Blake Pierce - The Making of Riley Paige - 4 - Taking

  T A K I N G

  (THE MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE—BOOK 4)

  B L A K E P I E R C E

  Blake Pierce

  Blake Pierce is author of the bestselling RILEY PAGE mystery series,

  which includes fifteen books (and counting). Blake Pierce is also the author

  of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising thirteen books (and

  counting); of the AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising six books; of

  the KERI LOCKE mystery series, comprising five books; of the MAKING

  OF RILEY PAIGE mystery series, comprising five books (and counting); of

  the KATE WISE mystery series, comprising six books (and counting); of the

  CHLOE FINE psychological suspense mystery, comprising five books (and

  counting); and of the JESSE HUNT psychological suspense thriller series,

  comprising five books (and counting).

  ONCE GONE (a Riley Paige Mystery--Book #1), BEFORE HE KILLS (A Mackenzie White Mystery—Book 1), CAUSE TO KILL (An Avery Black Mystery—Book 1), A TRACE OF DEATH (A Keri Locke Mystery—Book 1), and WATCHING (The Making of Riley Paige—Book 1) are each available as a free download on Amazon!

  An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake

  loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit

  www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.

  Copyright © 2019 by Blake Pierce. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S.

  Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Jacket image Copyright Korionov, used under license from Shutterstock.com.

  BOOKS BY BLAKE PIERCE

  A JESSIE HUNT PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES

  THE PERFECT WIFE (Book #1)

  THE PERFECT BLOCK (Book #2)

  THE PERFECT HOUSE (Book #3)

  THE PERFECT SMILE (Book #4)

  THE PERFECT LIE (Book #5)

  CHLOE FINE PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE SERIES

  NEXT DOOR (Book #1)

  A NEIGHBOR’S LIE (Book #2)

  CUL DE SAC (Book #3)

  SILENT NEIGHBOR (Book #4)

  HOMECOMING (Book #5)

  TINTED WINDOWS (Book #6)

  KATE WISE MYSTERY SERIES

  IF SHE KNEW (Book #1)

  IF SHE SAW (Book #2)

  IF SHE RAN (Book #3)

  IF SHE HID (Book #4)

  IF SHE FLED (Book #5)

  IF SHE FEARED (Book #6)

  THE MAKING OF RILEY PAIGE SERIES

  WATCHING (Book #1)

  WAITING (Book #2)

  LURING (Book #3)

  TAKING (Book #4)

  STALKING (Book #5)

  RILEY PAIGE MYSTERY SERIES

  ONCE GONE (Book #1)

  ONCE TAKEN (Book #2)

  ONCE CRAVED (Book #3)

  ONCE LURED (Book #4)

  ONCE HUNTED (Book #5)

  ONCE PINED (Book #6)

  ONCE FORSAKEN (Book #7)

  ONCE COLD (Book #8)

  ONCE STALKED (Book #9)

  ONCE LOST (Book #10)

  ONCE BURIED (Book #11)

  ONCE BOUND (Book #12)

  ONCE TRAPPED (Book #13)

  ONCE DORMANT (Book #14)

  ONCE SHUNNED (Book #15)

  ONCE MISSED (Book #16)

  MACKENZIE WHITE MYSTERY SERIES

  BEFORE HE KILLS (Book #1)

  BEFORE HE SEES (Book #2)

  BEFORE HE COVETS (Book #3)

  BEFORE HE TAKES (Book #4)

  BEFORE HE NEEDS (Book #5)

  BEFORE HE FEELS (Book #6)

  BEFORE HE SINS (Book #7)

  BEFORE HE HUNTS (Book #8)

  BEFORE HE PREYS (Book #9)

  BEFORE HE LONGS (Book #10)

  BEFORE HE LAPSES (Book #11)

  BEFORE HE ENVIES (Book #12)

  BEFORE HE STALKS (Book #13)

  AVERY BLACK MYSTERY SERIES

  CAUSE TO KILL (Book #1)

  CAUSE TO RUN (Book #2)

  CAUSE TO HIDE (Book #3)

  CAUSE TO FEAR (Book #4)

  CAUSE TO SAVE (Book #5)

  CAUSE TO DREAD (Book #6)

  KERI LOCKE MYSTERY SERIES

  A TRACE OF DEATH (Book #1)

  A TRACE OF MURDER (Book #2)

  A TRACE OF VICE (Book #3)

  A TRACE OF CRIME (Book #4)

  A TRACE OF HOPE (Book #5)

  CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

  PROLOGUE

  When Brett Parma returned from her hike through the rough and barren

  Arizona hills, she didn’t get back into her little camping van right away. She

  leaned against the vehicle, gazing back the way she’d walked, and took a

  long breath of the dry, clean air. She was loving this place more and more by

  the minute.

