Page 82 of Cold Threat

“I take it this is Lulu?” she said.

“Yes,” Aimee said. “She doesn’t really take to strangers.”

Lulu walked out from underneath the table, came straight to River, and began rubbing against her leg, purring loudly.

River wanted to grab Lulu and squeeze the stuffing out of her in gratitude, but she decided to take a gentler approach. If she was skittish, it was better not to make any sudden moves that might frighten her. River purposely didn’t look at Aimee, although shooting her a victory smile occurred to her for a fleeting moment.

River picked up the small cat and stood. Lulu cuddled against her as if they’d known each other forever.

“Wow, I’ve never seen her connect with a stranger so quickly,” Tony said. “She must sense that you’re a good person.”

Was it wrong of River to feel as if there were a smaller River inside of her jumping up and down like a child? Yeah, probably.

“I love cats,” she said. She finally risked a glance at Aimee, who didn’t look too happy. “My mother has a cat. She can probably tell that I’m comfortable with her.”

“Maybe,” Aimee said. “Or she’s just smelling your mother’s cat on your clothes.”

Sighing inwardly, River said, “I hope not. I wash my clothes regularly, so I doubt there’s any scent of our cat on them.”

“Well, I’m just saying that Lulu is very picky. There must be some reason she’s taking to you.” Aimee stood up. “Here, just give her to me. She doesn’t look comfortable....”

“Okay, that’s it,” Beth said suddenly. She pointed her finger at her daughter. “Sit down, Aimee. Now.”

Aimee looked surprised at Beth’s outburst. River could understand that. Tony’s mother was always so sweet and accommodating. What was happening?

Although Aimee was clearly not thrilled with being ordered around by her mother, she slunk back to her chair and plopped herself down.

“River, put Lulu down and take a seat too, please.”

River didn’t hesitate. She gently lowered Lulu to the floor and slipped back into her chair. Of course, Lulu immediately jumpedup into her lap. She looked at Beth, who rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything else to River about the obviously smitten cat.

River glanced at Tony, who looked amused but didn’t say anything.

“What’s going on, Mom?” Aimee asked.

“Your brother and I both know what you did, dear,” Beth said. “Time we all face the truth. You and I both blamed River for what happened to Tony, but I was wrong, and so are you. We need to put this behind us.”

“She told you what I said to her?” Aimee asked, trying to look offended.

“No, I told her what happened,” Beth said.

“And I shared with Mom what you said to River,” Tony said. “So now it’s all out in the open.”

“You and I were both horrified by Tony’s injuries,” Beth said to her daughter. Her eyes filled with tears that ran over and dripped down her face. Then she reached over and took Tony’s hand. “I never want to see you like that again, son. For a while, we were certain you weren’t going to make it. It was the worst time of my life. And when you told us why you were on that riverbank...” She wiped her cheeks. “At the time, Aimee and I felt you were there because River told you to go. We believed she should have known it was a trap. We also told ourselves that because of her decision to put herself in danger, you felt you had to put your life on the line to save her.” She sighed. “Your father tried to talk some sense into us. Of course, I finally realized he was right. I admitted this to River when she arrived. I apologized, and we’ve worked it out. Now your sister needs to do the same.”

“And what about this guy who worked with the Strangler?” Aimee asked. “Is that protecting Tony? If this psycho wants to kill her, why would she stay around Tony? She’s putting him in danger.”

“I’m sorry,” Beth said, looking at River. “I told her about thecard that came for you. I felt badly that she was the only person in the family that didn’t know. I don’t like to keep secrets. Maybe I was wrong.”

“No, you weren’t wrong,” River said softly. “She’s staying here, and she needed to know. Am I allowed to answer her question?”

Beth nodded at her.

“Actually, I agree with you,” River said. “I ... I would have gone back to St. Louis if it wasn’t for the storm that’s coming.” She gathered her strength and met Tony’s gaze. “Until this guy is caught, I don’t think I should be around you.”

She was shocked when Tony stood. The expression on his face was one she’d never seen before. It was as if the color had left his face completely and his eyes burned with ... something. What was it?

“You listen to me, River Ryland.” He looked away from her and addressed his sister and his mother. “This is for both of you too.” He turned back and locked his eyes on hers. River felt caught in his intense gaze. “First of all, that won’t work. I’ll simply follow you wherever you go—which won’t be far since you can’t leave your mother.” He hesitated and swallowed hard, obviously emotional. “What happened that night on the side of the river wasn’t your fault. We were behavioral analysts. Not field agents. As far as we knew, there was no way for Joseph Baker to know who we were—or even that we’d worked his case. Our friend and colleague gave him our names for a reason we may never completely understand, but my guess is that her life was at stake. We were told she was in a club not long before she went missing and was bragging about what our team did. Maybe Baker was there. We don’t know.” He looked briefly at his mother and Aimee. “I don’t think I ever told you this, but the FBI looked into what happened to Jacki, but they were never able to find her or figure out why she called us. The only camera in the bar was focused on the bar so the owner could keep tabson the bartenders. There weren’t any cameras on the crowd. Also, when Jacki called us, we had absolutely no reason to suspect anything. River didn’t pick up anything in her voice, and I wouldn’t have either.” He refocused his attention on River. “I know you think you should have known something was wrong, but if that were true, you would have told me, and we wouldn’t have gone to meet her.”

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