Eli scanned the room. The window was still cracked open, and he had to swallow the wave of frustration rising in his chest.
“We’ll find her,” he said firmly, more promise than reassurance. “But we need everything you remember. Anyone who came in. Any noise. Anything off.”
Vivian rubbed her hands together again, a nervous motion she didn’t seem to notice. “Ava’s phone is gone,” she said. “She must have taken it with her.”
Delaney already had her phone out. “I’ll have Noah ping it,” she said, her fingers flying across the screen.
Eli stepped farther into the room and scannedit with a tactical eye. On the table near the two cots were two nearly empty glasses of water and a pair of small plastic juice bottles.
He pointed. “Those from tonight?”
Vivian nodded. “Yes. A nurse brought them in around ten. Said they were from the kitchen.”
Eli stepped closer, noticing the uneven amounts. One bottle was mostly full. The other was two-thirds gone. “Which one did Olivia drink from?”
“That one,” Vivian said, pointing to the emptier bottle. “She was really thirsty and finished most of it.”
“And the other one’s yours?” he asked.
“Yes,” Vivian replied.
“There’s no bottle near Ava’s bed,” Eli said.
“No. The nurse didn’t bring her anything. Just me and Olivia.”
Delaney looked over. “Did you know the nurse?” she asked.
Vivian hesitated, then shook her head. “No. She was tall. Thin. Mid-thirties. She had her hair tucked under her cap and wore a mask, but her eyes were really light. Blue or gray.”
“She wearing a badge?” Eli pressed.
Vivian frowned. “I think so. I didn’t look closely. She acted like she belonged. I didn’t question it.”
Vivian’s phone buzzed in her hand. She glanced at the screen, and her breath caught.
“It’s from Ava,” she said, her voice tight.
Eli stepped closer. “Read it.”
Vivian’s fingers trembled as she opened the message. Her eyes scanned it, and she let out a shaky breath before reading aloud.
“It says,Come to 482 County Line Road. Come alone. Please hurry, Mom. And come alone or…” She stopped. Her throat worked as she swallowed hard. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “They’ll kill me.”
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ChapterSeventeen
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Vivian lunged for her purse like she was about to sprint out of the hospital room.
Delaney stepped in front of her. “Vivian, wait. You can’t go rushing out there. It could be a trap.”
“It’s my daughter,” Vivian said, her voice sharp with panic. “She said they’ll kill her if I didn’t go alone.”
“And we’re going to get her back,” Delaney insisted, and once again she had to block the woman from running out the door. “But not by walking into something blind.”
The door swung open behind them. Noah stepped in, followed closely by Sheriff Chase. The sheriff's tan uniform was damp from the rain, her expression set with the kind of seriousness Delaney knew meant bad news.
