Page 13 of Once Marked
He nodded again, swallowing hard.“Yes.Photos of Billie that were taken without her knowledge.”His voice cracked as he added, “Some of them were even taken while she was swimming.”
Ann Marie felt a chill at this revelation.“We need to find out who sent those photos,” she said.“Those messages need to go to FBI forensics.”
Luther hesitated, his shoulders tense with reluctance.“Do I really have to…" he asked, turning to the Sheriff.
Sheriff Beeler nodded solemnly.“There were others …” he began, leaving the rest unsaid but heavy with implication.
Ann Marie leaned forward slightly, her tone both firm and reassuring.“This is crucial for finding out who did this to Billie,” she explained.“Forensics will need full access to those emails.”She paused, meeting Luther's eyes with unwavering determination.“Sam Flores can trace them back to their source if anyone can.”
Luther sighed.“They’re still on her computer.I can bring it to the Sheriff.”
“Just get it to my office,” Beeler told him.“I'll make sure whatever is needed gets delivered straight to Quantico,” he assured them.
Riley agreed with a nod before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a card.She jotted down a number on it before handing it over to the sheriff.
“Have someone call this number when they have the computer,” she instructed him.“Ask directly for Sam Flores and tell him I said to call.”
“And who is Sam Flores?”Beeler asked, looking at the card.
“He’s part of our technical forensics department,” Riley explained patiently.“Make sure he gets access to Billie’s computer—full access.I’ll send him the case files, so he’ll understand the situation.”She met Luther’s gaze squarely as she added, “If anyone can trace those emails back to their source...it will be Sam.”
When the interview concluded, all that Ann Marie and her colleagues had learned was that Luther didn’t know of anyone who would want to do his wife harm—except possibly for the sender of those unsettling photos.The three investigators stepped outside the hotel, where a salty breeze carried the distant cry of seagulls, and people around them were clearly enjoying a bright fall day in Darnley.
Riley spoke up, “Let’s retrace the path Billie took on the way to Town Hall.”
“We checked that route already, right after the call came in about her going missing,” he reminded them.
“We’d like to go over it anyway,” Riley said.
Sheriff Beeler led them on their next errand, his gait marked by the faint limp that spoke of years on the job, injuries sustained, and battles fought.
The stretch from Seaspray Hotel to Town Hall was trodden by locals and tourists alike.Lined with quaint shops, these streets buzzed with life, as the gentle sea breeze carried the salty tang of the ocean and mingled with the scent of freshly baked bread from nearby bakeries.
As they retraced Billie’s steps, Ann Marie tried to imagine this scene through a lens of malice, wondering if any passerby, any casual glance, held a darker intent.She glanced at Riley, whose gaze swept over the landscape with the precision of a hawk.
“Notice anything?”Ann Marie ventured, hoping to glean even a fragment of insight from her partner’s process.Her mind replayed the morning’s scene in the crime scene tent, the image of Riley’s closed eyes.Ann Marie had seen that look before.It was more than mere concentration; it was as if she were connecting with something invisible to her companions.
“Just looking for patterns,” Riley replied cryptically, her eyes still scanning.“Sometimes they scream louder than words.”
Then, as they moved along one less active street, Riley suddenly veered towards an unremarkable alleyway.
“Agent Paige?”Ann Marie called softly, registering the shift in her partner’s posture.Riley had paused, her attention snagged by an alleyway so inconspicuous it seemed almost deliberately forgettable.With an unreadable expression, Riley stepped off the sidewalk, her movements marked with purpose.
Ann Marie exchanged a brief look with Beeler, one that conveyed both her confusion and unspoken trust in Riley’s instincts.Together, they trailed after the senior FBI agent, entering the shadowed passage between the buildings.The sudden coolness felt like stepping into another world, one hidden from the casual glances of passersby.
Riley crouched down, hovering just above the concrete.Ann Marie leaned closer, squinting at the ground, trying to decipher what had caught Riley’s eye amid the grime and detritus.She saw nothing but the expected wear and tear of an alley frequented by delivery trucks and hurried footsteps—just scuffs and stains whispering tales of routine urban life.
“Something there?”Ann Marie asked, keeping her voice low, as though afraid to disturb the silence that seemed to be speaking volumes to Riley.
Whispers had reached even the newest agents at the BAU about Riley Paige’s almost otherworldly intuition.A talent for delving into the psyche of killers, a skill that bordered on the paranormal.Ann Marie found herself both drawn to and wary of this aspect of her partner.There was an enigma there, a fascinating mystery that she wished she understood.
Ann Marie watched, her breath held in suspense, as Riley’s index finger hovered over the concrete before coming to rest beside a scuff mark.To Ann Marie, it was just another blemish on the alley’s skin, no different from the countless others they had stepped over.But Riley, with her eyes narrowing into slits of intense focus, saw something else entirely.
“See this?”Riley’s voice barely rose above a whisper, yet it cut through the morning hush with the sharpness of a blade.
Ann Marie crouched down beside her partner, trying to see what made this particular mark stand out, but it remained stubbornly indistinct.She felt a trickle of frustration at her own inability to perceive the subtleties that so clearly spoke to Riley.Standing behind her, Sheriff Beeler was remarkably silent.
“Right here,” Riley continued, straightening up.Her gaze seemed to penetrate the very fabric of the alleyway.“This is where it happened.Billie was lured into this alley and attacked.”
