“I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me too,” Joel said with tears in his eyes. “Even though I don’t deserve it.” He turned his gaze toward River’s mother. “But the person I need forgiveness from the most is you, Rose.” Until that moment, it was as if he was afraid to look at her. Rose, who had stayed quiet except for a few noncommittal grunts, cleared her throat. River began to silently beg God to keep her mother’s mind clear.

“Joel, I realize I wasn’t a perfect wife. I’m sorry for making things hard for you. It doesn’t excuse what you did, but I forgive you. It happened a long time ago. There’s no sense in carrying a grudge forever.” Rose stood to her feet. “I need to go to my room. I’m sorry to miss out on the rest of our dinner.” She smiled at Dan. “I hope we’ll have some time together before you leave. I’ve missed you so much.” Then she turned her eyes to River. “When you look back on your life, you think about the people who loved you. Who really loved you. River, when I needed you, you were there for me. You’ve been so good to me, and I love you very much. We know that as time goes by, I’ll probably forget more and more things—and people. But please know this now, my darling girl. No mother . . .” Her voice caught and she cleared her throat again. “No mother ever had a better daughter. I’m so proud of you.”

As Rose left the room, Mrs. Weyland started to get up to go after her.

“Please,” River said. “Stay. I’ll go.”

“Okay, honey,” the elderly woman said with a smile. “While you check on your mama, I’ll get dessert.”

“Thank you.” River stood up and looked at her father, her heart pounding in her chest. “You’re forgiven, Dad, but after you have a piece of the fabulous cobbler our mother made, I really think you should go. Mom doesn’t want you to see her struggling. She still has some pride. Please respect her enough to give her that, okay?”

Joel nodded. “I understand. The truth is, I’d like to stay and help your mother through this, but if that isn’t what she wants, I’ll leave town. I don’t want to hurt her any more than I already have.”

“Thank you for coming, Dad,” River said. “It took guts. I respect that.”

“That means a lot to me, honey,” Joel said. “This was harder than you’ll ever know, but I knew I had to do it. Your forgiveness means the world to me. I can’t fix the past, but maybe we can build something new. I hope you’ll give me the chance to do that.”

River smiled at him and then walked down the hallway to her mother’s room. Rose was sitting on the bed. River went over and sat next to her, taking her hand.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine, honey,” Rose said. “Thank you for being here for me.” She turned her tear-stained face toward River’s. “I’m not afraid, River. I know that no matter what happens, God will walk me through it. Sweetheart, I don’t want you to give up your life for me. Please. Your father and I have already taken so much from you. More than anything in the world, I want you to be happy.”

“Oh, Mom. I want to be here. Don’t you see that spending time with you—being here for you—is giving me so much? I feel like I have a mother again, and that makes me very, very happy.”

Rose laid her head on River’s shoulder. At that moment, even knowing all the hurdles they faced, River felt incredibly blessed.

CHAPTER

FORTY-TWO

Dan and her father stayed for dessert but left soon after. Although River wasn’t able to forget what her father had done, she knew she’d forgiven him and was determined to put the past in the past. It was something she had to do. God would have to heal the pain and show her how to develop a new relationship with her father. She knew she couldn’t do it on her own. And yet, she already felt as if a great burden had been lifted. There was joy and peace filling up a place in her soul that had held nothing but anger for many, many years.

She sent Mrs. Weyland to bed, telling her she’d take care of the dishes. It was the least she could do. Dinner had been so good, especially her mother’s peach cobbler. After getting Rose settled, she’d gone back and had dessert with everyone else. Her father had gotten a little emotional when he took his first bite. Although he didn’t say anything, River knew why he’d reacted that way. He remembered when Rose used to make the same dish for him. River suspected it was Rose’s way of telling him she was trying to move on from the past.

Tony had offered to help with the dishes, but she’d turned him down. She needed some time alone to process the evening. He seemed to understand and was in the living room getting the couch ready for another night. For now, he was keeping his clothes and other belongings in the hall closet, but River could see that the sooner they could get a room set up downstairs, the more comfortable he would be.

As she put the dishes in the dishwasher, something kept bothering her. Tugging at her mind. Like a dream she couldn’t quite remember. She attempted to dismiss it. Maybe she was just emotional after seeing her father. And of course, there were challenges in front of her that had to be faced. Although she tried not to worry about them, sometimes a voice whispered in her head that things could go horribly wrong. But this wasn’t that. It was something different—and it wouldn’t leave her alone. This had happened to her more than once during the past few days. What was it this time? “Holy Spirit, are you trying to tell me something?” she whispered. “Please make it clearer.”

