So what do you think?” Tony asked when Paty left.
“I don’t know, but I’ll feel better after you call your friend Arnie and ask him to keep an eye on Paty. Better to err on the side of caution.”
“I agree. I’m also going to call Amy back and tell her to be careful.” Tony sighed. “I wanted my next call to her to be the one when I tell her we found Chris. But what if Walker looked through our reports after finding his photos?”
“He might know that Amy hired us.”
“Exactly,” Tony said. “Better ask Arnie to have officers watch Amy’s place too.” He picked up the phone and called Arnie, but he got voicemail. He left a message and then hung up. Then he stared at his phone, trying to figure out what to say to Amy.
“Do you want me to call her?” River asked.
“No, but thanks.” He looked over at her. “Working for the FBI was easier. We never interacted with victims’ families. This is tough.”
River smiled at him. “Yes, but I have a feeling it will be much more satisfying in the long run. Besides, being entrenched in the FBI, just writing profiles, didn’t protect us from the Strangler.”
“True.”
Tony took a deep breath and brought up Amy’s number. When she answered, he told her that they were concerned about Brian and they wanted her to be careful.
“After hearing from his therapist, we’re not sure what his next move will be. I’ve left a message for the St. Louis chief of police, telling him what’s going on and asking that officers keep an eye on your house. I want you to take precautions. Just in case.”
Amy was silent for so long Tony was about to ask her if she was still on the line. But before he could say anything, her soft voice came through his phone.
“I’m not afraid of him, Tony,” she said. “I absolutely refuse to give him that much power. He’s taken enough from me.”
Tony was surprised by the grieving mother’s courage, but he was still worried about her.
“I understand, I really do. But keep an eye out. And if you see anyone around your house that shouldn’t be there, call the police. Okay?”
Again silence.
“Did you hear me?”
“I have a gun, Tony. I may shoot first and call the police later.”
“Please don’t do that. Always call for backup first. Then if you’re in a situation where you feel you need to defend yourself, go for it. Trust me, River and I learned this lesson the hard way.”
“Okay. I hear you.”
When the call disconnected, he put his phone down, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the wall.
“Everything okay?” River asked.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I guess.” He frowned at her.
“You’re concerned about her, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. I’d feel better if we were certain Brian will really stay in the shadows. With our training, why can’t we say for certain what his next move will be?”
River shrugged. “You know behavioral analysis is based on our best guesses. And sometimes those guesses are wrong.”
“I realize that, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. Hey, let’s get this report done for Arnie. The profile that isn’t a profile. I guess we’ll have to call it an assessment. If we can help Arnie predict what Brian will do next—what his mindset might be—it could help them find him.”
“It might be the best thing we can do to help. After talking to Edmund and Paty we know a lot more about Brian than we did before.” She smiled. “Let’s give it our best.”
First, River and Tony spent time going through the pictures from Scott one more time in case they’d missed something, but there wasn’t anything there that made them think the person they were looking for wasn’t Brian Walker.
Friday morning, River called Tony and told him she wasn’t coming in. “I’m fine,” she said, “but for some reason, I’m really, really tired. I called my doctor, and he confirmed that when the body goes through a shock like I did, it needs time to recharge. I’m sorry.”
“I understand,” Tony said. “Nothing’s going on here anyway. But what about the report we promised Arnie?”
“I know. Look, would you be willing to come over here this weekend? We could work from here. I need to keep an eye on Mom.”
“Sure. I’ll bring breakfast tomorrow morning.”
“That would be great. Thank you. I hope you don’t mind working here.”
“Of course not. Besides, it’s not like I had any exciting plans this weekend.”
River laughed. “See you in the morning.”
Tony was actually relieved to work at River’s house. He’d leave and work from home today too. Start working on the report for Arnie. The idea of being alone in this building wasn’t something he was comfortable with yet. Once they knew Walker had been captured, it might be different.
HANNAH WAS HOME WITH HER HUSBAND, but even without her help, things were going well. Her mom seemed to have mellowed some. She and River were getting along better than they had since River moved to Missouri. She wondered if Tony coming over would cause some tension, but Rose seemed to really like him. It was almost a miracle. River hoped it would last, but she knew she couldn’t count on it. She kept telling herself that her mother couldn’t help it if she said or did something unkind. The disease that was stealing her thoughts and memories wasn’t her fault. River had to be patient with Rose. But at least for now, her mother appeared to realize that she and Tony needed some peace and quiet to work. She kept wondering if she’d bring up her father’s call, but she didn’t. River couldn’t be sure if it was because she wasn’t ready to deal with it or if she’d forgotten about it. No matter what, River had no plans to mention it.
