“Well,” Thomas said with a sigh, “he’d been to several foster homes by the time he was three. No one seemed to want him until he was finally adopted. Eventually, his sister was brutally murdered by her boyfriend, I think it was. And his adoptive parents were killed in a car accident shortly after that. He was only seventeen back then.”
Thomas sat back in his chair.
“Why are you suddenly interested in Kent? You don’t think he’s involved in these murders, do you?”
Ignoring the question, Aidan asked, “Has he or your nephew ever mentioned the name Grant Rivers?”
“No,” Thomas said, his eyes narrowed. “Who’s he?”
“Kent’s birth name,” Shaun replied. He explained Grant had been in foster care, his sister murdered, and his adoptive father killed five years prior.
Aidan added that Grant was arrested for assault twice in the following three years after being released from the hospital, and told him Kent Ory first arose shortly after that time.
After they finished speaking, Thomas let the information sink in before he slowly shook his head. “I don’t believe you. He’s a good man. He’s Jordan’s best friend and he has a lovely family.”
“I’m afraid it’s true,” Shaun replied. “We came from visiting his adoptive mother in a retirement center. She’s living the remainder of her life in fear that her son will come to murder her.”
Aidan told him how Kent had been everywhere since the murders began, how Jordan was so adamant Duke didn't bark before he was killed.
Thomas frowned. “Jordan always kept Duke outside because he hated strangers. There were only a few people he was accustomed to.”
“Was Kent one of them?” Shaun asked.
With hesitation, Thomas nodded, his lip turning to a frown.
Aidan set the photo of the eight-year-old and the aged printout of Kent on the table.
“Does he look familiar?”
Thomas gazed at the two photos before cursing underneath his breath. He ran his hand over his face and sighed.
“Do you know where we can find Kent?” Aidan asked.
Thomas shook his head. “No, I don’t. But his wife might.”
Aidan handed him a sheet of paper and told him to write Kent’s address down. Then they thanked him for his time and left the news station.
73
BEFORE GOING TO Kent Ory’s home, they waited for a search warrant. Then, with a team of federal agents, they arrived at the two-story house, which stood at the end of a cul-de-sac and knocked on the door. A second later, a little girl holding onto the neck of a purple bear appeared in the frame.
“Hi,” Aidan said, attempting to flash her a friendly smile. “Are your parents home?”
“Mommy!” she shouted over her shoulder.
When her mother appeared, Aidan explained to her who they were and asked if they could come inside. With a frown, she allowed them entry and told her daughter to go to her room and play.
Once they were settled in the living area, Kent’s wife asked what it was they needed. Aidan handed her the warrant and she took it, staring at the document with a frown. Looking up, she watched as the agents began searching the house.
“Do you know where your husband is?” Aidan asked her.
Her eyebrows were knitted together, and her mouth hung open slightly. She swallowed hard. “Why? What’s going on?”
“We have a few questions for him.”
“I’d say he’s working. He’s a cameraman for Jordan Blake at WJFX News.”
“We have suspicions that he may somehow be involved in the murders of two women and the kidnappings of two more,” Shaun informed her.
“What?” Mrs. Ory’s eyes grew round. Then she did something unexpected: burst into tears. “Oh, Kent. What have you done?”
“Ma’am?” Shaun asked. “Do you know something we should know?”
“No. I mean, yes. I don’t know.” She lowered herself onto the couch and put her head in her hands. Her body began to shiver slightly. Aidan sat next to her.
“If there’s anything you do know, Mrs. Ory, now’s the time to say.” Aidan kept his voice as compassionate as he could. He didn’t want to spook her if she was involved or if she was only looking the other way because she loved her husband. Maybe he held something over her and she was afraid of him.
There wasn’t a way to know unless she talked.
“I don’t know anything,” Mrs. Ory said. “It’s impossible, right? I’ve known Kent for years. He couldn’t have done any of these things. My husband’s a good man.”
“But you think something's off with him,” Aidan pressed.
“What can you tell us about Kent?” Shaun sat on the opposite side of her.
Mrs. Ory set her head in her hands again and sobbed a few seconds more.
“A few years ago, we were on vacation in New York, then the following year he was in Texas. Women died in both states. The news reports said it was The Carnations Killer. I began to wonder about it. It wasn’t the first time The Carnations Killer appeared when we were there. A feeling grew inside of me. I mentioned it to him. He laughed it off and said it was only a terrible coincidence. So, I just let it go.”
“Had he given you any other reasons that he may have committed these murders?”
She shook her head. “I loved him. He’s not the killing type. He doesn’t look like it, he doesn’t act like it. He volunteers for others. He doesn’t even get angry. Why would I believe the man I married is a killer? I made a child with him, for goodness sake.”
Her eyes shined with tears as she gazed at Aidan.
“Sir.”
Aidan looked up to see one of the agents appear in the living room.
“There’s a locked door.”
“That’s his office,” she said.
