Page 25 of Once Hidden
“I can arrange for a video link between Lancaster and your tablet within the hour,” Meredith continued when Riley didn’t immediately respond.“The prison authorities are cooperating fully.”
“Fine.Set it up.But first, Ann Marie and I need to meet with Rawley and Hodge at the police station.“
“I’ll make the arrangements.Be careful, Agent Paige.”
Those last four words carried more weight than the casual farewell might suggest.Both of them knew the dangers of engaging with someone like Lancaster—the mind games, the manipulation, the potential for psychological trauma.
“Right,” Riley responded, then ended the call.
She set her phone down and started driving.After a few minutes, Ann Marie spoke up.“Do you really want to do this?”
Riley kept her eyes on the road.“What I want isn’t the issue at the moment.”
“It kind of is,” Ann Marie countered.“You’re the one who has to face him.”
A truck passed them going the opposite direction, its wind buffeting their vehicle momentarily.Riley used the brief distraction to gather her thoughts.
“We don’t even know for sure that Lancaster isn’t somehow involved in the current abductions,” she said finally.“The pattern similarities are...disturbing.But if his offer is real… we do need help with those codes.”
Ann Marie shifted in her seat to face Riley more directly.“This must stir up some troubling memories.Of Shane Hatcher, I mean.”
Though Ann Marie had never personally encountered Hatcher, Riley’s former connection with that killer was well-documented within the Bureau.The parallels were impossible to ignore—another brilliant, manipulative criminal offering assistance, but with hidden motives.
“It does,” Riley admitted.“But I won’t let that kind of thing happen again.”
“Of course, these circumstances are different,” Ann Marie offered.“Lancaster’s locked up at Red Onion.Maximum security.He can’t hurt anyone from there.”
Riley nearly laughed at the naiveté of the statement.“Physical distance doesn’t mean safety,” she said.“Not with someone like Lancaster.”
With men like Lancaster and Hatcher, their weapons were words, manipulation, the ability to burrow into your mind and plant seeds of doubt or fear.It was also true that Hatcher had broken out of maximum security at Sing Its.Now there was another killer reaching out from her past, another personal communication with darkness.
They turned onto the main street of the small town.The police station was now visible at the end of the block.
“If it helps,” Ann Marie said as they approached, “I’ll stay right outside the room while you talk to him.If anything feels wrong, just signal me.”
Riley appreciated the offer, though she knew that whatever damage Lancaster might inflict wouldn’t be visible to an observer.The wounds would be internal, psychological.Still, she was grateful for offer of support.
“Let’s talk with Rawley and Hodge first,” she said, pulling into a parking space.“Then I’ll deal with Lancaster.”
As she stepped out of the car, Riley took a deep breath of the warm afternoon air, steeling herself for whatever game Timothy Lancaster intended to play.
The Talomaska Crossing police station hummed with activity as the two agents stepped through the front doors.Officers moved between desks, phones rang persistently, and the air carried that familiar blend of coffee and disinfectant that seemed universal to law enforcement buildings everywhere.Riley spotted Chief Rawley and Captain Hodge standing near a corridor that likely led to the interrogation rooms, their expressions grim as they conferred in low voices.
Rawley noticed them first, raising a hand in acknowledgment before stepping toward them.“Agents.We’ve got Alstead in custody.He’s been processed and is waiting in interrogation room two.”
“Has he said anything?”Riley asked.
“Just demands for a lawyer,” Hodge replied.“One’s on the way so we have to wait for that, but we thought you’d want to be part of the questioning.”
“Yes,” Riley said, then hesitated.“There’s been another development that I should take care of in the meantime.We’ve got a source in Red Onion State Prison who is offering to help with this case—Timothy Lancaster.He claims he can help crack the codes.”
“Timothy Lancaster?”Rawley’s eyebrows shot up.“The math teacher killer from last year?”
“The same,” Riley confirmed, uncomfortable with the surprise in the chief’s eyes.“But he’ll only speak with me.Alone.”
Hodge and Rawley exchanged a glance that Riley couldn’t quite interpret—concern, perhaps, or skepticism.
“Is that wise?”Hodge asked, his voice low.
