Page 45 of Cold Threat

“That won’t stop him,” River said. “What would keep him from following us?”

He had no answer for her. He shook his head. “The building manager is installing a camera in the hallway and in our office. Something we should have done before. I’m sorry. It’s my fault. We just got so caught up in helping Amy, time got away from me.”

He really did feel stupid. He’d been a special agent with the FBI. How could he have been so irresponsible?

“I don’t need you to take care of me, Tony,” River said firmly. “I knew we needed to beef up security, and I didn’t say anything.”

“We’re also going to install an alarm system. Arnie says we’ll have to pay for that ourselves since our landlord won’t foot the bill, but that’s fine. As soon as we get back, I’ll have it put in.”

River wrinkled her nose. “I know you’re right, but I kindof hate those things. They always go off when you don’t want them to. When we put a system in at my mom’s house, she used to set it off regularly. For now, she won’t open any doors that lead outside. I worry that she’ll forget that as she gets more confused.”

“But if that happens, won’t it alert Mrs. Weyland that your mom may be trying to leave the house? It could end up being a good thing. My grandfather used to wander off. It was a huge problem.”

River smiled at him. “Of course, you’re right.” She hesitated a moment before saying, “Look, I know this is unsettling, but we’re actually safer now. Maybe that’s the way to look at it.”

Tony was moved by her positive attitude, but he wasn’t feeling the least bit optimistic. That creep had been in their office. It felt like a violation. What did he look at? What did he touch? Part of him wanted to burn everything and start over, but that wasn’t going to happen.

“Now you’re the one who’s right,” he said, forcing a smile he didn’t feel. “I know we’ve wondered if his plan was just to harass us. To frighten us. But after this, I think we need to accept the possibility that he might be more dangerous than we’d hoped. Frankly, I’m getting tired of feeling like a rat in a trap. We need to find this guy before he tries to carry out his threats. After this profile, we need to finish profilinghim.”

They’d actually started one right before they’d come to Burlington, but it was clear that they needed to keep working on it. It was difficult since he was so entwined with Joseph Baker, and they hadn’t profiled Baker as someone who would work with a partner. He was too narcissistic. This accomplice was an anomaly. Yet they had to try. This guy seemed determined to finish what Baker started, and they needed to stay a step ahead of him.

“When we’re done here, we’ll complete his profile and giveit to Arnie,” Tony said. “We need to move out of defense mode and start playing offense. Let’s bring him down before he’s able to carry out his plans.”

“Remember that we’re private investigators now,” River said. “We can look for him too. We don’t have to hide behind the Bureau.”

“Fat lot of good that did for us anyway. We still ended up as the targets of a serial killer.”

Tony knew he sounded bitter, but it was how he felt. River shouldn’t have gone from behind the scenes as a behavioral analyst and ended up in the Salt River, fighting for her life. He made a fist with his left hand. The fingers didn’t close all the way, thanks to being involved with Baker. Regardless, he would never be sorry that he was with River that night. He was only sorry that he hadn’t been able to take Baker down before he got to her.

“Let’s get back to work,” River said. “We’ve got a little polishing to do, but we’ve almost got this. I want to go over it with your dad tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow’s Friday,” Tony said. “We could head home tomorrow if you want to.”

River shook her head. “Your parents need to spend time with you, and I have a reprieve from Mrs. Weyland. Frankly, I needed a break. Let’s wait until after the snowstorm.”

“You won’t get any argument from me.” Tony really didn’t want to leave tomorrow. He’d planned to have lunch with his sister. He suddenly realized he hadn’t said anything to River. “Hey, Aimee and I are going to lunch tomorrow. I’d ask you to come with us, but I think she wants some time with me. Is that okay?”

“Of course. No problem.”

Tony caught a brief, odd expression that crossed River’s face. She was probably worried that he’d confront his sister about what she’d said to River about the shooting. He couldn’t ease her mindbecause he hadn’t decided if he was ready to talk to Aimee about it yet. He probably wouldn’t know until he and his sister were together.

“Since we’re about done with the profile, I felt like there would be time,” Tony said. “I won’t be gone long.”

River smiled at him. “Don’t be silly. I’m happy you get to spend time with Aimee. And as you said, we’ve got most of this completed. I would like to hear more from Sandra Cooper. I hope your dad is able to get more information from her soon.”

“Me too. And I’d still like to talk to Angie Mayhew. The only thing we’ve heard from her happened when she was a child.” He frowned. “I know Dad was reluctant for us to approach her, but I think in all this time she could have remembered something that might help us. Or at least she can verbalize what she saw better as an adult.”

“I wonder if your dad found the time to look for her. Things have been pretty crazy.”

“Only one way to find out,” Tony said. He picked up his phone and called his father. He answered right away.

“Hello, son. What do you need?”

“Dad, were you able to locate Angie Mayhew?”

There was a rather long silence on the other end of the phone.

“Did you hear me, Dad?”

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