“I’m heading back up where Elsie was last seen. I need something with her scent on it.”
“I can get you that, but if you’re going back up there, I’m going with you.” Lydia strode over to where her jacket was hanging. She grabbed another smaller pink coat.
Arguing with the distraught mom would be pointless. Lydia needed to feel like she was doing something to find her daughter. She’d be safe with him.
She slipped into her jacket and handed River the pink coat. “Norm, you’ll be all right?”
“Do what you have to do. I need to get back to check on Sheryl anyway. I’ll lock up your place.”
“Thank you,” said Lydia.
Within twenty minutes, River and Lydia were headed back up the mountain road. He only hoped this time Frankie could get a clearer read on where Elsie had gone.
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.
