Chapter 3
THREE
Lydia had somehow fallen asleep—likely due to stress—on the couch when the doorbell rang. She bolted up and hurried across the wooden floor. Through the window by the door, she saw River standing with Frankie by his side.
She touched her face. Her eyes were puffy from crying.
River held a pizza box in his hands. “Thought you might be hungry.”
The aroma of Italian spices and pepperoni floated through the air. She hadn’t eaten since the morning. “It is past dinnertime, isn’t it?” She stepped aside so he and Frankie could enter. How had so much time passed so quickly?
After closing the door, she hurried into the kitchen. “I’ll get us something to drink.”
“The pizza might be a little cold. Parking is at a premium in this neighborhood. I had to park my patrol car three blocks away.”
She stared out the window at the gray sky.
“Everyone’s getting home from work.” She pulled some tea out of the fridge.
“I assume this isn’t just about bringing me dinner.
You probably have more questions for me.
Have the searchers learned anything new?
” He hadn’t answered her text, which made her fear that he wanted to deliver bad news in person.
He set the pizza box on the table and stepped closer to her, his expression grim.
“It’s starting to look like Elsie was taken away in a car on that road.”
Lydia gripped the corner of the counter. River rushed to her side and took the pitcher of tea. He touched her back lightly to steady her. He set the tea by the pizza on the table.
Frankie rushed toward Lydia and stared up at her with rich brown eyes. She offered her a tail wag. Lydia reached down and stroked the yellow Lab’s head. “Aren’t you sweet.”
“She’s pretty good at picking up on the emotions in a room.” He pulled a chair out and flipped open the pizza box. “Why don’t you sit down?”
Feeling numb, she managed a nod and moved toward the table. River found some glasses and plates and sat kitty-corner from her.
Even though the scent of the pizza was enticing, and she hadn’t had any food for hours, the thought of eating didn’t appeal to her.
River placed a slice of pizza on her plate and poured the drinks. She took a couple of small bites. “I’ll do anything to find my daughter. What do you need to know?”
“Since we’ve ruled out relatives, I need a rundown on anyone who might have known about the field trip. Parents and other teachers, neighbors.”
She didn’t have to ask to know that each name would be checked out for criminal history, including child abduction or abuse or…worse.
She stared down at her pizza and then looked into River’s blue eyes, shaking her head. “What if she’s cold? What if she’s hungry?”
“Don’t let your mind go there. You’ll shut down. Let’s focus on what we can do. Think of anyone who might have something against you.”
Lydia nodded. She ate a little more pizza while she wracked her brain.
“At the beginning of the school year, there was a kid who drowned in a pond while we were on a field trip. The death was due to a seizure. There was nothing anyone could have done, but Tyler’s father blamed the school and me in particular.
He was kind of a hothead anyway. I was the lead teacher for that trip. ”
“What’s the guy’s name?”
“Prentiss Grafton. Tyler’s mom was not in the picture. I was at a school event, and Prentiss came on to me. This was before the accident with his son. I’m not interested in dating anyone. He seemed pretty upset when I spurned his advances. That might be why I became a target after his son’s death.”
River wrote down the name. “We’ll check him out.”
“The field trip was posted on the class schedule. Anyone who walked through the school and peered into my classroom might have seen it.”
“That makes the suspect list pretty long,” said River. He wrote down the names of the other teachers and staff that she gave him, but she doubted any of them were involved.
He seemed capable…she could only pray he’d find Elsie. Again, she wondered which agency he was with.
She pointed to the COK9TF badge on his windbreaker. “So, what’s this about? I thought you worked for the Ridge police force. That other searcher, the blond lady, had a jacket just like it.”
“I do work for the local PD, but this is for a task force put together with officers throughout Colorado. I’m sure you’ve seen the stories of the teenaged girls who were killed shortly after they gave birth.”
“Yes. I remember when Gayle Gorman’s body was found outside of Ridge.”
“There were two other girls. Jenny Clarke from Canyon Creek and Nina Olson from Colorado Springs. And now we have a missing girl from Denver who we think is still alive, Mia Andrews.” River got a faraway look in his eyes.
Elsie wasn’t the only missing person he was dealing with. She prayed they found the missing teen as well.
When she looked out the window, the sky had grown dark. They’d talked for a long time. Lydia tensed after glancing at the kitchen clock. Every hour that passed meant the chances of finding her girl got slimmer. She had to cling to hope. She had to.
“What is your experience with this? You’ve found children alive even after a day has passed, haven’t you?”
“Every case is different.” He looked away and then stared at the floor. There was something he was keeping from her.
And sometimes the outcome isn’t good, she thought.
She rose to her feet, crossed the kitchen and stared out the window at her backyard.
She’d totally forgotten to turn on the water for her fledgling raspberries, something she always did when she got home from work.
Maybe doing the routine caretaking of her yard would quell the fear that ambushed her over and over.
“I’ll be right back. I just got to turn hoses on. My raspberries are hanging on by a thread.” As was she. Lydia hurried out the back door and down the walkway to turn the spigot. The spring air and nighttime quiet was like a soothing balm to her.
Lydia raised her head when she thought she sensed movement nearby. Suddenly someone grabbed her and pulled her backward. A gloved hand went over her mouth so she couldn’t cry out. She reached for the garden bench, grabbing a trowel.
Inside the house, she heard Frankie bark.
Lydia twisted her body and used the trowel to hit the assailant’s arm. He held on and dragged her backward toward the trees that bordered her house. The man grasped her in an iron grip. Her heart pounded. The sky seemed to whirl around her.
She heard the dog barking. Frankie was getting closer. The man let go of her and pushed her to the ground. She fell onto her stomach.
