by Rita Herron
She grabbed a tree branch to keep from diving into a ravine. Then a hand caught her.
The sound of her phone jangling jarred her back to reality.
Her breath panted out, but she reminded herself she was safe. But what had happened? Was she projecting Penny’s fears onto herself? Could that have been a memory?
The phone trilled again, and she pushed away the dizziness and hurried to answer it. She checked the number, hoping it was Cord with good news.
No, it was Angelica Gomez. She let it roll to voicemail, then waited to see if the reporter left a message. She did, wanting an update on the case. “Call me, Detective Reeves. I have information for you.”
Ellie stewed over the message. Was it just Angelica’s attempt to trick her into returning her call? Or could she actually have valuable intel?
Shit. She had to find out, so she called woman’s number and poured herself a whiskey while it rang. Swirling the rich, amber liquid in the glass, releasing the scents of vanilla, oak and caramel. She savored the smooth burn of it as the liquid slid down her throat.
She was just about to leave a message when the reporter answered. “Thanks for returning my call, Detective.”
Irritation sharpened her voice. “Listen, Miss Gomez. I’m bone tired and need my phone open for leads. If you have something, spill it. I’m not in the mood for games.”
“I’m not playing games,” Angelica said stiffly. “But I want an exclusive.”
Because she thought it was more than a missing person case? “Tell me what you know, and we’ll see.”
A long pause, then Angelica huffed. “Stan Matthews lied about his marriage. He was having an affair, and his wife knew.”
17.
The sound of thunder woke Ellie at 7 a.m. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but exhaustion had finally claimed her, and she’d collapsed on the sofa somewhere around 2 a.m.
Stan Matthews had lied to her about his marriage. Susan had lied to her about Stan’s devotion.
What else had they hidden from her?
She checked her phone, hoping for a text that they’d found Penny. But there was no word. Frustration tightened her muscles. She stood and stretched, and flipped on the radio.
“This is Cara Soronto with the latest on Winter Storm Tempest. Rain pounded us overnight, and temperatures will quickly drop to the low thirties by this afternoon. We predict sleet and snowfall by night.” She paused. “Wind gusts up to fifty-five miles per hour are also expected, with black ice forming on the roads. People, be prepared. Dress warm and stay home if possible.”
Anxiety knifed through Ellie. No option for her to stay home.
An innocent little girl was trapped out in this mess. She had to get going.
Pulse hammering, she stumbled to the kitchen and made coffee, then showered while it brewed.
The bruise on her forehead looked stark and swollen, but she applied a new bandage, downed a painkiller, then tugged her side bangs over it to cover the wound. She yanked her hair into a ponytail and dabbed powder on her face below her eyes to disguise the purpling bruise.
Muscles aching from fatigue, she poured coffee in her travel mug and headed out to her Jeep. Gray clouds hung heavy above the mountain ridges, the shivering trees sending drops of rain flying down. Ellie pictured a frightened little Penny lost or hurt and her lungs strained for air.
No time to break down, though. That could come later.
She downed her coffee as she drove, but it tasted bitter this morning. Deciding she needed more sustenance, she pulled into the Corner Café and rushed inside. She ordered a sausage biscuit to go.
Gertrude Cunningham, the local librarian, was sitting in a booth near the counter. She waved to Ellie, and it seemed churlish not to say hello. But as she approached, she realized that her mother was also at the table, and Lily Hanover, the head of the Garden Club. Vera beamed at her and gestured toward a mound of fliers printed with Penny’s photograph.
“Look, Ellie, we’re posting fliers all over Stony Gap and Crooked Creek,” Vera chirped. “I’m taking a bunch to church, and Gertie is sending out emails to all the business owners and locals who are on her mailing list for the library.”
“Thank you for doing that,” Ellie said, and meant it.
Lola Baker, the owner of the café, called Ellie to pick up her order. “Any word on Susan’s little girl?”
Ellie clenched her jaw. “Not yet.”
A woman hurried by, clinging to her little girl’s hand, and two other customers stepped up to order food to go. The man glared at her. “We’re getting out of here as quickly as we can. If someone’s after our children, we don’t want any part of this town.”
Ellie had the urge to reassure the people they were safe, but she couldn’t do that, she couldn’t lie, so she said nothing. Instead, she paid for her food and hurried toward the door.
“Bye, darling,” her mother trilled.
Ellie threw up a hand in a dismissive wave, then pushed through the door. Her mother’s willingness to ignore the previous evening was infuriating. She’d always deluded herself that she had the perfect family.
Outside, two locals practically accosted her.
“How can you be here eating when Susan and Stan are going crazy with worry?”
“Why haven’t you found that little girl?”
“Is there a child snatcher in town?”
“Are you looking for a pedophile?”
Ellie muttered she had to get to work, then dove in her car and peeled from the parking lot. The rain was falling again, and she cranked up her defroster to clear her windshield. Although she saw people starting to open up shops, several cars were already pulling out of the B & B lots.
When she reached the Matthews’ home, she saw the Channel 5 news van already parked outside. Angelica Gomez jumped out when she saw the Jeep. Ellie braced herself to direct the cameraman away, but it seemed he was already under orders not to start rolling just yet.
