Riley got across the street during a break in traffic. She wascatching up with Ann Marie, but she was afraid that they both had fallenhopelessly behind the man they were pursuing. She decided to split from therookie’s direction and follow the runner’s other possible route between two ofthe houses. Moving fast again now, she crossed an open back yard and enteredanother alley.
For a moment, she stood face to face with Brad Cribbins. He wasabout ten feet away from her, catching his breath and watching to see if he wasstill under pursuit. The young man’s eyes widened with alarm, and he whirledand dashed away from her.
“Halt!” Riley yelled.
She wasn’t surprised that he disobeyed and kept right on running.She broke into a run after him but quickly realized that her knees were achingnow, slowing her down. She couldn’t pick up the speed she needed.
Just when Riley despaired of catching him, Ann Marie appearedfrom the far side of a garage, heading him off. Even though Brad was muchbigger and obviously stronger than Ann Marie, the young rookie threw herselfforward and tackled him.
Both of them sprawled writhing on the concrete, but then Bradrolled sharply away from Ann Marie. As he leapt to his feet, he drew a largehunting knife from an ankle sheaf.
Ann Marie also struggled up off the ground, but he kicked herbackward. By the time the rookie regained her balance, he was holding the knifein front of her face.
Riley came to a halt and reached for her Glock, but before shecould even get it out of its holster, she saw Ann Marie execute a shrewd andswift maneuver. She tore off her jacket and whipped it in front of her, usingit to knock Brad’s knife out of his hand.
With a roar of frustration, Brad turned to lunge for his fallenknife, but found himself facing the barrel of Riley’s gun.
“Put your hands above your head,” Riley growled. “You’re underarrest.”
Looking shocked, he did as she demanded.
Riley tossed her handcuffs to Ann Marie, who cuffed the surlysuspect as Riley read him his rights.
When she heard someone approaching behind her, she glanced backand saw that Sheriff Wightman had just arrived.
He said sheepishly, “Uh … I’m sorry I’m late.” Then he bent overgasping with his hands on his knees, looking completely exhausted.
Riley realized that he must have been trying to follow themthrough the obstacle course that Brad Cribbins had run. But the sheriff wasdefinitely not up to this sort of chase.
Chuckling hoarsely, Wightman said, “I’ve got to say, you two galscan be pretty hard to keep up with.”
“Thanks for coming to look for us,” Riley said with a tiredlaugh.
“Glad to oblige,” the sheriff said. “Not that you needed my help.I can see the two of you’ve got things pretty well under control.”
We sure do, Riley thought.
Moments later, Sheriff Wightman was escorting the handcuffed andsubdued Brad Cribbins toward his parked vehicle. Riley and Ann Marie agreed tomeet them at the police station.
As she walked alongside Ann Marie back toward their own car,Riley realized that she was limping slightly, but the rookie seemed as spry asever.
Riley told her, “You handled yourself pretty well back there.”
Ann Marie’s eyes glowed and face was flushed with excitement.
“Yeah, I guess I did, didn’t I?” she said.
“Where did you learn a move like that?” Riley asked.
Ann Marie let out a chuckle.
“Hey, I went to the academy too, you know. Besides that, I took afew Krav Maga classes back when I was in high school.”
Riley smiled. “Krav Maga. I should have known.”
She had first encountered that Israeli fighting system before shewas even an agent, when her father had decided she needed to know it to defendherself. His lessons had been rough, but she’d had more practice after shejoined the FBI. By the time her father had died, they hadn’t been on speakingterms, but the wild combination of boxing, wrestling, karate, and ruthlessstreet fighting techniques was built into her automatic defenses.
Her rookie partner had just used the classic Krav Maga tactic ofusing a makeshift weapon—her jacket—to thwart her opponent. And she had used itwell.
They climbed into their car and headed for the police station.
In a breathless, ecstatic voice, Ann Marie said, “Wow, that was …a rush! Does it always feel like that? Taking down a bad guy, I mean?”
Riley smiled. At the moment, she felt little else except achesand pains. She didn’t feel the least bit elated.
“Not always,” she said.
“Too bad,” Ann Marie said. “I could get to like it.”
As Riley continued to drive, she found herself unexpectedlycurious about her new partner. Meredith had said that Ann Marie skipped some ofthe requirements for entering the FBI Academy, just as Riley had. Like Riley,she had impressed a senior agent by solving a difficult case on her own, andhad been admitted based on recommendations.
Riley had been pushed into thinking about a serial killer becausehe had murdered her own college roommate and another friend. She had nearlybeen killed herself.
What, she wondered, had pushed Ann Marie? What kind of case hadshe solved?
Riley said, “Maybe it’s time you told me a little more aboutyourself, Ann Marie Esmer.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Driving close behind Sheriff Wightman’s car, Riley waited for AnnMarie to answer. But the young agent just turned and looked at Riley as if shehad no idea what she meant.
Of course she doesn’t, Riley realized.
She explained, “You got recruited because of a murder case yousolved. I’d like you to tell me about it.”
Ann Marie laughed a little.
“Oh, that,” she said. “That was just a silly thing.”
A “silly thing”? Riley wondered. She found it weird tothink of a murder case as a “silly thing.”
Ann Marie continued, “Anyway, it had to do with these twins inGeorgetown …”
Riley couldn’t help but interrupt.
“Twins? Do you mean the Bristow twins case?”
“Yeah, that one,” Ann Marie said. “So you’ve heard of it?”
“Yeah,” Riley said, trying not to sound too startled—or tooimpressed.
There had
