Riley Paige stood looking out an open window of her townhouse. It was a lovely spring day, one of those storybook days with birds singing and flowers blooming. The air smelled fresh and clean. And yet a lurking darkness kept tugging at her.
She had the strange feeling that all this beauty was somehow terribly fragile.
That's why she kept her hands hanging at her sides, as if she were in a shop full of delicate china, and a single wrong move might break something lovely and expensive. Or maybe it was as if this perfect afternoon were just a paper-thin illusion that would fall away at the touch of a hand only to reveal…
What? Riley wondered.
The darkness of a world full of pain and terror and evil?
Or the darkness that lurked inside her own mind-the darkness of too many ugly thoughts and secrets?
A girlish voice interrupted Riley's musings.
"What are you thinking about, Mom?"
Riley turned around. She realized that she'd momentarily forgotten the other people in her living room.
The girl who had spoken was Jilly, the skinny thirteen-year-old Riley was in the process of trying to adopt.
"Nothing," Riley said in reply.
Her handsome former neighbor Blaine Hildreth smiled at her.
"You certainly seemed to be far away," he said.
Blaine had just arrived at Riley's home with his teenaged daughter, Crystal.
Riley said, "I guess I was just wondering where April is."
It was a matter of some concern. Riley's fifteen-year-old daughter hadn't come home from school yet. Didn't April know that they had plans to go to Blaine's restaurant for dinner shortly?
Crystal and Jilly grinned at each other mischievously.
"Oh, she'll be here soon," Jilly said.
"Any minute now, I'll bet," Crystal added.
Riley wondered what the girls knew that she didn't know. She hoped April wasn't in some sort of trouble. April had gone through a rebellious phase and had endured a lot of trauma a few months ago. But she seemed to be doing much better now.
Then Riley looked at the others and realized something.
"Blaine, Crystal-I haven't asked if you wanted something to drink. I have some ginger ale. And bourbon if you'd like that, Blaine."
"Ginger ale would be nice, thank you," Blaine said.
"For me too, please," Crystal said.
Jilly started to get up from her chair.
"I'll go get some," Jilly said.
"Oh, no, you don't need to," Riley said. "I'll get it."
Riley headed straight to the kitchen, rather pleased to have something like this to do. Serving refreshments would normally be the job of Gabriela, Riley's live-in Guatemalan housekeeper. But Gabriela had the day off and was visiting friends. Gabriela sometimes made Riley feel spoiled, and it was nice be able to fetch drinks for a change. It also kept Riley's mind focused on the pleasant present.
She poured glasses of ginger ale for Crystal and Blaine, and also for herself and Jilly.
As she carried the tray with the drinks back into the living room, Riley heard the front door open. Then she heard April's voice talking to someone she'd brought in with her.
Riley was handing out the drinks when April came in, followed by a boy about April's age. She looked surprised to see Blaine and Crystal.
"Oh!" April said with a gasp. "I didn't expect-"
Then April reddened with embarrassment.
"Omigod, I completely forgot! We were going out tonight! I'm so sorry!"
Jilly and Crystal were giggling. Now Riley understood the reason for their amusement. They knew already that April had a new boyfriend, and that she'd probably forgotten all about dinner because she was so preoccupied with him.
I remember what that was like, Riley thought, wistfully remembering her own adolescent crushes.
Pleased that April had brought him over to introduce him, Riley eyed the boy quickly. She immediately liked what she saw. Like April, he was tall, gangly, and rather awkward looking. He had bright red hair, freckles, sparkling blue eyes, and a goofy, amiable smile.
April said, "Mom, this is Liam Schweppe. Liam, this is my mom."
Liam offered Riley his hand to shake.
"Very pleased to meet you, Ms. Paige," he said.
His voice had an amusing teenaged-boy squawk to it that made Riley smile.
"You can call me Riley," she said.
April said, "Mom, Liam's-"
April stopped short, apparently not ready to say "my new boyfriend."
Instead she said, "He's captain of the high school chess team."
Riley's amusement was growing by the minute.
"So you're teaching April to play chess, I take it," she said.
"I'm trying," Liam said.
Riley couldn't help but chuckle a little. She was a pretty good chess player herself, and for years she'd been trying to get April interested in the game. But April had always rolled her eyes at the idea and considered chess to be perfectly uncool-a "mom thing" that couldn't possibly interest her.
Her attitude seemed to have changed now that a cute boy was involved.
Riley invited Liam to come and sit down with the others.
She told him, "I'd offer you something to drink, but we're all just getting ready to head out to dinner."
"The dinner that April forgot about," Liam said, his grin widening a little.
"That's right," Riley said. "Why don't you come too?"
April's blush deepened.
"Oh, Mom…" she began.
"'Oh, Mom' what?" Riley said.
"I'm sure Liam's got other plans," April said.
