Chapter Twenty-Four
LATER, HE HAD NO SOLID MEMORY OF THE DRIVE BETWEEN Shelter Springs and Haven Point. He knew he broke several traffic laws but he didn’t give a damn.
All he could think about was that poor little girl, alone and defenseless on a snowy December night, and all the horrible things that might have happened to her.
“Where could she have gone?” Holly said as they approached the Haven Point town limits. “None of this makes sense. She’s never done anything like this before. Why would she go out into the cold in the middle of a Christmas party?”
He had no good answer to that and could only squeeze her hand.
“We’ll find her,” he vowed.
“You don’t know that. Children disappear all the time.”
“She can’t have gotten far.”
“Unless someone took her.”
He hadn’t even made space in his thoughts for that kind of dark scenario. Holly obviously had. She hadn’t stopped shaking since that damn phone call. She was falling apart and he hated that he had no way to help her through this.
“Does she know anyone else in Haven Point? Any of the Moore neighbors?”
“I don’t think so.” She hesitated. “She did make friends with a little boy at the wedding. Remember, she danced with him.”
He vaguely recalled Lydia taking to several different children at the reception. She was a social kid, apparently, who loved to make new friends.
“Maybe she went there. Any idea where he lives?”
“No. I don’t even know his name. I’m not sure Lydia does.
How would she possibly know where he lives?
She barely knows her own address, and only because I’ve drilled it into her a hundred times.
It doesn’t make any sense that she would leave in the middle of a family party to look for a boy she barely knows. ”
As he drove past the park where he had encountered Holly and Lydia and walked through the light displays, he remembered the little girl’s unalloyed delight there.
He suddenly braked, filled with the unwavering conviction they should look there.
He wasn’t sure where the idea came from or why it was so strong. Later, he thought perhaps Lydia had a fleet of guardian angels who had planted it in his brain.
“What about here?” He gestured toward the park as they approached the parking lot.
Holly looked at the park, the vibrant colors reflecting on her features through the window.
“She loved our visit there. On the day of the wedding we drove past during the daytime and she begged me to stop. Obviously we couldn’t, as we had somewhere else to be.”
“What do you think? Since we’re here, should we take a look? Or would we be better off hurrying to the Moore house to join the official search? Your choice.”
Her features looked taut with indecision and fear. “Let’s check,” she finally said. “It’s not a very big park. It shouldn’t take more than five minutes to cover it, with both of us looking. We might be wasting our time but I would rather look now so we can rule it out.”
“I think you’re right,” he said. He pulled into the empty parking lot. As busy as it had been the night he and Audrey had stopped, Ryan might have expected a little more activity at the park on Christmas Eve. Hers was the only vehicle in the parking lot.
“This might be a waste of time and energy. Do you want to wait here?” he asked, though he was certain before the words were out that he knew the answer.
As he expected, she threw him a glare, already shoving open her door.
“Okay. Let’s split up to cover more ground. I’ll go right. You go left.”
She nodded and rushed off in the opposite direction, yelling her daughter’s name into the wind.
The cold bit at Ryan’s face as he jogged down the path, his breath clouding in the frigid air.
How long might it take for a child to die of exposure in these weather conditions?
He didn’t want to even think about it.
The park stretched out before him, silent and still, the vibrant glow of the Christmas lights casting long, lonely shadows across the snow-covered ground.
The wind moaning in the treetops and the sound of his footsteps, muffled by the snow, were the only noises breaking the eerie quiet.
He scanned the emptiness around him, the usual holiday cheer replaced by a gnawing sense of dread.
Where was Lydia?
She was only five. So small. Too small to be out here alone. His chest tightened as he imagined her wandering these paths. She had been mesmerized by that enormous Christmas tree. Had she come back to see it?
“Lydia!” he shouted, his voice echoing in the stillness, but there was no sound in reply but the wind.
He pushed forward, his heart thundering in his chest, the snow crunching beneath his boots.
His breath burned in his throat as the worst scenarios began to claw their way into his mind.
What if she’d gotten lost? What if she’d fallen into the water?
What if she was hurt somewhere? What if someone had. ..?
No. He couldn’t go there.
He turned sharply toward the center of the park, where the towering tree stood like a beacon against the dark sky.
He sprinted toward it, his pulse hammering in his ears, praying with everything he had that he would find her.
As he yelled her name again, he thought he saw something move, a small pink blur.
“Lydia!” he called again, trying to sharpen his gaze. The blur moved toward him and a vast, soul-deep relief surged through him when he saw it was a small girl wearing a pink parka and a purple beanie with two little pompoms.
“Lydia!” he shouted.
“Hi, Ryan,” she said as he drew closer, as if they had bumped into each other at the grocery store. He scooped her up in his arms and finally saw she had tear tracks on her cheeks.
“She’s here,” he yelled out in the direction where Holly had headed.
She likely wouldn’t be able to hear him over the wind so he called her quickly as he carried Lydia back toward Holly’s SUV.
“She’s here,” he said in a rush when Holly answered. “I found her by the big tree. I’m taking her to your car to warm up.”
She sobbed out her relief. “Oh thank God. I’ll meet you there.”
“Is my mommy mad?” Lydia asked, looking confused and scared.
“Everyone has been looking for you, honey. You scared everyone,” he answered. “Why did you leave the party?”
“The big tree was pretty. I wanted to see it. But then I got scared and cold and wanted my mommy.”
“She’s here. She’ll be so happy to see you.
He emerged from the path just as Holly raced toward him from the other direction. She grabbed her daughter out of his arms and wrapped her arms tightly around her, as if afraid to let her go.
“You’re here. Oh, Lydia. Thank heavens you’re safe. I was so scared.”
“Mommies don’t get scared.”
“They absolutely do,” Holly said, tears rolling down her cheeks.
He hugged both of them tightly, wondering how he would possibly be able to leave them.