Page 33 of Cold Vengeance

“Nathan, April’s podcast is gone,” River said.

“I know. The police already checked my laptop and my phone to make certain I didn’t do it. To be honest, I don’t even remember her sign-in information. I have enough trouble remembering my own passwords.”

“Did she make a note of it somewhere?”

Nathan was silent for a moment before saying, “Yes. She kept a small planner with all of her account information. It had blue flowers on it. When I went through her apartment, I didn’t see it. To be honest, until you mentioned it, I’d forgotten all about it.”

“Could you have missed it? Could it still be there?”

“No, her father cleaned everything out and took what was left. He waited a couple of months before he did that. I think he was hoping she’d come home on her own. I couldn’t blame him.”

“Is there any way he’d delete her episodes?”

“No, he’s not good with the Internet, and like I told you, he didn’t know about April’s podcast.”

“Okay, thanks,” River said. “How are you doing?”

“Well, they’re letting me work, and at least I feel safe. Have you figured out what’s going on yet?”

“Not yet. It will take a little time, but we’re working on it. You just relax and stay positive. We’re going through all of April’s cases to see who might want to stop you from trying to find her—or who might be concerned about someone reopening her cases. When we have something solid, we’ll let you know.”

“Okay. I just ... really want to go home.”

“I know. Hang in there,” River said, trying to sound positive. She felt bad for Nathan, but she and Tony were doing their best. “Hey, before we hang up, have you heard the name Brent Wilkins? April wrote it down in her notes. It sounds familiar to me.”

Nathan was silent for a moment. “Sounds familiar to me too, but right now I can’t place it. If I remember I’ll call you back.”

“Thanks, Nathan.”

When she hung up, she told Tony about their conversation.

“So, Nathan didn’t take the episodes down,” he said. “Not sure what happened to the planner. Maybe Nathan missed it.”

“Could the person who took April have also stolen the planner?”

“And left all her other belongings behind?” Tony asked. “Doesn’t make any sense. Maybe it was still in the apartment and her dad took it. It probably wouldn’t have meant much to him since he didn’t know about the podcast.”

River sighed. “It could be anywhere. Besides, if the person or persons who took April wanted her sign-in information, they could have gotten it from her.”

“If she’s still alive.”

“Did Armbruster give you an email address to send the photos?” River asked.

“Yeah.” Tony read it off while River wrote it down. “You know we need to tell them we have April’s laptop, notebook, and phone. They may want to see them.”

“I’m surprised they haven’t asked for them yet. Maybe Nathan didn’t tell them that he gave them to us. I know they’re concentrating on Kevin’s murder, but by now they’ve got to be looking at the connection between Kevin and April’s podcast.”

“I agree,” Tony said. “We need to tell them the truth. If they don’t want April’s things, fine. Either way it won’t impact our investigation since we have copies of almost everything.”

“I’ll send the photos to Armbruster and let him know about them. We’ll leave it to him.”

“Okay,” Tony said. “I think that’s the right move.”

“We have a lot of work to do.”

“Step by step,” Tony said. “It’s not a race. It’s a marathon.”

“I hate that quote,” River said with a sigh. “Unfortunately, it almost always seems to be the case.”

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