Page 42 of Cold Threat

She didn’t say anything, but the look on her face told him she understood.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FOUR

Ientered the hospital through the front door. No one paid any attention to me. Good. Then I took the elevator up to the intensive care floor. A quick glance revealed that there was another door that led to the unit. Even if I could get past the nurses who guarded those patients, I would never make it to the room I wanted. I could see a police officer sitting in the hallway. He was obviously there to protect my failure. I pretended I’d gotten off the elevator in error and went back downstairs. By the time I reached my car in the parking lot, the anger inside me was back, but it had turned into rage.

“I hope you took care of the problem you caused,” she said sharply when I pulled the car door closed.

“I’m tired of you criticizing me constantly,” I snapped. “Do you appreciate anything I do for you?”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I was sorry. Why did I keep lashing out at her? She’d fallen silent, which made it worse.

“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “I’m just upset because things didn’t work out the way I planned them. I’ll fix it. Don’t be angry with me, okay?”

“I’m not angry,” she whispered. “I realize what you’re doing isfor me. Because of what happened to me.” She smiled at me. “I trust you. You’ll fix it.”

Her encouragement buoyed my spirits. If she thought I could overcome this setback, then maybe there was a real chance. I wasn’t sure how to make things right yet, but for now, I’d just move on to the next assignment. It was supposed to be my last mission, but after it was finished, I’d circle back and take care of Sandra Cooper.

“It’s supposed to snow on Saturday,” I told her. “I’ll take care of the next target. Then I’ll execute that ridiculous woman as soon as I can get to her.”

“That sounds perfect.”

She smiled at me again and my heart suddenly felt light. I could do anything as long as she was happy.

AFTER A QUICKLUNCH,Tony and River worked as long as they could on the profile. They’d gone as far as they could without more information.

“Read what we have so far,” Tony said.

“Okay.” River took a deep breath. “We agree that the Snowman is male, somewhere around forty-four to fifty-five years old. This is based on the first murders which were twenty-four years ago. He has a responsible job, has an above-average IQ. Those who know him would never suspect that he’s capable of murder. He’s a typical psychopath, organized and capable of almost anything. Whatever drives his anger is personal. We now believe that he kills his targets before he starts the fires. It’s done because the actual act of murder is distasteful to him, not because he feels empathy for the victims. He does show some remorse for what he’s doing, note the folded hands, the bodies bound not just so he can control them, but also as if he has prepared them for a coffin. A strange sign of respect for their death.

“His victims are targeted. Carefully selected. He painstakingly plans each of his attacks. His MO has been perfected.

“Using fire shows that he is fueled by some kind of extreme inner anger, but it’s also a way to destroy evidence. He keeps his true emotions hidden in public. Doesn’t share them with anyone. He may have endured a traumatic event connected with fire when he was a child, but not necessarily. However, what drives him was instigated bysomethingin his childhood. He grew up in an environment that didn’t offer emotional support. Either one or both parents were absent or violent. The snowman ornament he leaves behind is part of that twisted childhood. It’s his signature. Also, he feels compelled to kill only when it’s snowing. Snow has a special meaning to him.

“He’s following the media coverage of his crimes. He has probably shown up to at least one of his crime scenes after the fact.”

“But maybe not all of them,” Tony said quietly. He looked up at her. “He knows that the police take pictures and interview people watching a fire. He wouldn’t risk getting caught. He’s too smart.”

“So, you think he has some kind of connection to the police?”

Tony nodded. “Maybe. Or the fire department.”

River wrote down Tony’s hypothesis. He was right. She should have thought of it before. She was having trouble concentrating because of her nightmare. It was as if it was holding her mind with tentacles that wouldn’t let go. As they worked on this profile, she was haunted by the knowledge that they’d gotten it so wrong when it came to Joseph Baker. Their mistake had shaken her confidence. Did they have this one wrong as well?

“River?” Tony’s voice startled her, and her eyes met his.

“I’m sorry. What did you say?”

Tony frowned at her. “If something’s bothering you...”

“I was thinking of Joseph Baker again. How we missed a partner.” She stopped typing on her laptop and sighed. “The more I think about it, the more I realize that we were so focused on hismental state that we forgot that putting a body in a large chest and tossing it into the river might take two people.”

“Mightbeing the most important attribute,” Tony said. “We profiled him as someone young and strong enough to carry out his crimes on his own. And we were right to see it that way. There was no clear indication that he was working with someone else. He was alone the night he attacked us.”

“I know but...”

“Look, I know you brought it up when we first started on the profile, and I disagreed. I carried a lot of guilt about that for a while, but I know now that we did the best we could with the information we had. You know profiles aren’t one hundred percent accurate. We got it wrong more than once. You remember the female spree killer in Wyoming? We profiled her as a man because she used a certain kind of weapon and killed up close. You didn’t take that personally. We learned from it. You’ve got to let this go.”

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