Блейк Пирс: Once Lost

Roston leaned back in her chair, seeming to relax a little.

But Riley was anything but relaxed. She’d rashly deleted the file called THOUGHTS, which actually contained vital information about Hatcher’s financial connections – connections that allowed him to remain at large and wield considerable power.

Roston said, “I’m pretty sure you’ve still got that file.”

Riley suppressed a shudder of alarm. The fact was, she had kept the file on a thumb drive. She’d often thought about simply erasing it, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to do so. Hatcher’s spell over her had been strong. And just maybe she’d thought she might need to use that information someday herself.

Instead of erasing it, she’d been carrying it around in a state of indecision.

It was in Riley’s purse right now.

“I’m pretty sure that file is important,” Roston said. “In fact, it might contain information that I need to put Hatcher away once and for all. And we both want that to happen. I’m sure of it.”

Riley gulped.

I mustn’t say anything, she thought.

But didn’t everything Roston said make perfect sense?

That thumb drive might well be the key to freeing Riley from Shane Hatcher’s clutches.

Roston’s expression softened more.

“Agent Paige, I’m going to make you a solemn promise. If you give me that information, nobody will ever know that you ever withheld it. I won’t tell a soul. Never.”

Riley felt her resistance collapse.

Her every instinct assured her of Roston’s sincerity.

She silently reached into her purse, took out the thumb drive, and handed it to the younger agent. Roston’s eyes widened slightly, but she didn’t say a word. She just nodded and put the drive in her pocket.

Riley felt a desperate need to break the silence.

“Do you wish to discuss anything else, Agent Roston?”

The younger agent chuckled a little.

“Please, call me Jenn. All my friends do.”

Riley squinted uncertainly as Roston got up from her chair.

“Mind you, I won’t presume to call you anything except Agent Paige. Not until you feel comfortable otherwise. But please. Do call me Jenn. I positively insist.”

Roston left the room, leaving Riley sitting there in astonished silence.

Riley settled down to catch up with paperwork in her office. Whenever she wasn’t working on a case, it seemed as though tons of bureaucratic tedium awaited her and didn’t let up until she went out into the field again.

It was always unpleasant. But today she had an especially hard time focusing on what she was doing. She grew more and more worried that she’d just made a terribly foolish mistake.

Why on earth had she just handed that file over to Jennifer Roston – or “Jenn,” as she now insisted Riley call her?

It was nothing less than a confession of obstruction on Riley’s part.

Why had she given it to this particular agent when she’d never shown it to anyone else? How could an ambitious young agent do anything other than report Riley’s transgression to her superiors – maybe even to Carl Walder himself?

Any minute now, Riley might find herself under arrest.

Why hadn’t she just erased the file?

Or she could have gotten rid of it, as she had done with the gold chain Hatcher had given her. The chain had been a symbol of her bond with Hatcher. It had also contained a code for contacting him.

Riley had thrown it away in a frantic effort to free herself of him.

But for some reason, she hadn’t been able to bring herself to do the same with the thumb drive.

Why?

The financial information it contained was surely enough to at least limit Hatcher’s movements and activities.

It might just be enough to stop him for good.

It was a riddle, as were so many aspects of her relationship with Hatcher.

While Riley was sorting papers on her desk, her cell phone rang. It was a text message from an unknown number. Riley’s gasped when she saw what it said.

Did you think this would stop me? Everything is already moved. You can’t say you weren’t warned.

Riley found it hard to breathe.

Shane Hatcher, she thought.

Riley stared at the text message, panic rising inside her.

It wasn’t hard to guess what had happened. Jenn Roston had opened the file as soon as she and Riley had parted. Jenn had found out what was in it and had already gotten right to work trying to shut down Hatcher’s operation.

But in his message, Hatcher himself defiantly announced that Jenn hadn’t succeeded.

Everything is already moved.

Shane Hatcher was still at large, and he was angry. With his financial resources intact he might be more dangerous than ever.

I’ve got to answer him, she thought. I’ve got to reason with him.

But how? What could she possibly say that wouldn’t infuriate him more?

Then it occurred to her that Hatcher might not fully understand what was happening.

How could he know that it was Roston sabotaging his network, not Riley? Maybe she could make him understand at least that much.

Her hands shook as she typed in a reply.

Let me explain.

But when she tried to send the text, it was marked “undeliverable.”

Riley groaned with despair.

Exactly the same thing had happened the last time she’d tried to communicate with Hatcher. He’d sent her a cryptic message, then cut her off. She used to be able to communicate with Hatcher by video chat, text, and even phone calls. But those days were over.

Right now, she had no way at all of reaching him.

But he could still reach her.

The second sentence of his new message was especially chilling.

“You can’t say you weren’t warned.”

Riley flashed back to what he had written the last time she had communicated with him.

“You will live to regret it. Your family might not.”

Riley gasped and said aloud …

“My family!”

She fumbled with her cell phone as she punched in her home number. She heard it ring, then keep on ringing. Then the outgoing message came on, her own voice.

It was all Riley could do to keep from screaming.

Why wasn’t anyone answering? The schools were on spring break. Her kids were supposed to be home. And where was Riley’s live-in housekeeper, Gabriela?

Just before the outgoing message ended, she heard the voice of Jilly, the thirteen-year-old that Riley was in the process of trying to adopt. Jilly sounded breathless.

“Hey, sorry, Mom. Gabriela went to the grocery store. April and Liam and I were out in the backyard kicking a soccer ball around. We’re expecting Gabriela to get back any minute.”

Riley realized she’d been holding her breath. She made a conscious effort to start breathing again.

“Is everything all right?” she asked.

“Sure,” Jilly said with a shrug in her voice. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Riley struggled to calm herself down.

“Jilly, could you go and look out the front window for me?”

“OK,” Jilly said.

Riley heard a few footsteps.

“I’m looking,” Jilly said.

“Is the van with the FBI agents still out there?”

“Yeah. And so is the one in the alley. I just saw it when I was in the backyard. If that Shane Hatcher guy comes around, those guys are sure to catch him. Is something wrong? You’re kind of scaring me.”

Riley forced a laugh.

“No, nothing’s wrong. I’m just – being a mom, I guess.”

“OK. I’ll see you later.”

The call ended, but Riley’s worry was still surging inside her.

She went down the hall and straight to Brent Meredith’s office.