Once Cold by Blake Pierce

Author:Blake Pierce [Blake Pierce]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2017-05-22T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

Over dinner with Riley, Blaine found it hard to ignore the images that kept flickering through his mind. Riley seemed to be enjoying herself, and he certainly liked being with her again.

But he was haunted by darker times.

He still felt pain in his ribs that were broken on that awful day back in January, when he’d tried to stop a brutal monster from killing Riley’s daughter. Then he reminded himself of another terrible day, when Riley had rescued his daughter from the wrath of his ex-wife. Phoebe had come to his house drunk and dangerous when he wasn’t home, but Riley had charged in and stopped Phoebe from attacking poor Crystal.

He thought that Riley seemed to attract danger, but she also handled it well. Better than he ever could, he was sure. And he’d never expected to date an FBI agent, especially someone as forceful as this. But he found both her strength and absolutely genuineness exciting. Of course, she was also very good-looking, and in that red dress she was stunning tonight.

He was glad to see that Riley seemed to be enjoying herself, smiling and cheerful, and saying all kinds of good things about her grilled salmon.

Blaine also remembered a bittersweet moment months ago when he and Riley had commiserated about the trials and tribulations of parenthood—and for a lovely few seconds, Riley had taken his hand and he had squeezed hers back. That one was a good memory.

More than once, there had been a spark between them. Events and family considerations had separated them, but might that spark still be there?

Was he going to find out this evening?

Right now they were just finishing dessert—raspberry cheesecake prepared in his own Blaine’s Grill kitchen. Riley had been telling him all about the cold case she was working on. Despite his distracting memories, Blaine found it fascinating to hear how Riley was applying her mind to murders that had taken place a quarter of a century before.

Brilliance—that was another attribute that Blaine discovered he liked very much.

“How many cold cases have you worked on?” he asked.

“This is my first,” Riley said.

“How does it feel? In comparison to other cases, I mean.”

Riley seemed to mull over the question.

“It feels—strange. When we got started, I couldn’t shake a feeling of futility. Everything about it seemed so far away, hard to get hold of. The evidence seemed stale somehow, like it didn’t mean as much anymore. But before long …”

Blaine noticed that Riley shuddered a little.

“It feels like it all happened yesterday. Like it’s not a cold case at all. It’s just as urgent and pressing as any new case.”

She shrugged a little and added, “Justice is justice, I guess. And it’s better late than never.”

Blaine realized how much he’d missed having her as a neighbor.

Riley took another bite of her cheesecake and sighed with approval.

“This is the best cheesecake I’ve ever tasted. And raspberry—that’s my favorite!”

Blaine stifled a chuckle.

Yes, I know, he wanted to say.

Maybe later on he’d tell her how he knew.

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