Once Gone. Blake Pierce

ideal.

      “Did Reba say anything recently about being threatened?” Riley asked.

      “No,” Mrs. Newbrough said. “Not a word.”

      Riley observed that the Senator hadn’t said a word so far. She wondered why he was being so quiet. She needed to draw him out, but how?

      Now Robert spoke up.

      “She’d been through a messy divorce recently. Things got ugly between her and Paul over custody of their two kids.”

      “Oh, I never liked him,” Mrs. Newbrough said. “He had such a temper. Do you think that possibly—?” Her words trailed off.

      Riley shook her head.

      “Her ex-husband’s not a likely suspect,” she said.

      “Why on earth not?” Mrs. Newbrough asked.

      Riley weighed in her mind what she should and should not tell them.

      “You may have read that the killer struck before,” she said. “There was a similar victim near Daggett.”

      Mrs. Newbrough was becoming more agitated.

      “What’s any of this supposed to mean to us?”

      “We’re dealing with a serial killer,” Riley said. “There was nothing domestic about it. Your daughter may not have known the killer at all. There’s every likelihood that it wasn’t personal.”

      Mrs. Newbrough was sobbing now. Riley immediately regretted her choice of words.

      “Not personal?” Mrs. Newbrough almost shouted. “How could it be anything but personal?”

      Senator Newbrough spoke to his son.

      “Robert, please take your mother elsewhere and calm her down. I need to talk with Agent Paige alone.”

      Robert Newbrough obediently led his mother away. Senator Newbrough said nothing for a moment. He looked Riley steadily in the eyes. She was sure that he was accustomed to intimidating people with that stare of his. But it didn’t work especially well on her. She simply returned his gaze.

      At last, the Senator reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a letter-sized envelope. He walked over to her chair and handed it to her.

      “Here,” he said. Then he walked back to the couch and sat down again.

      “What’s this?” Riley asked.

      The Senator turned his gaze on her again.

      “Everything you need to know,” he said.

      Riley was now completely baffled.

      “May I open it?” she asked.

      “By all means.”

      Riley opened the envelope. It contained a single sheet of paper with two columns of names on it. She recognized some of them. Three or four were well-known reporters on the local TV news. Several others were prominent Virginia politicians. Riley was even more perplexed than before.

      “Who are these people?” she asked.

      “My enemies,” Senator Newbrough said in an even voice. “Probably not a comprehensive list. But those are the ones who matter. Somebody there is guilty.”

      Riley was completely dumbfounded now. She sat there and said nothing.

      “I’m not saying that anybody on that list killed my daughter directly, face to face,” he said. “But they sure as hell paid somebody to do it.”

      Riley spoke slowly and cautiously.

      “Senator, with all due respect, I believe I just said that your daughter’s killing probably wasn’t personal. There has already been one murder nearly identical to it.”

      “Are you saying that my daughter was targeted purely by coincidence?” the Senator asked.

      Yes, probably, Riley thought.

      But she knew better than to say so aloud.

      Before she could reply, he added, “Agent Paige, I’ve learned through hard experience not to believe in coincidences. I don’t know why or how, but my daughter’s death was political. And in politics, everything is personal. So don’t try to tell me it’s anything else but personal. It’s your job and the Bureau’s to find whoever is responsible and bring him to justice.”

      Riley took a long, deep breath. She studied the man’s face in minute detail. She could see it now. Senator Newbrough was a thorough narcissist.

      Not that I should be surprised, she thought.

      Riley understood something else. The Senator found it inconceivable that anything in his life wasn’t specifically about him, and him alone. Even his daughter’s murder was about him. Reba had simply gotten caught between him and somebody who hated him. He probably really believed that.

      “Sir,” Riley began, “with all due respect, I don’t think – ”

      “I don’t want you to think,” Newbrough said. “You’ve got all the information you need right in front of you.”

      They held each other’s gaze for several seconds.

      “Agent Paige,” the Senator finally said, “I get the feeling we’re not on the same wavelength. That’s a shame. You may not know it, but I’ve got good friends in the upper echelons of the agency. Some of them owe me favors. I’m going to get in touch with them right away. I need somebody on this case who will get the job done.”

      Riley sat there, shocked, not knowing what to say. Was this man really that delusional?

      The Senator stood.

      “I’ll send somebody to see you out, Agent Paige,” he said. “I’m sorry we didn’t see eye to eye.”

      Senator Newbrough walked out of the room, leaving Riley sitting there alone. Her mouth hung open with shock. The man was narcissistic, all right. But she knew there was more to it than that.

      There was something the Senator was hiding.

      And no matter what it took, she would find out what it was.

      Chapter 10

      The first thing that caught Riley’s eye was the doll – the same naked doll she had found earlier that day in that tree near Daggett, in exactly the same pose. For a moment, she was startled to see it sitting there in the FBI forensics lab surrounded by an array of high-tech equipment. It looked weirdly out of place to Riley – like some kind of sick little shrine to a bygone non-digital age.

      Now the doll was just another item of evidence, protected by a plastic bag. She knew that a team had been sent to retrieve it as soon as she’d called it in from the scene. Even so, it was a jarring sight.

      Special Agent Meredith stepped forward to greet her.

      “It’s been a long time, Agent Paige,” he said warmly. “Welcome back.”

      “It’s good to be back, sir,” Riley said.

      She walked over to the table to sit with Bill and the lab tech Flores. Whatever qualms and uncertainties she might be feeling, it really did feel good to see Meredith again. She liked his gruff, no-nonsense style, and he’d always treated her with respect and consideration.

      “How did things go with the Senator?” Meredith asked.

      “Not good, sir,” she replied.

      Riley noticed a twitch of annoyance in her boss’s face.

      “Do you think he’s going to give us any trouble?”

      “I’m almost sure of it. I’m sorry, sir.”

      Meredith nodded sympathetically.

      “I’m sure it’s not your fault,” he said.

      Riley guessed that he had a pretty good idea of what had happened. Senator Newbrough’s behavior was undoubtedly typical of narcissistic politicians. Meredith was probably all