The waiter arrived with a basket of bread and a small dish of herb butter. Bowman offered the basket to her first and was surprised to see her take a roll. His late wife had never eaten bread. She never ate steak.
Riley tore her roll in half and buttered both sides. She took a bite and Bowman found himself glad to see her eat. He set a roll on his plate but did not touch it. “That kind of disparity between grades and tests always makes me curious. So I did a little more checking on you.”
“Must have been a real slow morning for you, Bowman. Most people have better things to do than poke around in my boring life.”
Impatience hummed under her words. She wanted him to circle back to the original thread of questioning. But he was in no rush to deliver. Getting this woman to talk or open up would not be easy. Too many layers of ice. “You’re not curious about what I found?”
“I lived it, remember?” Again, her expression remained blank and showed no sign of reaction. She should have been a poker player. “Okay, let me have it. What did you find out about me?”
The southern drawl sugarcoated the words, but he suspected underneath lurked a screw you. She didn’t like him running this show. And though he sensed she itched to tell him to spit it out, she wouldn’t. Control was too important to Trooper Tatum.
“You come from a very wealthy family. After high school you moved to Virginia and worked at Duke’s diner while taking classes at the community college. When you turned twenty-two, you entered the state police academy. Most would consider that a very unexpected move for a girl who had her debut in New Orleans society.”
“I don’t worry about what most people think.” She bit into the roll, finishing the first half.
“What about your parents? They couldn’t have liked your change in direction.”
She sat back, carefully dusting the crumbs from her hands as if they were old memories. “The decision was mine.”
“Why not go to college and be the sorority girl?”
“How interesting would that have been?” She dabbed her lips with her napkin, a remnant from that old lost life of genteelness that he knew masked something dark. She hesitated before she spoke again. “I thought you checked me out. Are you coming up short?”
He considered telling her about his visit with her stepfather but decided against it. The news would add unnecessary fuel to the fire he suspected was burning behind her calm. “The details of your life before Virginia have been buried. It’s as if someone didn’t want anyone to know about your early years.”
“I think you’re being dramatic, Bowman. I was understandably upset after my mother’s passing, so I moved and switched schools. Very cut-and-dried.” A grin, which didn’t reach her eyes, curled her lips. “I enjoy being independent.”
“I’ll give you that.” Absently, he picked up the knife in the place setting and turned it over a couple of times. “At the police academy your scores were tops in academics, physical fitness, and marksmanship. You made dean’s list in college.”
“I’m a late bloomer. Get to the good stuff.”
Riley pushed the bread plate aside as the salad arrived. They ate in silence for a moment and he was glad for the interlude. If he thought he’d rattled her by showing up and telling her what he knew about her past, he was wrong.
Finally, when the steaks arrived, she said, “Make your point.”
He cut into his rare steak but then set his fork and knife down. “After I was transferred out of the New Orleans office, Shield received an envelope. No return address. Inside were five pictures of young girls. Four matched the Shark’s victims, but Shield never found a match for the fifth.”
Riley focused on eating her tenderloin, seemingly more worried about her food than him. “Okay.”
“I had my IT guy pull your high school photo for confirmation.”
Her fingers tightened slightly around her utensils.
Bowman reached in his pocket and pulled out her old picture. In that image, she wore her hair loose around her shoulders. Her smile was wide, her eyes bright. Showing no emotion, he removed a second picture, holding it up like a gambler did a winning card. “This is the picture of the girl we could never find.” He placed it beside her high school picture.
Riley’s silverware clanged against the plate. “It’s not a match.”
“Don’t lie to me or yourself.”
“Do you know how many people have brown hair and brown eyes, Mr. Bowman? Billions. I might have the same hair color as the victim’s, but I’m nobody’s victim and I’ve nothing to hide from you or anyone else.”
“I don’t buy it, Riley. I don’t. I think you were the one that escaped. I think the fact that Vicky Gilbert was killed and dumped in your area isn’t coincidence. The Shark is back, and he’s in Virginia for a reason.” Taking a breath, he softened the edges of his tone. “He’s coming for you.”
Very deliberately, she set her napkin to the side of her plate. “Thank you for the early dinner, but this fantasy story you’ve concocted is now boring me. I’ve work to do. Good luck with your case.”
He placed his hand on hers, stopping her from sliding out of the booth. Tension radiated from under her skin. “We can help each other, Riley.”
She glanced at his hand, as if she expected him to remove it. When he didn’t, she pulled it free. “I can solve this case by myself.”
“You won’t. Not because you aren’t smart but because this guy has been at it a long time and he’s stayed a few steps ahead of everyone.”
“You underestimate me.”
“I might,” he said, pulling his hand back. “I thought you were a police officer willing to do whatever it took to find her killer.”
“I am.”
“You’ll play ball as long as you can keep your secrets.”
“I don’t have secrets, Mr. Bowman.” Her clenched teeth practically ground the words to pulp.
“I’m not your enemy, Riley. I’m trying to save your life. If you can forget our history—”
“Mr. Bowman, I barely remember our history, so that’s not a factor. I don’t really know you or your agenda. You insinuate yourself into the search for Carter and now this case. I didn’t ask for your help last time, and I’m not asking now.”
“What more do you want to know about me?”
Slowly, she shook her head. “I don’t want to know anything more about you.”
“Feel free to check up on me, but do it quickly.”
“I suspect if I bothered to check, I’d find a few facts that don’t amount to much. For all I know, the Shark could be your client and this is one of the messes you’ve been hired to clean up.”
“We don’t take those kind of clients at Shield.”