“I was just thinking that it must have been tough for you and Elsie when everything happened with your husband.”
The smile faded from her face. “It was the death of a dream. My whole life, I wanted to be part of a happy family. I never really knew my parents, and my aunt did things out of a sense of duty. When we were dating, Sloane painted a picture that implied that a solid family was what he wanted, too. But it was all just talk. How about you? No plans for a wife and family?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m kind of married to my job.” Even more so since what had happened with Noah. He didn’t tell her that after what had happened to Noah, he didn’t feel like he deserved to have children in his life. If he couldn’t keep one five-year-old boy safe, maybe he couldn’t keep any child safe. “I have a sister with two little boys who live in Denver. I see them when I can.”
They ate dinner and then River found a movie for them to watch, but Lydia seemed distracted preferring to pay attention to Frankie. Her mind was probably still on her daughter. Lydia’s phoned buzzed that she had a text. Her face brightened and then fell when she saw who it was.
“It’s Elsie’s grandparents. They want to know if there’s any news.” She shook her head. “I had a moment of thinking it was someone telling me they’d found Elsie. I guess any time my phone rings, that will be my first thought.”
He reached out, rubbed her back, and then drew her into a side hug. There was nothing he could say that would take away her anxiety. Best just to be with her. He turned off the movie since she hadn’t been watching it anyway. His attempt to get her mind off Elsie’s kidnapping had not worked.
* * *
Within twenty minutes, Lydia was asleep on the sofa. He placed a throw over her. With all that had happened, he was surprised that she hadn’t collapsed sooner. River took Frankie and walked the perimeter of his house. He didn’t think they’d been followed, but with all the attempts on her life, he couldn’t take any chances where Lydia was concerned.
When he came back in the house, Lydia was no longer on the sofa. He had a second of panic until he saw the closed bedroom door indicating that she had gone to bed. He double-checked to make sure the doors were locked and the windows latched. He checked his phone. A text from Eva saying she’d gotten hold of Gregory Larson and that he had agreed to meet them on the land that connected with the trail where Elsie had disappeared. A thin lead at best, but he was running out of ideas.
River sat his gun on the side table and then lay on the sofa, pulling the blanket over himself. His plan was to get up and walk a patrol several times in the night. After all that had happened, he needed to remain on high alert. Maybe he could keep Lydia safe through the night, but Elsie was still out there somewhere…alive, he hoped.
SEVEN
Lydia awoke with a start. Her breathing was intense, as if she’d been jogging. Except for a night-light that illuminated Frankie sleeping on her bed in the corner, the room was dark and the shades were drawn.
Her heart was still pounding from the dream she’d had. She’d been running through the forest, calling for Elsie. As she’d moved through the trees, she could hear the little girl crying out for her, but Lydia could never see her. Then the dream shifted to the edge of the cliff—only it was Elsie falling down, screaming for Lydia. Instead of a deep canyon, the cliff turned into a black abyss where Elsie got smaller and smaller until she was eaten up by the darkness.
Frankie rose from her bed and trotted over to Lydia, placing her front paws on the bed.
She touched the dog’s soft fur. “I’m okay. I just had a bad dream.”
After throwing off blankets, she stepped into the bathroom to get a sip of water. The fear the dream had instigated still had not faded. She rested her hands on the vanity and stared into the sink. “It wasn’t real, Lydia.” Even taking a deep breath didn’t help wipe the images from her mind. She closed her eyes.
Elsie is safe. Elsie is alive.
She prayed for God to quiet her racing thoughts. When she returned to the bedroom, she heard River moving around in the kitchen.
After grabbing the robe River had loaned her, she stepped into the open-concept living room and kitchen area.
River was still fully dressed. He stood in the kitchen, a steaming mug sitting on the counter. It looked like he couldn’t sleep, either. “Everything okay?”
She stepped toward him. “I had a bad dream.”
He met her gaze. “I guess I don’t have to ask you what it was about.”
“River, I’m so afraid for her. I can’t stop thinking about it.”
He reached out to her, and she fell into his arms. He repeated her name several times. She was grateful that he didn’t offer empty assurances. Elsie’s welfare and whereabouts were unknown. Lydia relished the warmth and safety of his embrace. As he held her, she realized giving in to the fear would make it that much harder to focus on what she could do to bring Elsie home safe.
After stepping away from the hug, she swiped at her eyes. “Guess I’ll try to get a few more hours’ sleep.”
“In the morning, we’ll go out and talk to the man who owns the land next to the hiking trail. When I talked to him, he said he wanted to help. He had no problem with us taking the dogs into that clubhouse he has close to his skeet shooting range.”
She turned to face him. “Like you said, we have to work all the angles.” She tried to sound upbeat.
He nodded. “I’m not quitting until we have answers.”
His tenacity gave her strength to keep going. But they both knew that the answer might be that Elsie was no longer alive.
With doubt and hope wrestling in her mind, she retreated to the bedroom with Frankie, the self-appointed bodyguard, at her heels.
