m pleased to meet you, Agent Paige,” Col. Larson said in a crisp, vigorous voice. “Your reputation precedes you.”
Riley’s eyes widened.
“I’m surprised,” she said.
Larson chuckled a little.
“Don’t be,” she said. “I’m in law enforcement too, and I keep up with everything the BAU does. We’re honored to have you here at Fort Mowat.”
Riley
