Wightman let out a weary sigh.
“Easier said than done,” he said, pointing. “The Haleys live overthat way, less than a half mile from here. But the way these streets curve andinterconnect here in Aurora Groves, she might have gotten there in severaldifferent ways. Nobody has any idea exactly which route she chose. Of courseall of them are just like this, an apparently safe route through theneighborhood.”
He hung his head, looking exhausted and discouraged. “It’s been ahell of a long day,” he said to Riley and Ann Marie. “If it’s all the same toyou, I’m heading home for the night.”
Riley nodded sympathetically. After the way Allison’s mother hadspoken to him just now, Riley was sure he was emotionally at the end of histether.
She said to him, “My partner will keep looking around for awhile. Just tell me the address of the Haleys’ home. Also, maybe you couldrecommend a motel where we can stay while we’re here.”
Wightman told them the information Riley wanted, then headed forhis police car. As she and Ann Marie walked away from the house, Riley glancedback and saw that Walker Danson was still standing on the porch. He was staringat them with his arms crossed.
Riley didn’t like the looks of him.
Worse, she didn’t like that he had some kind of relationship withCarl Walder.
Was Danson going to report her progress or lack of it back to theBAU chief, a man who was constantly looking for ways to discredit or even getrid of Riley?
Nothing bodes well, she thought.
CHAPTER EIGHT
As the two agents walked along a curving street that led awayfrom the Hillis home, Riley wasn’t feeling good about anything they’daccomplished today. They had just left a mother grieving over her daughter’sdeath and a politician who seemed likely to make trouble for theirinvestigation. They were making no progress on the case
Looking around at the comfortable, untroubled-lookingneighborhood, Riley turned her thoughts to the disappearance of Allison Hillis.
It happened on a night like this.
On that Halloween, nearly a year ago, the houses would havelooked much as they did now, with macabre Halloween decorations in many of thewindows, front porches, and yards.
As they walked along, they passed a pale ghostly apparitionfloating from a nearby tree. At another walkway, a standing figure suddenlycame to life, greeting them with an evil cackle and brightly lit eyes.
“O-o-oh,” Ann Marie squealed. Then she laughed. “I love the onesthat are activated by motion detectors. These people really go all out with decorations.”
Riley knew that her townhouse neighborhood would have some jack-o’-lanternsset out, mostly to indicate where kids might stop for treats. That seemedincredibly tame compared to this.
As they passed another house, a lighted life-sized plasticskeleton grinned at them from the yard. The white bones and bare skull echoed amore grisly sight they had encountered just hours ago. Apparently thatdecoration even made Ann Marie uncomfortable
“Well” the rookie said, “I guess this family would have no way ofknowing about …” Her voice trailed off for a moment. Then she became morecheerful. “Of course, on Halloween night, there would have been a lot of peopleout and about—all kinds of costumed kids roaming these streets knocking ondoors. It’s a perfectly charming neighborhood.”
Riley wasn’t feeling charmed. It was be getting darker out by themoment, and she found something odd about the way lawn lights illuminated theseimmaculate houses.
The houses look like toys, Riley realized.
Had the killer thought the same thing?
Had these houses seemed unreal to him—and perhaps the peopleinside as well?
Had that feeling of unreality made it easier for him to abductand kill a young woman from this neighborhood? Riley wished she had a strongersense of who the killer was and what had driven him.
Was he really threatening to kill again—and if so, where?
So many unanswered questions.
Meanwhile, she found that she didn’t know what to say to heryoung partner. Should she congratulate Ann Marie and perhaps even thank her forhow she’d handled Lauren Hillis a few moments ago?
She couldn’t make up her mind. She winced a little as sheremembered that moment when Ann Marie had taken the woman’s hand.
It was wholly inappropriate, she thought.
And yet the results had proven to be productive. Lauren hadopened up and answered questions much more readily than Riley had dared hope.
More than that, Ann Marie had helped the woman come to terms withthe simple fact of her daughter’s death.
Still, the whole episode had left Riley feeling uneasy. For onething, she felt troubled about Ann Marie’s sheer skill at handling such anemotionally fraught moment. Remembering how Ann Marie had spoken softly,patting the woman’s hand, something now occurred to Riley.
She hadn’t sensed any true empathy from her partner.
No real feeling.
Like a true mortician, Ann Marie had seemed to go through themotions of comforting a bereaved parent with consummate skill, and yet withoutfeeling anything herself. She couldn’t help but think of Ann Marie asemotionally shallow and insincere. She didn’t strike Riley as possessing thematurity needed to really succeed as a BAU agent. And yet …
Everybody seems to like her.
Everybody except me.
Riley doubted very much that she was going to warm up to thisrookie before this case was solved. And she found herself hoping that she’dnever have to work with her again.
Before Riley knew it, they’d arrived at the house where the Haleyfamily had held their Halloween party last year.
Ann Marie broke the silence again. “The sheriff is right. Wecould have taken any of several routes to get here.”
Riley stifled a sigh as she looked at the house. She realized she’dbeen distracted by her complicated feelings about her new partner. It wasn’tlike her to let her thoughts drift like that.
“What do we do now?” Ann Marie asked.
Riley shrugged. “Walk back to the car, I guess. Take a differentroute along the way. If we don’t see anything, we should probably call it anight. We can get a fresh start tomorrow morning.”
As Riley and Ann Marie wended their way back toward their car,Riley noticed a small, well-lit park that extended along a side street. Shefelt a tingle of interest.
Pointing, she said, “Let’s head over there.”
“Why?” Ann Marie said. “There’s no way the girl
