Chapter 74
SEVENTY-FOUR
Dalton
Ellie and Cord arrived at the Glasser’s house, surprised they’d beaten the ambulance to the address. On the drive, Ellie had phoned Dana Jo’s number, but it went straight to voicemail.
She knocked on the door, then found it unlocked and pushed it open. Cold air rushed inside, and Cord closed the door as they entered. A small purse and phone lay on the floor at the foot of the steps. Ms. Glasser’s or Dana Jo’s?
“Ms. Glasser,” Ellie called as she glanced at a group of family photos on the wall in the foyer. The mother, Dana Jo and a precious little girl. “It’s the police. Are you down here?”
“No, upstairs,” a weak voice echoed from the landing on the second floor.
“I’ll go up,” Ellie said.
Cord glanced into the living room. “I’ll look around down here.”
Ellie’s heart melted at the sight of candid shots of the child, Lou Lou, laughing and holding a baby doll wrapped in a blanket.
Another showed her opening presents under the Christmas tree.
Another of her at a petting zoo, and one more of her dressed in a Halloween kitty-cat costume.
A locket lay on one step as if it had been ripped off, and a small child’s sock had been dropped on the next.
Please let Dana Jo and her little girl be safe.
At the top of the landing, Ellie found the mother propped against the wall, tears and blood mingling on her bruised cheek. Her eye was turning black, her nose appeared broken, and more blood was drying on her lip. “Dana Jo and Lou Lou are gone, aren’t they?” she sobbed.
Ellie stooped down in front of the woman. “We’re looking for them. My associate is searching downstairs and an ambulance should be here soon. Let me get a towel to soak up the blood on your head then you can tell me exactly what happened.”
Ellie rushed into the hall bathroom, grabbed a hand towel then ran back to the woman. “Here, put pressure on the wound. Are you hurt anywhere else?”
“My… back, he kicked me, but never mind me,” she choked out. “He took Lou Lou. I could hear her screaming as he carried her down the stairs. I tried to stop him but… he hit me again.”
“Did you see his face?”
“No. He attacked me from behind.”
“Okay, stay still. Please. We’ll get you to a hospital ASAP.” Ellie glanced at the open door and saw toys on the floor in the bedroom. A doll. A child’s blanket.
The comforter hung askew.
The bed and room were empty.
Blood dotted the wood trim in the hall where Rhonda had fallen. More blood had spattered the door. From her or Dana Jo?
“Ma’am, can you tell me what happened?”
She sniffled and wiped at her face with the towel. “I was putting Lou Lou to bed while Dana Jo was at her meeting.”
“An AA meeting?” Ellie asked softly.
“Yes, she’s been so upset since that Benton girl’s death and that little girl went missing. I knew she was afraid because of that and what happened before.”
Ellie narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean, Ms. Glasser? What happened before?”
“Call me Rhonda.” She leaned her head back against the wall, closed her eyes and sighed.
“It’s been over two years, almost three now, but one night Dana Jo disappeared.
She’d called me on the way home, but we didn’t get to talk.
I heard her scream and the line went dead, so I called the police.
They discovered her car in a ditch and blood on the steering wheel.
But Dana Jo wasn’t in the vehicle. So they started searching. ”
Rhonda’s breath rattled out. “When she was found in the woods, she was unconscious, dehydrated, suffering from frostbite and had been brutally attacked and left for dead.” Another low sob escaped the woman.
“My husband and I raced to the hospital. But when she regained consciousness, she couldn’t remember what happened or how she got from her car into the mountains.
But the police report indicated someone had messed with her car and that caused her to crash into a ditch. ”
So the abduction was premeditated, Ellie surmised.
“The police never caught the man who took her and assaulted her?” Ellie asked.
“No,” Rhonda cried. “Doctors said there were drugs in her system and that her memories might or might not ever return.”
“I’m so sorry. How awful for her and for you,” Ellie agreed.
“The therapist encouraged Dana Jo to join AA and a support group and to give her brain time to heal.”
“And did she?”
“When she came home, she was a wreck and afraid of her own shadow. She suffered from terrible migraines and panic attacks, which worsened when she learned she was pregnant.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ellie said. “That must have been difficult for both of you.”
“I just want to help my girl,” Rhonda said. “The counselor tried to persuade Dana Jo to consider adoption, but I assured her I’d help her raise the baby and she kept Lou Lou.”
Ellie stroked the woman’s arm. It sounded like Dana Jo’s baby was conceived from the assault in the mountains.
And now the monster had abducted Dana Jo and her little girl.
“What was the name of the counselor she saw?” Ellie asked.
“Mabel Putnam. She works with Bright Horizons and specializes in teen pregnancies.”
Ellie made a mental note of the information. Ms. Putnam was the same counselor who’d worked with Jordan but Ellie hadn’t had time to speak with her yet. Maybe Mabel could provide insight into Dana Jo.
A siren’s wail cut into Ellie’s thoughts then Cord’s footsteps echoed from the bottom of the staircase. “Ambulance should be here any minute,” he said.
“Send them up when they arrive.”
Ellie squeezed Rhonda’s shoulder. “I know you’re frightened but hang in there, Rhonda.”
Rhonda gasped. “You think this is the same man who killed that other girl and stole her child, don’t you?”
“It’s possible. I promise we’ll do our best to find Dana Jo and both children.
An evidence response team is on its way to search your house.
Maybe your attacker left some DNA that will help narrow down his identity.
” She hesitated. “I’ll also need something with Dana Jo’s DNA on it as well as the little girl’s.
A toothbrush, hairbrush, even an article of clothing or a toy that belonged to Lou Lou. ”
Rhonda’s chin quivered as she fought more tears, then she pointed to the hall and the little girl’s room. “Dana Jo and Lou Lou share the hall bath. Look in Lou Lou’s room and take her teddy bear and rag doll…” Her voice cracked. “B… but I would like it back.”
“Of course.” Compassion for Rhonda filled Ellie as the medics raced up the steps. On the heels of her sympathy, fear for Dana Jo and Lou Lou tightened Ellie’s gut.
She wanted desperately to bring them both home. But so far she’d failed to find Iris and Minnie was dead.
And the clock was ticking…