She sighed as she loaded up the last of the dishes. Then she turned on the dishwasher, wiped down the cabinets, and was getting ready to leave the kitchen when she remembered. It was something her brother had said. She stood there, shocked by the memory. How could she have missed it? How could Tony have missed it too? Before doing anything else, she had to double check something.

It was then that she remembered that she’d left her notebook and her laptop at work. She needed them now. Right now. She went into the living room to talk to Tony but found him sound asleep. She thought about waking him up but decided against it. Even though he felt he had to drive her everywhere, a quick trip to the office and back wouldn’t take long. He needed his sleep and there simply wasn’t any reason he should have to get up and take her there. She was pretty sure she knew who had killed Kevin. She was almost certain she remembered the conversation clearly, but they’d talked to a lot of people, and she’d made a lot of notes. Getting the proof was important. It couldn’t wait. Surely, even Tony would understand that.

She quickly wrote him a note and left it on the coffee table. Then she got her keys and her coat. She didn’t like disarming the security system, but she’d be back right away. The office was only about fifteen minutes away.

Thankfully, she got green lights almost all the way. She had to unlock the main door, but it was set to automatically lock behind her when she entered. The only vehicle in the parking lot was a truck near the front door, but it belonged to the maintenance guy. A couple of months ago, that would have worried her, but now she wasn’t concerned about that. She rode up the elevator, opened the door to their office, grabbed her laptop and her notebook, and started to head downstairs. At the last second, she went back in and opened her laptop. She quickly typed a name into the search engine. When the name brought up several articles, she read through them quickly just in case they would bring her any further understanding. Unfortunately, she didn’t see anything that helped her hypothesis—but nothing led her away from it either.

She was just starting to close her laptop when she noticed that one of the articles had a picture. It caught her attention, and she carefully scanned the image. It was then that she noticed something. Something she’d seen before. It was at that moment that everything came together. All of it. From April’s disappearance to Kevin’s murder and the fire at Tony’s. She closed her laptop, and realized she didn’t have her phone. She found Tony’s personal address book and picked up the office phone they rarely used. Then she made a quick call. Feeling as if she’d done everything she could, she locked the office door behind her and hurried downstairs. She’d really wanted to stay and work on her suspicions a little longer, but concern for what Tony would say made her get back in her car as quickly as she could and head home.

HE WAS PARKED OUTSIDE HER HOUSE. He’d warned them. Told them to back off. Jeffrey had been dealt with. The male investigator, Tony, was definitely here. He found out what Jeffrey had done after he told him to leave things alone. It was the final straw. Jeffrey’s attempt had failed. Tony was still alive. Thankfully, they were both here together. The only good result from Jeffrey’s stupidity. He’d decided to use Jeffrey’s method to end this. That way it would look like the same person had used the identical method in both endeavors. It should help to lead the authorities away from him. Maybe St. Clair had survived the first attempt to silence him, but tonight would be different. Tonight, everyone inside this house would die.

He started to get out of his car, but lights hit his rearview mirror. A car. He realized it was slowing down, so he put his own car in gear and drove a little way down the street. He’d have to wait a while before striking. As he watched someone stop and then get out of the other vehicle, he realized it was her. River Ryland. She hadn’t even been home. He thanked his lucky stars that he’d waited. She would have gotten away if he’d moved too soon. Now he could take care of her permanently. Then he’d be completely safe. Well, almost. After this, he’d deal with Marnet and April Bailey. He’d called the doctor a couple of days ago to tell him he needed to get rid of April, but he’d refused to do it. The doctor and his patient had to go. Then he’d be able to live his life without looking over his shoulder. He’d finally be free.

RIVER PARKED HER CAR and hurried into the house. She quickly armed the security system and then checked on Tony. Thankfully, he was still asleep. She knew he’d be upset when he found out what she’d done, but she still felt she’d made the right decision. This was something that couldn’t wait. Besides, she was safe, and everything was fine.

