Chapter 5
FIVE
Lydia ran to keep up with Frankie and River as they headed into the trees and back down to the creek. The yellow Lab had gone right to work despite Elsie’s scent on the ground being twenty-four hours old.
Once again, the dog stopped at the creek. Despair encroached on Lydia’s mind. Why had she hoped there would be a different result today?
They both stared out at the road where that car had probably been parked. “Officers are trying to see if anyone else might have seen that car up close,” River said. “If we had a make and model, that would be helpful.”
“I know you’re doing everything you can.” The numbness and the sensation that her brain was filled with cotton balls started all over again.
River stared across the creek. “There has to be something we haven’t considered. An angle we haven’t explored.” He stepped across the creek and spoke to Frankie. “Find.”
Frankie put her nose to the ground. At first, she moved in circles and paced back and forth, but then she trotted in a straight line, seemingly picking up on something. Lydia followed as they moved, coming to a tree with a posted No Trespassing sign. River commanded Frankie to stop.
Lydia came to stand beside River, close enough that their shoulders were touching. “What happened?”
“This is private land. We need to get permission from the owner to go on it.”
When she looked over her shoulder, she saw that they had gone past a cluster of trees that would have hidden the sign from view from where they had stood at the creek yesterday.
She turned and stared out at the gently sloping land covered in brush and rocks. “Did she indicate she smelled anything?”
“She never alerted but she seemed to pick up on something. Maybe who ever owns this land was around yesterday and could help us.”
It felt like River was grasping at straws.
There were no visible structures on the property.
The probability that someone had not only been out here but had seen something important seemed slim.
“I suppose it would be easy enough to find out who owns the land.” If straws were all they had, that is what they would reach for.
They headed back across the river and up the hill. An explosive noise penetrated the air. Frankie let out a bark as River tugged Lydia to the ground.
“We’re being shot at.” He pulled his gun. “Get over to those trees.”
Her heart pounded as she pulled herself on her stomach with Frankie alongside her. When she peered over her shoulder, she saw that River was a few feet behind her. He’d drawn his gun and stopping every couple of seconds to peer around, probably trying to figure out where the shot had come from.
Another rifle shot made her crawl even faster.
She rushed behind the cluster of trees. Frankie nestled close to her and licked her face.
Having the dog by her side made her feel safer.
When she looked out from behind a thick trunk, River half rose and fired off a shot.
She glanced in the direction he’d fired, catching just a flash of movement by some rocks.
River ran the remaining distance and slipped in beside her. “We need to get back to the car and get out of here. Whoever is out there has a rifle. His range is way greater than my pistol.”
He turned his head in the other direction, staring at the incline where there were a few bushes and rock piles. He touched her back. “Stay low. Move from one covered spot to another. Frankie will go with you. I’ll be right behind you.”
He locked her in his gaze. The iron resolve she saw there gave her courage. He kissed her forehead and touched her cheek lightly, locking her in his blue-eyed gaze. “Go. Be safe.”
The kiss had been unexpected. She hurried up the hillside, dropping first behind some rocks and then a cluster of bushes.
Another rifle shot filled the air. She could see a figure down below just before he or she slipped behind the cluster of trees they’d just been in.
River had flattened himself against the ground.
Only the wind and the sound of her own intense breathing filled the air around her. After a long moment, River crawled up the mountain to her. Once behind the bushes, the land flattened out. They would have to make a run for it.
He nodded and she nodded back to show she understood what they needed to do. Frankie whimpered. They cautiously rose and sprinted across the meadow toward the trees that would lead to the trail connected with the parking lot.
Two more shots were fired in their direction.
One came so close to Lydia that her eardrum hurt.
She stepped to the side, not realizing how close she was to the steep drop-off.
Her foot slipped. River reached for her, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her from the edge.
Rocks tumbled down the cliff, crashing into each other.
Another shot echoed around them as they headed for the trees. They exited the trail and ran toward the parking lot.
River swung the back door open so Frankie could get in her kennel while Lydia ran around to the passenger side of the patrol car. He started the engine and pulled the radio, explaining the situation. “If we can get an officer out by that dirt road, maybe we can catch this guy.”
The dispatcher’s voice came out strong and clear. “We’ll send an officer over there as quickly as possible.”
He put the radio back in the slot and pressed the gas. “Let’s get you out of harm’s way.”
The shooter had aimed for both her and River, which meant maybe they wanted River out of the way so they could get to her.
When she glanced up the hill, she saw two hikers right before they disappeared over the hill.
That explained the car that had arrived while they’d been on the other side of the trees.
“Someone must have followed us from my house. How else would they have known where we were?”
River kept his eyes on the curving road up ahead. “I didn’t see a car on that dirt road by the creek, though. Where did they park?”
River drove down the mountain then turned onto a road that was bordered by trees on both sides.
In her peripheral vision, she saw a car on a dirt road that intersected with the road they were on.
The tan vehicle blended into the trees and barely registered in her mind right before it zoomed forward and slammed into River’s side of the patrol car.
Lydia screamed and gripped the armrest. Frankie let out a yelp of distress. The collision sent her side of the cruiser off the road, the incline leaving the patrol car at a precarious slant.
Her heart pounded when she peered through River’s window as the older model, tan-colored SUV loomed toward them, preparing to knock them totally off the road.
