Once Lost

Riley had thrown it away in a frantic effort to free herself of him.

But for some reason, she hadn’t been able to bring herself to do the same with the thumb drive.

Why?

The financial information it contained was surely enough to at least limit Hatcher’s movements and activities.

It might just be enough to stop him for good.

It was a riddle, as were so many aspects of her relationship with Hatcher.

While Riley was sorting papers on her desk, her cell phone rang. It was a text message from an unknown number. Riley’s gasped when she saw what it said.

Did you think this would stop me? Everything is already moved. You can’t say you weren’t warned.

Riley found it hard to breathe.

Shane Hatcher, she thought.

CHAPTER THREE

Riley stared at the text message, panic rising inside her.

It wasn’t hard to guess what had happened. Jenn Roston had opened the file as soon as she and Riley had parted. Jenn had found out what was in it and had already gotten right to work trying to shut down Hatcher’s operation.

But in his message, Hatcher himself defiantly announced that Jenn hadn’t succeeded.

Everything is already moved.

Shane Hatcher was still at large, and he was angry. With his financial resources intact he might be more dangerous than ever.

I’ve got to answer him, she thought. I’ve got to reason with him.

But how? What could she possibly say that wouldn’t infuriate him more?

Then it occurred to her that Hatcher might not fully understand what was happening.

How could he know that it was Roston sabotaging his network, not Riley? Maybe she could make him understand at least that much.

Her hands shook as she typed in a reply.

Let me explain.

But when she tried to send the text, it was marked “undeliverable.”

Riley groaned with despair.

Exactly the same thing had happened the last time she’d tried to communicate with Hatcher. He’d sent her a cryptic message, then cut her off. She used to be able to communicate with Hatcher by video chat, text, and even phone calls. But those days were over.

Right now, she had no way at all of reaching him.

But he could still reach her.

The second sentence of his new message was especially chilling.

“You can’t say you weren’t warned.”

Riley flashed back to what he had written the last time she had communicated with him.

“You will live to regret it. Your family might not.”

Riley gasped and said aloud …

“My family!”

She fumbled with her cell phone as she punched in her home number. She heard it ring, then keep on ringing. Then the outgoing message came on, her own voice.

It was all Riley could do to keep from screaming.

Why wasn’t anyone answering? The schools were on spring break. Her kids were supposed to be home. And where was Riley’s live-in housekeeper, Gabriela?

Just before the outgoing message ended, she heard the voice of Jilly, the thirteen-year-old that Riley was in the process of trying to adopt. Jilly sounded breathless.

“Hey, sorry, Mom. Gabriela went to the grocery store. April and Liam and I were out in the backyard kicking a soccer ball around. We’re expecting Gabriela to get back any minute.”

Riley realized she’d been holding her breath. She made a conscious effort to start breathing again.

“Is everything all right?” she asked.

“Sure,” Jilly said with a shrug in her voice. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Riley struggled to calm herself down.

“Jilly, could you go and look out the front window for me?”

“OK,” Jilly said.

Riley heard a few footsteps.

“I’m looking,” Jilly said.

“Is the van with the FBI agents still out there?”

“Yeah. And so is the one in the alley. I just saw it when I was in the backyard. If that Shane Hatcher guy comes around, those guys are sure to catch him. Is something wrong? You’re kind of scaring me.”

Riley forced a laugh.

“No, nothing’s wrong. I’m just – being a mom, I guess.”