After hanging up her coat and making herself a cup of hot tea, she carried her laptop and notebook to her room. Once there, she sat down at the desk and opened the laptop. While it loaded, she quickly thumbed through her notebook, but what she wanted wasn’t there. She pulled up April’s notes, but she was certain that wasn’t where she’d seen it. It was then that she remembered she’d actually heard him say it. She hadn’t written it down because it hadn’t registered as being important at the time. She still felt stupid for not recognizing how important it was. She wondered if he’d realized later what he’d said. But even though he’d slipped up and told her what would lead to his downfall, she didn’t need anything besides what she knew. She was confident the police would find a way to back it all up.

River wrote down the details and then got ready for bed. She had just slipped under the covers when she heard a noise from outside. It sounded like a car door slamming. It was probably just one of the neighbors, but she couldn’t take any chances. She opened the drawer in the table next to her bed and picked up her gun. Her clips were on the top shelf in her closet. She never left her gun loaded inside the house. It was too dangerous, especially with her mother’s condition. She quickly grabbed the small footstool in front of her chair and moved it to the closet so she could reach the back of the shelf. She got the box with her clips and removed two. After putting one clip in her gun, she put the other one in her pocket. Then she turned the light off in her room and walked quietly down the hallway. She stopped by her mother’s room and slowly opened the door. Rose was sound asleep. She checked on Mrs. Weyland, who was also sleeping.

Her last stop was Tony, who was actually sitting up. When he saw her, he started to say something, but River put her finger to her lips. She came closer to him and whispered, “I think I heard something outside. It’s probably nothing, but I’m going to check. Stay here and be quiet, okay?”

“Not on your life,” he said, standing to his feet. “What’s going on?”

“Like I said, I’m probably being paranoid, but I noticed a car outside the house when I got back, and I think I just heard a car door slam a couple of minutes ago.”

“When you got back?” Tony said. “Got back from where? You’re not supposed to go anywhere without me.”

“You know that the Strangler’s partner is probably nowhere near us,” she said. “Besides, we’ve got the upper hand. So don’t overreact.”

“Overreact? Are you kidding me? What . . .”

“Would you hush?” River said. “I’ll explain everything later. You’ll understand why I left. But for now, can we deal with what’s happening now?”

“I guess,” Tony grumbled, “but this isn’t over.”

He walked down the hall to the closet and pulled out his duffel bag. Then he grabbed his own gun. River took the extra clip out of her pocket and handed it to him. If this was just the neighbor getting home after a night on the town, this could end up being very embarrassing.

She went over to the window and pulled the drape back just enough so she could get a clear look at the dark car parked outside. An SUV like Tony’s, but a different make. It was the same one she’d noticed earlier when she drove up. She could see that someone had gotten out of the car. He opened the door to the back seat and pulled out a bag. Her stomach turned over when she realized what was probably in the bag. She turned to Tony, who stood next to her.

“He’s going to do the same thing here that he did at your apartment if we don’t stop him.”

“You stay here and protect your mom and Mrs. Weyland. I’ll stop him.”

“Tony, you know I’m a better shot than you are.”

“We’ll both go,” Tony said gruffly.

When Tony made his mind up there was no arguing with him. She really was a better shot and felt she was the logical choice to take charge. But they didn’t have time to stand around and argue.

“All right,” she whispered.

River disarmed the security system using the keypad next to the front door. Then she and Tony moved through the kitchen to the door that led to the backyard. River wanted to come up behind this guy. Walking through the front door wasn’t the way to do it. Tony didn’t argue, so he was probably thinking the same thing she was. They had to move quickly. If he was going to do what she thought he was, they had to be perfect. They had to stop him before it was too late.

She crept around one side of the house while Tony went the other way. As the man approached the yard, he removed something from the bag. The front porch light was on and there was a streetlight nearby, but he wore a dark coat with a hood and a scarf around the lower part of his face. Obviously, he didn’t want to be seen. Their mounted outside camera wasn’t a threat to him. He intended to burn everything down. In his mind, nothing would be left to incriminate him.

River quickly walked out into the yard. “Stop right there,” she said loudly, stopping him in his tracks. “If you take one more step, I’ll shoot you where you stand. I’m serious.”

He looked at her and raised his hand. It was then she saw that he was armed as well. She didn’t hesitate. She took aim and had her finger on the trigger when a shot rang out and he fell. She was confused. Had she taken the shot or had Tony? She looked over at him as he came into the yard from the other side of the house. He looked as confused as she was. Suddenly, the yard was flooded with light. Two police cars were parked on the street, and two officers were standing on the sidewalk, their guns drawn.