River ran past her, Frankie on his heels. “You all right?”
She managed a faint, “Yes.”
He shouted a command at Frankie, who stopped close to her and licked her face. She reached out to the yellow Lab. “You’re going to be my protector.”
She pushed herself to her feet and ran back to the house with Frankie by her side, where she intended to call the police.
When she glanced over her shoulder, River had disappeared into the trees where the attacker had gone. She only hoped he was able to catch him and not be hurt himself. It would take at least ten minutes for the police to arrive.
This had to be connected to Elsie’s abduction. One thing was clear now. She was a target, too. Someone wanted her dead.
* * *
The darkness in the forest was disorienting to River as he scanned the spaces between the trees and waited for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light.
The person who had attacked Lydia seemed to have disappeared.
He pulled his gun and listened for the sound of footfalls.
He could have used Frankie’s keen senses, but he’d feared the attacker might double back and take another shot at Lydia.
Frankie wasn’t trained in protection, but there was nothing like a barking dog to deter a criminal.
He turned his head, still not hearing anything. The forest must be fairly deep. He couldn’t see where it ended. If the attacker was running away, he would have heard it.
Still on high alert, he stepped deeper into the trees, turning his head and tuning his ears to any change around him. A bird fluttered out of a branch above him. His heart pounded when he looked up.
A weight crashed against him, knocking him to the ground on his back.
The gun had slipped from his hand. The man was on top of him.
With one hand, River patted the ground, hoping to find his weapon.
With his free hand, he braced it beneath the man’s chin, curving his neck backward and keeping him from getting closer to River’s face.
The attacker swiped at River’s arm, causing him to lose his grip. He brought the other hand up before the man could reach for his throat. The assailant landed a single blow to River’s jaw, triggering pain that vibrated through his head.
River sought to twist his body in an effort to get out from underneath the other man while he swung a closed fist at his attacker’s face.
The blow landed on the man’s nose. The attacker lifted his weight.
River flipped over to his stomach. He saw the glint of metal in the moonlight. His gun. He crawled toward it.
The attacker grabbed him by his collar, choking him with his shirt.
River wheezed. His hand was only inches from his gun when the attacker landed a blow to his head with a hard object.
White dots filled his field of vision. He could feel himself fading as the man hit him again with the object. This time on his back and shoulders.
Then he heard the sound of a barking dog. Frankie.
He reached for his gun. It felt heavy in his hand. He did not want to lose consciousness.
Sirens wailed, growing louder and closer. A heavy object fell by his head; the log that had been used as a weapon. He heard the sound of retreating footsteps. He turned in time to see the man dressed in dark clothing disappear into the trees.
Frankie reached him and licked his face.
“Are you okay?” Lydia’s voice was sweeter than honey as she knelt and extended a hand toward him.
He groaned. “You could have been hurt.”
“Frankie and I got worried. After I called the police, I realized I couldn’t leave you out here alone. I know these woods.” She helped him to his feet.
Pain shot through his head and back. With Lydia supporting him and Frankie heeling beside him, whimpering and casting concerned glances up at him, River made it back to the house, where he gave the waiting police officers a quick rundown of what had happened.
Both patrol cars took off to try to catch the fleeing man.
Lydia retrieved an ice pack for River to press against the knot on his head, then she handed him a glass of water and some pain pills. “Do you think you should go to the ER to be checked out?”
“I’ll be fine. Did you get a look at the guy?”
“Not a good look. The hoodie covered his face, and it was dark. He was tall and he was strong.”
“That would be my assessment, too. Definitely a male, and probably a younger guy.” He winced.
“Prentiss Grafton is my age and in good shape.” She couldn’t believe the man would do something this horrible.
River winced again.
From where she sat facing him on the sofa, she reached out to touch his forearm, her face filled with concern. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the doctor?”
Her touch warmed his skin. “I’m sure. I’ll be all right.” The truth was he didn’t want to leave her alone as long as the attacker was still out there.
Lydia’s forehead wrinkled, and she laced her fingers together. “This must be related to what happened to Elsie. I guess it’s pretty clear that I’m a target, too. Whoever pushed me over that cliff intended to kill me. When he didn’t succeed, he took a second shot at me.”
“He must not have known I was here. I had to park the patrol car so far from the house.”
She bent forward and rested her face in her hands. “Who would do this?”
He asked her about other aspects of her life. The church she attended, the gym she worked out at. His thoughts returned again to Lydia’s angry ex-husband. “Do you think he might have sent someone to take Elsie?”
She nodded. “Yes, maybe. Sloane is an angry man who never takes responsibility for his actions. Right before he went into rehab, he was served the papers that said I got sole custody. He knew it was going to happen, but getting the papers probably made it more real and could have pushed him over the edge.”
He’d have to call Second Chances again to see if any of the other patients had gone AWOL.
His phone rang. One of the Ridge officers. The attacker had not been found. He ended the call. “I think it’s best I stay here with you tonight.”
She rose to her feet. “I’ll get you a pillow and a blanket.”
After handing River the bedding, Lydia retreated to her bedroom.
He walked the perimeter of the house with Frankie, searching the trees that connected with her backyard. He stared at the dark forest for a long moment. Would the attacker come back again tonight? He retrieved some of Frankie’s food from the patrol car.
Once inside, he watched the street through Lydia’s front window while Frankie ate her meal. Satisfied that he didn’t see anything suspicious, he settled down on the sofa, placing his gun on the side table for easy access. Frankie lay on the floor beside the sofa.
If anyone tried to break in again, the Lab would sound the alarm. Even if Lydia was safe tonight, the one thing River was sure of was that the man who had tried to kill her twice would return.