CHAPTER NINE
As Riley drove home, she felt conflicted. She had saved a man’s life but was no closer to finding Jilly. After everything, her conversation with Stanley Pope at the hospital had yielded nothing new—just the same fragments he’d shared during his rescue, details too vague to point her toward Leo.
But it was the memory of Bill’s voice on the phone—tight with a fury she rarely heard from him—that troubled her now.
“What were you thinking, going there alone? Not even calling for backup,” he’d demanded.
“Why didn’t you let me know? Riley, you used to do that kind of thing—go it alone all the time.
I thought that since we’re together you’d consider …
well, you’d know what it would do to me to lose you. ”
She’d tried to explain, but they hadn’t settled that question by phone and she wasn’t looking forward to going through it again.
Surely he could understand that she’d been thinking about Jilly, about time slipping away, about the desperation that led her to act as fast as she possibly could.
That rational thought had become a luxury she could no longer afford?
Riley checked her rearview mirror, a habit ingrained after decades in law enforcement.
The road behind her was empty except for a single pair of headlights several blocks back.
Not following her—just another traveler heading home at the end of a long day.
She envied them their ordinary concerns, their normal lives untouched by evil.
Her mind returned to the part she hadn’t told Bill about yet—the scenario that Leo had orchestrated precisely to wound them both where they were most vulnerable.
She’d explained to Bill that Leo had recreated the old Pine Box case, but she’d only told him that she had rescued a uniformed policeman from near death.
She hadn’t told Bill that Leo’s intended victim at the cabin was Stanley Pope—the very man Bill had accidentally shot eight years ago at Fort Nash Mowat.
That connection was too specific and too cruel to be any kind of coincidence.
Riley’s memory of those terrible days after the Fort Nash Mowat incident came back with full force.
Bill, hollow-eyed and barely speaking, drowning in guilt.
He’d been unable to forgive himself for either failure—for shooting the wrong man and Lucy Vargas’s death in the final confrontation with the shooter.
How would he handle knowing that Leo had recreated that trauma, using Pope as a sick prop in his twisted game?
But she couldn’t keep all that from him. She had to tell him. Tonight. Before another day passed.
As Riley turned onto her street, her tension eased slightly at the sight of the unmarked police car there in the parking lot in front of her townhouse.
Another would be stationed in back, she knew, watching the rear entrance.
Hogue had been furious that she’d gone to the cabin alone, but he hadn’t skimped on protection for her family in the aftermath.
At least April was safe. At least Gabriela was safe.
At least two of the three people she was responsible for protecting were still beyond Leo’s reach.
But Jilly...
Riley pulled into her parking spot and cut the engine, sitting for a moment in the darkness. Where was her daughter right now? Was she frightened? Hurt? Was she even still...?
No.
Riley wouldn’t allow that thought to form completely. Jilly was alive. She had to be. Leo wanted to torment Riley, and keeping Jilly alive extended his power over her. Knowing that brought little comfort, but it was something to cling to.
She climbed out of her car and walked toward her front door, nodding at the officer who stepped briefly into view to acknowledge her. The familiar weight of her service weapon pressed against her side, a reminder that she wasn’t helpless. She would find Leo. She would bring Jilly home.
When Riley opened her front door, the aroma of garlic and herbs washed over her—familiar and jarring all at once. The normalcy of home-cooked food seemed strange against the backdrop of Jilly’s absence.
“Riley?” Bill’s voice called.
She followed the sound, finding both Bill and April setting plates on the dining table.
“You’re just in time,” Bill said, his eyes meeting hers. The anger she’d heard on the phone earlier had softened, but worry still lined his face. “Gabriela insisted on cooking.”
April looked up at Riley, her eyes red-rimmed but dry. “Any news?” she asked quietly.
Riley shook her head. “The man that Leo attacked couldn’t tell me anything we didn’t already know.” She moved to April, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “But Hogue has every available agent working on this. We’re going to find her.”
The words felt hollow even as she said them. Not a lie—she would find Jilly or die trying—but a promise she had no guarantee of keeping.
Gabriela came in from the kitchen, bringing a serving dish to the table. “Sit,” she commanded. “All of you. We need to eat.”
It moved Riley to see Gabriela going about her usual routine.
“You didn’t have to …” Riley began.
“I need to do something,” Gabriela said, putting the dish down. “Cannot just sit and worry all night.”
It was lasagna, Riley realized. A dish that Jilly loved. The sight of it made her throat tighten painfully.
They gathered around the table, the four of them, with the fifth chair—Jilly’s chair—conspicuously empty. For a moment, no one moved to serve themselves. The steam rising from the casserole seemed to carry their collective grief.
“This smells wonderful, Gabriela,” Bill finally said, breaking the silence. He reached for the serving spoon. “Thank you.”
One by one, they filled their plates. Riley found herself going through the motions mechanically, lifting food to her mouth and chewing without tasting anything. Across from her, April pushed her lasagna around her plate, making no real attempt to eat.
“I should have protected her better,” Gabriela said suddenly, her fork clattering against her plate. “I had the gun in my hands. I could have stopped him.”
Riley put down her own fork. “Like I told you before, you did everything right,” she said firmly. “If you had fired with Jilly in the way, you might have hit her instead of Leo.”
