Lydia locked River in her gaze. “Yes, thanks to the nice policeman.”
The intensity of the affection he saw in her eyes made his heart flutter at the same time fear entered his awareness. “I’ll walk you two to your door.”
Lydia unlocked the door. The kitchen still showed damage from the blast that had probably been Norm’s doing. The rest of the interior was undamaged except for a burnt smell that hung in the air.
Elsie ran inside screaming, “Hello, beautiful house.” Her gaze rested momentarily on the damaged kitchen.
Lydia laid her hand on Elsie’s shoulder. “We have a little bit of fixing up to do.”
Seeming to shake off her confusion about the kitchen, Elsie came back to the open door, pressing her foot against her calf and tilting her head. “Can Frankie come in and see my room?”
Lydia glanced nervously at River. “I think that she and River have to get back to work, right?”
River studied her for a long moment, memorizing every freckle on her face and the way the light danced in her eyes. “Right.”
It would be good to feel like he was fully contributing to the task force mission, but he found himself not wanting to leave Lydia and Elsie. Seeing Frankie interact with the little girl who had such an affinity with animals made the burdens he bore seem lighter.
Elsie disappeared inside the house.
Lydia reached out and touched his arm. “Well, I better go.”
He nodded. She fell into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Thank you for everything.” Having her so close warmed him to his marrow.
A tiny arm wrapped around his leg and Elsie stared up at him.
Lydia pulled free of the hug and picked Elsie up. “Come on, Pumpkin, we got to let River and Frankie get back to work.”
River made his way down the walkway to his car. When he looked through the window as he pulled away, Lydia and Elsie were still standing on the porch, waving.
Frankie whimpered from her kennel.
“I agree, girl, those are two of the most loving people I’ve ever known.”
As he drove to the edge of Ridge and took the exit that would lead him to Denver, thirty minutes away, a hollow feeling settled into his bones. Maybe it was just because the case was over. There was always a sense of floundering once an investigation wrapped up. Though he was overjoyed that Elsie was safe and home the feeling was bittersweet knowing that Noah would never be returned to his mom. He had come to realize that the nature of police work could be both heartbreaking and victorious. All of it was in God’s hands.
His car clipped past the sign that said Denver was getting closer.
This feeling was different somehow than just seeing a case to a close. Even as he parked by the FBI facility where Emmett worked and where there was a training center for the K-9s, he couldn’t shake the emptiness he’d felt since he’d pulled away from Lydia house.
TWENTY-ONE
River, Eli and Maren sat at the conference table with Emmett at the head of it. The dogs had been left in kennels at the training center.
“I think everyone who can be here is.” Emmett glanced over at the screen where Lizzie’s and Autumn’s heads were visible along with Trevor Slate, a tall, dark-eyed officer who lived near Colorado Springs.
Emmett spoke up. “We’re glad to have River fully onboard now that Elsie has been returned safe and sound to her mother.”
Several of the officers whispered congratulations.
“I couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help,” said River.
Emmett cleared his throat. “It’s always good when a child is found safe. That having been said, I need to give everyone an update on where we are with the baby trafficking case. New information has come in that will determine the direction of our investigation. The clock is ticking for finding Mia, so we need to move on this.”
“I’m glad to be back and able to give a hundred percent,” said River. Maybe if he focused on this investigation, he could shake the intense sense of loss that he felt.
“Glad to have you on board,” said Trevor from the screen.
Emmett shuffled the papers in front of him. “As you all know, we’ve been homing in on the free clinics here in Denver because we know that Gayle Gorman visited one.”
