Read Online Forgotten Secrets by Robin Perini - Free Book Online
Authors: Robin Perini
Tags: BluA
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five-thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle three-quarters finished and a half-empty shot glass. The puzzle pictured a bowl full of colored marbles, each piece unrelated to any other.
A lot like Madison’s case.
She eyed the three-quarters-full tequila bottle sitting on a small, empty spot of the oak table. She’d intended to make a bigger dent. She hadn’t even lasted long enough to make a respectable stab at getting drunk.
Riley groaned and squinted at the wall clock. A little after eight. She had no idea what time she’d finally succumbed to sleep. The way her skull pounded, not long enough.
She let her head fall back against the sofa pillow and threw her good arm over her eyes, blocking out the light. Not only was it Saturday, but she had nowhere to be for a week. Well, she might not have access to the federal databases, but she had other sources of information.
She’d learned a thing or two at the FBI. This week would give her the time to revisit her sister’s case from the beginning. Tom would never have to know.
A familiar buzz sounded, the vibration humming through the sofa cushions. OK, if she were paranoid, she’d wonder if Tom had read her mind.
No one else would call her this early . . . unless . . . She shoved her hand into the side of the couch, came upon what she hoped was stale popcorn, and after a few odd textures she didn’t want to think about, gripped the cool rectangle that was her phone.
She snagged it on the third ring and scooped it up.
The moment her eyes focused on the screen her heart did that crazy flip-flop she tried to ignore. “Thayne? You’ve broken our Friday night rule, but I’m really glad you—”
“Riley.”
His low voice sent a shiver, but not one of anticipation. She heard no seductive smile or teasing lilt behind Thayne’s voice, only a solemn timbre. Like nothing she’d heard before.
That horrible sense of foreboding she’d felt more times than she wanted to admit shuddered down her neck and across her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
Thayne let out a long, slow breath.
Her breathing grew shallow. She could barely form the words. “Are you hurt?”
“I need your help. My sister’s been kidnapped.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Thayne searched the clear Wyoming sky south of the Singing River Municipal Airport for the Cessna Caravan carrying Riley. For the last ten hours, the entire town had turned up in an all-out effort to look for Cheyenne. Even the Rivertons had provided a plane. First to search, and a couple of hours ago to pick up Riley from Denver so she could arrive before dark.
Despite the hundreds of pairs of eyes here and in the surrounding counties, they were no better off now than they’d been this morning—except maybe checking off grids from the search area. They’d found no trace of Cheyenne since discovering her phone.
Thayne shielded his eyes, scanning the skies. A speck to the southeast appeared, growing larger by the second.
Riley.
After calling, he couldn’t stop wondering if he’d jumped ahead of himself. Each and every hour, he kept expecting they would find his sister or that she’d find a way to get in touch. Right now he was glad he hadn’t waited.
The buzz from the small plane’s prop grew louder. Finally, the Cessna landed on the single runway with a few bounces and taxied toward the hangar.
In a few moments, he’d see her for the first time since they’d parted at the Jackson Hole airport a year ago, with a vague promise to keep in touch. The kind of promise used to make a permanent good-bye less awkward.
Except five days later—Friday night at ten eastern time—Thayne had been cooling his heels in a hangar waiting to jump on a cargo plane to Afghanistan, and he’d called her. Just to check in that she’d made it home, he’d tried to convince himself. She’d picked up and made him laugh, but more than that, she’d given him someone to miss.
Somehow that first Friday night chat had turned into a standing date—if he
A lot like Madison’s case.
She eyed the three-quarters-full tequila bottle sitting on a small, empty spot of the oak table. She’d intended to make a bigger dent. She hadn’t even lasted long enough to make a respectable stab at getting drunk.
Riley groaned and squinted at the wall clock. A little after eight. She had no idea what time she’d finally succumbed to sleep. The way her skull pounded, not long enough.
She let her head fall back against the sofa pillow and threw her good arm over her eyes, blocking out the light. Not only was it Saturday, but she had nowhere to be for a week. Well, she might not have access to the federal databases, but she had other sources of information.
She’d learned a thing or two at the FBI. This week would give her the time to revisit her sister’s case from the beginning. Tom would never have to know.
A familiar buzz sounded, the vibration humming through the sofa cushions. OK, if she were paranoid, she’d wonder if Tom had read her mind.
No one else would call her this early . . . unless . . . She shoved her hand into the side of the couch, came upon what she hoped was stale popcorn, and after a few odd textures she didn’t want to think about, gripped the cool rectangle that was her phone.
She snagged it on the third ring and scooped it up.
The moment her eyes focused on the screen her heart did that crazy flip-flop she tried to ignore. “Thayne? You’ve broken our Friday night rule, but I’m really glad you—”
“Riley.”
His low voice sent a shiver, but not one of anticipation. She heard no seductive smile or teasing lilt behind Thayne’s voice, only a solemn timbre. Like nothing she’d heard before.
That horrible sense of foreboding she’d felt more times than she wanted to admit shuddered down her neck and across her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
Thayne let out a long, slow breath.
Her breathing grew shallow. She could barely form the words. “Are you hurt?”
“I need your help. My sister’s been kidnapped.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Thayne searched the clear Wyoming sky south of the Singing River Municipal Airport for the Cessna Caravan carrying Riley. For the last ten hours, the entire town had turned up in an all-out effort to look for Cheyenne. Even the Rivertons had provided a plane. First to search, and a couple of hours ago to pick up Riley from Denver so she could arrive before dark.
Despite the hundreds of pairs of eyes here and in the surrounding counties, they were no better off now than they’d been this morning—except maybe checking off grids from the search area. They’d found no trace of Cheyenne since discovering her phone.
Thayne shielded his eyes, scanning the skies. A speck to the southeast appeared, growing larger by the second.
Riley.
After calling, he couldn’t stop wondering if he’d jumped ahead of himself. Each and every hour, he kept expecting they would find his sister or that she’d find a way to get in touch. Right now he was glad he hadn’t waited.
The buzz from the small plane’s prop grew louder. Finally, the Cessna landed on the single runway with a few bounces and taxied toward the hangar.
In a few moments, he’d see her for the first time since they’d parted at the Jackson Hole airport a year ago, with a vague promise to keep in touch. The kind of promise used to make a permanent good-bye less awkward.
Except five days later—Friday night at ten eastern time—Thayne had been cooling his heels in a hangar waiting to jump on a cargo plane to Afghanistan, and he’d called her. Just to check in that she’d made it home, he’d tried to convince himself. She’d picked up and made him laugh, but more than that, she’d given him someone to miss.
Somehow that first Friday night chat had turned into a standing date—if he
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