Lydia thought her heart would burst at the sound of her daughter’s voice. Her daughter was safe. Her excitement about the dog indicated that maybe she had not been overly traumatized. Lydia knew though that there would still be much to process. The important thing right now was that Elsie was back in her arms.
As they came to the edge of the forest, she could see Maren putting Sheryl in her patrol car.
Gunfire, at least five shots, came from within the mall. One of the windows lit up from the volley.
Lydia grabbed Elsie and pulled her close praying that River and Eli were okay. A second later, Norm emerged from the building. Her heart pounded as she picked up Elsie. She needed to get to the patrol car before Norm could get to her.
* * *
With Frankie running ahead, River chased after Norm as he exited the building and ran for the trees. When shots had been fired in his direction, Eli had retreated, but River knew he would take up the pursuit.
Off to the side, he caught a glimpse of Lydia holding a child, running toward the patrol car to get away from where Norm had gone. Even as he focused on taking down Norm, his heart burst with joy to know that Elsie was with her mother.
He could hear Norm as he crashed through the forest then disappeared from view. The pain radiating through River’s injured arm slowed him down. He kept running, brushing branches out of his way with his good arm while he held the gun with his injured arm. He and Frankie burst through the trees to an open area. Norm was behind the wheel of a car. River leveled his gun to fire off a shot before the car was out of range and had reached a road.
River pressed the talk button on his shoulder radio. “He’s getting away through the trees.” He could see the red glow of the taillights. “To the east, not the road we came in on.”
“I’m at my patrol vehicle now,” said Maren. “Sheryl is in custody. I can chase him.”
The radio disconnected and then he heard the sound of a car peeling out. Feeling the strength draining from him, he stumbled back through the trees. He was bent over and gripping his arm by the time he stepped onto the parking lot.
Lydia came toward him. “You’re hurt.”
He heard a small voice that was music to his ears. “Mommy, is this the nice policeman?”
“Yes, this is River and his dog Frankie.”
Even though his injury caused great pain, River reached a hand out toward Elsie. “It’s nice to meet you, Elsie. I’m River.” The child had the same sweet smile as her mother. He’d like to see more of those smiles.
Elsie did a little curtsey. “Nice to meet you.” The girl drew her attention to the yellow Lab wagging her tail.
“This is Frankie?” Seeing delight in the child’s eyes as she moved to pet the dog eased some of River’s pain.
Lydia wrapped her arm around River’s back, gripping his good shoulder. “You need to go to a hospital.”
He nodded through gritted teeth. “Can’t argue with you there.”
She helped him to the passenger side of the patrol car. Eli was already pulling out, maybe to help Maren with the pursuit.
Lydia drove River to the ER to be taken care of while she had Elsie checked out as well. Once his wound had been cleaned and bandaged and the doctor had prescribed painkillers, he made his way down the hall to the waiting room where Lydia and Elsie sat. Taking on the role of protector, Frankie rested at Elsie’s feet.
Maren entered the ER waiting room, looked around and moved toward River.
“We weren’t able to catch Norm. We’ve got a BOLO out for him,” said Maren.
River’s gut clenched. Norm was still out there.
He patted his colleague’s arm. “I know you did your best. Has anyone questioned Sheryl to find out where he might be?”
“I did when we took her into the Ridge police station. She didn’t know where he would go, but it’s clear he was the mastermind behind this whole thing. In the course of the interview, my impression was that Sheryl was a bit of shrinking violet who went along with whatever her husband said.”
“That sounds about right,” said Lydia.
River had one eye on Elsie as she grabbed a book from a table and lay down beside Frankie, using the dog’s stomach as a pillow. The scene warmed his heart.
“In any case,” said Maren, “we need to keep Lydia and Elsie safe.”
“My house might be one of the first places they’ll look and my windows still aren’t fixed anyway.”
