Once Craved (a Riley Paige Mystery--Book #3) by Blake Pierce Read Free Book Online Page B

said.
    Bill brought up
several other photos of the crime scene, but they didn’t tell Riley much.
    “So what do you
think?” she said. “Are we dealing with a serial or aren’t we?”
    Bill’s knitted his
brow in thought.
    “I don’t know,” he
said. “Really, we’re just looking at a single murdered prostitute. Sure, other
prostitutes have disappeared in Phoenix. But that’s nothing new. That happens
routinely in every major city in the country.”
    The word “routinely”
struck an uncomfortable chord with Riley. How could the ongoing disappearance
of a certain class of women be considered “routine”? Still, she knew that what
Bill was saying was true.
    “When Meredith
phoned, he made it sound urgent,” she said. “And now he’s even giving us the
VIP treatment, flying us directly there on a BAU jet.” She thought back for a
moment. “His exact words were that his friend wanted us to look into it as
the work of a serial killer. But you sound like nobody’s sure it is a
serial.”
    Bill shrugged. “It
might not be. But Meredith seems to be really close to Nancy Holbrook’s
brother, Garrett Holbrook.”
    “Yeah,” Riley said. “He
told me they went to the academy together. But this whole thing is unusual.”
    Bill didn’t argue.
Riley leaned back in her seat and considered the situation. It seemed pretty
obvious that Meredith was bending FBI rules as a favor to a friend. That wasn’t
typical of Meredith at all.
    But this didn’t make
her think any less of her boss. Actually, she really admired his devotion to
his friend. She wondered …
    Is there anybody
I’d bend the rules for? Bill, maybe?
    He’d been more than
a partner over the years, and more than even a friend. Even so, Riley wasn’t
sure. And that made her wonder—just how close did she feel to any of her
coworkers these days, including Bill?
    But there didn’t
seem much point in thinking about it now. Riley closed her eyes and went to
sleep.
     
    *
     
    It was a bright
sunny day when they landed in Phoenix.
    As they got off the
jet, Bill nudged her and said, “Wow, great weather. Maybe at least we’ll get a
little vacation out of this trip.”
    Somehow, Riley
doubted that it was going to be a lot of fun. It had been a long time since she’d
taken a real vacation. Her last attempt at an outing in New York with April had
been cut short by the usual murder and mayhem that was such a big part of her
life.
    One of these
days, I need to get some real rest, she thought.
    A young local agent
met them at the plane and drove them to the Phoenix FBI field office, a
striking new modern building. As he pulled the car into the Bureau parking lot,
he commented, “Cool design, isn’t it? Even won some kind of award. Can you
guess what it’s supposed to look like?”
    Riley looked over
the facade. It was all straight, long rectangles and narrow vertical windows.
Everything was carefully placed and the pattern seemed familiar. She stopped
and stared at it for a moment.
    “DNA sequencing?”
she asked.
    “Yep,” the agent
said. “But I’ll bet you can’t guess what the rock maze over there looks like
from above.”
    But they walked into
the building before Riley or Bill could hazard a guess. Inside, Riley saw the
DNA motif repeated in the sharply patterned floor tiles. The agent led them
among severe-looking horizontal walls and partitions until they reached the
office of Special Agent in Charge Elgin Morley, then left them there.
    Riley and Bill
introduced themselves to Morley, a small, bookish man in his fifties with a
thick black mustache and round glasses. Another man was awaiting them in the
office. He was in his forties, tall, gaunt, and slightly hunched. Riley thought
he looked tired and depressed.
    Morley said, “Agents
Paige and Jeffreys, I’d like you to meet Agent Garrett Holbrook. His sister was
the victim who was found in Nimbo Lake.”
    Hands were shaken
all around, and the four agents sat down to talk.
    “Thank you