As promised, Tony brought breakfast with him Saturday morning. Then, at lunch time, he ran to a burger joint not far from them. He offered to pick up supper as well, but Rose insisted on cooking. River kept a close watch on her, but Rose did a great job. Dinner was lasagna with garlic toast.
“This is the best lasagna I’ve ever tasted,” Tony said after the first bite. “It’s awesome!”
Rose blushed slightly, and a smile lit up her face. River was surprised to realize that her mother was still attractive. She’d been sour for so long that River hadn’t really noticed.
“It really is great, Mom,” River said. “And the toast is perfect. Thank you so much for doing this.”
“You’re welcome, honey,” she said. “I’m glad you like it.”
River had an urge to ask her, Who are you and what have you done with my mother? but instead she just returned her mother’s smile.
When they were done, Rose said, “You two go back to work. I’ll make another pot of coffee and bring out the cookies Hannah made the other day. They’re delicious.”
“Thanks, Mom.” River got up and carried her dishes to the sink. After rinsing them and putting them in the dishwasher, she went back into the living room. While Tony was taking care of his own dishes, she looked over the notes she’d made so far. She felt as if they were getting a good idea of who Brian was, but would it really tell the police where he might be? When they were done, they’d give the report to Chief Martin and hope it helped.
“So where were we?” Tony asked when he entered the room. He sat down in a chair across from River, who was on the couch. Tony had pulled his chair up closer to the coffee table so he could use it for his notes. Before she had a chance to answer, he patted his lean stomach. “I can’t eat like this too often or you may have to roll me around.”
River laughed. “You’re ridiculous. I don’t think you have an ounce of extra fat anywhere on your body.”
“Let’s just make sure it stays that way.” He smiled at her. “You and your mom are both great cooks. You’re more alike than I realized.”
His words startled her, and for a moment, she felt a flush of resentment. When she became aware of it, she felt ashamed. Tony was only trying to give her some praise. Her view of her mother had been twisted by the years of bitterness she’d embraced after her father left. But in truth, how would River have responded if she’d been in Rose’s shoes? She couldn’t say. She certainly harbored resentment toward her father, so she wasn’t innocent either.
River took a deep breath. “Thank you,” she said softly. “I take that as a compliment.”
She heard a light gasp from behind her and turned to see her mother standing there, holding a plate of cookies.
River got to her feet and took the plate from her. “Thanks, Mom,” she said.
Rose didn’t respond, just nodded and went back to the kitchen.
River stood there a moment, ashamed that her mother was surprised that she would take Tony’s comment in a positive way. It was clear her own attitude hadn’t helped their relationship. Their problems weren’t all her mother’s.
“Are there some kind of magic words that will cause you to actually bring the cookies over here?” Tony asked.
River laughed. “Sorry.” She carried the plate to the coffee table. “Just lost in thought, I guess.”
“You do know that I was trained as a behavioral analyst too, right?”
River put the plate down and took a seat. “Yes, I’m aware.”
“Then you also realize that I know what just happened.”
She looked at him through narrowed eyes. “You can be really irritating, you know that?”
“So I’ve been told. Mostly by you.”
River shook her head. “Let’s concentrate on our assessment. You can hold a counseling session for me later, okay?”
Tony was quiet for a moment before saying, “Actually, I don’t think you’ll need it. You’re pretty perceptive yourself.”
“Well, thank you, Professor,” River said. “Now, can we get back to work?”
Tony sighed. “We’re writing a behavioral analysis for someone we think is a serial killer, you know. What if we’re wrong?”
“We’re not. We’ve done this enough that I’ve learned to trust my gut. Brian Walker killed Chris. He tried to cover it up by removing pictures of himself and drugging us. He’s our guy.”
“All right. I’ll go along with that. This is one of the weirdest cases we’ve ever worked. I’m afraid all our future cases will seem boring compared to this.”
“Why do I want to say famous last words?”
“Yikes,” Tony said. “I take it back.”
River laughed.
“Okay, why don’t you read what we have so far? Out loud.”
“You just want me to read so you can eat cookies,” she said with a smile.
“You’ve uncovered my evil plan.”
“Yeah. You can’t fool me.” She started to read her notes when a cry came from the other room. They both got up and hurried into the kitchen. It was obvious immediately what had happened. River’s mother had started the coffee maker without putting the pot under the nozzle where the brewed coffee came through. It was still flowing, and coffee was pouring over the edge of the kitchen counter, down the front of the cabinets, and onto the floor. Rose was on her knees, sobbing, and trying to wipe it up with paper towels.