Riley laughed. She was obviously getting into "uncool mom" territory again. It seemed that April was ready to introduce Liam to her, but a family dinner was rushing things as far as she was concerned.
"What do you think, Liam?" Riley asked.
"Sounds great, thanks," Liam said. "Where are we going?"
"Blaine's Grill," Riley said.
Liam's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Oh, wow! I've heard great things about that place!"
It was Blaine Hildreth's turn to grin.
"Thanks," he said to Liam. "I'm Blaine. I own the restaurant."
Liam laughed.
"Cooler and cooler!" he said.
"Come on, let's all get going," Riley said.
*
A little while later, Riley was enjoying a delicious dinner with April, Jilly, Blaine, Crystal, and Liam. They were all sitting on the patio at Blaine's Grill, enjoying the lovely weather as well as the wonderful food.
Riley was talking about chess with Liam, discussing middle-game planning tactics. She was impressed by his knowledge of the game. She wondered how well she'd do in a game against him. She guessed that she'd probably lose. She was a good player, but he was already the captain of a high school chess team and he was still a sophomore. Besides, she'd had few opportunities to play the game lately.
He must be really good, she figured.
The thought pleased her a lot. Riley knew that April was brighter than she realized, and it was good that she had a boyfriend who challenged her.
As she and Liam talked, Riley found herself wondering just where this thing between him and April was going. There were just two months left of the school year. Would they part ways and lose interest in each other? Riley hoped not.
"What are you doing this summer, Liam?" Riley asked.
"Going to chess camp," Liam said. "Actually, I'm going to be a junior coach. I've been trying to talk April into coming too."
Riley glanced over at April.
"Why don't you go, April?" she asked.
April blushed again.
"I don't know," she said. "I was thinking about soccer camp. That might be more my speed. I'd probably be in way over my head at chess camp."
"Oh, no, you won't be!" Liam said. "There will be players from all levels-including some who are just starting to learn the game, like you. And it's right here in Fredericksburg, so you wouldn't have to leave home."
"I'll think about it," April said. "Right now I just want to focus on my grades."
Riley was glad Liam didn't seem to be distracting April from school. Still, Riley wished she'd consider going to the chess camp. But she knew she'd better not push it. That might turn it into another "uncool mom thing." It was best to leave it up to Liam to persuade her if he could.
Anyway, Riley was pleased to see April look so happy. Dark-haired with hazel eyes like Riley's own, sometimes April looked astonishingly grown up. Riley remembered that she'd chosen April's name because it was her own favorite month. And it was her favorite month because of days just like this.
Blaine looked up from his meal at Riley.
He said, "So tell us about this award you're going to get tomorrow, Riley."
It was Riley's turn to blush a little.
"It's no big deal," she said.
Jilly let out a squeal of protest.
"It is so a big deal!" Jilly said. "It's called the Award of Perseverance, and she's getting it because of that cold case she just solved. The boss of the whole FBI is going to give it to her."
Blaine's eyes widened.
"You mean Director Milner himself?" he said.
Riley was feeling truly awkward and self-conscious now.
She laughed nervously.
"That's not as impressive as it sounds," she said. "It's not a big trip for him to come to Quantico. He works right over in DC, you know."
Blaine's mouth dropped open with amazement.
Jilly said, "Blaine, April and I are getting out of school to see her get it. You and Crystal ought to come too."
Blaine and Crystal both said they'd love to come.
"OK, then," Riley said, still feeling embarrassed. "I hope it doesn't bore you. Anyway, that's not the biggest event tomorrow. Jilly's the star of the school play tomorrow night. That's a much bigger deal."
Now Jilly was blushing.
"I'm not the star, Mom," she said.
Riley laughed at Jilly's sudden coyness.
"Well, you're playing one of the title roles. You're Persephone in a play called Demeter and Persephone. Why don't you tell us the story?"
Jilly started telling the story of the Greek myth-shyly at first, but getting more enthusiastic about it as she continued. Riley felt more and more pleased. One of her girls was learning to play chess; the other was excited about Greek mythology.
Maybe things are looking up, she thought.
Her efforts at marriage and family had been troubled at best. Recently she'd made a bad mistake, trying to let her ex-husband, Ryan, back into the girls' lives and her own. Ryan had proved to be as incapable of commitment as ever.
But now?
Riley looked over at Blaine, and realized that he was already looking at her. He was smiling, and she smiled back. There was definitely a spark between them. They'd even danced and kissed during a date last month-their only one-on-one date so far. But Riley cringed a little inside as she remembered how awkwardly it had ended-with her running off to work on a case.
Blaine seemed to have forgiven her.
But where were things going between them?
Again, that lurking darkness welled up inside Riley.
Sooner or later, this happy illusion of family and friendship could give way to the reality of evil-to murder and cruelty and human monsters.
And she had a feeling, deep inside, that it was going to happen very soon.
