River was a man of action, and he was focused on the next step in the investigation. She simply could not absorb this new revelation.
Norm and Sheryl had most likely abducted their granddaughter. How could she not have seen who they really were? “I’m a fool. I believed Sloane’s lies about the life we would have together. I trusted Norm and Sheryl. I wanted a family so bad.” She rose from the sofa pacing and combing her fingers through her hair. She took in a sharp breath. “This is my fault. I’m a bad mother.”
“No, that’s not true.” River wrapped his arms around her, making soothing sounds while he swayed and held her. He smoothed his hand over her hair.
He pulled away from the hug but rested his hands on her cheeks. “I’m calling the rehab place and getting Sloane on the phone. You can listen in, if you want to. He doesn’t have to know that you’re there. You know him. You’d be able to tell if he’s lying.”
Staring into his blue eyes quelled the tumultuous feelings. “At least I know that if Elsie’s with them, she’s not been harmed.” The idea helped her take a deep breath as he stood and moved over to the table.
River sat down and pressed numbers on his phone. When a woman answered, River identified himself as a police officer and explained the situation. “I know you said part of the protocol of the program was not to have contact with outside influences, but this is an emergency situation.”
“Sloane is far enough in the program that he is allowed limited outside contact if he wants. I can ask him to speak to you, but he may choose not to,” the woman responded. “The clients don’t have access to television or the internet, so he doesn’t know about his daughter. He’s had no outside communication with anyone since he checked himself in. Give me a minute to explain the situation to him and then I’ll call you back. Either he’ll come on the line, or I’ll let you know he refused.”
“Okay,” said River. River pressed buttons on his phone. “I’m sending this news to the task force group chat. If we can come up with a possible location for where Elsie might be, we’re going to need all hands on deck. Some of them may be close to Ridge already.”
After he sent the text to the task force, they both stared at the phone.
The anticipation made it hard for her to breathe. “Are you sure you don’t want that cup of coffee?”
“I’ll take it.”
She poured the coffee for him and then sat down again. Her hand rested on the table. He reached over and covered her hand with his and looked directly into her eyes.
“Lydia, what you said about being a bad mother… I don’t ever want to hear you say that again. You’re a good mother.”
She stared into his eyes for a long moment. “I want to believe that. I was a poor judge of character where Sloane was concerned, and now with Norm and Sheryl. I don’t know that I would ever trust myself again, especially in a romantic situation.”
River winced at her comment. She just didn’t trust herself to fall in love again.
The phone rang. They both jumped.
The same woman’s voice came across the line. “Sloane needed a minute to pull himself together. I have to tell you, he seemed genuinely shocked when I told him about Elsie. Oh, here he comes down the hallway.”
A minute passed and then a man’s bass voice came through the speaker. “You the cop that’s looking for my little girl?”
“Yes, I’m Officer Jameson. It appears that your mother and father may have taken her. Do you know anything about this?”
“Mom and Dad are involved?” His surprise sounded genuine. “I didn’t put them up to it, if that’s what you’re asking,” said Sloane. “Look, I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. Being in this program has given me a lot of time to think.”
“So, you didn’t encourage them to take Elsie away from her mother?”
Sloane didn’t answer right away. Lydia felt like she couldn’t inhale a breath as they waited in the tense silence.
When Sloane spoke, it sounded like he was crying. “I was a very angry man when Lydia divorced me. I blamed her for everything. I probably said things to my parents that poisoned them against her. I’m so sorry I did that. In this program, they teach you that you have to own your choices. That’s my part in what has happened to my little girl. She and Lydia deserve better than me. It was the best thing for Elsie that Lydia got sole custody.”
Lydia’s eyes glazed. The man she was hearing on the phone was not the same man who had driven drunk with their daughter. Though all the damage he’d done to her meant she felt no deep love for him, Lydia was glad it appeared he’d changed. The apology meant a great deal to her.
“Do you have any idea where they may have taken Elsie?”
“I can’t think of any place. I will tell you that Dad can be kind of a bully. Mom just goes along with what he says to keep the peace. This program has made me see family dynamics more clearly.”
“Are you sure you don’t know where they are?”
“Honestly, I don’t. I’m not trying to protect them.”
Lydia leaned closer to River and whispered in his ear so Sloane wouldn’t hear. “I believe him.”
“Thank you for your time, Mr. Caldwell. If you do think of where they might be keeping the child, please get in touch with me.”
