Chapter 12
TWELVE
As she gathered the ingredients for the ham and Swiss sandwiches, Lydia wondered why she’d made the remark about River needing a wife.
Was she picturing herself in that role? She shook her head at the idea.
She was coming to rely on him, and he had been so kind and attentive, but she had to remind herself that he was just doing his job.
River came back in the house with Frankie.
“Lunch will be just a few minutes.” It was well after two and her stomach was growling.
River sat down with his phone. “I have to text some of the task force and find out if any progress has been made finding the free clinic Gayle Gorman may have gone to in Denver.”
She nodded, assembling the sandwiches, then toasting them and cutting up some fruit. They sat at the table and River said grace.
After he ate, River stayed busy on his phone and computer.
She found a book to distract her on River’s bookshelf.
She kept reading the same sentence over and over.
There must be something more she could do to find Elsie.
She rose from her chair and paced through the house.
When she returned to the living room, River looked up from his laptop.
“If your in-laws have not been at their house or in Grand Junction, where else would they go?”
“Did you talk to the police in Grand Junction?”
“They did a drive-by. There’s no sign of their other car there.”
She’d just heard him talking to another task force member, but it was clear his mind was on Elsie as well.
“Not sure. They don’t own like a cabin or a vacation home or anything. When they retired, they wanted to use their money and time to travel to foreign countries. They might even own a condo or time-share in one of them. They certainly have the money for that.”
“Maybe they left the country. I can check with the airport to see if they flew out. Elsie’s old enough that they would have had to buy a seat for her, too.”
Lydia collapsed in a chair as tension invaded her chest. Was Elsie already in a different country?
If Sloane had put them up to this, was he intending to join them later?
It just seemed so far-fetched. She wondered if she should just call Sloane.
She of all people would be able to tell if he was hiding something.
While River made a phone call to the Denver airport, she wandered back into the bedroom she was sleeping in. The stuffed animal she’d grabbed for Elsie, a brown bear, was peeking out of her bag. Its blue-button eyes stared at her blankly. She picked it up and held it to her chest.
She thought about what River had said about working a case from all angles.
If Norm and Sheryl had been involved, they or their car would have been spotted heading to Ridge Mountain the day Elsie disappeared.
If they’d been close to the trail, they couldn’t have been in Grand Junction. Their alibi would be broken.
She let out a heavy breath.
None of this mattered if they’d already left the country with Elsie.
When she stepped back out into the living room, River was working on his laptop again. He looked up at her. “No one under the name of Norm and Sheryl Caldwell got on a plane with a three-year-old passenger. It would take time to put together fake ID that would fool TSA.”
“I suppose that’s good news.” They could take a bus or drive their car. “I was thinking maybe we could go back out to the road that leads to Ridge Mountain. Maybe someone saw them or their car or a camera picked something up. That would mean they lied about being in Grand Junction.”
“A gray SUV is kind of generic. Eva could track down the license number. If a camera picked that detail up, we’d know for sure.”
“They had some distinctive bumper stickers, too. I would recognize them if I saw them. One was for a drone flying club that Norm is a member of and the other is for Estes Park.”
“There’re two different gas stations on the way up there. Let me finish what I’m doing here, and we can do that. Do you have a photo of Norm and Sheryl?”
“Yes, on my phone,” she said. “I think I might lay down and rest while you finish up.” She scrolled through her phone to find a photo of Sheryl and Norm.
There were several, all of them with Elsie.
Sadness and an ache like she’d never known washed through her when she saw Elsie’s bright face and infectious smile.
She pulled up Norm’s number. Her finger hovered over the connect button. They probably wouldn’t pick up, just like before. They must have seen that she had called by now. And yet they hadn’t called back, a sharp contrast to their initial show of concern for her.
She rested. When she opened her eyes, the sky was gray. It must be past dinnertime. They’d eaten such a late lunch, she wouldn’t be hungry until dark. She rose and stepped into the living room. Both River and Frankie were gone. He wouldn’t leave her here alone.
She peered out each of the living room windows and then moved to the kitchen that looked out on the back of the house. River stood watching the empty park while Frankie did her business. Just seeing him made her feel safe.
River came back inside, “Do you feel ready to go check out those gas stations.”
“Sure.” She grabbed her purse and they headed out the door to his patrol car. The sun was low on the horizon by the time they got on the mountain road that led up to the hiking trails.
The first gas station didn’t have cameras. The clerk they questioned had been working that Monday but didn’t remember an older couple with a woman in a white hat. Lydia showed her the picture on her phone.
“They would have been driving a gray SUV,” said River.
The clerk, a stout woman with salt-and-pepper hair and glasses she kept on a chain, shook her head. “Monday’s not a super-busy day on the trail, but I don’t remember anyone like that.”
By the time River drove to the last gas station before the hiking trail, the sky had grown even darker.
The convenience store was nestled close to a forest. There were two other cars in the parking lot.
River left Frankie in the patrol car but let her out of the kennel so she could move around more.
They walked side by side toward the store entrance.
Inside, a young man with a nose ring and yellow-tipped hair, stood behind the counter.
His tie-dye T-shirt said Jesus Loves You.
“How can I help you folks?” He had a radiant smile.
River pulled out his badge. “I’m with the Ridge PD. We’re investigating the disappearance of a little girl.”
“Yeah, I saw that on the news.” His gaze rested on Lydia. “I’ve been praying she’d be found.”
His words touched Lydia. There were probably dozens of strangers praying for her little girl.
“I noticed you’ve got a camera on the gas pumps outside. Do you keep that footage?”
