Blake Pierce - Once Gone

She drew another smaller shape on the paper map. It lay just to the east of the large triangle, and its corners marked the places where the four women had lived. Somewhere in that area, she felt pretty sure, was a store where all the women had bought dolls, and where the killer had targeted them. She would have to find that store first, before she could track down the place where he took the women.

Again, she brought up the map on her computer and zoomed in on it. The easternmost point of the smaller area wasn’t very far from where Riley lived. She saw that a state road formed an arc that reached westward through several small towns, none of them wealthy or historic. They were just the sorts of towns she was looking for. And each of them undoubtedly had some kind of toy or doll store.

She printed out the smaller map, then ran another search, locating stores in every town. Finally, Riley shut down her computer. She had to get some sleep.

Tomorrow she would go out in search of Cindy MacKinnon.

Dusk was falling by the time Riley pulled into Glendive. It had been a long day, and she was feeling desperate. Time was passing much too fast, and so was any possibility of finding any life-saving clues.

Glendive was the eighth town on her route. In every town so far, Riley had gone into stores that sold toys and dolls, questioning anyone who would talk to her. She felt sure that she hadn’t found the store she was looking for.

Nobody in any of the stores remembered seeing the women in the photographs she had showed them. Of course, the women in question were similar in age and appearance to a dozen others that a storekeeper might meet in any given week. To make matters worse, none of the dolls Riley saw on display struck her as the likely inspiration for the arrangement of the victims.

When she drove into Glendive, Riley had an odd sense of déjà vu. The main street looked uncannily like those in most of the other towns, with a brick church flanked on one side by a movie theater and on the other side by a drug store. All these towns were starting to blur together in her exhausted mind.

What was I thinking? she asked herself.

Last night she had been desperate to sleep, and she had taken her prescription tranquilizers. That hadn’t been a bad idea. But following it with a couple of shots of whiskey had been unwise. Now she had a severe headache, but she had to keep going.

As she parked her car near the store she planned to check out, she saw that daylight was waning. She sighed with discouragement. She had one more town and one more store to check out tonight. It would be at least three hours before she could get back to Fredericksburg to pick up April at Ryan’s house. How many nights had she been late now?

She took out her cell phone and dialed the house number. She hoped against hope that Gabriela would answer. Instead, she heard Ryan’s voice.

“What is it, Riley?” he asked.

“Ryan,” Riley sputtered, “I’m terribly sorry, but – ”

“You’re going to be late again,” Ryan said, finishing her sentence.

“Yeah,” Riley said. “I’m sorry.”

A silence fell.

“Look, it’s really important,” Riley finally said. “A woman’s life is in danger. I’ve got to do what I’m doing.”

“I’ve heard it before,” Ryan said in a disapproving tone. “It’s always a matter of life and death. Well, go ahead. Take care of it. It’s just that I’m starting to wonder why you bother to pick up April at all. She might as well just stay right here.”

Riley felt her throat tighten. Just as she had feared, Ryan sounded like he was gearing up for a custody fight. And it wasn’t out of any sincere desire to raise April. He was too busy living it up to concern himself with his daughter. All he wanted was to cause Riley pain.

“I’ll come and get her,” Riley said, trying to steady her voice. “We can talk about all this later.”

She ended the call.

Then she stepped out of the car and walked the short distance to the store – Debbie’s Doll Boutique, it was called. She went inside and saw that the name was a little presumptuous for a store that sold pretty standard, brand-name merchandise.

Nothing quaint or fancy here, she realized.

It seemed unlikely that this was the place she was looking for. The store she had in mind had to be at least a little bit special, a place that inspired a word-of-mouth reputation that attracted customers from surrounding towns. Still, Riley had to check this one out to be absolutely sure.

Riley walked up to the counter, where a tall, elderly woman with thick glasses and birdlike features was at the cash register.

“I’m Special Agent Riley Paige, FBI,” she said, once again feeling naked without her badge. So far, other clerks had been willing to talk to her without it. She hoped that this woman would as well.

Riley pulled out four photographs and put them on the counter.

“I wonder if you’ve seen any of these women,” she said, pointing to the pictures one by one. “You probably wouldn’t remember Margaret Geraty – she would have been here two years ago. But Eileen Rogers would have come here about six months ago, and Reba Frye would have bought a doll six weeks ago. This last woman, Cindy MacKinnon, would have been here late last week.”

The woman peered at the pictures closely.

“Oh, dear,” she said. “My eyes aren’t what they used to be. Let me take a closer look.”

She picked up a magnifying glass and examined the photos. Meanwhile, Riley noticed that there was someone else in the store. He was a rather homely man of average height and build. He was wearing a T-shirt and well-worn jeans. Riley might well have overlooked him if it weren’t for one important detail.

He was carrying a bunch of roses.

These roses were real, but the combination of roses and dolls could signal a killer’s obsession.

The man wasn’t looking at her. He had surely heard her announce herself as FBI. Was he avoiding eye contact?

Just then the woman’s voice piped up.

“I don’t think I’ve seen any of them,” she said. “But then, like I said, I don’t see at all well. And I’ve never been any good with faces. I’m sorry not to be of more help.”

“It’s all right,” Riley said, putting the photos back in her purse. “Thank you for your time.”

She turned to look again at the man, who was now browsing a nearby rack. Her pulse quickened.

It definitely could be him, she thought. If he buys a doll, I’ll know it’s him.

But it wouldn’t do for her to stand here and watch him. If he was guilty, he wasn’t likely to give himself away. He might slip away from her.

She smiled at the storekeeper and left.

Outside, Riley walked a short distance down the block and stood there waiting. Only a few minutes passed before the store’s door opened and the man came out. He was still holding the roses in one hand. In the other he held a bag of newly purchased merchandise. He turned and started walking along the sidewalk, moving away from Riley.

Taking long strides, Riley walked after him. She assessed his size and build. She was slightly taller than he was, and possibly a good bit stronger. She was probably better trained. She wasn’t going to let him get away.

Just as he was passing a narrow alley, the man must have heard steps behind him. He turned suddenly and glanced back at her. He stepped to one side, as though to get out of her way.

Riley pushed him sideways into the alley – pushed him hard and roughly. The space was narrow, dirty, and dim.

Startled, the man dropped both the package and the roses. The flowers scattered across the pavement. He raised an arm as though to ward her off.