Page 31 of Once Broken
“Riley?Ann Marie?”Bill’s voice filled the car, the connection slightly fuzzy.“I just left the Dillard house in Georgetown.You need to hear this.”
The gravity in Bill’s voice sent a chill through Riley.“What did you find out?”
“Leo Dillard is more dangerous than we thought.I spoke with his mother, Elizabeth.She said that she and her husband had cut off Leo and hadn’t heard from him in five years.She also told me about Leo’s younger sister, Kelli.”
“I didn’t know he had a sister,” Riley said, navigating around a delivery truck double-parked on the narrow street.
“Had is the operative word,” Bill replied grimly.“She committed suicide five years ago, when she was nineteen.A freshman at Georgetown University.”
Ann Marie leaned closer to the phone.“And Leo was involved?”
“According to Elizabeth, he systematically destroyed his sister’s life—isolated her from friends, sabotaged her relationship with her boyfriend, created fake evidence of things she hadn’t done.And the whole time, he presented himself as her supportive brother, the one person she could trust.”
“That’s why they cut him off,” Riley murmured.
“Exactly.After Kelli’s death, Elizabeth found emails proving Leo had orchestrated everything.When confronted, he showed no remorse.Said his sister was ‘too weak for this world’ and he’d merely ‘accelerated the inevitable.’“
A heavy silence filled the car as Riley processed this information.The traffic light ahead turned yellow, then red.She stopped, staring through the windshield at nothing in particular.
“Elizabeth described him as fixating on authority figures, especially women,” Bill continued.“Said it started with teachers in preparatory school.He would develop intense obsessions, creating elaborate fantasies about their futures together.”
“Just like with me,” Riley said quietly.
The light turned green, but Riley didn’t immediately accelerate.A horn blared behind her, jolting her back to awareness.She eased the car forward.
“How’s April doing?”she asked, hating the tremor she couldn’t quite keep from her voice.
“I just got off the phone with her before I called you,” Bill reassured her.“She’s with her roommate and some friends.Campus security is aware of the situation, and they’ve increased patrols around her dorm and classroom buildings.”
“Good.”She paused, then asked the question that had been gnawing at her.“Bill, what can we actually do here?Leo dropped out of the Academy after my complaint, and while his interaction with April is disturbing, he hasn’t broken any laws or even made a direct threat.”
Bill’s sigh crackled through the speaker.“That’s the problem.Legally, our hands are tied until he actually does something.But given what happened to his sister...”
“We keep April safe,” Riley said firmly.“We make sure she’s never alone, that she stays in public places, that she varies her routines.”
“Already on it,” Bill confirmed.“I’ve set up a system where she checks in with me at regular intervals throughout the day.And I’ve spoken with campus security about monitoring their visitor logs and surveillance footage.”
Riley navigated a sharp turn, following Ann Marie’s gestured directions.“Do we have any leads on where Leo might be staying?Any property in his name?”
“I’m working on that now.The family cut him off financially, but Elizabeth mentioned he’d received a substantial inheritance from his grandfather.He’s not hurting for money, which means he could be anywhere, using any name.”
The frustration in Bill’s voice mirrored Riley’s own feelings.They were trained to hunt killers, to track predators through the most obscure trails of evidence.But Leo hadn’t killed anyone directly—yet.He had intentionally destroyed his sister, but with emotional weapons over a period of time.
“What’s your next move?”she asked.
“I’m heading back to Fredericksburg now.I’ll follow up with April in person and make sure she understands the seriousness of the situation.Then I’ll start digging into Leo’s financial records, see if I can trace any purchases or rental agreements.”
Riley checked the cross streets as they approached their destination.“Bill, be careful.If Leo is as methodical as his mother says, he might be watching April’s movements.That means he could spot you, too.”
“I’m always careful.How’s your case going?”
“We’re following a lead now—headed to meet a former actress who knew Roberta Rimes during the McCarthy era.There might be a connection between Veronica’s murder and her mother’s testimony before HUAC.”
“Old ghosts coming back to haunt the next generation,” Bill mused.“Sounds promising.Keep me posted.”
“I will.And Bill?Thank you for handling all this with April.I hate being so far away from her right now.”
“She’s like a daughter to me, too, Riley.You know that.”