“Did you look into the information I gave you?” Angelica asked, not bothering with pleasantries.
Ellie made a non-committal sound. “I’m working on it.”
The reporter grabbed her arm as Ellie attempted to brush past. “You promised me an exclusive. If this cheating bastard hurt his little girl, I want to report it.”
Ellie’s gaze met hers. Anger radiated in the reporter’s eyes, making Ellie wonder why this case was getting under her skin so much.
“Ms. Gomez, we spoke after midnight. It is not yet eight a.m. I’ll keep you posted,” Ellie said. “Matthews was out all night with the search teams. I need to talk to Susan before he gets home.”
Angelica nodded understanding, stepping aside as Ellie passed. Heath let her into the Matthews’ house, his hair mussed as if he’d been running his hands through it. His eyes were bloodshot, and he needed a shave.
“Did you get any rest?” she asked.
“Not much. Mother cried herself to sleep. Father called, ranting that we aren’t doing enough.”
He could join the club. “How about the background information and the couple’s phones?”
“No ransom calls. And nothing indicating they planned to get rid of their daughter.”
A gasp came from behind her, and Susan appeared in the doorway, her expression horrified.
“How could you suggest such a horrible thing?” Susan shrieked.
“I’m really sorry you heard that,” Ellie said. “But it’s routine for us to ask questions. It’s just procedure.” Ellie crossed her arms. “We need to talk, Susan. It’s come to our attention that Stan may have been having an affair, and that you were aware of it. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Susan clutched the kitchen counter. “Who told you that?”
“Is it true?” Ellie asked.
Penny’s mother made a pained sound. “It only happened once,” she said in a raw whisper. “And Stan was sorry. He apologized and… we were working through it.”
“Then why did you lie about it?”
Ellie asked.
“Because I knew it would look bad––make him seem untrustworthy.” She swung her hands by her sides. “But he didn’t hurt Penny. I keep telling you that.”
Ellie pulled her notepad from her pocket and slid it onto the counter. “Write down her name.”
Susan’s eyes widened in alarm. “You don’t think she had something to do with Penny’s disappearance, do you?”
Who knew what kind of motive the woman might have? Jealousy can drive a person mad. If she’d fixated on Stan, and wanted him to leave her wife, she could have kidnapped Penny to tear the couple apart.
“Her name,” Ellie said bluntly. “And if you talk to Stan, do not let him know that you gave me this information.”
Susan’s face turned ashen, but she scribbled the woman’s name.
Ellie then handed the pad to Heath; he would locate the woman. “Now, Susan,” she said tersely. “Don’t lie to me again. I need to know everything—the good, the bad, the ugly.”
18.
Decatur
Special Agent Derrick had spent half the night reviewing the files on the missing girls.
When he’d finally fallen asleep, Penny Matthews’ sweet face haunted him. All the what ifs triggered by the disappearance of a child. The questions, fears and anxiety escalated with every second that passed.
His mother’s tormented face, the day his little sister went missing, dogged him now just as much as when he was fourteen. When he’d run to his parents, panicked that he couldn’t find Kim.
Kim, his mother’s little angel who liked peanut butter cookies, turning cartwheels in the grass, chasing fireflies and collecting them in mayonnaise jars.
Kim, who’d been lost forever on a spring afternoon, just like today. Except today there was no blue sky, no sunshine. The weather was bleak and a deadly storm was on its way. The sheer number of missing children crashed in on Derrick, screaming for him to get justice for them all.
He clenched his fists, watching as the morning news feed spieled onto his computer screen. Yesterday’s footage repeated, then an update. Detective Ellie Reeves, entering the Matthews’ house.
Her ash-blonde hair was secured in a ponytail, her face heart-shaped. She wore jeans, a white shirt and a denim jacket that revealed the weapon strapped to her belt. The gun looked at odds with the woman’s petite frame. She couldn’t weigh more than 120 soaking wet.
She was also sporting a bandage on her forehead, and bruising around her eyes the shade of bluebonnets.
Curiosity made him lean forward and study her more closely. That one eye was swollen, but the other one looked puffy, too, a testament to the fact that she’d probably been up most of the night.
No one slept when a child was missing. Either they were working or worrying, causing restless nights and tension you could cut with a knife.
The fact that Penny Matthews hadn’t been found was gut-wrenchingly disappointing, but not a total surprise.
He’d been following the string of disappearances ever since the photo of a child resembling Kim had caught his attention ten years ago. She’d gone missing in North Carolina, along the AT.
Whether or not Penny Matthews’ disappearance was connected to the other cases was anyone’s guess at this point. But he knew damn good and well that Ellie Reeves wouldn’t divulge all she knew to the press.
The only way to find out was to talk to her in person.
He also wanted to question the detective about her father. Find out why he let the search for his sister’s abductor go cold long before it should have.
God knows his attempts to reach Sheriff Reeves regarding the other cases had failed. Randall Reeves had blown him off, each and every time. Even suggested Derrick needed therapy.
Fuck him.
