Once the doors were shut, Eli signaled for Lydia to follow.
“I’m waiting for River and Frankie,” said Lydia.
“I’ll go on ahead,” said Eli. “Maybe we can still catch this guy.”
River caught up with her.
“I heard Frankie yelp.”
“I stepped on her foot in an effort to get out of the way of the gunfire when Gregory shot at me before I got the doors closed.”
Frankie gave a tail wag when Lydia looked down at her. “Poor girl.”
“Let’s go. We need to find out where Elsie is being kept. Her grandparents might not have a close hideaway, but I bet a real estate agent with lots of empty properties might have one now that we know for sure that he’s involved.”
They moved along the hallway until they got to the stairs that led to the fireplace. Eli was the first to go up the stairs. He yelled back down, “I’m going to see if I can catch Gregory.”
River, Lydia and Frankie made their way up the stairs.
Outside, the car that had previously pulled up was gone. Maren ran toward them. “That guy was just up here to practice fly fishing. I let him go. Ridge police are on their way.”
“Elsie was kept here, but she’s been moved.” Lydia opened her hand to show Maren the barrette. “This was hers. This was in my little girl’s hair.” Her throat constricted and tears warmed her eyes.
River reached over and squeezed Lydia’s arm.
“Eli’s gone downhill to see if he can catch Gregory Larson.” River leaned close to her as he spoke to Maren. “If we can’t catch him and find out if he knows where Elsie is being kept, we need to deploy K-9s to any empty and remote properties that Gregory might be trying to sell. I’ll get on the phone to Eva to see if Gregory owns a cabin or any place a child could be hidden.”
Maren nodded. “If we can get back down to our vehicles, I can get on my laptop right now to see if we can narrow down the properties from his website.”
“We need to wait for a word from Eli to make sure it’s safe.”
“Maybe I can look it up on my phone.” Maren stepped a few feet away from them.
He turned in a half circle, his words coming out in a rapid-fire fashion. “I’ll call Emmett to find out how many team members we can get here as quickly as possible.”
River turned to Lydia. She held the barrette in her closed fist. He wrapped his arm around her. “We’re going to find her before they can get her out of the country.”
They were so close to ending this nightmare.
His touch warmed her and made it possible for her to take a deep breath. She gazed into his eyes. “I’m so glad you’re here with me.”
He pressed his hand against her cheek. “No place I’d rather be.”
At the most harrowing time in her life, River had stayed with her. It spoke volumes about his character. He didn’t run or hide in a bottle like Sloane had when things got hard.
River stepped away to make his phone calls.
With one hand, she stroked Frankie’s head. With the other, she clutched Elsie’s barrette. It was silver with fabric flowers on it. She looked at Frankie, who gazed up at her with big brown eyes. “He’s all right, isn’t he? That River.” Frankie licked Lydia’s hand. “You’re pretty okay yourself.”
A Ridge police cruiser pulled into the dirt parking lot.
River turned to face her. “We’ve narrowed it down to two properties where they might be holding Elsie. The guy has places all over the state for sale. Lizzie and Autumn are closer to the first location. Eli, Maren and I will cover the other place. It’s a large log cabin on the other side of Ridge Mountain. Eli thinks that Gregory got away. The Ridge police officer will give us a ride back down to our patrol cars.” He pointed toward Maren who stood with Haven.
She had never seen such a look of intensity in his eyes.
“The task force will bring her home safe.” His voice held a tone of deep conviction.
She had the feeling that if it came to it, River would die in order to bring Elsie back to her.
