Page 64 of Once Hidden
Jay’s laughter filled the cab of the truck, but it wasn’t warm or comforting.It was hollow, tinged with sadness.“Tony, we’re already together.I’ve been with you every day since I died.I never left you.”
Tony felt tears burning behind his eyes.The certainty he’d felt moments ago was crumbling.
“But this way—” he started.
“This way nothing,” Jay interrupted.“Don’t you get it?If you drive over that cliff, if you die like this, you’ll kill me too.For good this time.Whatever part of me that’s still here with you—that will end.We’ll both be gone.”
Tony’s breath caught in his throat.The possibility had never occurred to him—that his desperate attempt to join Jay might instead destroy what remained of his twin.
*
Riley heard Tony’s argument with his invisible brother grow more heated.His face was contorted with confusion and pain.His mutterings became frantic whispers, punctuated by sharp gestures at the empty space beside him.Meanwhile, the railing at the edge of Raven’s Leap Cliff loomed ever larger through the windshield, and the truck’s engine roared as Tony’s foot pressed harder on the accelerator.
“No, you’re wrong,” Tony hissed, his eyes darting sideways.“This is how it has to be.”
“Listen to your brother, Tony!”Riley said sharply, taking a chance on what this killer had been hearing.
“Stop trying to confuse me!”Tony screamed at the empty space.“I’m doing this for you!”
The truck lurched as he floored the accelerator.Riley’s hands gripped the seat, her mind calculating desperately—jump out now and risk Tony setting off the device early?Wait and certainly die in the explosion he intended to accompany the fall?Every option seemed impossible.
The guardrail was close now.Twenty feet.Fifteen.Ten feet.
“OKAY, YOU WIN!”Tony shouted, slamming on the brakes with such force that Riley was thrown violently forward against her seat belt.The tires squealed in protest, leaving thick black streaks on the asphalt.The truck shuddered violently, skidding toward the edge.
They stopped mere feet from that guardrail.For a moment, there was only the sound of the idling engine and Tony’s ragged breathing.
Then he collapsed.His forehead pressed against the steering wheel as violent sobs wracked his body, years of grief and madness finally breaking through the surface.“I’m sorry,” he kept repeating, though Riley couldn’t tell if he was speaking to her or to Jay.
She moved carefully, deliberately, like approaching a wounded animal.
“Tony,” she said softly, “it’s over now.Jay was right.This isn’t the way.”
His tear-streaked face turned to her, naked vulnerability where calculation had been moments before.He looked younger, suddenly, lost.
“I need you to disconnect the phone from the explosives,” Riley continued, keeping her voice gentle but firm.“You can do that for Jay, can’t you?”
Tony’s movements were almost mechanical as he reached for the cellphone still on his wrist and punched three numbers.Then he unplugged the cable and turned off the cellphone and removed it from his wrist.With tears streaming down his cheeks he handed it to her.
Riley took it, exhaling a long breath.She reached forward and switched on the truck’s hazard lights, then located the two-way radio mounted on the dashboard.Without her earpiece, this was her only connection to the outside world.
“This is Special Agent Riley Paige,” she said into the radio.“The threat is contained.Please inform Sheriff Rich and his deputy they can approach the vehicle safely.Suspect is cooperating.”
The dispatcher’s voice crackled through, confirming receipt of her message.Riley kept her eyes on Tony, who sat motionless, staring at his hands.
In the distance, sirens wailed, growing louder.Only then did Riley allow her mind to shift from crisis negotiator back to FBI agent who had just wound up a case.
“We need to step outside now,” she said, opening her door slowly.She got out and moved around to the driver’s side.Tony offered no resistance as she helped him out of the truck.She secured his wrists behind his back with handcuffs, the metal clicking into place.
Only then did Riley allow her mind to shift from survival mode to what came next: debriefing, paperwork, for sure.But after all that, she could walk through her front door to her husband and daughters—to the life she’d nearly lost now waiting exactly where she’d left it.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Riley watched Ann Marie’s retreating figure disappear into the apartment building, then checked the time on her dashboard.Just after six.She’d make it home in time for dinner.
The case was closed.Sheriff Rich had actually clapped her on the shoulder, a gesture so unexpected that Riley had nearly flinched.Captain Hodge’s approval had been more restrained but equally meaningful.Dana Beaufort had repeatedly texted profound gratitude, variations on the same theme:Thank you for saving my life.I can’t ever repay you.Riley didn’t need repayment.The knowledge that Dana was alive—that was enough.
The booking process had been mercifully straightforward.Tony Bartlett had been docile, almost relieved, as they processed him into the system.His hands had trembled slightly as they took his fingerprints, his face a mask of exhaustion that only cracked when he spoke about his brother Jay.