  And even in December! she thought.

  Nothing could be more unlike the grim, windy winter cold back in North

  Platte, Nebraska. Of course, she knew that this whole area would be blazingly

  hot in the summer, even at this late time of day. Hiking would be out of the

  question then.

  She’d made the perfect choice for a three-week vacation—both the

  location and the time of year. The campgrounds weren’t at all crowded, like

  they would be during the tourist season. And it had been smart of her to

  modify her van into a simple camping vehicle.

  She’d desperately needed this vacation. Her job as a receptionist for the

  Hanson Family Medical Group had become more and more thankless every

  day. Almost everybody she dealt with, either on the phone or in person,

  seemed to be angry about something or other—insurance coverage,

  appointment times, the unavailability of certain doctors …
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  Any problem that I’m in no position to solve.

  All those troubles seemed blessedly far away right now. Brett found

  herself thinking …

  What if I just don’t go back?

  Wouldn’t it be cool to retire in her early thirties? Or maybe she could do

  something even crazier. What if she just kept right on driving on and on,

  hopping from campground to campground, perhaps finding her own

  sequestered places to stop for the night, maybe heading on down into

  Mexico, never to return?

  She laughed at herself.

  No, she wasn’t that kind of free spirit—not someone who could blithely

  ignore dangers and responsibilities in order to …

  What was the phrase?

  Oh, yes. Follow my bliss.

  She knew such an adventure just wasn’t in the cards for her. For one thing, her savings would give out before long, and where would she be then? What

  would she do for a living?

  Meanwhile, she’d just have to grab up as much bliss as she could during

  the coming days.

  And really, that didn’t seem like a bad thing at all.

  As she watched the sun starting to set over the rocky, rust-colored hills,

  she heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. She turned and saw a good-

  sized camper approaching.

  She was mildly surprised. She’d chosen this scenic back road because she

  guessed she’d have it pretty much to herself, especially at this time of year.

  She was even more surprised when the driver pulled the vehicle off the

  road and parked alongside her van. The much bigger camper dwarfed her

  own little makeshift vehicle, but then so did most of the others she saw in

  camping areas.

  It must be nice—all that luxury on wheels.

  The driver climbed down out of the vehicle. He was a nondescript but

  pleasant-looking man.

  He looked at Brett and said …

  “Hey, didn’t I see you back at the Wren’s Nest Campground?”

  Now that Brett thought about it, both the man and his vehicle looked

  somewhat familiar from where she’d been camping the night before. He

  looked like a lot of the guys she’d seen in the campgrounds, older than she

  was and obviously better off financially. Usually, a whole family was

  traveling along with them.

  “Maybe so,” she said.

  “I’m Pete,” the man said.

  “I’m Brett.”

  “Nice to meet you, Brett.”

  “Likewise,” Brett said. “Where are you headed?”

  “The Beavertail Campground,” Pete said.

  “Me too,” Brett said. “It looks to be about a ten-minute drive from here.”

  Pete nodded and smiled. “Yeah, that’s what I figure.”

  He walked over to the sign that said HIKING TRAIL and stood staring out

  into the hills for a moment.

  Then he looked at Brett and said, “You look like you just came in from

  hiking.”

  Brett knew it was a good guess, since she was still wearing her backpack.

  “That’s right,” she said.

  Pete squinted at her. “I might try the trail myself. Do you recommend it?”

  Brett was a little startled at the question.

  She said, “Um, it’s a really nice trail, but … it’s pretty late in the day,

  don’t you think? It’ll be getting dark soon.”

  Pete sighed with disappointment.

  “I guess that’s true,” he said. “Maybe I’ll come back this way tomorrow.”

  He stared at the hills again for a few moments, then walked back toward

  his camper.

  Then he turned and said to Brett, “Would you like to come inside for a

  beer?”

  Brett was both surprised and pleased by the offer. She’d brought nothing

  to drink on this trip except bottled water and a few soft drinks, and a nice

  cold beer sounded refreshing. Besides, she’d just love to get a look at the

  inside of that camper.

  “That would be nice,” she said.

  When he escorted her inside, the camper actually looked more spacious

  than it had from the outside. It had a good-sized kitchen area complete with a

  stove, and enough bedding for more than one person—a couple with a child

  or two, maybe.

