“I’ve tried calling him, Tony. He’s not answering his phone.”
“It’s really late. He’s probably asleep.”
“Maybe,” River said slowly, “but I’ve got a bad feeling.”
“You’re thinking Jeffrey Bailey and a crooked cop were working together? Why? Just because of the ring? So where’s April?”
River shrugged. “I can’t be sure, but I can guess. I have to wonder if they were covering for each other. Jeffrey knew what Porter had done, maybe he told him, I’m not sure. I think Jeffrey had a secret too. I’m guessing it has something to do with April’s trust fund. My guess is that Jeffrey’s been helping himself to it. So, they keep each other’s secrets as brothers or whatever, because of their secret club.”
“I know people who are Masons. They don’t act like that.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” River said. “These two seem to have taken it to extremes.”
“Okay, how does April fit into your hypothesis?”
“Well, Porter was afraid April was going to uncover his secret through her podcast. Maybe he told Jeffrey he needed to get rid of her. But then Jeffrey made a deal. I think he promised he could keep her quiet so Porter wouldn’t kill her.” She sighed. “It’s all conjecture at this point, and I don’t know if we’ll ever learn the entire truth. I doubt either one of them wrote anything down. They were probably both too paranoid. Oh, and one other thing. Jeffrey lied when he said he didn’t hear Nathan’s voicemail telling him he’d visited us. He heard it. That’s why he started sending us those warnings. He had to lie, or we would have realized it had to be him.” She shook her head. “We should have picked up on that.”
Tony took a deep breath and let it out. “I need some sleep. This has been a very busy night.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“Hey, I realize with everything else going on, this may not be the first thing on your mind right now,” Tony said, “but I really want to know how you feel about your father’s visit. We haven’t had a chance to talk about it.”
“I’m satisfied . . . for now anyway,” River said. “I think we can finally start mending our relationship. I intend to work on it.”
“Good.” Tony yawned.
“Let’s get to sleep,” River said. “You’re barely able to stay awake.”
“My body may be tired, but my mind is racing.”
“I understand,” River said. “But I think someone else is more than ready to snooze out.” A sudden loud snore from Watson made them both laugh.
Tony was still upset that River had taken off on her own, but he wasn’t surprised. She had her own mind, and when she was following a lead, she was like a dog after a juicy bone. The thing that worried him was that her independence and stubbornness would someday get her in real trouble. The odd thing was that it made him love her even more. Would the day ever come when he could tell her?
“Good night,” River said.
“Good night.”
River got up and headed toward her bedroom while Tony and Watson went into the living room. Tony lay down on the sofa bed, but he didn’t fall asleep for quite a while. His mind wasn’t on the events of the day. Instead, all he could think about was the diminutive girl with the green eyes who had completely captured his heart and soul.
CHAPTER
FORTY-FOUR
It felt a little odd to be back in the office. They’d taken Monday off so they could both relax and recuperate a bit. So much had happened, and they still hadn’t located April. River was worried about her, and she knew Tony was too.
She could tell Tony was also concerned about the Strangler’s accomplice, but strangely enough, she wasn’t. She was ready for this to finally be over. She was tired of this maniac’s threats hanging over her life. But for him to be stopped, she needed to be in the office. Tony knew that was true, but he was clearly tense. He wasn’t leaning back in his chair, a sure sign that he was worried. Although he was trying to act like he was just fine, there was no doubt in her mind that he was afraid that something could go wrong.
“I really appreciate your dad and your brother offering to move things around in the basement so I can stay down there,” Tony said suddenly, “but you really don’t need to put me up. My insurance will pay for a hotel.”
“I know that, and I’m glad you have great insurance, but we need to stay together right now. And after we take care of our Strangler problem, I still don’t want you in a hotel. I really think you’ll be comfortable in that room downstairs. It was built to be a bedroom. My mom’s never used it for that, but all of Dan’s bedroom furniture was stored down there. I think she was toying with the idea of turning the space into a guest bedroom. She just never got around to it. There’s also a small bathroom that I’ll clean up and stock. I even ordered a new mattress for the bed.” She waved her hand at him when he started to say something. “Don’t even go there. I’m not going to be able to sleep thinking of you down there on some old, lumpy mattress. That thing’s so ancient, it’s not fit for anyone to sleep on. Besides, once you go back to your apartment, we’ll finally have a guest bedroom. Dan’s said he’ll visit more often. He can stay down there, so really, having you at the house has turned out to be a blessing in many ways.”
“I appreciate that, but I’d like to at least reimburse you for the mattress.”
River shrugged. “You don’t need to. Happy birthday.”
“My birthday isn’t for two months.”
“Okay, happy early birthday. Now hush up.”
Before he had a chance to respond, his phone rang. While he answered it, River took her laptop out of her tote bag and put it on her desk. She plugged it in and turned it on. Then she started checking their emails. She was happy to see several requests for meetings. Most of them were references from Arnie, but River was confident that eventually they’d get even more business by word of mouth.
When Tony finally disconnected his call, he stared at her with a strange look on this face.
“Something wrong?”
“No, actually just the opposite. If you weren’t already sitting down, I’d tell you to.”
River frowned at him. “Okay, I’m intrigued. Tell me.”
“A doctor named Marnet in Illinois contacted the police. He had quite a story to tell them. Seems that about a year ago, a man he knew offered him a lot of money to accept his daughter into his small, private hospital for patients deemed mentally disturbed in a small town near Terre Haute. Since he was almost bankrupt because of his gambling debts, he accepted the deal. His instructions were to keep the girl sedated, unable to leave. But then one of his nurses helped the girl escape. The police are certain she’s the one who sent Nathan the notes telling him April needed help. Another man, someone working with the father, found them hiding in a motel. The girl was returned to the hospital, although the man who brought her back wanted the doctor to kill her. Give her an overdose. The father wouldn’t allow it. But when the nurse who’d tried to help the girl was found dead, Dr. Marnet decided he’d had enough. He called the police. When they arrived, they arrested the doctor and moved the girl to a hospital in St. Louis where she’s being monitored.”
River tried to blink away the tears that filled her eyes. “Please tell me you’re talking about April.”
Tony nodded. “Arnie was alerted, and he called Nathan, who’s on his way to the hospital.”
“Wow. That’s . . . that’s amazing.” She frowned. “But why didn’t the nurse just call the police?”
