Chapter 19
NINETEEN
Lydia’s heart pounded erratically as she stared at the phone. River had not answered her call. She’d seen two people come out of the mall and move toward the trees. There had been enough moonlight to discern that one shadowy figure was smaller and shorter than the other.
She didn’t have the phone numbers of the other officers. There was no time. Sheryl was probably escaping with Elsie. She pushed open the door and ran to where the two people had disappeared into the trees.
The parking lot was filled with cracks and bumps as her feet pounded on the concrete, and she leaped around garbage, twisted metal and a mattress. The canopy of the trees made the night even darker. Sheryl had not been carrying a flashlight. She would have to move slowly with Elsie.
Her heartbeat drummed in her ears as she treaded the undergrowth of the forest. She stepped where there seemed to be a sort of path.
She heard a scream. Elsie’s scream.
Lydia shot through the forest toward the sound of her daughter in distress. The trees thinned. She saw a car in the distance, parked in an open area but concealed from the road by brush.
Though she could not see her, the sound of Elsie’s crying compelled Lydia forward. She pushed through the trees and brush. Then she saw it. Elsie lying on the ground caught in a tangle of undergrowth. Sheryl was bent over her.
Sheryl’s head shot up. Lydia had been spotted. Sheryl could run and get away in the car if she left Elsie behind. Instead, she reached for her granddaughter, making soothing sounds as she sought to free the child’s legs from the roots and branches she’d gotten tangled in.
Lydia ran to her daughter. “Elsie. Elsie.”
“Mommy.”
The girl fell into Lydia’s arms. She held her close as tears flowed.
“She’s my son’s daughter,” Sheryl hissed, stretching to take Elsie.
“Sheryl Caldwell, get away from the child and put your hands in the air.”
Lydia glanced off to the side, where Maren stood with Haven, her gun drawn.
Sheryl turned to run toward the car. Maren shouted a command at Haven, who caught up with Sheryl and leaped at her while barking.
Sheryl put her arms in the air. “I’ll stop. Just call your dog off.”
Lydia looked up at the older woman and held the crying Elsie even tighter. “She’s my daughter.”
“Norm says Sloane will be a good father once he stops drinking. He can quit more easily if you’re not around.”
Sheryl’s thinking was twisted. She’d believe anything to see their son as not at fault. Or that the pressure Norm put on his son to succeed contributed to his drinking.
Maren moved in to handcuff Sheryl. “I’m going to put her in my patrol car.”
“Sure. Give me a minute with Elsie,” said Lydia.
Maren led Sheryl away through the trees, her dog keeping an intent eye on the suspect.
Lydia rose to her feet, still holding Elsie close. “My precious, precious girl.” She brushed her hand over Elsie’s soft curls. “Mommy’s treasure.” She touched Elsie’s cheek. “Are you hurt? Did Grandma give you enough to eat?”
“Yes, Grandma gave me lots of treats and toys, but Mommy, they wouldn’t let me see you. They said you were bad and that they had to take me away.” She wrapped her arms around her mom’s neck. “I knew it wasn’t true.”
“No, sweetheart. Grandma and Grandpa…they were just…misguided.”
“That’s a big word.” Elsie twirled a strand of her mother’s auburn hair. Her face was close enough to Lydia’s that she could feel the child’s soft breath on her skin.
“I hope you weren’t scared.”
Elsie shook her head then patted her mom’s cheek. “I missed you.”
“Oh, baby girl, you have no idea how much I missed you.” She put Elsie on the ground and then took her hand. “Come on, we’re going to go sit in a policeman’s car.”
“Is he a nice policeman?”
“Yes, he’s very nice indeed and he has a really sweet dog.”
“A dog.” Elsie squealed with delight. “Can I pet the dog and give her hugs?”
Lydia thought her heart would burst at the sound of her daughter’s voice.
Her daughter was safe. Her excitement about the dog indicated that maybe she had not been overly traumatized.
Lydia knew though that there would still be much to process.
The important thing right now was that Elsie was back in her arms.
