She yelled, “No!” as loudly as she could, but it was nothing more than a quiet croak. Even if there were people outside, they couldn’t possibly have heard her.

She felt the needle in her neck and almost immediately the room began to grow dark. She looked for Audrey, but the other man had her and was leading her from the room.

Then the familiar darkness overcame her.

WHILE TONY WAS PICKING UP LUNCH, River decided to do some research on Jeffrey Bailey. He was clearly a devoted father, but they didn’t know much else about him. Besides checking out his job as an investment banker, she also pulled up articles about April’s mother. What she discovered surprised her. By the time Tony got back, she was waiting for him.

“Hey, I found something. Maybe it doesn’t mean anything, but we need to talk about it.”

“Sure, but let me put this down first,” he replied. Tony put one sack on his desk and handed the second one to River. “What do you want to drink?”

“Water’s fine.”

Tony grabbed two bottles of water from the mini-fridge and handed one to River. Then he sat down. As River was reaching into her bag, she looked down to see Watson staring up at her. He looked like he was smiling.

“Tell him to lay down,” Tony said firmly.

“Oh, Tony. I can’t do that. Can’t he have a couple of french fries?”

Tony shook his head. “You’re spoiling him, but I guess it’s okay.”

“Good. Thanks.” She took out one of her fries and handed it to the happy little dog. His tail thumped loudly against the floor.

River reached into her bag and pulled out her BBQ sandwich. It smelled so good. She smiled at Tony. “Once the Strangler’s partner is behind bars, I think I’m going to miss this. You picking up my lunch and bringing it to me.”

“I doubt that,” Tony said. “My guess is that you’ll feel much better not having me hanging around all the time.”

“No,” River said. “I’ll be happy to get out more, but I enjoy spending time with you.”

Tony smiled at her. “I like spending time with you too. Now, what is it you couldn’t wait to tell me?”

River had to stop and think for a moment. What was it? “Oh, yeah. I was doing some research on Jeffrey Bailey. We both know that most murders are committed by friends or family members of the victims.”

After eating a couple of fries, Tony nodded. “Sure. Didn’t get that kind of vibe from Jeffrey though, did you?”

“When did we start going by vibes?”

“Okay, okay,” Tony said. “I stand corrected.”

“What with Kevin’s murder, worrying about Nathan, and my dad coming to visit tomorrow, it’s like my brain has been going several different directions at once. We should have talked about him sooner.”

“He didn’t have to approach us,” Tony said. “If he had anything to do with April’s disappearance, why would he come here?”

“To make us suspicious of Nathan?”

Tony frowned. “What did you find that brought this up?”

“Did you know that Jeffrey isn’t April’s biological father? He adopted her after he married her mother. She was seven.”

“That doesn’t mean he doesn’t love her.”

“Of course, you’re right,” River said. “But let’s look at this logically, without emotion.”

Tony laughed. “Isn’t that what we always do?”

River felt Watson nudge her leg. She slipped him another fry.

“Not in this case, and I wonder if we should have. I feel like we’ve been looking at all these different cases, wondering if it could be the one that leads us to April. It’s like we’re trying to juggle a bunch of balls—keep them all in the air. But we may have missed what was right in front of us. I mean, Jeffrey isn’t her biological father. Her mother was murdered, and now April’s disappeared. April has a trust fund, which I think was left to her by her mother. My research revealed that Katherine Bailey came from a wealthy family. Jeffrey didn’t. Now he’s the trustee of all this money. With April gone . . .”

“If she’s declared deceased, the money will probably be his,” Tony said. “In fact, he’ll most likely inherit everything.”

“You’re right.” River shook her head. “We’ve been so busy going through these cases and looking at serial killers . . .”

“Hey, hold on a minute. We spent years in the FBI writing profiles. Trying to think like psychopaths. Out-of-the-box thinking has become our go to. It might take a while for us to learn how to pay attention to the obvious.”

“Yeah, maybe so.” River leaned forward in her chair. “So, what do we do now? How do we investigate Jeffrey Bailey?”

Tony shrugged. “I don’t know, but if her stepfather is involved, does that mean it’s more likely she’s alive? I mean, because he cares about her?”

“Maybe, although her mother dying makes me uncomfortable.”

Tony frowned. “Supposedly, he was cleared.”

“Maybe he hired someone to do it. He had access to his wife’s money.”

“True, but I’m sure the police investigated this possibility,” Tony said. “I don’t think we can assume Jeffrey killed his wife. And because he has money, isn’t it possible that he found a way to get April out of the picture instead of killing her?”

“I understand what you mean, but if he has her hidden away somewhere, just how long can that go on?”

Tony grunted. “You mean how long until he finally gives up and decides it’s too risky to keep her alive?”

CHAPTER

THIRTY-ONE

Tony and River were still discussing how to proceed with Jeffrey Bailey when Tony’s phone rang. While he took the call, River gave Watson one last fry. He seemed to understand that his special feast had come to an end and went back to his bed.

River began writing in a new section of her notebook. She started by making notes about Jeffrey, but she couldn’t figure out a way to continue. She would love to get a warrant for Jeffrey’s bank accounts, but there wasn’t any way for her and Tony to do that. When they worked for the FBI, they never had to think about things like that. At this point, she realized that all she and Tony could do was to turn their suspicions over to Detective Armbruster. She had to wonder if they were already investigating Jeffrey. She looked up Armbruster’s number and called him. He picked up right away. First, she asked about Nathan.

“He’s doing pretty well,” the detective said. “We’re talking about letting him go home but keeping an officer with him. Security has been beefed up even more at the apartment complex, and we feel it would not only be safe for him, but that he would be more relaxed.”

April’s first reaction was negative. Keeping Nathan in another location seemed the most secure decision. But she knew if she were in his shoes, she’d want to go home too. She felt certain the detective wouldn’t let him leave unless he was convinced Nathan wouldn’t be in danger.

“I need to talk to you about something else,” River said. “I feel a little silly even bringing this up. I know you’re investigating Kevin’s murder, and that you’re also looking into April Bailey’s podcasts in case there’s a connection. We gave you everything we have, and Tony has been emailing updates about her cases, some of which I’m sure you’ve already found on your own.”

“That’s true, and your updates have been helpful, but right now, we have to concentrate on Kevin’s murder. We’re trying to come up with possible suspects. People Kevin knew. April Bailey’s cold cases haven’t been our main focus.”

“So, you don’t think her podcasts might be connected to Kevin’s death?” River asked. “His connection to Nathan Hearn is obvious. Kevin was killed because he saw the man who threatened Nathan.”