“I’ll follow you. If—when we find Elsie, I don’t want her to be afraid because you’re a stranger. Though I think she would totally gravitate toward your dog. Elsie loves animals…” Her voice trailed off, and she got that faraway look in her eyes again.
The reasoning wasn’t unsound. She’d be safe if she stayed close to him. “All right, Miss Caldwell, let’s find your daughter.”
It appeared they were dealing with an abduction. Elsie hadn’t just wandered away and gotten lost. Maybe the kidnappers hadn’t escaped the wilderness.
The clock was ticking to find the little girl alive. He prayed that they weren’t already too late.
TWO
Rain sprinkled out of the dark sky as Lydia kept pace with Officer Jameson and his dog. A chill settled on her skin as her light spring jacket got wet. She didn’t care if she was soaked to the bone, she wasn’t leaving this forest until they found Elsie.
When she peered over her shoulder, three other dogs and their owners were headed in the same general direction they were going. One of the dog handlers wore a gun belt and a police uniform. The other two, dressed in street clothes, must be search and rescue volunteers. Officer Jameson had phoned one of the searchers and told them to stay behind and watch the parking lot. There had been two other cars besides the bus. That was smart. It could be that the kidnappers had parked on a turnout down the mountain road, but if whoever had taken Elsie had parked in that lot, they wouldn’t be able to get to their vehicle without being spotted. It would be far easier to catch someone fleeing on foot. Officer Jameson seemed to think of everything.
His yellow Lab never lost concentration as they hurried through the trees on the other side of the meadow.
They headed down a grassy hill. Lydia’s feet pounded the ground. Up ahead, she could see a shallow river.
When they arrived at the creek, the yellow Lab stopped. The K-9 raised her nose in the air then sat down on her haunches.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure,” said Officer Jameson. “I think she lost the scent.”
“Because of the creek?” She tried to keep the rising panic out of her voice. Elsie was here. She had to be.
He shook his head. “A trained nose can follow a scent through water.”
“The rain maybe?” She scrambled for an explanation.
“It just started. It can’t be more than forty minutes since…since the incident. The scent would still be red hot.”
Lydia felt like she was falling down a cliff all over again. “Then what?” She appreciated that Officer Jameson was sensitive enough not to use the wordabductionwhen speaking about what had happened to Elsie. Still, her mind raced with images of what might have happened to her precious daughter, her world.
The other dogs arrived at the creek, demonstrating a similar reaction.
A lump formed in her throat.
I’m not leaving these woods without my daughter. She has to be here.
“I’m not sure.” River stepped toward one of the other volunteer searchers, a stout, forty-something woman dressed in workout gear. Her German shepherd sat at attention beside her. “Did you bring the ball cap?”
“Lenny has it.” She gestured toward an older muscular man with a border collie, another of the volunteers. The blond woman wearing a gun belt was with a golden retriever. She wore a dark green windbreaker with a tan logo that said COK9TF. Officer Jameson was wearing the same type of jacket.
River got the ball cap and placed it close to Frankie’s nose. The dog put her nose to the ground and moved in a circle, but her tail never wagged.
The blond woman stepped up to Officer Jameson. “There’s a road over there. Maybe—” The blond officer glanced at Lydia.
Something in Lydia’s demeanor must have communicated that she was the distraught mother without introductions having to be made.
River shook his head. “The dogs would have picked up the scent and gone toward the road if there had been a car waiting there and Elsie was put in it.”
The road did explain how someone could have gotten to the cliff without being spotted.
“We have to keep looking, Officer Jameson,” said Lydia.
“Call me River. We’re not giving up.” He reached out and squeezed her forearm. The kindness she saw in his blue eyes was comforting. His voice had a calming effect on her. She needed to brush away any dark thoughts. Elsie was okay. They were going to find her.
The other dogs were exposed to the ball cap again. River directed Frankie toward the road. The K-9 lowered her nose to the ground, took a few steps and then looked up at River. It was clear she wasn’t picking up on anything.
