She ended the call and said to Riley in her pleasant, chirpingvoice, “Sheriff Wightman is super glad we’re on our way. He wants to meet us atthe crime scene when we arrive in Winneway. The county medical examiner isthere right now examining the body.”
Ann Marie tapped her pencil against her notepad and added, “I’vegot the directions written down. Don’t worry, we won’t get lost. I’m great withdirections! I’ll get us there even if GPS doesn’t.”
I don’t doubt it, Riley thought.
This girl seemed to be nothing if not efficient and alert.
Then Ann Marie said, “Wow. I still can’t believe it. I feel likepinching myself to see if I’m awake. I mean, here I am on my first case afterweeks of pushing papers around at Quantico, and I’m partnering with SpecialAgent Riley Paige!”
She let out a musical laugh and added, “If only the guys at theacademy could see me now. People there talk about you all the time at the academy,you know. We studied your cases a lot. I hope you don’t mind my saying so but …Agent Paige, you are so brilliant! Everybody knows it, too.”
Riley knew she ought to feel flattered. Instead, she felt vaguelyuneasy.
She said to Ann Marie, “So how are things back at the academy?”
“Well, pretty exciting for a kid like me. But boring to you, I’msure.”
Ann Marie then began to chatter about her session at the academy—notso much about the curriculum or her studies, but stories and gossip about herfellow cadets, including accounts of her dating life during that time.
She was right about one thing, Riley thought, stifling asigh. It’s boring to me.
Riley found it strange to hear FBI Academy life described in suchsocial terms. Ann Marie had obviously had a great time there and had made allkinds of friends. Riley’s own experience many years back hadn’t been nearly so…
Well, cozy.
Like Ann Marie, Riley had been admitted to the FBI honors programand then to the academy partly on the basis of a strong recommendation from a respectedagent. That meant each of them had already demonstrated unusual skills, but italso meant that they had been placed over other qualified applicants. Evenworse, Riley had been pulled out of both programs to help her mentor withcritical cases. When she’d returned to her classes, she had felt isolated andeven disliked. She only had one close friend during her academy days—herroommate, Frankie Dow.
So it struck Riley as odd that this girl’s experience there hadbeen so different from her own.
People find her likeable, I guess.
Riley wasn’t feeling exactly the same way about her new partner,though she had to admit that probably wasn’t all Ann Marie’s fault. It wasn’tjust the girl’s hyper-cheerful personality that rubbed her the wrong way. Thetruth was, Riley felt more than a little blindsided by this arrangement. Shecouldn’t help thinking that partnering with anyone except Bill never worked outwell. Their most recent junior partners hadn’t gone on to the great FBI careersthey’d seemed destined for.
Riley had grown really fond of Lucy Vargas, and that had endedbadly. Her death had actually driven Bill to the brink of suicide.
Jenn Roston had been harder to get used to, but Riley and Jennhad come to trust each other with some pretty dark personal secrets.
Riley realized that she still wasn’t used to Jenn being gone.
Before long, she knew she’d turn around and expect to see Jenninstead of Ann Marie—expect Jenn’s strong, African-American features instead ofthis young woman’s pale, perfect complexion; expect Jenn’s confident,no-nonsense voice instead of all this birdlike chatter.
Riley stifled a sigh as Ann Marie continued to spout academygossip.
This isn’t going to be easy, she thought.
She remembered something Meredith had said.
“My guess is you’ll get to the bottom of this prank and driveback here tomorrow morning.”
Riley certainly hoped so.
Although today would be better.
She also hoped this partnership was going to be a one-time thing.
*
As Riley drove over the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge across thePotomac into Maryland, she felt as though the short trip was turning out to bea lot longer than it really should be. Ann Marie had stopped chattering, butshe’d turned the car radio to a station that played pop music that was much tooupbeat and silly for Riley’s taste. She was actually glad when the GPS systemoccasionally interrupted the sound with updates on their route.
Meanwhile, Riley’s thoughts kept wandering back to the meetingwith Meredith. She cringed as she remembered how Meredith had glowered at herand Bill.
“Is there something the two of you aren’t telling me?” he’dasked.
Of course, Meredith had been right to be suspicious. After all,his summons had interrupted her first real date with Bill—a development thatMeredith had every right to feel curious about.
And then we lied to him.
Both of us.
She shuddered to think of what the consequences of those liesmight eventually be. Worse, she felt guilty toward Meredith. He’d been anintelligent, fair, and respectful superior for years.
We should have told him the truth, Riley thought.
But what was the truth, exactly?
That was the real problem. She didn’t know what they could havetold Meredith. They hadn’t had time to sort it all out themselves.
Riley and Bill still didn’t know which way things were going intheir relationship. When they had a better idea, maybe they could sit down withMeredith and put the record straight. She hoped Meredith would be sympathetic,and perhaps even happy for them.
After about an hour on the road, they drove on into Winneway, anexpensive, history-conscious town. Riley found it incongruous to see that someof the big, handsome homes dating back to Colonial times were now flanked byswimming pools. Riley always found herself ill at ease in such affluentsurroundings. People she’d encountered in settings like that tended to treatFBI more like servants than like the professionals they had to be.
Finally the GPS informed them that they had arrived at IronwoodPark, a vast expanse of well-groomed grass spotted with wooded areas. Colorfulautumn leaves made the scene especially pleasant.
Riley turned onto a curving road that led into the park. Soonthey came upon a group of parked vehicles—a couple of police cars, a countysheriff’s car, and a medical examiner’s
