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Riley couldn’t help wondering …

Is he mad at me or something?

Agent Crivaro had barely spoken to her as he drove them from Quantico to the Reagan Airport.

But why …?

She knew Crivaro could be gruff, impatient, and even angry whenever she made mistakes or disobeyed orders—which unfortunately had been all too often. But what could she possibly have done wrong during the short time they’d been together this morning?

He’d just rushed her out of the BAU offices without much explanation, not even giving time to stop and make a private call to Ryan. Of course, now Ryan was mad at her, and she realized he had some reason to be annoyed.

But what could be the problem with Agent Crivaro?

Maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with me, she thought hopefully.

Maybe something personal was bothering him.

In any case, Riley didn’t feel like it was a good idea to ask.

She just sat quietly in the car, trying to focus on the most amazing things about today—she was an FBI agent, she was on a case, and she was partnered with one of the most respected agents in the BAU.

When they got to the airport, Crivaro rushed them through the check-in. She had to hurry to keep up as they practically ran all the way to the gate.

Breathless from their dash through the concourse, they got there just in time for the last call for passengers on their flight. Riley remembered how Crivaro had looked at his watch when she’d arrived at his office and grumbled …

“It’s about time you got here.”

Now Riley understood why Crivaro had been so agitated about the time,

If they’d gotten to the gate a couple of minutes later, they would have missed the flight completely. She wished he had explained things to her instead of just expecting her to follow along without question.

He’d told her he had trouble working with partners. So, now that she was a partner and not just a trainee, what did that mean she’d be in for?

Riley reminded herself that Crivaro must have had to plan this trip hastily. He probably hadn’t known about it himself until the last minute.

This must be about something really urgent, she thought with a slight thrill of excitement.

After they boarded, Crivaro sat in a window seat and stared outside as the plane took off. Sitting next to him, Riley was still wondering what was on his mind and why they’d been in such a rush. When the plane reached cruising altitude, Crivaro tilted back his seat and kept staring out the window. The light on his face revealed lines etched by years of difficult cases.

Riley felt sure that whatever this one might be, she was going to learn a lot about tracking criminal behavior. When she’d worked with him before, she had been yanked out of whatever was supposed to be her normal routine—college, internship, Academy training. Now that she was actually assigned to the job, she’d have more time to understand what was going on.

But when would she find out what that was? Surely she also had more right to information now.

Finally she summoned up the courage to ask him …

“Uh, are you going to tell me anything about the case we’ll be working on?”

Crivaro’s lips twisted a little. He looked as though he wasn’t sure how to answer that question.

Then he said, “Possibly—just possibly—we’ve got a serial killer to catch.”

Riley thought she detected more than a little skepticism in his voice, as if he didn’t believe any such thing.

Crivaro paused, then continued, “About a year ago, a young woman’s body was found on a hiking trail in Dyson Park in Colorado. Yesterday another woman’s body was found on another hiking trail in Arizona. She died under … well, similar circumstances. We’re going to Arizona to check and see if there’s really any connection.”

Crivaro looked out the window again, as if there were nothing more to say.

“Is there anything else?” Riley asked.

“Not really,” Crivaro said, still looking out the window.

Riley felt thoroughly confused now. This might be her first day on the job, but she knew perfectly well that Crivaro ought to know more than he was telling her. In fact, he ought to have had a folder full of materials to show her to bring her up to date. They should be poring over that stuff right now.

She asked, “What were the victims’ names?”

Crivaro shrugged slightly. “I don’t remember the name of the victim in Colorado. Nobody’s told me the name of the one in Arizona.”

Riley couldn’t believe her ears.

What does he mean, nobody’s told him?

What does he mean, he doesn’t remember?

Was he being secretive, or …?

Her eyes widened as she got a strong hunch about what was going on with him.

She said to Crivaro …

“This isn’t an official BAU case, is it?”

Crivaro said with a slight growl, “It doesn’t matter.”

Riley felt a flash of anger.

She said, “I kind of think it does matter, Agent Crivaro. This is my first day as a BAU agent. What am I even doing here? I think I have a right to know more than you’re telling me.”

Crivaro shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“Riley Sweeney, one of these days those instincts of yours are going to get you in serious trouble.”

Then he turned toward her in his seat. Keeping his voice low, he started to explain.

“Look, early this morning I got a call from an old friend. Harry Carnes is his name. He used to be a cop in LA, and we worked on a case together there. He retired and moved to Colorado. A year ago a woman got murdered near where he lived—the first of the two women I just mentioned. He tried to help out the local cops, but they never solved the case.”

“And?” Riley asked.

“And—Harry and his wife are traveling through the Southwest this winter, and he heard about this new murder in Arizona, and he thought there might be a connection with what happened in Colorado. So he called me to come out and check things out.”