“And I should have realized he was dangerous,” April burst out, tears welling in her eyes.
“He came right up to me on campus, and I just... I talked to him like he was normal. I even thought he was kind of charming.” She covered her face with her hands.
“I never even mentioned him to you. If I had, maybe you would have recognized him sooner.”
“Stop,” Bill said, his voice gentle but firm. “Both of you. We’ve been over all this before. And this is exactly what Leo wants.”
Riley nodded, reaching across the table to squeeze Gabriela’s hand. “He’s right. This is part of Leo’s plan. He thrives on creating guilt and misery. He wants people to blame themselves for whatever happens, for things that they couldn’t possibly control.”
“It’s a form of psychological torture,” Bill added.
“He makes you feel responsible for his actions. But the truth is, neither of you could have prevented this. Leo has been planning this for weeks. He’s probably been doing nothing else except putting his plan into action.
He’s brilliant, methodical, and completely without conscience.
You can’t blame yourselves for not outthinking someone like that. ”
“But I’m not just any college kid,” April protested, her voice cracking. “I’m an FBI agent’s daughter. I should have seen that something was off about him.”
“And I am supposed to keep this family safe,” Gabriela added, wiping roughly at her eyes.
Riley recognized her own feelings of guilt.
How could she expect April and Gabriela not to blame themselves when she was drowning in the same self-recrimination?
She should never have left the two of them alone.
Gabriela had done just fine with the pistol at the shooting range, but she’d had very little practice with that gun.
Riley had hoped that just having the weapon would offer protection, but Gabriela wasn’t trained for the situation she’d faced.
And she knew that having their home turned into a crime scene swarming with officers and agents throughout much of the day had also taken a toll on Gabriela.
“Listen to me,” she said, looking from April to Gabriela.
“Leo Dillard has spent his entire life perfecting the art of manipulation. He’s a master at appearing normal—charming, even.
That’s why he’s so dangerous. And that’s why neither of you should blame yourselves for not seeing through his mask.
” She took a deep breath. “The only person responsible for what happened to Jilly is Leo. Not you. Not me. Just Leo.”
They finished the meal in relative silence. April only managed a few bites before setting down her fork with finality.
“I brought my books home,” she said, her voice steadier now. “Professor Chen emailed assignments for the next week, in case I need to... to stay home for a while.”
“That’s good,” Riley said. “It’ll help to stay busy and you won’t fall behind.”
April nodded, then suddenly her face crumpled. “But Jilly’s missing school too. And she has that big social studies project due next week. She was so worried about finishing it. She doesn’t even have her textbooks with her, Mom.”
The mundane concern—so normal, so heartbreakingly ordinary—was what finally broke through April’s composure. Her shoulders shook as she cried, the sound raw and painful in the quiet kitchen.
Gabriela was at April’s side instantly, wrapping her sturdy arms around the young woman’s trembling frame.
“Come, nina,” Gabriela murmured. “Let me help you get ready for bed.”
April didn’t protest as Gabriela guided her from the dining room. Riley watched them go, her heart aching for her older daughter who still, despite everything they’d been through, could be shattered by the simple realization that her sister was missing her homework.
As their footsteps faded up the stairs, Riley turned to find Bill watching her, his eyes reflecting her own exhaustion and worry.
“You know,” he said quietly, “we’re not so good at taking our own advice.”
Riley gave a humorless laugh. “You noticed that too?”
“Hard to miss.” Bill pushed his plate away. “I’ve been sitting here telling April and Gabriela not to blame themselves, all while thinking about how I should have done something to protect our family better.”
“And I’ve been thinking that if I’d been more vigilant, if I’d recognized the patterns sooner—”
“It wouldn’t have changed anything,” Bill finished for her. “I know. But knowing it here—” he tapped his temple, “—doesn’t stop us from feeling it here.” He placed his hand over his heart.
Riley nodded, understanding completely. “But he always knows exactly which buttons to push with us, doesn’t he?”
“He’s been studying us,” Bill said grimly. “Learning our weaknesses, our traumas. And he’s really good at using them against us.”
The thought chilled Riley. Leo had spent a lot of time crafting this revenge, this elaborate game. How many other traps had he laid that they hadn’t yet discovered?
Bill’s expression became more serious. “I’m still angry, you know. About you going to that cabin alone.”
“I know.” Riley met his gaze steadily. “I’m sorry. I should have called you first. I should have asked for backup.”
“But you wouldn’t have,” Bill said, not unkindly. “Because it’s Jilly. And there’s no protocol, no procedure that would have stopped you from going after any lead that might bring her home.”
Riley felt tears threatening and fought them back. “I couldn’t risk losing the chance to find her.”
“I understand,” Bill said softly. “I do. But Riley, we need to be smarter than he is. And that means working together, not taking unnecessary risks. You told me on the phone that he was recreating one of the Pine Box murders, triggering that memory. But you still haven’t told me everything, have you? ”
Riley stared down at her plate. Of course Bill was right. He knew her well. And she reminded herself that they couldn’t keep secrets from each other, not at a time like this. She realized with dread that the moment had come to tell him the part that she’d been putting off.