Page 49 of Cold Vengeance

“That’s because we are the queen and king of profiling.”

Tony laughed. “Okay, your highness, so what do we do next?”

“I think we need to work these three cases. Find out if there are any other connections besides the fact that they died near or on a road.”

“Cheryl Armitage was drunk,” Tony said. “Does she really tie into the other two cases?”

River thought for a moment. “Alcoholism is considered a disease. Could the killer have decided she was an alcoholic?”

“I don’t know. I mean, being drunk once doesn’t mean she had an ongoing problem. If she did, the killer would have to be someone who knew her.”

Tony and River just looked at each other. Had they just uncovered another serial killer from April’s cold cases? Could he be aware that they were investigating April’s cases? Was this the person who killed Kevin Bittner? The possibility sent a chill up River’s back.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-SEVEN

While Tony tried to find Shelly Evans’s family and a number for Ted Piper’s mother, River’s phone rang. Mrs. Weyland.

“Hello?” she said after accepting the call.

“Hi, honey. I’m sorry to bother you at work, but I thought you’d want to know.”

“Know what?”

The elderly caregiver hesitated a moment. “Your brother called. Instead of just comin’ by, they asked if they could have dinner here tomorrow night. I told them it was okay with me, but I’d have to see how you felt about it.”

“That’s fine. Eating supper might actually help to ease some of the awkwardness,” River said. “Are you sure this is all right with you? I can help with dinner.”

“I don’t mind cookin’, honey. I just wish I could be certain how your mother is going to take this. She’s ... she’s a little flustered today.”

“What do you mean byflustered?”

“Confused. When I told her your father was comin’ tomorrow she got quite upset. Angry. It was as if he’d just left. I finally got her calmed down, but now I’m a little worried.”

River took a deep breath to calm herself. “You said that in the natural course of things, she won’t get better, Mrs. Weyland. I agree that this may be the only chance she’ll have to get things straightened out with my father. I think forgiveness could be very healing ... for all of us.”

“All right, honey. I’m gonna call ’em back and tell ’em to come. We’re gonna need some things from the store. If you’ll watch your mama in the mornin’, I’ll fetch what we need.”

“Sounds good. Let’s just pray that dinner will go well. All we can do is give it to God.”

“You’re right. Thanks. And sorry to bother you. I know you’re probably busy. We’ll see you tonight.”

River said goodbye and hung up. She truly hoped her father and mother would finally find some peace, but the truth was, she really wasn’t that concerned about how her father would react if her mother was antagonistic toward him. He should have been here. He was the one who should be taking care of his wife. Not River. And not Mrs. Weyland. River’s only real concern was Rose. She planned to do everything she could to help her mother through this. She didn’t want to see her upset or humiliated. Since it appeared that all the details were worked out, River decided not to call her brother. There wasn’t really much point. When she saw Dan, she’d do her best to let him know she wasn’t angry with him. Hopefully, they’d also find a way to move on and mend the past.

River forced her thoughts back to the case she and Tony were working. The woman she’d spoken to at the police department had said that the Cheryl Armitage case had always bothered Detective Porter. The chance that Cheryl’s death was related to Shelly’s and Ted’s murders was a long shot. River certainly didn’t want Detective Porter to get his hopes up, but if there was any chance that all three were killed by the same person, she and Tony had to follow up.

The phone rang and River answered.

A man with a gruff voice asked for her.

“This is she. It this Detective Porter?”

“Yes, but I’m really not Detective Porter anymore,” he said. “Most people just call me Vincent. Maureen from the station said you have information about a case from a few years back.”

“Yes, sir,” River said. “I’m a private investigator in St. Louis. My partner and I were hired to find someone. A woman with a cold case podcast.”

“April Bailey?” he said. “Yeah, she contacted me a while back. Wanted to see if she could help us find the person who ran down and killed a woman. I haven’t heard from her for quite some time, though. I don’t believe she was ever able to uncover anything we hadn’t already investigated.”

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