  Nevertheless, this guy did seem to be traveling alone. Brett figured she’d

  get awfully spoiled, traveling alone in a camper like this. Her own vehicle

  wasn’t equipped with much of anything except a mattress.

  Pete pointed to a door and said, “You’ve been on the road for a while.

  Maybe you’d like to use my bathroom.”

  Brett stifled a little gasp.

  A real bathroom!

  Of course, it couldn’t be much bigger than a closet. But in comparison

  with restrooms in restaurants and gas stations and communal facilities at

  campgrounds, it would be a true luxury.

  “Thanks!” she said.

  She opened the door and stepped inside the cubicle. The door swung shut

  behind her, and she found herself in total darkness.

  Strange, she thought.

  Didn’t the bathroom at least have a window?

  She fumbled around the wall next to the door, feeling for a light switch,

  but couldn’t find any. Anyway, should she expect there to be any electricity

  as long as the camper wasn’t properly hooked up to a line?

  She turned to leave again, but now the door latch wouldn’t budge.

  It must be broken.

  She shyly called out …

  “Hey, I seem to be kind of stuck.”

  She got no reply.

  Starting to get worried now, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her

  cell phone and switched on its flashlight.

  As she flashed its beam around, she began to feel a touch of fear.

  This wasn’t a bathroom.

  Maybe it once had been, but now it was stripped of all the usual fixtures.

  She was standing in a plain rectangular space, its walls and ceiling lined

  with small square tiles with tiny pinholes.

  Acoustical tiles, she realized.

  Was the room soundproofed?

  Her fear grew stronger.

  As her eyes adjusted, she could see that the tiles were gouged and

  scratched.

  The walls were smeared and splattered with something red.

  Blood!

  When she heard the door latch start to rattle, she started screaming.

  But she knew it wouldn’t do any good.

  As the door began to open, Brett Parma knew she was going to die.

  CHAPTER ONE

  The enormous, ox-like man stepped up to the microphone and began to

  speak.

  “I am honored to address …”

  But his booming voice broke up into a shriek of feedback that rattled

  through the large auditorium.

  Riley Sweeney almost jumped out of her skin at the racket.

  The noise quickly faded, and a couple of seconds later she was chuckling

  nervously along with the rest of the FBI Academy graduates. FBI Director

  Bill Cormack was known to have a deep, booming, resonant voice that

  wreaked havoc on sound systems.

  He’d be better off turning off the microphone, Riley thought.

  With that gigantic voice of his, surely he could project to everyone in the

  audience without a lot of trouble.

  But with a self-deprecating grin, Director Cormack began to speak into the

  microphone aga
in, much more softly this time.

  “I am honored to address this year’s graduates from the FBI Academy

  here in Quantico. Congratulations to all of you for rising to all the challenges of the last eighteen weeks.”

  Riley was struck by those words.

  Eighteen weeks!

  If only I’d had a full eighteen weeks!

  She’d missed nearly two weeks, chasing down a brutal killer rather than

  participating in classes and training exercises here on base.

  Her mentor, Special Agent Jake Crivaro, had rather unceremoniously

  yanked her out of the Academy to work on a case in West Virginia—a truly

  grisly case of a killer who’d murdered his victims by wrapping them up in

  barbed wire.

  Catching up with her studies afterward had been hard. She had envied the

  other students for having more time than she did for such rigorous work. But

  Riley knew that not all of the original 200 or so students were graduating

  today. Some had failed and others had dropped out.

  She was proud of herself for succeeding in spite of everything.

  Riley turned her attention to what Director Cormack was saying.

  “I look back in awe over the journey that I and so many other agents have taken before you, and that you are about to embark upon today. I can tell you

  from personal experience that it’s a deeply rewarding journey—but

  sometimes less than a thankful one. Your selfless deeds won’t always be

  greeted with public gratitude.”

  He paused for a moment, as if reflecting on personal experience.

  Then he said, “Remember that few people outside the Bureau have much

  of an idea of your momentous responsibilities. You’ll be criticized for your

  work, your every mistake subjected to the utmost scrutiny, often in the glare

  of public media. When you fail to solve a crime, you’ll feel as though the

  whole world knows about it. When you succeed, you’ll often feel neglected

  and unappreciated.”

  He leaned forward a little and said almost in a whisper …

  “But always remember—you won’t be alone. You’re part of a family now

  —the proudest and most loyal and nurturing family anyone can imagine.

  There will always be someone here to comfort you in defeat and celebrate

  with you in triumph.”

  Riley felt a lump form in her throat at the mention of that word …