Page 24 of Cold Threat

“Exactly. And I’m sure in her head, she thinks it’s true.”

Tony understood what River was trying to say—and he agreed with her—but it would take some effort for him to get over whatAimee had done. River was already dealing with so much. This was just one more hurtful thing, and it was because of her relationship with him. He loved his sister and had to forgive her, yet right now, he was sorry he’d promised not to confront Aimee. It would help if they could talk it out. But for now, he’d have to deal with this on his own.

“Look, we need to work on the profile,” River said. “Can you forget about this for a while?”

Could he? He wasn’t certain, but he had to try. He nodded at her. “But first I want to apologize for what Aimee said. Maybe it was because of her pain after the shooting, but it was still inappropriate.”

“It’s okay. Really.” River turned and walked over to the corkboard, appearing to study the photos.

“Wait a minute,” he said. “You believe me, don’t you? You know I’d never tell my family something like that.”

River didn’t respond for several seconds, but to him it felt like hours. Could she really think he would do something like that? Finally, she turned around.

“Of course I do.” She gave him a smile that made his heart hurt because he could see the pain in her eyes. “I have to admit, for just a moment, I wondered. But that was because of my own insecurity. I know you, Tony, and you’re the most honest person I’ve ever met. Besides, I’m pretty sure you don’t want God to suddenly strike you with lightning.”

It took a moment for her words to sink in, but then he laughed. Her humor helped to diffuse some of the annoyance he felt toward Aimee.

“I’d really rather you not let her know that I told you.” River frowned at him. “But I shouldn’t have asked you to promise not to talk to your sister. I’m sorry. The truth is, I don’t think it will help anything. In fact, it could make it worse.”

“Look, I’ll have to discuss this with her sometime, but if ithelps, I’ll wait until I’m not so upset. And don’t worry. We’re both Christians. We’ll work it out.”

“She just really loves you.”

“I know that. But that’s not an excuse for doing something that could have driven a wedge between us.”

“Again,” River said gently, “she may believe you told her that. You know that the mind plays tricks on us when there’s trauma. Getting angry at her for something she believes really happened won’t do either one of you any good.”

Could anyone really be this forgiving? A lot of people would want to see Aimee called out for what she’d done—but not River. “I hear you. There’s one more thing I want to say about this now, though. Please don’t keep things from me. Working together the way we do means we need honesty between us.”

“I realize that. That’s why I told you.”

“But you hesitated,” Tony said. “Please, don’t do that again, okay?”

She nodded, but he thought he noticed an odd expression flick across her face before she turned back toward the wall. What was that about? Maybe it was his imagination. He wouldn’t help the situation by becoming paranoid.

“So, let’s get started on this profile,” River said.

She pulled a chair up next to the table Ray had provided. Tony took two spiral notebooks off his father’s desk, handing one to her and taking the other for himself. They liked to make notes before transferring their main points to the dry-erase board. He sat down in the other chair at the table.

“Go ahead and start,” Tony said.

“Repeating what I told your dad, our UNSUB is a man. Probably in his forties or early fifties based on the first murders. He’s intelligent and organized. Scopes out his victims ahead of time. He knows how to get inside their houses. He must be strong since he’s able to control his victims.”

“I agree,” Tony said. “Restraining an older woman isn’t hard, but in the instance with the couples, my guess is he threatens to hurt one of them so that the remaining partner obeys his instructions.”

“He may be killing them and then putting them on the bed,” River said. “But he doesn’t shoot them. I looked through all of the ME reports. No bullets found at any of the crime scenes. He might have stabbed them or hit them, causing either sharp or blunt-force trauma. The fire destroyed any evidence of that since bones crack and splinter at high temperatures. Also, none of the organs remained, so even though we believe the victims were dead before the fire was set, there’s no way to confirm that.” She shrugged. “If only the lungs had survived. The medical examiner could tell if they’d breathed in smoke.”

“If they were dead, the bodies might not contract as much as they would normally while they burned,” Tony added. “But we can’t be sure about that either since he bound their ankles and their wrists together with wire.”

“Why do that?” River asked. “Why was it so important to him for the bodies to be laid out in that manner? As if they were in a coffin? Like I said earlier, it points to the victims being dead before they were burned. I also think it has to do with remorse. He was showing some respect for the victims, which is another reason I believe they were dead before the fire was started.”

Tony nodded. “I agree, but again, arson is about anger. So maybe our UNSUB is a little conflicted?”

River was quiet for a moment. “He believes he is delivering justice more than vengeance?”

Tony turned that idea over in his head. “That makes sense,” he said finally. “This guy believes he is some kind of judge and jury. Delivering a deserved sentence. But his personality isn’t necessarily a violent one. He feels compelled to carry out this justice.”

River leaned forward in her chair, a frown on her face.

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