* * *
River pressed the gas, hoping to avoid a second collision. The other vehicle impacted his back end, sending them down the incline and careening toward a tree. He braked, stopping short of hitting the tree.
Lydia glanced through the back window. Her face had gone white with fear. “He’s coming toward us.”
River looked up toward the road. The driver had gotten out of his SUV and was holding a rifle. He wore a ski mask, so his face wasn’t visible. River pressed the button that would automatically open Frankie’s kennel.
The man raised the rifle.
“Out your side,” he said. The patrol car would provide a degree of cover.
The first bullet pierced the window, shattering it.
Lydia was already on the ground. She opened the back door so Frankie could jump out.
River crawled out her side of the car, dropped to the ground and pulled his gun as the side window in the back seat shattered.
If Lydia hadn’t acted so fast, Frankie would have been dead.
River lifted his head to peer through to windows to get a bead on where the shooter was. The man’s SUV was parked perpendicular to his on the wrong side of the road. He scanned all around. Where had the shooter gone?
The breaking of a branch alerted him. The man had come down into the trees and was taking aim at them.
They sprinted around to the back bumper with Frankie following. Both of them were out of breath from the threat of death. He tilted his head around the cruiser to try to locate the shooter.
A shot came so close that his face burned.
A long, tense silence enveloped them. They were at a point of standoff. The rifle had enough range that the shooter did not have to move in closer. He just had to wait until they tried to make a run for it. “We can wait him out,” River whispered.
“What if he decides to arc around into the forest so he can get a shot at us back here?” Lydia pointed to the trees as her voice laced with fear.
Would the man be so bold as to do that? To stay out of range of River’s handgun, he’d have to go deep into the trees. He studied the area in front of him for a long moment. The sound of pounding footsteps caused him to drag his attention back up to the road. The shooter was running back to his SUV.
“Stay here.” River hurried up the steep dirt incline in time to see the man get in his vehicle and pull away.
River aimed his gun and took a shot. When he peered up the road, he saw the reason the attacker had sought escape.
A Ridge police car was coming out of the same intersecting dirt road the shooter had emerged from.
That must be the backup he’d called for.
The officer had traveled the whole length of the dirt road.
River waved him down. The officer opened his window, his engine still running.
“Tan SUV. Maybe you can catch him.”
The officer nodded, pulling forward and switching on his sirens. River hurried back down to Lydia. She fell into his arms. Her whole body was shaking.
“That was scary.”
“I know.” He held her until the trembling stopped.
She pulled away and looked into his eyes. Kissing her on the forehead had been impulsive. He’d wanted her to know he had her back, that he would keep her safe. He pressed his hand against her cheek.
“Let’s get you home. I think we can maneuver this car back onto the road.”
He bent to stroke Frankie’s head. The dog was used to being around gunfire, but she had probably experienced some fear as well. “That’s my girl,” he said.
He put Frankie back in the kennel. The driver’s-side door was bent and wouldn’t open, so he crawled in through Lydia’s side and then Lydia got in. The vehicle clearly needed to go to the body shop but maybe it would get them back to town.
The car made grinding noises as he backed it away from the tree.
His side window was a spider web. Then he turned the wheel to drive up the slanted dirt incline.
It took several tries of backing up and moving forward before the front tire on his side touched the pavement.
He got back on the road, pulling his phone out and pressing Eva’s number before he rolled forward.
“River, what can I do for you?”
“Can you find out who owns the land next to that hiking trail for me?”
“That should be easy enough. Those things are a matter of public record. I thought we were operating on the assumption that Elsie was taken away in that car.”
“I’m just wondering if the guy that owns that land was out there and saw something,” said River. “If you could send me a map of the area, as well, that would be good.”
“Can do,” said Eva. “I started the background check on Prentiss Grafton. He’s gotten into a lot of altercations, most of them pled down to misdemeanors, but clearly a guy who doesn’t have control of his temper.”
River thanked Eva and Lydia pressed the disconnect button for him while he drove.
“Got to follow every lead, huh?” Her voice sounded faint. She was losing hope. The last nearly fatal encounter had taken a lot out of her.
“We’re not giving up.”
She rested her palm against her forehead then patted his leg with the other hand. “Thank you.” After a long moment, she let out heavy breath. “Do you think that was the same man who came after me at my house?”
Though he had followed the attacker into the trees that night, River couldn’t say much about him except that he was tall, maybe six foot. “Same build, I would say.”
A voice came over the radio; the police officer who was his backup. “Officer Hanes here. I never caught up with the tan SUV. He kind of just disappeared. He must have turned off a side road but, honestly, I didn’t see any. Kind of weird.”
“Thank you for your effort.” River put the radio back in the slot.
The downward spiral of despair was almost palpable in the car.
“At least we know the make and model of the SUV, and it’s not looking good for Prentiss Grafton,” said River.
He supposed the next step should be to get forensics up to the trail to try to retrieve the rifle brass. With the help of the task force and the local PD, he was working this case from every angle and yet they didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. Elsie was still gone.
River stopped at the police station to leave the damaged patrol car to get repaired and to borrow another in the meantime.
The drive back to Lydia’s house seemed unbearably long. He only hoped he could keep her safe from another potentially deadly attack.