Page 66 of Cold Threat

“You didn’t want to go there that night. She made you go. It’s all her fault. All of it.”

Tony shook his head. “River told me that you’d said that, but it’s not true. Not a word of it. We both made the decision to go. River certainly didn’t try to talk me into it.”

“That’s ... that’s what happened.”

Tony was quiet for a moment before saying, “Aimee, you’ve constructed something in your mind that’s fantasy. We do that sometimes when we need to believe something so badly we create incidents that aren’t real. I’ve never said anything like that. Mom and Dad know it’s not true. I understand why you did it, but I’m telling you, River didn’t ask me to go. Nor did she try to talk me into going.” He studied her for a moment. “Do you believe me?”

Tony waited for his sister to respond, but after several seconds of silence he realized he hadn’t changed her mind. He got to his feet.

“I love you, Aimee. You’re my sister, but I’m going back tothe house now. River and I are trying to help Dad stop a very bad man from hurting someone. I need to focus on that. Mom wanted me to tell you that if you want to wait out the storm at their place instead of in your apartment, you should gather your stuff together, get Lulu, and come home before it hits.”

With that, he put cash on the table to pay for their breakfast and walked out of the restaurant.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-EIGHT

As soon as Tony opened the door to the office and stepped inside, River could tell he was upset. She had a pretty good idea what had happened. She wondered if she should say something, but she was afraid to bring it up. If he and Aimee had talked about what had happened between them, it was best if he told her when he was ready. They really needed to talk about it, but she was willing to wait on him to do it. For now, she shifted her thoughts back to the case. Worrying about Tony and Aimee was a distraction they couldn’t afford right now.

“Anything new?” he asked as he approached her.

“Your dad found several interesting things.”

She showed him the pictures and filled him in on the information Ray had uncovered. “He wants us to meet with his contact at a local foster care agency. Ray thinks this guy may be able to either give us more specific news about the Wilson children, or at least help us to understand how these children could have disappeared.”

“Sounds good. When are we supposed to be there?”

“After lunch. I think we should probably try to get there around one.”

Tony sighed. “You eat. I think I’m good for a while. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, biscuits ... well, you get the idea.”

River laughed. “Kind of overdid it, huh?”

“Kind of.”

“Okay. I don’t want your mother making lunch just for me. Maybe we could pick up a cheeseburger on the way home from our meeting?”

Tony’s raised eyebrow said it all.

“I take it that if your mother found out I was buying a cheeseburger, she’d be offended?”

“She’d be mortified. She loves having company. My dad isn’t around that much. She enjoys having family to cook for. It makes her happy. Just go with it.”

“But I’m not family.”

Tony shrugged. “In her mind you are.”

River felt her face grow hot. What did Tony mean? Did he see her that way too? “Maybe we should go over the questions we have for this guy.” She looked down at her notebook, thankful for the chance to hide her face. “His name is Donnie Schweizer. Your dad’s used him on several cases. Says he’s been very helpful.”

Tony pulled the other fold-up chair next to River. He gestured toward her notebook. “Do you want to write down our questions or do you want me to?”

“I will.”

“Okay.” Tony said the word slowly, dragging it out. “I guess the first thing we need to know is whether or not he can tell us more about Michael and Stacy Wilson. What happened to them? We’re not certain they had anything to do with their father’s death, but we need to follow up on them.”

“I’m beginning to wonder if the police actually did try to investigate the kids but reached an impasse just like we did.”

“Well, it’s not in the report Dad was able to get from DesMoines, but it’s not impossible. If they checked them out, all we can do is hope we have better luck than they did.”

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