“But your dog sitter . . .”
“She has several dogs,” he said slowly. “Watson isn’t the kind of dog that would do well around that many dogs on a permanent basis. He loves his time at doggy daycare, and he loves Sylvia, but by the time I pick him up there or at her house, he’s had enough. He just wants to chill out with me. Get belly rubs and sit next to me on the couch while I watch TV. The only other animal I’ve ever seen him really connect to is your mother’s cat. I think he’s in love with Scutter.”
River chuckled. “Scutter is crazy about him too. But let’s not plan your demise for anytime soon, okay?”
He laughed. “I’m not planning on going anywhere for quite some time, but after the Strangler . . . well, you can’t help but think about the future.”
“I know what you mean. And in that vein, I’ve left my mother to you in my will.”
Tony stared at her for a moment, not knowing how to respond, until she burst out laughing. “You’re a horrible person,” he said, grinning. “A really horrible person.”
“I know. Now, let’s get out of here.”
“Good idea.”
As she put her coat on, River said, “I’m so excited that Watson will be here tomorrow. Don’t forget his bed this time. Last time he was annoyed at you all day long.”
“Yes, I know. He wouldn’t even look at me on the way home.”
River laughed again.
They left the office and went downstairs. As they got close to Tony’s SUV, he noticed the owner of TSRS near the large trash bin at one end of the parking lot. He appeared to be upset, swearing, and looking at something on the ground. River and Tony went to check on him and found him kicking at trash next to his car. It looked as if someone had purposely chucked trash out of the open container.
“Everything okay?” Tony asked.
The man looked up suddenly, and Tony got the impression they’d startled him.
“Sorry,” he said. “I get irritated when I find debris near my car. I think some homeless person was dumpster diving and just tossed trash everywhere. I’m afraid of finding scratches on the finish.” He stopped pushing trash away with his foot and sighed. “I feel badly for them, of course, but I’m also tired of having my car damaged. This isn’t the first time.”
Tony could understand his feelings. The same thing had happened to him, and he told the man this. “I finally quit parking over here. I know it’s closer to the door on our side of the building, but taking my car to the body shop was getting to be a pain.”
“I’ll start doing that. Thank you. I’m Thomas Sullivan, by the way. I own the Thomas Sullivan Recovery Service.”
Tony introduced himself and then River. “We’ve seen you in the building. You moved in not long ago?”
“Yes. I run a debt recovery company. Not a very popular business but important to my clients.”
“I can understand that. Well, nice to finally meet you.”
“You too. And you, Miss Ryland.”
River smiled. “River’s fine. We’ll see you around the building.”
“Yes.” Thomas walked back to his car, and Tony noticed he had a slight limp. Maybe that was why he wanted to park closer to the entrance near their side of the building. Tony felt bad for him, but there wasn’t much that could be done to change things. He wondered if his limp was a temporary injury. If it was permanent, he would probably have a disability tag, and he didn’t see one on his car.
Tony and River headed back to his SUV, and he unlocked the passenger side door for River. When they got inside, he apologized. “Boy, it’s cold.”
“Yes, it is.” She smiled. “So, we get a Jeffrey and a Thomas in the same day. I always wonder about men who use their formal names instead of the commonly used nickname. He doesn’t seem like a Tom though, does he? And Jeffrey doesn’t seem like a Jeff.”
Tony started the car and turned on the heater. “With Thomas it’s probably a business thing.”
“Debt recovery, huh? So, he’s the guy who calls people and threatens them if they don’t pay back a debt?”
Tony laughed. “I guess so. He’s not very intimidating.”
River was strangely silent and looked away from him, out the window.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. After my father left, we had some people like that call our house. My mother had to handle them. My father was the breadwinner, and he left us with the bills. My mother started working two jobs to keep us going. Eventually, Mom took him to court and got back child support. She was finally able to drop one of those jobs.”
“That’s the first time you’ve told me that,” Tony said. “You only mentioned that she was very shut down.”
“She was. She worked, came home, and went to bed. That was it. No time for Dan and me.” River sighed. “I don’t think I gave her enough credit for what she gave up. Maybe I was too focused on my own pain.”
“You were a child, River. That’s normal.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
Tony didn’t say anything else. It had been a tough day. She needed to process what she was feeling. She’d always been that way. Ever since he’d known her anyway.
They drove in silence the rest of the way to her house.
HE SAT IN HIS CAR AND WATCHED them drive away. He couldn’t stop laughing. Here he was, so close to them, but they had no idea. Tonight, he would deliver the old trunk to the place by the water where River Ryland would face her final moments. The clock was ticking, and soon he would finish what had been started.
He’d made other plans as well. As soon as River was dead, he would take his next victim. The little brunette at the antique shop would follow River into the water. They had to be washed clean. The way his mother had tried to wash his sins away. But he wouldn’t use scalding water the way she had. He still carried the scars from her cruelty.
Then after River and Megan had been dealt with, he would keep going. He would finally unleash the beast that growled inside him. And that monster would force St. Louis to cry for mercy.
