Chapter 9
NINE
Headlights from a car woke Lydia from where she slept on the couch with Frankie curled around her feet.
Though she understood why she needed to stay in the house, she had made phone calls in an attempt to bring her daughter home.
She called the school to find out if anything might have happened with Elsie that she hadn’t known about.
She called friends from church and the play group she and Elsie went to see if they had any ideas about who might have taken her little girl.
All of it had led nowhere and left her exhausted.
She’d also called the fire department to get the okay to return to her house for clothes. The chief had said that it was safe for her to go back inside. He told her it looked like a gas leak but only an arson investigator would confirm if it had been accidental or on purpose.
She rose to her feet and walked over to the window. At well past eight, it was dark outside. She flicked on the porch light to see River was coming up the walkway holding a pizza box.
As she moved to unlock the door, the other officer pulled away from the curb. She opened the door.
River held up the pizza box. “I didn’t figure you’d want to be cooking dinner this late. Maybe after you have a full belly, we can grab some groceries.”
She smiled at him. “I see you prepared your specialty.”
Her stomach growled. She’d found only a can of peaches with a questionable expiration date to snack on while she’d waited for River’s return. He flipped open the box, allowing the scent of Italian spices and pepperoni to swirl around the room.
They sat down to eat after grabbing plates and napkins. “Did you learn anything from the interviews you did?”
“Mostly just confirmed stuff we already knew. That Gayle was alienated from her family, that she was a hard worker at the jobs she had. One of the people I talked to in the apartment where she lived said that she had also mentioned going to a clinic in Denver. He thought the clinic was affiliated with a major hospital, so that might help us narrow it down.”
“That’s something anyway.” She took a bite of the gooey pizza.
He nodded. “Maren and I drove out to a home for unwed mothers outside of town. The place seemed legit.” They finished their pizza.
After they cleaned up, River and Lydia got into his private car, leaving the patrol unit parked outside, so they could get groceries. He’d loaded Frankie in the back seat.
Lydia settled into the passenger seat just as her phone rang. It was not a number she recognized. “Hello?”
“I saw your daughter. The one who’s been on the news.”
Her heartbeat thrummed in her ears as she gripped the phone tighter.
River must have picked up on the intense shift in her emotional state. He leaned closer to her. She pressed the speaker button. Her throat had gone dry. “You know where my daughter is?”
“I saw her walking with a guy on Catron Street over by that abandoned apartment building.”
“How long ago was this?”
“Three minutes ago.”
“Who…who is this?”
“This is not a safe neighborhood and people don’t like snitches.” The line went dead.
The numbness and the sense that she was floating washed over her again.
“We have to go. It was just three minutes ago.” She gripped River’s arm.
“I know the police get anonymous tips all the time from people who just want attention or who really want to help but are mistaken. But we have to go. We have to check it out.”
River started his car and handed her his phone. “Call Maren and see if she’s still in the area. Then call the police.”
She appreciated that River didn’t question the validity of the call. His response was decisive.
“The police showing up might scare whoever has her away.” She was already scrolling through his phone.
“You might be right about that, but I’m not going over there without backup.”
“I know.” She pressed in a number.
Maren answered on the first ring. “River, what’s up?”
“This is Lydia Caldwell. Are you still close to Ridge?”
“Yes, I was just filling my gas tank before heading out.”
Lydia swallowed and took in a breath. Her words came out in a staccato beat. “I just got a call that someone spotted Elsie on Catron Street by the abandoned apartment building. River and I are headed over there now.”
Maren sounded breathless, as if she were running. “I’ll get over there as fast as I can.”
River cut in, leaning toward the phone as Lydia held it. “If you’re in your patrol car, hang back and walk in. An obvious police presence could put Elsie in danger.”
“Got it,” said Maren.
River drove through town. Every red light seemed to last forever. He slowed as the houses and buildings started to look more run-down. One man walked by himself along the street. The glow of televisions came from inside apartment building windows.
She could see the abandoned apartment house up ahead on a large lot with overgrown trees and bushes.
River came to a stop by a car that had had its tires and bumper removed.
She spotted a lone dog heading up the sidewalk, stopping to sniff something on a lawn.
Tension coiled in her stomach as she drew her attention back to the boarded-up windows of the apartment building.
River pressed a number on his phone. “Where are you at?” He listened for a second then hung up. “She’s working her way up the street with Haven. Her dog is trained in suspect apprehension.”
Her gaze traveled up the three-story building to the top floor where some of the windows were not boarded. She jerked in her seat. “There—I saw a light in that corner apartment.”
River pulled his gun. “Stay here.”
She could see Maren with Haven less than half a block away, staying in the shadows the overhang of the buildings provided.
River got out of the car and let Frankie out of the back seat.
He made his way toward the building. When he tried the ground-floor door, it swung open.
He waited for a few seconds until Maren and Haven were a few yards from the door before going inside.
The darkness enveloped both officers and their dogs.
Lydia looked again at the place where she’d seen a flash of light.
The corner window remained dark. Her gaze rested on the overgrown trees and bushes that surrounded the building.
This place had probably been quite nice in its heyday.
Her eyes caught on a bit of color in a bush close to the sidewalk. She gasped.
