Lydia checked the two other doors that connected to the big room and then returned to the main room. “Just a bathroom and a storage closet with cleaning supplies and tools.” She rubbed her arms. “I don’t know why I thought I would find some evidence that she’d been here. She was wearing barrettes that day and a little beaded bracelet that I helped her make. She had on her floral windbreaker.”
The look of distress on Lydia’s face cut right through him. “All the same, let’s let Frankie do a deep search.”
River led Frankie through the side rooms. The K-9 circled each room but gave no hint that Elsie had been there.
He returned to the main room where Lydia sat on a couch, waiting for him. Her expression, the wide eyes and raised brows, held a question.
He shook his head.
Her shoulders slumped. When they stepped outside, Lizzie was headed up the hill with Reena. Gregory’s car was gone, as was one of the men practicing his fly casting.
They walked toward Lizzie. “So sorry, Lydia, but Reena couldn’t pick up on any sort of scent. I went as far as the top of the hill where I could look down and see the creek.”
As they loaded up and headed down the mountain, River felt like he was in quicksand. They were running out of angles to work. What had happened to that precious little girl?
Lydia’s silence suggested she was in the same mental space as he was. What thread could he pull to make the case hot again? He refused to give up hope. He took his phone from his pocket and sat it on the console. “Press in Eva’s number. Maybe she has come up with something.”
Lydia picked up the phone and scrolled, pressing a number.
Eva’s voice came through on speaker. “River, what’s up?”
“Just wanted to check with you. Did all the background checks on the people at the school come back?” He swallowed and glanced in Lydia direction. “Wonder if you came up with anything.”
“Give me a second. I just had my first sip of coffee, so I’m moving a little slow.” River could hear keys tapping. “We’re still waiting on a couple of background checks. So far, everyone but Prentiss Grafton is pretty clean. When I called him, he said he was out of town the day of Elsie’s kidnapping. I still have to confirm his alibi. Give me a second, let me check the police reports I requested.” There was a pause, as if Eva was reading, and then the keys tapped some more. “It seems that D. J. Ketterling’s ex-wife called in a domestic the night before Elsie disappeared. D.J. showed up drunk, wanting to see his four-year-old son. The ex called the cops, and he fled the scene. The house is just outside of Ridge.”
Elsie had been taken in the early afternoon of the next day. Plenty of time to get up to the trail or even to follow them from the school.
“No sign of D.J. since then?”
“No, the guy fell off the radar after that. He’d been evicted from the apartment he previously rented before he went into Second Chances. I’m trying to track down his known associates.” Eva let out an audible breath. “River, I want to find this little girl as badly as you do, but the net we’re casting is pretty wide. We’ve got to find a way to narrow things down.”
“I know. Maybe I can question Sloane. It’s a long drive to get to where he’s at. Maybe there is something there. Even if he’s not supposed to talk to anyone at this stage of his rehab, there are legal ways we can compel him to talk to us.” He clenched his jaw. Time Eva spent helping with Elsie’s case was time away from the baby snatching ring. “Give me a little more time. A strong lead has to come up somewhere.”
“Hang in there.” Eva’s voice was fused with compassion. “I’ll let you know if anything comes up on this end.”
“Thanks, Eva.” Her words, as kindly as she had spoken them, hung heavily in his mind.
Lydia pressed the disconnect button, a grim expression on her face.
“I think we need to look at your ex-husband again. Maybe he sent D.J. as his proxy. It sounds like Ketterling didn’t have any visitation rights with his kid, either. Maybe they bonded over that. I just can’t let go of the idea that your ex is involved. Did his drinking lead to illegal activity or associating with people on the wrong side of the law? Maybe someone wanted to get back at Sloane by hurting you and Elsie.”
She shook her head. “It was just the DUIs that did him in and my telling the police he’d driven with Elsie in the car. There’s no one who would come after Elsie and I for that reason.”
River’s throat went tight. His voice was soft. “I just don’t know where else to look.”
“How long before Elsie’s case is considered a cold one?”
They had turned onto the paved road. Before he could answer, Lizzie, who had been driving ahead of them, radioed. “I’m headed back into Ridge. I’ll be around for a few hours if you need anything.”
“Got you,” said River.
He watched as she turned onto the road that led back into town.
Lydia glanced in the side mirror and then over her shoulder. “Oh no, we’ve got a problem.” Fear permeated her voice as she gripped the armrest.
River glimpsed the rearview mirror in time to see the tan SUV behind them, zooming toward his patrol car.
EIGHT