“Mom, be careful. I don’t want you to get burned.” River took her mother’s arm and helped her to her feet. Her slacks were damp with coffee. “Why don’t you change your pants?” River said. “I’ll clean this up.”
“And I’ll help, Rose,” Tony said gently. He put his hands on her shoulders. “I did the same thing a couple of weeks ago. I was soaking the pot in the sink and started coffee anyway. It happens. We’ll get it cleaned up, okay?”
Rose took a deep breath, and nodded. “I feel so stupid . . .”
“No more stupid than I felt,” Tony said with a grin. “Maybe we could start our own club.”
Surprisingly, Rose laughed lightly. God bless Tony.
“If you two are sure you want to clean up my mess . . .”
“After that great lasagna, I’ll mop your entire floor.”
“Thank you, Tony.” Rose swung her gaze over to River. “I’m sorry, honey.”
“Don’t be silly. Like Tony said, it happens. I’ve done it too.”
“Really?” Rose smiled. “I don’t feel so bad now. I’ll be right back.”
When she’d left the room, Tony grabbed some paper towels and helped River clean up. “Have you really made coffee without the pot?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t remember it at this moment, but I’m sure I’ve done it. What about you?”
Tony sighed. “I said I did. You know I always tell the truth.” He shook his head. “Taught me to concentrate on what I’m doing. I moved my coffee cart the other day to clean under it and found more coffee that had dried on the floor.”
River dampened a rag and started wiping the cabinets. “Thanks for making my mother feel better. You’re kind of a nice guy.”
“Kind of?”
“Okay. You’re a nice guy.”
“Super. I’ll try to do other dumb things if it will make you happy.”
“No problem there,” River said, trying to look innocent. “It won’t require much effort to keep up your quota.”
Tony got up from the floor. “Oooh. You’re a mean girl.”
“I try.”
A few minutes later the kitchen was cleaned up, and River had started a new pot of coffee. When Rose came back, she looked around. “It looks great. Thank you again. Now you two get back to work, and I’ll bring the coffee when it’s ready.”
“Just holler, Mom. We can come in and get it.”
“I’m not completely useless yet, River,” she said sharply. “I have some of my mind left, you know.”
“I . . . I didn’t mean . . .”
“Come on,” Tony said, taking River’s arm. “Your mom’s got everything under control.” He smiled at Rose. “Thank you. We really appreciate it.” He gently guided River back to the living room.
“I didn’t mean to upset her,” River whispered. Were things ever going to change between her and her mother?
“I know that, and she does too. Right now she’s scared and fighting back the only way she knows. It isn’t you. It’s the disease she’s angry at. Your job is to ignore the hurtful things she says. Remember, they aren’t really about you.”
River plopped down on the couch. “I keep forgetting that your grandfather had Alzheimer’s. I’m so glad you’re here to help me through this.”
“I am, but you don’t really need me. You can do this. Maybe we never profiled anyone with this disease, but we’ve certainly profiled a lot of criminals with delusions. It’s close to the same thing—except for the memory loss.”
“Some of them chose not to remember certain things,” she replied.
“That’s true.” Tony frowned. “Brian doesn’t seem to have that problem, though. He certainly remembers that his parents walked away.”
It was obvious Tony was trying to redirect her back to their report.
“His rage toward anyone who makes fun of him seems to come from his anger about his parents’ rejection.”
Tony nodded. “I agree.” He wrote something down in his notebook. “So are we ready to go over what we have so far?”
“I think so.”
Rose walked into the room with two cups of coffee. “Yours is black,” she said to Tony. She handed him a cup and then held the other one out to River. “I put Italian cream in yours. Is that right?”
“Perfect, Mom,” River said. “Thanks so much. For everything.”
“You’re welcome. I’m going to start the dishwasher and head to bed.”
“Please let us take care of the dishes,” Tony said. “It’s the least we can do after that fine meal.”
At first, River thought she was going to say no, but after hesitating a moment, she said, “That would be very nice. Thank you so much.” She sighed. “I really am tired.”
“Goodnight, Mom. And again, thanks for the wonderful dinner.”
“Sure. Just remember to save some for your father.”
As she walked out of the room, River looked at Tony with her mouth hanging open. “He’s been gone over twenty years.”
Tony nodded. “And in the morning, she’ll seem fine and won’t even remember she said that. Then she’ll do it again . . . and again. Until the day comes when she really thinks he still lives here. You have to understand that outside of a miracle, this is only going to get worse.”
River didn’t respond, just went back to the profile. How could she watch her mother change into someone living in a world that didn’t exist? Could she really handle this? She wasn’t so sure.