Riley was awakened early the next morning by the sound of her phone buzzing.
She groaned aloud as she shook herself awake.
The lull is over, she thought.
She looked at her phone and saw that she was right. It was a text message from her team chief at the BAU, Brent Meredith. It was a call to meet with him, and it was written in his typical terse style…
BAU 8:00
She looked at the time and realized she'd have to hurry to make it to the hastily planned appointment. Quantico was only a half-hour drive from home, but she needed to get out of here fast.
It took Riley just minutes to brush her teeth, comb her hair, get dressed, and rush downstairs.
Gabriela was already making breakfast in the kitchen.
"Is coffee ready?" Riley asked her.
"Sí," Gabriela said, and poured her a hot cup.
Riley sipped the coffee eagerly.
"You must leave without breakfast?" Gabriela asked her.
"I'm afraid so."
Gabriela handed her a bagel.
"Then take this with you. You must have something in your stomach."
Riley thanked Gabriela, gulped down some more of the coffee, and rushed out to her car.
During the short drive to Quantico, a peculiar feeling came over her.
She actually began to feel better than she had during the last few days, even slightly euphoric.
It was partly an adrenaline boost, of course, as her mind and body prepared to embark upon a new case.
But it was also something rather unsettling-a feeling that things were somehow getting back to normal.
Riley sighed at the realization.
She wondered-what did it mean that hunting monsters felt more normal to her than spending time with people she loved?
It can't be…well, normal, she thought.
Worse, it reminded her of something that her father, a brutal and bitter retired Marine officer, had told her before he died.
"You're a hunter. What folks call normal-it would kill you if you tried living it too long."
Riley wanted with all her heart for it not to be true.
But at times like now, she couldn't help but worry-were the roles of wife, mother, and friend impossible for her to fill?
Was it hopeless to even try?
Was "the hunt" the only thing she really had in life?
No, definitely not the only thing.
Surely not even the most important thing in her life.
Firmly, she put the unpleasant question out of her mind.
When she arrived at the BAU building, she parked and hurried inside and straight to Brent Meredith's office.
She saw that Jenn was already there, looking a lot more bright-eyed and awake than Riley felt. Riley knew that Jenn, like Bill, had an apartment in the town of Quantico, so she'd been in less of a rush to get here. But Riley also attributed some of Jenn's early-morning freshness to her youth.
Riley had been much the same as Jenn when she was younger-ready and eager to spring into action at a moment's notice, at any time of day or night, and able to go without sleep for extended intervals when the job demanded it.
Were those days slipping behind her?
It wasn't a pleasant thought, and it didn't brighten Riley's already uneasy mood.
Sitting at his desk, Brent Meredith cut a formidable figure as always, with his black, angular features, his broad frame, and his perpetual down-to-business attitude.
Riley sat down, and Meredith wasted no time getting to the point.
"There was a murder this morning. It happened on the public beach at the Belle Terre Nature Preserve. Are either of you familiar with the place?"
Jenn said, "I've been there a few times. A great place for hiking."
"I've been there too," Riley said.
Riley remembered the nature preserve pretty well. It was on the Chesapeake Bay, just a little more than a two-hour drive from Quantico. It had several hundred forested acres and a wide public beach on the bay. It was a popular area for outdoor types.
Meredith drummed his fingers on his desk.
"The victim was Todd Brier, a Lutheran pastor in nearby Sattler. He'd been buried alive on the beach."
Riley shuddered a little.
Buried alive!
She'd had nightmares about it, but she had never actually worked on a case involving this particular type of grisly murder.
Meredith continued, "Brier was found at about seven this morning, and it looked like he'd only been dead for about an hour."
Jenn asked, "What makes this an FBI case?"
Meredith said, "Brier's not the first victim. Yesterday another body was found nearby-a young woman named Courtney Wallace."
Riley suppressed a sigh.
"Don't tell me," she said. "Also buried alive."
"You've got it," Meredith said. "She was killed on one of the hiking trails at the same nature preserve, apparently also early in the morning. She was discovered later in the day when a hiker came across the disturbed earth and called park services."
Meredith leaned back in his chair and swiveled slightly back and forth.
He said, "So far, the local cops don't have any suspects or witnesses. Other than the locations and the MO, they don't have much of anything. Both victims were young, healthy people. There hasn't been time to find out if they were connected in any way, other than that they were both out there early in the morning."
Riley's mind clicked away as she tried to make sense of what she'd just heard. So far, she had too little to go on.
She asked, "Have the local cops closed off the area?"
Meredith nodded.
"They've closed the forested area near that trail and half of the beach to the public. I've told them not to move the body on the beach until my people get there."
"What about the woman's body?" Jenn asked.
"It's at the morgue in Sattler, the nearest city. The Tidewater District medical examiner is at the beach right now. I want the two of you to get down there as fast as you can. Take an FBI vehicle, something conspicuous. I'm hoping that if the FBI is visibly on the scene, it will at least slow this perpetrator down. My guess is that he isn't done killing yet."
Meredith glanced back and forth at Riley and Jenn.
"Any questions?" he asked.
Riley did have a question, but she didn't know whether she should ask it.
Finally she said, "Sir, I'd like to make a request."
"Well?" Meredith said, leaning back in his chair again.
"I'd like Special Agent Jeffreys to be assigned to this case."
Meredith's eyes narrowed.
"Jeffreys is on leave," he said. "I'm sure that you and Agent Roston here can handle this between the two of you."
"I'm sure we can," Riley said. "But…"
She hesitated.
"But what?" Meredith said.
Riley swallowed hard. She knew that Meredith didn't much like it when agents asked for personal favors.
She said, "I think he needs to get back to work, sir. I think it would do him good."
Meredith scowled and said nothing for a moment.
Then he said, "I won't officially assign him to the case. But if you want him to work with you on an informal basis, I've got no objection."
Riley thanked him, trying not to be too effusive lest he change his mind. Then she and Jenn requisitioned an official FBI SUV.
As Jenn started to drive south, Riley got out her cell phone and texted Bill.
I'm working on a new case with Roston. Chief says it's OK for U to join us. I want you to.
Riley waited for a few moments. Her heart beat a little faster when she saw that the message was marked "read."
Then she typed…
Can we count U in?
Again the message was marked "read," but there was no response.
Riley's spirits sank.
Maybe this isn't a good idea, she thought. Maybe it's still too soon.
She wished Bill would reply, if only to tell her no.