“Just for a week and then we record over it. I can get the recording for Monday and set you up in the break room to watch it.”
“That would be good,” said River.
After the clerk helped another customer who had come in, he dug through the stack of DVDs and put one in the player.
They both pulled up a chair. “Get ready for some riveting television watching,” said River.
River’s sense of humor even in the most trying moments eased her anxiety. “I’m on pins and needles.”
River fast-forwarded through the tape. “We’ll start about two hours before the time of the abduction.”
“It was an afternoon hike, so that would have been about eleven.” Norm and Sheryl had known about the hike.
She kept them informed about all Elsie’s school activities, many of which they came to.
Her stomach twisted into a knot. How could they have been plotting something like this while they’d sat through Elsie’s school play and attended grandparents’ day? It just didn’t seem possible.
Lydia watched the video as one car after another got gas; some people entered the store as well. “Do they have tapes for the interior of the store?”
“I’m sure they do, but let’s start here.
This camera picks up the pumps, most of the parking lot, and you can see when someone walks toward the store entrance.
If it comes to that, Eva can get copies of the recordings.
She has software that will look for people matching Norm and Sheryl’s description.
The white hat would be the most obvious thing to keyword in.
Way faster than going through manually.”
After about twenty minutes, Lydia stood. “I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
Leaving her purse behind, she stepped out into the main room where the clerk was looking at his phone. No one else was in the store. He looked up.
“Your restrooms?”
He grabbed a key off the wall. “You have to go outside and to the left.”
She stepped outside into the twilight of early evening. There were no other cars in the parking lot besides the patrol vehicle. She could see Frankie’s head in the front seat as she sat behind the steering wheel.
Lydia stuck the key in the lock and turned it.
A noise in the trees at the back side of the convenience store drew her attention.
A man wearing gloves and a mask reached out and grabbed her.
A needle went into her arm. There was no time to scream before his hand went over her mouth, and she was dragged into the forest. She could feel herself slipping away.
Her eyelids were heavy, and her limbs felt like they’d had weights placed on them.
The last thing she heard was Frankie’s barking.
* * *
River stared at the screen while holding the remote. Even on fast forward, watching the comings and goings at the gas pumps was tedious. As busy as Eva was, maybe sending the files to her would be faster.
The store clerk poked his head into the storage room. “Your dog is going ballistic out there.”
“What?” He set the remote down on a box and jumped up from his chair.
By the time he got outside, his heart was pounding.
Frankie never sounded the alarm over nothing.
He hurried around the side of the building to where the restrooms were.
He walked toward the one for women, lifting his fist to knock on the door when he saw the key stuck in the lock.
All the air left his lungs as he wheezed in a breath and turned a half circle.
Something had happened to Lydia. He looked toward the forest at the rear of the store and then out at the parking lot. His patrol car was the only vehicle in the lot. He sprinted toward it. It had been less than five minutes since she’d left the store. Frankie might be able to track her.
His hand was on the driver’s-side door, where Frankie moved from one seat to the other, clearly agitated. He caught movement in his peripheral vision and turned to see the tan SUV emerge from the trees and pull out onto the main road.
He yanked the door open and jumped in behind the wheel just as the SUV disappeared over the hill. Frankie settled into the passenger seat.
“Hold on, girl.” He pulled out of the parking lot and floored it. There were no other cars on the road at this hour. He could see the red glow of the other vehicle’s taillights. The SUV abruptly turned and disappeared into the trees.
He sped up, turning onto the dirt road where the SUV had gone.
The canopy of tall evergreens made the early evening even darker.
He switched on his lights. His car bumped along.
Years of rainfall without repairs had made the road rutty.
He didn’t see the other vehicle anywhere.
He had to be on this road, there had been no other turnoffs.
“We’ve got to find her.” He was having a hard time taking a deep breath. Frankie licked his face. If it hadn’t been for her, the abductor would have been long gone by the time River wondered why Lydia hadn’t returned from the restroom.
He kept his eyes on the road but reached out to rub Frankie’s head. “You’re about the best partner a guy could have.”
The trees thinned out and turned into rolling hills. He spotted the other vehicle’s taillights. The tan SUV turned at what must be a crossroad at least a quarter mile away.
He pressed the gas, but progress was slow on the primitive road. He came to the crossroad and turned in the direction he’d seen the other SUV go. The driver must have gone over the hill.
River prayed that he would get to Lydia in time.
When he got to the top of the hill, he saw a forest down below but no vehicle.
He drove to the edge of the forest as the muscles at the back of his neck twisted. Still no sign of the SUV.
His gaze bounced around the landscape. Had the driver turned off his headlights so he’d be harder to spot at a distance?
From the top of the hill, he could see several intersecting roads.
Could the SUV have pulled into the trees?
Maybe there was even a road there that River couldn’t see from his vantage point.
There were too many places the guy could have gone.
Frankie whimpered.
“We’re not giving up,” said River. “We just need some help.” He grabbed his radio.
The police dispatcher’s voice came over the line. “Officer Jameson, what is it?”
A lump had formed in his throat. “Galvanize search and rescue and get as many officers as you can over by Ridge Mountain.” If any of the task force members were close to Ridge, he knew they would come and help as well.
“Location?”
“The dirt road on the east side of the forest after the last gas station. I’m about four miles in.”
“What is the situation?”
“A woman has been kidnapped in a tan SUV.” He closed his eyes, feeling a tightening through his chest. “Her name is Lydia Caldwell. We have to find her before it’s too late.”