Waiting. Блейк Пирс

experience?

      She hadn’t thought of what had happened back at Lanton as “field experience.”

      John continued, “I mean, you actually helped track down and apprehend an actual serial killer. I can’t imagine what that must have been like. I really envy you.”

      Riley frowned and fell silent. She didn’t want to say so, but envy seemed like a terribly inappropriate emotion to feel about what she’d been through.

      What did John think had gone on during those terrible weeks in Lanton? Did he have any idea what it was like to find the bodies of two of her best friends, their throats brutally slashed?

      Did he know how horrified and grief-stricken she’d felt—and also how guilty?

      She was still haunted by the thought that her roommate, Trudy, would still be alive if Riley had just done a better job of watching out for her.

      And did he have any idea how terrified she’d been when she’d fallen into the killer’s clutches herself?

      Riley took a sip of her soft drink and poked at her food with her fork.

      Then she said, “It was … well, it wasn’t like you must think. It’s just something that happened.”

      John looked at her with real concern now.

      “I’m sorry,” he said. “I guess you don’t want to talk about it.”

      “Maybe some other time,” Riley said.

      An awkward silence fell. Not wanting to be rude, Riley started asking John questions about himself. He seemed reluctant to talk about his life and family, but Riley was able to draw him out a little.

      John’s parents were both prominent lawyers who were heavily involved in DC politics. Riley was impressed—not so much by John’s affluent background, but by how he’d chosen a different path from anyone else in his family. Instead of pursuing a prestigious career in law and politics, John had dedicated himself to a humbler life of service in law enforcement.

      A real idealist, Riley thought.

      She found herself contrasting him to Ryan, who was trying to put his humble background behind him by becoming a successful lawyer.

      Of course, she admired Ryan’s ambition. It was one of the things she loved about him. But she couldn’t help also admiring John for the choices he was making.

      As they continued talking, Riley sensed that John was putting on the charm for her.

      He’s flirting with me, she realized.

      She was a bit taken aback by that. Her left hand was in full view right there on the table, so surely he could see her new engagement ring.

      Should she mention that she was engaged?

      She felt as though that would be awkward somehow—especially if she was wrong.

      Maybe he’s not flirting with me at all.

      Soon John started asking questions about Riley, carefully staying away from the topic of the murders at Lanton. As usual, Riley avoided certain issues—her troubled relationship with her father, her rebellious teenage years, and especially how she’d watched her own mother get shot to death when she was a little girl.

      Also, it occurred to Riley that, unlike Ryan or John, she really didn’t have much to say about her hopes for the future.

      What does that say about me? she wondered.

      She finally did talk about her budding relationship with Ryan, and how they’d gotten engaged just yesterday—although she didn’t mention that she was pregnant. She didn’t notice any particular change in John’s behavior.

      I guess he’s just naturally charming that way, she thought.

      She found herself relieved at the thought that she’d jumped to conclusions, and he’d never been flirting with her after all.

      He was a nice guy, and she looked forward to getting to know him better. In fact, she felt pretty sure that John and Ryan would like each other. Maybe they could all get together sometime soon.

      When the interns finished their meals, Hoke Gilmer rounded them up and took them down a few floors to a large locker room that was to be their headquarters for the ten-week term. A younger agent who was assisting Gilmer assigned each of the interns a locker. Then all the interns sat down at the tables and chairs in the middle of the room, and the younger agent started handing out cell phones.

      Gilmer explained, “It’ll soon be the twenty-first century, and the FBI doesn’t like to be behind the latest technology. We won’t be passing out pagers this year. Some of you may have cell phones already, but we want you to have a separate one for FBI use. You’ll find instructions in your orientation packet.”

      Then Gilmer laughed as he added, “I hope you’ll have an easier time learning to use these than I did.”

      Some of the interns laughed as well as they claimed their new toys.

      Riley’s phone felt oddly small in her hand. She was used to larger house phones and had never used a cell phone before. Although she’d used computers at Lanton, and some of her friends there had cell phones, she still didn’t own one. Ryan already had both a computer and a cell phone, and he sometimes teased Riley about her old-fashioned ways.

      She hadn’t liked that very much. The truth was, the only reason she didn’t already have a computer or a cell phone yet was because she couldn’t afford it.

      This one looked almost exactly like Ryan’s—very simple, with a small screen for text messages, a number pad, and just three or four other buttons. Still, it felt strange to realize she didn’t yet know how to even make an ordinary phone call with it. She knew that it was also going to feel strange to be reachable by phone all the time, no matter where she happened to be.

      She reminded herself …

      I’m starting a whole new life.

      Riley noticed that a group of official-looking people, most of them men, had just filed into the locker room.

      Gilmer said, “Each of you will be shadowing an experienced special agent during your weeks here. They’ll start off by teaching you their own specialties—analyzing crime data, forensics work, computer lab work, and what have you. We’ll introduce you to them now, and they’ll take things from here.”

      As the younger agent matched up each of the interns with their supervising agent, Riley soon realized …

      There’s one less agent than interns.

      Sure enough, after the interns went away with their mentors, Riley found herself without a mentor of her own. She looked at Gilmer with perplexity.

      Gilmer smiled slightly and said, “You’ll find the agent you’ll be shadowing down the hall in room nineteen.”

      Feeling a little unsettled, Riley left the locker room and walked down the hall until she found the right room. She opened the door and saw that a short, barrel-chested, middle-aged man was sitting on a table.

      Riley gasped aloud as she recognized him.

      It was Special Agent Jake Crivaro—the agent she’d worked with back in Lanton, and who had saved her life.

      CHAPTER THREE

      Riley smiled when she recognized Special Agent Jake Crivaro. She had spent her morning among strangers and she was especially glad to see this familiar face.

      I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, she thought.

      After all, she remembered what he’d told her back in Lanton, when he’d handed her papers for the Honors Program …

      “I’m eligible for retirement, but I might stay on for a while to help someone like you get started.”

      He must have specifically requested to be Riley’s mentor for her internship.

      But Riley’s smile quickly faded when