As they came to the edge of the forest, she could see Maren putting Sheryl in her patrol car.
Gunfire, at least five shots, came from within the mall. One of the windows lit up from the volley.
Lydia grabbed Elsie and pulled her close praying that River and Eli were okay. A second later, Norm emerged from the building. Her heart pounded as she picked up Elsie. She needed to get to the patrol car before Norm could get to her.
* * *
With Frankie running ahead, River chased after Norm as he exited the building and ran for the trees. When shots had been fired in his direction, Eli had retreated, but River knew he would take up the pursuit.
Off to the side, he caught a glimpse of Lydia holding a child, running toward the patrol car to get away from where Norm had gone. Even as he focused on taking down Norm, his heart burst with joy to know that Elsie was with her mother.
He could hear Norm as he crashed through the forest then disappeared from view.
The pain radiating through River’s injured arm slowed him down.
He kept running, brushing branches out of his way with his good arm while he held the gun with his injured arm.
He and Frankie burst through the trees to an open area.
Norm was behind the wheel of a car. River leveled his gun to fire off a shot before the car was out of range and had reached a road.
River pressed the talk button on his shoulder radio. “He’s getting away through the trees.” He could see the red glow of the taillights. “To the east, not the road we came in on.”
“I’m at my patrol vehicle now,” said Maren. “Sheryl is in custody. I can chase him.”
The radio disconnected and then he heard the sound of a car peeling out. Feeling the strength draining from him, he stumbled back through the trees. He was bent over and gripping his arm by the time he stepped onto the parking lot.
Lydia came toward him. “You’re hurt.”
He heard a small voice that was music to his ears. “Mommy, is this the nice policeman?”
“Yes, this is River and his dog Frankie.”
Even though his injury caused great pain, River reached a hand out toward Elsie. “It’s nice to meet you, Elsie. I’m River.” The child had the same sweet smile as her mother. He’d like to see more of those smiles.
Elsie did a little curtsey. “Nice to meet you.” The girl drew her attention to the yellow Lab wagging her tail.
“This is Frankie?” Seeing delight in the child’s eyes as she moved to pet the dog eased some of River’s pain.
Lydia wrapped her arm around River’s back, gripping his good shoulder. “You need to go to a hospital.”
He nodded through gritted teeth. “Can’t argue with you there.”
She helped him to the passenger side of the patrol car. Eli was already pulling out, maybe to help Maren with the pursuit.
Lydia drove River to the ER to be taken care of while she had Elsie checked out as well.
Once his wound had been cleaned and bandaged and the doctor had prescribed painkillers, he made his way down the hall to the waiting room where Lydia and Elsie sat.
Taking on the role of protector, Frankie rested at Elsie’s feet.
Maren entered the ER waiting room, looked around and moved toward River.
“We weren’t able to catch Norm. We’ve got a BOLO out for him,” said Maren.
River’s gut clenched. Norm was still out there.
He patted his colleague’s arm. “I know you did your best. Has anyone questioned Sheryl to find out where he might be?”
“I did when we took her into the Ridge police station. She didn’t know where he would go, but it’s clear he was the mastermind behind this whole thing. In the course of the interview, my impression was that Sheryl was a bit of shrinking violet who went along with whatever her husband said.”
“That sounds about right,” said Lydia.
River had one eye on Elsie as she grabbed a book from a table and lay down beside Frankie, using the dog’s stomach as a pillow. The scene warmed his heart.
“In any case,” said Maren, “we need to keep Lydia and Elsie safe.”
“My house might be one of the first places they’ll look and my windows still aren’t fixed anyway.”
“I’ll talk to Emmett and see if he can arrange a safe house.”
“In the meantime, maybe it would be best if I took them to a hotel and kept watch. I’ll see if the Ridge PD can provide additional protection.”
“That sounds good. I’m sure you’ll want some time for that arm to recover.”
“Keep me in the loop about Mia’s case,” said River.
“For sure. I’ll follow you to the hotel.”
River went to Lydia to explain the situation. Norm was still out there and seemed bent on taking Elsie and ending Lydia’s life.