Derrick packed his notes, the maps of the locations where he’d tracked disappearances and where the girls had come from, and the photographs of each victim into his briefcase, before grabbing his laptop.
He strode into his bedroom and started tossing clothes and his toiletries into a duffel bag. Crooked Creek was only three hours away.
He’d be there by eleven.
19.
Crooked Creek
The minute Ellie entered the police station she heard her father’s voice booming from the captain’s office.
He’d damn well better have good news.
“Let someone besides Ellie handle the press on this situation,” her father said brusquely. “I don’t want her in front of the cameras.”
Ellie didn’t bother knocking. She burst into the room, blood boiling. “What are you doing, Dad?”
Randall’s forehead creased. He looked like a kid who’d been caught stealing money from his mother’s purse. His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized her face.
“What the hell happened to you?”
She’d forgotten about her black eye.
Her father locked eyes stubbornly with hers. “Nothing,” Ellie said, determined to stay on track.
Captain Hale ran a hand over his bald head. “Are you all right, Detective Reeves?”
Ellie sucked in a sharp breath. “I’m fine.” She addressed her father, knowing he was like a dog with a bone. “Someone jumped me from behind last night when I was searching the Dugan farm for Penny. And before you ask, he got away, but hopefully the crime techs found something.” She stiffened her spine. “Now let’s get back to the elephant in the room. Dealing with the press is part of my job as lead detective.” She angled her head toward the captain. “I can handle it and you know it.”
Captain Hale’s eye twitched. “I know you can.”
Her father made a low sound in his throat. “Listen, Rick—”
Ellie balled her hands into fists. Just how chummy were her father and her boss? “May I speak to you in private, Sheriff?”
Her father’s brows shot up at the fact she’d used his title.
“Of course.”
Captain Hale looked confused but threw up his hands in defeat.
Before she left his office, she directed her conversation to the captain. “Let’s meet in the conference room for a briefing in half an hour. I texted Cord to stop by so we can regroup. Deputy Landrum should be here, too.”
Captain Hale nodded agreement. “I’ll call Harley. He’s been bored with retirement. Maybe he can babysit the mother while Heath comes in.”
Ellie thanked him, then gestured for her father to follow her. They stepped into the conference room next door to the captain’s office, her anger mounting as she faced him.
Just as she was on the verge of reaming him out, he lifted a hand toward her cheek as if to comfort her. Ellie backed away. “Don’t. I told you I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” he growled. “You look like you had a run-in with someone’s pistol. Were you alone, El?”
Ellie gritted her teeth. “Yes. You know we’re spread thin with everyone searching for Penny. By the way, where’s your deputy?” she asked pointedly.
He raked a hand through his greying hair. He looked tired this morning, the lines beside his eyes even deeper. But she forced herself not to think about the fact that he’d been up all night on the trail with the search teams.
“He… uh… had some things to do.”
Ellie made a sarcastic sound. “I see. He’s busy tacking up campaign signs while we hunt for a lost little girl.” She didn’t bother to hide her disdain. “And that’s who you chose as your replacement.”
A pained look crossed his face. “It’s not like that, El.”
“It is exactly like that.” Bryce had a dick and money. And his father was the mayor. That was all he needed. Her father averted his gaze. All the more reason for her to set boundaries now. “Let’s get something clear, Dad. You have no right to come to my work and talk to my boss behind my back.”
“But I’m just concerned—”
She lifted a finger to quiet him. “Stop. You may not want me as sheriff of Bluff County, but I’ve worked hard to earn Captain Hale’
s respect. And I won’t allow you to undermine that.”
“That’s not what I was doing.”
“Yes, it is.” Ellie refused to back down. “If you continue to interfere, I’ll ask the captain to remove you from the team.”
“You can’t do that,” her father replied. “All law enforcement needs to work together on a case like this. And in case you’ve forgotten, you work for the sheriff’s office just like everyone else in this county does.” He punctuated his statement with a fist to his chest. “And that’s me.”
Ellie felt as if she was six years old and she’d just been admonished. He was right, but the fact that he’d pulled seniority spiked her temper. And when Bryce assumed her father’s role as sheriff, she would work for him. He’d definitely play the power card to his advantage.
The urge to vomit seized her.
But she was a fighter and right now she was not going to give in. “That may be true. But that can change. When this is over, I’ll transfer to another county far away from here. One where you can’t storm in and tell my boss what to do with me.”
Her threat shut him up. Good. She didn’t need this bullshit right now. Her head felt like rocks were rolling around inside it.
Penny Matthews needed her full attention, not for her to be in a pissing contest with her father.
20.
An hour later, Ellie squared her shoulders as everyone filed in for the briefing. The captain, her father, Cord and Heath along with three other deputies from Crooked Creek and Stony Gap turned their attention to her.
She pointed toward Penny’s photograph at the top on the board. “This is our missing child, Penny Matthews, age seven, disappeared yesterday around one p.m.” She added snapshots of the picnic area, then ones of Penny’s sneaker, the friendship bracelet, the Braves hat and the knife she’d found. “These items were collected at the scene and are at the lab now, although we know the hat belonged to Stan Matthews.”