There was only one person whom he’d confided in about what really happened during the FBI interview.
And that person murdered his dog.
71
AS SHAUN WORKED on aging the photo they kept from Mrs. Rivers, Aidan contacted the Troubled Teens of North Carolina.
The director of the boot camp was Kyle Laurel.
He’d worked with teens for fifty years, and he remembered Grant well. According to Mr. Laurel, Grant came into the program when he’d turned fourteen years old. His mother and father didn’t know how to handle him. He’d been getting in trouble in school and at home.
“I always felt sorry for the poor kid,” Mr. Laurel told Aidan. “He went from foster home to foster home at a very young age, and when the Rivers finally adopted him, they immediately wanted to be rid of him because he was too much of a problem child.”
“Did he ever cause you trouble?”
Mr. Laurel paused.
“Grant came to us broken. He kept to himself most of the time and was often picked on for being too skinny. He also had trouble seeing. That was part of the problem. Grant tended to be clumsy, couldn't see at a distance. When we realized it, we took him to an eye doctor who issued him glasses. Unfortunately, it only added to being picked on even more.”
“His file states he was kicked out of the program,” Aidan told him. “But it doesn’t say why. Only that he was a risk.”
“He’d begun to get into fights with the other kids. We tried to prevent it, but when he tried to cut a little girl with a kitchen knife, I knew we couldn’t keep him. He was growing increasingly dangerous to others. I just couldn't risk the lives of others.”
“He went after a girl?”
“Yes,” Mr. Laurel replied. “She tattled on him once—we have pets in order to give a sense of normalcy and he’d kick them around purposefully. Sometimes they’d have to be taken to the vet for a broken leg. I remember asking him why he wanted to hurt the girl. He told me he needed to kill her for getting him in trouble.”
“Do you remember what this girl looked like?”
“Pretty, she had blonde, curly hair.”
“Blonde hair,” Aidan muttered. His sister also was blonde. As were his victims. “Is there anything else that you remember, Mr. Laurel?”
“After he left the program, I think he was sent to the hospital to have behavioral tests done on him.” Mr. Laurel sucked in a deep breath and pushed it out. “I wish I could have done more for him. He just needed the same as all kids do—to know that he was loved. But Grant was broken.”
“Okay, I appreciate your time,” Aidan said.
Ending the call, Aidan walked over to Shaun’s desk. He began to tell him about the conversation, but it didn’t seem as though he was paying attention.
“Are you even listening to me?” Aidan asked him.
“You’re not going to believe this,” Shaun said.
“What is it?”
When Shaun leaned back and pointed to the screen, Aidan walked around the desk to take a look.
His heart skipped a few beats.
Shaun had finished aging the photo of the four-year-old boy.
And they knew him.
But they didn’t know him as Grant Rivers.
They knew him as Kent Ory.
72
AIDAN FOUND AN empty chair and rolled it to Shaun’s desk as he pulled up Kent’s background information.
The cameraman first appeared in 1997, three years after Grant Rivers left the mental hospital. During the first three years, he’d been arrested for assault with a deadly weapon twice. After he assumed the name of Kent Ory, he’d attended college and graduated with honors as a photography major.
He traveled across the United States taking photos for magazines and travel blogs until he met Jordan Blake in 2005. Soon after, he accepted the job as the reporter’s cameraman, which provided him another cover to be able to travel the states and continue his killing spree.
“It makes sense,” Shaun told Aidan. “He fits your profile. Man, he’s been right under our noses the entire time.”
“And he’s virtually invisible,” Aidan added. “Your everyday nice guy. Cheyenne and I saw him at the grocery store not too long ago.”
Shaun looked over at him. “What happened?’
“Nothing,” Aidan said. “He was talking to Cheyenne when I walked up. He apologized to me for the way Jordan Blake had been acting. He seemed sickened by how those women were treated. I never even suspected a thing.”
Aidan cursed.
“Calm down, buddy,” Shaun said as he rose. “He’d been at this for almost twenty years. He snowed us all.”
Aidan knew he was right, but he couldn't help but be angry at himself for not seeing the answer when he stared him right in the face.
They left the office for WJFX in hopes of finding Kent.
They didn’t, but found themselves inside the conference room speaking with Thomas Blake.
Aidan asked Thomas what he knew about Kent.
“He’s a good guy,” he replied. “Very kind, charming. Dedicated to his job. And he’s a great husband and father.”
“Have you ever seen Kent lash out? Has he ever threatened anyone?”
Thomas narrowed his eyes with a scoff. “Kent? Oh, he wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’s quiet. Very mellow. If I had a son, I’d want him to be just like him. I was glad when he and Jordan became friends. Kent's a good role model. And to think of everything he has been through in his life—well, I admire the kid.”
“What has he been through?” Shaun asked.
They were curious about what Kent had been telling his peers. Aidan figured he told juicy stories that were enough of the truth
