After River and Tony finished their sandwiches, River took their plates into the kitchen. Mrs. Weyland gave her a plate of cookies, which she took back with her.

“Tony, have you called your parents and your sister yet?”

He sighed. “No. I’ll do that here in a bit.” He looked down at Watson, who was staring at him without moving.

“What does he want? Is he hungry?”

Tony shook his head. “No. He knows something’s wrong. I’m sure he misses his home too.”

“He just wants to be near you.”

Tony reached down and rubbed Watson’s head. “I know. I can tell he’s worried about me.” Tony straightened up and looked at River. “I wanted to talk to you about what happened. Have you thought anymore about the person who threw that Molotov cocktail into my apartment?”

“I have,” River said. “But I’m not sure who was behind it. I mean, my first reaction is that it’s the person who threatened Nathan. I have a problem with connecting him to Kevin’s death though. I mean, throwing a Molotov cocktail is cowardly. If the same person wanted us out of the way, why not shoot us the way he did Kevin? Something doesn’t add up.”

“I agree. I’m also wondering about Arnie’s phone call.”

“I’m not sure what to think about the note the police found. To be honest, I still have to wonder if it was real. I hope it was.”

“Do you really think it was some fan trying to stir things up?”

“It’s possible,” River said. “People do strange things. And right now, we simply don’t have enough information. Unless the police can match the handwriting or come up with some kind of proof she was in the room, all we can do is guess.” She sighed. “I’m a little conflicted about Jeffrey. After all, he is her father. I think if it was my child, I’d want to be kept updated no matter. Should we call him?”

“Not her father. Her stepfather.”

“I’m not sure that makes a difference,” River said.

Tony frowned at her. “Maybe not.”

“If I were missing and you found out I might be alive—if you kept it to yourself—even for a little while, I’m not sure my mother and brother would ever forgive you.”

“I hear you,” Tony said, “but we’re not completely sure he’s not involved some way in her disappearance. Let’s give the police just a little more time to come up with something first before we tell Nathan or Jeffrey anything. Besides, the police may contact Jeffrey on their own.”

“Okay,” River said. “If that’s what you think is best.”

River’s phone rang. “Wow. Arnie. Are you sure he’s not listening to us? He has the strangest timing.”

Tony chuckled as River answered the phone.

“How’s he doing?” he asked.

“He’s fine. And he’s charging his phone so you can call him directly next time.”

“Good to know, thanks,” Arnie said. “Hey, just got a call from the police in Terre Haute. Nothing in the room that points to April Bailey. Housekeeping cleaned the rest of the room before starting to change the sheets and then found the note. We might have found something on the glasses in the room, but they’d been carted to the kitchen and left with a dozen others. They’re checking fingerprints on all of them, but it will take a while. We’ve also called in a handwriting expert, but he won’t be able to give us an opinion right away. He’s out of town on another case.” He sighed. “Switching gears for a moment, you can tell Tony that the fire inspector has confirmed that the fire in his apartment was caused by a Molotov cocktail.”

“That’s what we expected. I’ll tell him.” River noticed Tony gesturing at the phone. “Seems like Tony wants the phone.”

“Okay.”

“Hey, there,” Tony said when he took the phone. “Fill me in on what you told River?”

He listened a moment and then said, “Oh. Okay. Not a surprise, but thanks for confirming that. Anything on that motel room?” Again, he was quiet for a while. “Hey, we’ve been discussing something. Should we tell April’s father about the note? And what about Nathan?” Tony looked at River while Arnie responded. Finally, he said, “Okay. I hear you. Thanks, Arnie. And yes, we’ll be careful.”

Tony clicked the phone off and put it down on the coffee table. “Arnie says we might want to call Jeffrey before the police in Terre Haute do.”

“Okay. We were right in thinking they would contact him directly,” River said. “I think about this as our case, but it doesn’t belong to us solely, does it?”

“No, I guess not.”

“Are we certain we shouldn’t let the police handle it?” River asked.

“That just doesn’t feel right,” Tony said. “If we find out he really is just a concerned father, we’re going to feel awful about not taking the chance to give him a head’s up before he gets a phone call from the police. That can be really disconcerting.”

“Okay. Do you want me to call him?”

“Well, I was going to take a nap . . .”

River rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, please let me handle it.” She grinned at him. “Did you pick up the card he left for us at the office? I didn’t get it.”

“Yeah, I think it’s in my wallet.” Tony stood up and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. He opened it and then riffled through it before pulling a card out and handing it to her. “I almost left it on my desk but grabbed it at the last minute. It was a little hard to have compassion for the guy. What I read in his body language was anger.”

“And fear,” River said. “His eyes were wide, and his fingers shook when he put the card down.”

“I didn’t notice that. I think I was too ticked off.” Tony stared at her for a moment, his eyebrows knit together. “I wonder just what he was afraid of.”

CHAPTER

THIRTY-NINE

Jeffrey Bailey hung up the phone and immediately dialed a number. He quickly told the man on the other end of the phone about the call he’d just received from River Ryland.

“It’s time to put a stop to these two,” he said.

“And just how do you propose I do that?” Jeffrey retorted.

“The answer is to get rid of your so-called daughter. The doctor gives her a shot, and she goes to sleep. Poof. Our troubles are over.”

“No,” Jeffrey said, his heart racing. “I told you that I won’t let that happen. I mean it. I’ll go to the police myself if you hurt April. You’re going to have to handle these detectives yourself.”

Jeffrey disconnected his phone, his hands shaking so hard, he almost dropped it. Then he called the hospital and asked for Dr. Marnet.

“I’m sorry, sir, but he’s seeing patients right now. Can I take a message?”

“I want to talk to him immediately. It’s an emergency. You tell him it’s Jeffrey Bailey, and if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll get to the phone right this minute.”

There was silence on the other end for several seconds, and then a click as he was put on hold. A couple of minutes later, Alexander’s voice came over the phone. He was clearly angry.

“I won’t allow you to order my staff around,” he said, his words like small bursts of staccato explosions. “The last thing I need is for them to be any more suspicious. Since we brought your daughter back to the hospital, I’m getting some very strange looks.”