Waiting

And now, tomorrow, they were both off to their new jobs.

Riley said, “Maybe we need to do something special together.”

“Good idea,” Ryan said. “Maybe go to a movie and find a nice restaurant and …”

Riley laughed as she grabbed him by the hand and pulled him to his feet.

“I’ve got a better idea,” she said.

She pulled him into the bedroom, where they both fell laughing onto the bed.

CHAPTER TWO

Riley felt her breath and heartbeat quicken as she walked from the metro stop toward the massive white J. Edgar Hoover Building.

Why am I so nervous? she asked herself. After all, she had managed her first solo trip on a metro through a larger city than she had even visited before moving here.

She tried to convince herself that this wasn’t such a big change—that she was just going to school again, the same as she’d done in Lanton.

But she couldn’t help feeling awed and daunted. For one thing, the building was on Pennsylvania Avenue, right between the White House and the Capitol. She and Ryan had driven past the building earlier this week, but the reality was only now hitting her that she was going to be coming here to learn and work for the next ten weeks.

It seemed almost like a dream.

She walked through the front entrance and passed on through the lobby to the security gate. The guard on duty found her name on a list of visitors and gave her a clip-on identification card. He told her to take an elevator three floors down to a small auditorium.

When Riley found the auditorium and went inside, she was handed a packet of rules, regulations, and information that she was supposed to read later. She sat down among about twenty other interns who appeared to be in her general age range. She knew that some, like her, were recent college graduates; others were undergraduates who would be returning to college in the fall.

Most of the other interns were male, and all of them were well dressed. She felt a little insecure about her own pantsuit, which she’d bought at a thrift shop in Lanton. It was the best business-type outfit she had, and she hoped she looked sufficiently respectable.

Soon a clean-cut, middle-aged man stepped in front of the seated interns.

He said, “I’m Assistant Director Marion Connor, and I’m in charge of the FBI Honors Internship Summer Program. You should all be very proud to be here today. You are a very select and exceptional group, chosen from thousands of applicants …”

Riley gulped hard as he continued congratulating the group.

Thousands of applicants!

How strange it seemed. The truth was, she hadn’t put in an application at all. She’d simply been chosen for the program straight out of college.

Do I really belong here? she wondered.

Assistant Director Connor introduced the group to a younger agent—Hoke Gilmer, the training supervisor who had called Riley yesterday. Gilmer instructed the interns to stand and raise their right hands to take the FBI oath of office.

Riley felt herself choke up as she began to speak the words …

“I, Riley Sweeney, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic …”

She had to blink back a tear as she continued.

This is real, she told herself. This is really happening.

She had no idea what awaited her from this moment on.

But she felt sure that her life would never be the same.

*

After the ceremony, Hoke Gilmer took the students on a long tour of the J. Edgar Hoover Building. Riley grew more and more amazed at the size and complexity of the building, and at all the different activities that took place here. There were various exercise rooms, a basketball court, a medical clinic, a printing shop, many kinds of labs and computer rooms, a firing range, and even a morgue and a car repair shop.

It all boggled her mind.

When the tour was over, the group was taken to the cafeteria on the eighth floor. Riley felt exhausted as she put food on her tray—not so much from the miles of walking she’d done, but at everything she’d seen and tried to absorb.

How much of this wonderful facility could she hope to experience in the ten weeks she was to spend here? She wanted to learn everything she could, as fast as she possibly could.

And she wanted to get started right this very minute.

As she carried her tray looking for a place to eat, she felt strangely out of place. The other interns already seemed to be forming friendships and sitting in groups, chattering away excitedly about the day they were having. She told herself she ought to sit down among some of her young colleagues, introduce herself and get to know a few of them.

But she knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

Riley had always felt like something of an outsider, and making friends and fitting in had never come naturally for her.

And right now, she felt shyer than she could remember ever feeling.

And was it just her imagination, or were some of the interns glancing at her and whispering about her?

She had just decided to sit alone when she heard a voice next to her.

“You’re Riley Sweeney, aren’t you?”

She turned to see a young man who had caught her eye back in the auditorium and during the tour. She hadn’t been able to help noticing that he was remarkably good-looking—a bit taller than she was, rugged and athletic, with short curly hair and a pleasant smile. His suit looked expensive.

“Um, yes,” Riley said, suddenly feeling even more shy than before. “And you … ?”

“John Welch. I’m pleased to meet you. I’d offer to shake hands, but …”

He nodded at the trays they were both carrying and laughed a little.

“Would you care to sit with me?” he asked.

Riley hoped she wasn’t blushing.

“Sure,” she said.

They sat down across a table from each other and started eating.

Riley asked, “How did you know my name?”