Riley felt more baffled by the second.

“Identical murders,” she said. “So why isn’t this an FBI case?”

Crivaro shook his head and said, “I didn’t go through official channels. It doesn’t sound to me like something the FBI would get mixed up in. I don’t even know how identical they are, and some of the details just aren’t all that unusual anyhow. In fact, I suspect there’s probably no connection between the two murders at all.”

Riley squinted hard at Crivaro and said …

“So what you’re telling me is, you’re flying out to Arizona just as a favor to this old friend of yours.”

“You got it,” Crivaro said.

Riley struggled to make sense of what she was hearing.

She asked, “Why are you dragging me along?”

“You’re my partner,” Crivaro said.

“But this isn’t even a real case!”

Crivaro shrugged. “We don’t know that. Maybe we’ll find out that Harry’s right and the two murders are connected, and we have a real serial killer to hunt down. If so, it will wind up being a BAU case. You wouldn’t want to miss out on that, would you? Anyway, I thought … well, I thought maybe this would be a good chance for the two of us to, you know, get used to working with each other.”

Riley almost blurted aloud …

We’ve already worked three murder cases together!

But she quickly reminded herself that there had been plenty of friction between them during those early cases. And she hadn’t been an agent then.

Maybe Agent Crivaro was right.

Maybe they did need a little time to get used to working together in their new roles. But was this non-official and possibly even nonexistent case really the way to do it?

She asked, “Who’s paying for this trip, anyway?”

“I am, OK?” Crivaro grunted. “Of course I might get reimbursed if it turns out to be a real case.”

Riley said, “So you’re telling me—what? That we’re sort of on vacation together?”

Crivaro chuckled awkwardly. “Hey, the weather in Arizona this time of year is sure a lot nicer than it is in Virginia. Don’t bother to thank me for a change of scenery.”

“I don’t think this is funny,” Riley said, trying not to sound as irritated as she felt. “You could have at least told me from the start what this was all about.”

Crivaro said defensively, “Well, I was in kind of a rush. And it’s not like you were going to have any work to do in Quantico while I was gone. You might as well be with me, at least trying to get something done. We will be doing some investigating while we’re there. It might even be a good learning experience for you. So what’s the problem?”

“I’ll tell you what the problem is,” Riley said. “I’ve got a fiancé back home who’s pissed off that I’m taking off like this all of a sudden. Do you think he’s going to be less angry to hear I’m not even on a real case?”

Crivaro sighed guiltily. “And you’re going to tell him that?”

Riley was startled. She hadn’t even considered not telling Ryan all about her activities while she was away from him.

“Of course,” she snapped.

“Sorry about that,” Crivaro said. “I guess you’re right, I should have asked you first.”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Crivaro looked at her more sympathetically and said, “Look, if you want out of this whole thing, I’ll understand. When we get to Phoenix, you can catch the first flight back if you want. I’ll even pay for the ticket. Is that what you want to do?”

Riley felt startled anew by his offer, and she didn’t know what to say.

Shouldn’t I take him up on it? she wondered.

For a moment the choice seemed obvious. Crivaro had no business dragging her across the country on this possibly pointless errand. And heading straight back home might be a good way to patch things up with Ryan—especially if she wound up with another day or two before she really had to start work at Quantico. It might be just what she and Ryan needed.

Then she quickly remembered the anger in Ryan’s voice when he’d asked her over the phone …

“What about my car? How long am I going to have to do without it?”

Riley stifled a growl of irritation.

That damned car, she thought.

Not having that car around mattered more to Ryan than Riley not being there.

It really pissed her off.

Suddenly Riley didn’t feel in the mood to patch things up with Ryan. And as far as Crivaro was concerned …

Well, at least he’s showing some interest in me.

Besides, Crivaro was right about one thing. They’d surely be doing a little investigating, even if it was only to find out there was nothing to investigate. It might turn out to be a good experience after all. She might actually learn something.

Finally Riley said, “It’s OK. I’ll stay with you.”

Crivaro’s eyes brightened.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

Riley smirked a little and said, “I’ll let you know if I change my mind.”

Crivaro grinned. “Well, the offer still stands, if you want to get the hell away from me. At least as far as this trip is concerned. When we start working cases together officially, you’ll be stuck with me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Riley said.

Crivaro leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, apparently about to take a nap.

Riley took a flight magazine out of the seat pocket in front of her and started to browse through it.

She found herself mulling over what she’d just done.

I chose work over Ryan.

And to her surprise, she felt good about it.

What does that say about me? she wondered. And our future?

Then her mind turned to speculation about the present.

Arizona.

She really knew nothing about it.

She’d spent most of her life in the green hills of Virginia. What might such a different part of the country have in store for her?