to makeLauren Hillis feel better about things.

As Danson started to lead them into the house, he paused and saidsomething to Riley and Ann Marie.

“I understand that you’re with the BAU.”

Riley nodded.

Danson tilted his head and asked, “Do you happen to know CarlWalder?”

Riley tried not to wince at the sound of the name.

“Yes,” she said. “He’s … Special Agent in Charge at the BAU.”

“Yes, I know,” Danson said.

Danson stood looking at them for a moment with an inscrutableexpression.

Riley asked him, “Do you know him?”

“Indeed I do,” Danson said.

Riley felt a chill at how he said that.

Without further comment, Danson led Riley and her two colleagueson into the house. Riley felt distinctly uncomfortable now. Did this Marylandpolitician have some kind of personal relationship with her nemesis at the BAU?Riley could only hope it wouldn’t lead to trouble.

Walder liked to boast of friends in high places, and some ofthose friends had been a nuisance to Riley in the past. The last thing sheneeded right now was some high-ranking disgruntled family member complainingdirectly to Walder about her work.

The front entryway led into an open, thoroughly modern interior,a continuous open space leading from one area into another.

They soon arrived in a large living room with a high ceiling. Thewalls were sparkling white, and the pale hardwood floors were very nearly whiteas well. Bursts of color from cushions on the furniture matched the hues inabstract paintings on the walls.

Seated on the couch directly in the center of their view of theroom was a woman dressed in plain, subdued colors that contrasted with the restof the room. Danson introduced her as his sister Lauren Hillis, Allison’smother.

Her eyes brightened.

She said to Riley and Ann Marie, “Oh, you’re the FBI people whoWalker said were on their way over. I’m so relieved to see you. Today has beenterrible.”

She turned toward Sheriff Wightman with an angry expression.

“Emory, I can’t believe how awful your police were when they camewith the news this morning. They tried to convince me you’ve found Allison’sbody. That’s ridiculous and you know it.”

Wightman looked stricken.

He began, “Lauren, I’m sorry, but—”

Lauren interrupted, “Now don’t you go trying to convince me of ittoo. I know, the body you found was dressed in a skeleton costume. But thatdoesn’t mean anything at all. Allison bought that outfit at a costume shop, allkinds of people go there. Anybody could have bought a costume like that.”

Her frown grew more severe as she added, “And the police who camethis morning told me the body had been buried for a long time. It hadn’t beenpositively identified. How could it be? It must be in a terrible state ofdecay. Emory, you saw the body. Can you honestly say it looked anything likeAllison at all?”

Not giving the sheriff a chance to reply, she spoke again toRiley and Ann Marie.

“You two are FBI people. I’ve been trying to get Emory to call inthe feds this whole time. You understand what I’m talking about. You’re expertsat this sort of thing. You know better than to jump to mistaken conclusions.”

She nodded sharply at Riley and her new partner.

“Now I want the two of you to get right to work and do what Emoryand his—his amateurs haven’t been able to get done for a year now. Findmy daughter. She’s alive, I feel it in my bones, and a mother knows suchthings. My own guess is that she’s got amnesia, can’t remember who she is. Shemust feel terribly lost. But I’m sure you can find her in no time flat. I’mcounting on it.”

An awkward silence fell. Sheriff Wightman shuffled his feet andlooked at the floor.

Coming here was a mistake, Riley thought.

She remembered how Wightman had told her at the station thatLauren Hillis was in “a deep state of denial.”

I should have listened, she thought.

But this was much worse than she could have expected. The poorwoman had spent a whole year hoping and grieving, trying to resign herself tothe worst and yet yearning for good news, all at the same time. Confusion andtrauma had clearly taken a terrible toll on her. Riley sensed that she wasbarely in her right mind anymore.

In a quiet voice, her brother said, “Perhaps the three of youwould like to sit down.”

Riley wanted to say no, that she and her colleagues needed toleave and get on with their work. She couldn’t imagine that Lauren could givelucid, coherent answers to any questions at all. Even trying to ask them wouldsurely be both an intrusion and a waste of time. But leaving abruptly didn’tseem like an option either.

It would be too cruel, she thought.

Riley and the sheriff sat down in a couple of straight-backchairs in front of the couch. Riley was startled that Ann Marie sat down on thecouch right next to Lauren.

She was even more startled when Ann Marie took hold of the woman’shand.

No! she thought.

This was completely inappropriate. Didn’t the girl have the sensenot to make such intimate contact while conducting an interview? Riley fearedan impending emotional catastrophe.

Then Ann Marie purred in a soft, gentle voice.

“Ms. Hillis, we’re terribly sorry for how hard this has been foryou.”

Ann Marie’s tone seemed to have an immediate calming effect onthe woman.

“You have no idea,” Lauren Hillis said.

“No, of course I don’t,” Ann Marie, still holding Lauren’s hand. “Nobodyelse can possibly understand what you’re going through.”

Then she and the woman sat looking at each other for a moment.Riley quickly realized what her rookie partner was doing.

She’s acting just like a mortician.

She’d undoubtedly watched her father comfort loved ones throughall sorts of states of despair. But this realization didn’t make Riley feelbetter about what was going on.

We’re FBI agents, not morticians.

This is completely crazy.

She wanted to yank Ann Marie away and drag her out of the houseand give her a sharp lecture on professional behavior. But she couldn’t dothat—not right now, not without making things even worse. She just had to hopethat the situation wasn’t going to get as bad as she thought it might get.

Still in that soft, cozy voice, Ann Marie said, “Ms. Hillis, Ineed for you to do something for me. Is

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