Chapter 10
TEN
Panic seized Ellie. She’d heard of mothers killing themselves and even their children or taking their children with them to the grave. Dear God, she hoped that wasn’t the case here.
“Cord, this just changed everything. Contact the rescue and recovery team to look for the little girl nearby or in the woods. If we’re dealing with a missing or injured child, the stakes just got a lot higher.”
“Copy that. I’ll get right on it and call for backup.”
“I’ll ask the ME to fast-track the ID process so we can find her family.”
As they hung up, Ellie studied the stream a few feet away from where the girl had met her death.
It was narrow and shallow, but the water was frigid and ran for miles until it fed into the river.
If the witness’s statement about time of death was on point, a couple of hours had already passed.
Who knew how old this child was and if she could survive if left on her own. And if Iris was in the woods…
Ellie struggled to halt the terrifying thoughts. Although wolves didn’t frequent the trail, there were other dangerous animals. Coyotes. An occasional black bear. Even wild hogs.
She shuddered at the images that assaulted her, then took a deep breath. She didn’t yet know who the girl was or the age of her child. Hopefully if the teen had planned to take her own life, she’d left her child in the safety of someone she trusted or loved.
A family member. The baby’s father. Someone she knew would take care of Iris.
Ellie’s stomach churned. Unless by her comment, she meant the child would be better off in heaven.
Stop catastrophizing, Ellie.
Although, considering the number of brutal murders and serial killer cases she’d worked, that was impossible.
She rushed to talk to Laney. An ID might lead to a picture of the girl to present on the media. She sure as hell couldn’t show her shattered face as it was now.
“Will do,” Laney agreed. “I’ll send her DNA and prints to the lab ASAP. Hopefully we’ll have an ID by morning.”
Unless her DNA or prints weren’t in the system. Which was possible at the girl’s young age if she’d had no run-ins with the law.
A drizzly rain continued as they worked. But by noon, the girl’s body had been transported to the morgue. The sun was fighting through the gray clouds as she and Cord left the teams to continue processing and searching the area.
Still, as they reached her house and she and Cord showered and crawled into bed, nightmares of finding an abandoned or dead little girl tortured Ellie’s sleep.