“We’ve got our man, and we can prove it,” he’d snapped.
Riley hated to imagine how he’d react if they showed up again atthe police station this morning, having blatantly ignored his order to leave.But she felt much too certain about this not being over to pull out of town andleave the residents to face whatever happened. She wondered if there was thereanything she and Ann Marie could do quietly on their own, so Wightman might noteven know they were still in Winneway—at least not until they’d made a break inthe case.
Probably, she thought. There are always possibilities.
But right now, she just couldn’t think of what those things mightbe.
She felt completely stymied.
Every time she looked up from her coffee and her egg biscuit, shefound herself wishing she’d see Bill looking across the table at her instead ofAnn Marie. She and Bill always clicked especially well in moments like these,when tough decisions had to be made. If he were here right now, they’d bebrainstorming away about tactics and strategy without worrying about whether ornot every idea made much sense.
We’d probably have figured out what to do by now.
Instead, she had no familiar mind to bounce ideas off of. Sheknew that this silence really wasn’t Ann Marie’s fault. It took years tocultivate the easy, productive rapport she shared with Bill.
But now …
Are Bill and I ever going to work together again? Rileywondered.
She fought down a surge of melancholy. Now was no time to give into sadness. She had to think of something. And she had to get her young partnerinvolved in whatever plan she came up with.
Riley was still trying to think of something to say to Ann Mariewhen her phone buzzed.
For a moment, she hoped the call was from Bill. Then her heartsank when she saw who was actually calling.
It was Sheriff Wightman. Had he somehow found out she and AnnMarie had stayed in town in spite of his dismissing them? Was he calling togive them hell about it? Worse, was he going to report their disobedience toher superiors?
The last thing she needed right now was for Walder to find outabout some kind of confrontation on this job.
She was surprised at Wightman’s subdued tone when she took thecall.
“Agent Paige … I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.”
“Not at all,” Riley said, switching the call to speakerphone soAnn Marie could hear. At the moment there weren’t any other people close enoughto overhear whatever might be said.
Wightman spoke haltingly, “I’m afraid … I was a bit short withyou yesterday.”
Riley felt an urge to say, “Yes, you were.”
Instead she kept her mouth shut.
The sheriff said, “Look, I kept questioning Brad Cribbins longafter you left the station, way on into the night. I went after him in everysingle way I could possibly think of. I’m pretty good at questioning reluctantsuspects and …”
Wightman paused for a moment.
“And you were right,” he said. “He’s not our guy. I know it now.He would have cracked by now if he were. We can still hold him on the resistingarrest charges, but there’s no way he’s a viable suspect in the murders. Hisconnection with Allison Hillis really was coincidental, just like yousaid.”
Riley suddenly breathed much easier. She saw that Ann Mariereacted the same way.
Wightman added, “Look, I was just flat wrong, and I’m sorry. Andto make matters worse, I’ve got Senator Danson calling every few hours to checkon our progress with the case. I made the mistake yesterday of telling him Ithought we had our man, and when he called this morning, I had to tell himotherwise. He’s not happy. I understand it’s personal for him, now that hisniece’s body has been found, but that kind of nagging doesn’t help.”
Riley’s teeth clenched at the mention of Danson’s name. Sheremembered how he’d glowered at her and Ann Marie the day before yesterday.
“How soon do you expect to catch this killer?” he asked,and he’d apparently expected a better answer than Riley could give him.
The fact that Danson personally knew Carl Walder also worriedRiley. How long would it be before Danson contacted Walder to express hisdissatisfaction with how the case was going?
Has he maybe talked to Walder already? she wondered.
If so, she could expect to hear from her surly superior at anymoment.
And that was the very last thing she needed right now.
Wightman continued, “Anyway, I feel completely out of my depth,especially now that it’s Halloween. We’ve got to expect the killer to strikeagain tonight. I hate to ask you and your partner to drive back here fromQuantico but—”
Riley interrupted, “That’s not a problem. Agent Esmer and I neverleft Winneway. We stayed here overnight. We’re in the motel right now havingbreakfast.”
Riley heard Wightman let out a sigh of relief.
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said. “I’m hoping you’ve got some ideasabout what to do next. We don’t have a lot of time.”
Riley gulped. So far this morning, ideas had been hard to comeby.
Now would be a good time to have one, she thought.
She told Wightman, “I’m open to your thoughts.”
“Well, I don’t have thoughts so much as questions.You’ve worked on these kinds of cases more times than you can probably count.What are the biggest dangers we’re facing right now?”
Riley felt a familiar tingle. This was exactly the sort ofquestion she or Bill might ask if they were brainstorming together right now.And she had a pretty good idea of the answer.
“We might have one of two problems,” she said. “One is, ourkiller has been successful at getting by with murder. We don’t even know forhow long. He might well be feeling confident, and with good reason. He’s damnedsmart and he knows it. He might keep right on outwitting us for a long time. Alot more people might die.”
“That sounds bad,” Wightman said. “What’s the other problem?”
Riley scratched her chin and said, “The other is, he’ll get coldfeet. He knows that the game is getting riskier. I’m pretty sure he’ll killagain sooner or later. But there’s also a strong chance that he might godormant for a while. For years