No, it couldn’t be. It looked like Elsie’s little floral windbreaker. The one she’d been wearing the day she disappeared. Her heart was pounding as she opened the car door. When she glanced around, there was no one within three blocks of the building.
Compelled by the need to find her daughter, Lydia rushed toward where she thought she’d seen the flower print. She stepped off the sidewalk and reached through the overgrown bush. The fabric was soft in her hands. She blinked several times. It was Elsie’s jacket.
The building remained dark and quiet. If she called River, it might alert the kidnapper and risk Elsie being harmed. She could barely get a breath. Her daughter was in that building.
Still clutching the windbreaker that smelled like Elsie, she moved to return to the car. The jacket had been low enough on the branch that it may have been dropped. She stopped. But it could’ve been planted, too.
Hands grabbed her and pulled her back into the deep labyrinth of trees. She didn’t have time to let out a scream before a hand went over her mouth. She could feel herself being dragged deep into the tangle of undergrowth. She couldn’t see the street anymore.
The force that held her was strong. She kicked her feet and twisted her body while clawing at the hand that suctioned over her mouth.
The man threw her on the ground. When she landed on her back, she tried to sit up, but his hands went around her neck before she could cry out.
She fought for breath as his thumbs pressed on her breathing tubes.
The night got even darker as her vision was reduced to a pinhole.
She scratched his hands, which made him press harder. She gasped for air.
She could hear pounding footsteps on the sidewalk. A dog barked.
The man dropped her on the ground, kicking her once in the side before running through the trees toward the back of the apartment building. Lydia curled up from the pain. Maren rushed past her with Haven right beside her.
A second later, River was by her side. He gathered her into his arms. Frankie licked her cheek. “You all right?”
“I guess.” The impact of the push and then being kicked had knocked the wind out of her. She’d hit the ground hard. Her back hurt. “Her coat.” She turned to the side where she’d dropped Elsie’s jacket. She gathered it close to her body. “This is Elsie’s. She wore it the day she disappeared.”
“It was a trap to get you here so he could have another crack at you.”
“He’s the one who has her.” The windbreaker was close to her nose. It smelled like her daughter, a mixture of honey and milk. She started to cry. Who had her baby? And was she hurt? When would she see her daughter again?
River took her in a tighter embrace. “Let’s get you back to the car.”
Still holding on to the coat, her knees felt weak.
River wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her walk.
Once she was secure in the passenger seat, he phoned the police.
“There’s a man fleeing in the two hundred block of Catron Street.
A K-9 officer is in pursuit on foot. Can we get some more units in the area… thanks.”
Lydia still hadn’t caught her breath. She breathed in the scent of Elsie coat while the soft fabric brushed her cheek. “He’s the one. He has her.”
“Did you get a look at him?”
She shook her head. “It all happened so fast. He meant to kill me. Why?” Holding the coat gave her hope. Elsie was alive.
River’s phone rang. “Maren?”
Lydia could hear Maren shouting something through the phone.
A dark figure emerged from the trees just as River put his hand over her and pulled her down. A single shot came through the window.
* * *
River ducked, pushing Lydia down as the shot rang out.
A moment later, still draping a protective arm over Lydia, River raised his head above the dashboard.
The windshield was spider-webbed but not broken.
He could just make out the dark figure darting up the street, away from the occupied apartment buildings.
After getting out of the car, he opened the back door and commanded Frankie to jump out.
He made sure Lydia was safely locked inside, then drew his gun and took off running.
When he looked over his shoulder, Maren and Haven had come out of the trees by the building. His feet pounded the asphalt, which was uneven and in need of repair. He could no longer see the man who had just taken a shot at them, so he ran in the direction the attacker had gone.
He’d probably doubled back because his car was somewhere around here hidden from view. The attacker had seen his chance to take a shot at Lydia and fired a single bullet.
River passed a dilapidated house that clearly had not had anyone living in it.
He slowed down. He couldn’t see any movement anywhere, nor did he see a vehicle parked where the street came to a dead end and butted up against some overgrown bushes.
The pounding footsteps behind him told him that Maren was close.
“You go that way,” he shouted, pointing toward the bushes as he made his way through the falling-down fence that surrounded the abandoned house. The door creaked when he pushed it open. Frankie was one pace ahead of him. She let out a low-level growl.
His feet seemed to echo on the worn floorboards as he moved past the stairway through the living room to what must be the kitchen.
A sound above him caused him to tilt his head. Frankie let out a yip. The sound wasn’t footsteps, more of a scurrying. A mouse maybe.
He stepped into the kitchen. He heard one abbreviated creak of the floorboards and then an object hit him in the back. A second blow knocked him to his knees. The gun fell from his hand. Frankie barked wildly.
He heard retreating footsteps. Before he could get back to his feet, Frankie was moving toward the door they’d just come through. He grabbed his gun where it had fallen and bolted outside.
The attacker was going to take another shot at Lydia.
When he stepped outside, River saw the man only feet away from his car. The attacker took three shots at the passenger’s-side window, then darted up the street toward the occupied buildings.
River could barely take in a breath as he sprinted for his car with the shattered passenger window.
Maren and Haven emerged from the bushes. She must have heard the shots. “That way.” He pointed up the street.
He needed to get to Lydia.
Please, God, don’t let her be dead.