A knock sounded, echoing like a gong, and she pressed her hands over her ears to drown it out. Seconds later, light poured into the room as lightning zigzagged across the sky outside, and Dana Jo buried her face into the pillow to shut it out.
Footsteps echoed, then she felt her mother’s hand gently stroke her hair. “It’s happening again?”
She groaned a yes.
Her mother’s soft sigh was filled with worry. “I’m sorry, Dana Jo. I tucked Lou Lou in bed and read her two stories. I didn’t know if you wanted to kiss her goodnight, but I’ll tell her Mommy’s not feeling well.”
“I’m sorry,” Dana Jo whispered. God, how she hated this helpless feeling. Her poor little girl needed her, but sometimes she could barely handle life herself, much less be the mother precious Lou Lou deserved.
Thank God for her own mother. Dana Jo would have drowned in sorrow and confusion if she hadn’t helped her. A wave of sadness overcame her, guilt weighing her down. Her father had been so upset when he realized she was pregnant that he’d accused the boy she’d been dating of being the one who’d assaulted her. Dana Jo had tried to defend Trevor and didn’t think he would have hurt her.
Instead, she sensed her attacker had been a stranger. And after a paternity test, she knew Trevor wasn’t Lou Lou’s father.
That her attacker was…
“Get some sleep,” her mother said softly.
A second later, the door closed and Dana Jo’s room was plunged into darkness just like her mind had been when she was found unconscious in the woods.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Crooked Creek
Ellie rolled her shoulders as she drove back to her bungalow. She was dog-tired and frustrated as hell. Little Iris was still missing.
If she’d been left out in the elements, surely one of the search teams would have found her by now. Unless she was too injured to cry out for help.
Or worse.
Her throat burned with the need to scream.
But she had to focus. The streetlight near her house was broken, pitching the yard and drive into an ebony abyss, something she needed to report tomorrow. Her anxiety mounted though as she noticed her front porch light was off, too, which was odd because she always left it on. Safety first. She’d worked enough cases to learn that the hard way.
Instincts on alert, she flipped her headlights to high beam, scanned her drive and yard and pulled her flashlight before she got out.
Her phone buzzed. Cord, so she quickly connected. “Yeah?”
“Another search team rolled in. I’m going home to clean up.”
Ellie barely heard him though as the sight of feathers caught her eye. Black feathers.
Crow’s feathers.
Her first instinct was to charge from her car and confront whoever had done this and find out if they were still at her house. If it was Minnie’s killer…
“El?” Cord’s gruff voice echoed in her ears as if he were a million miles away. “El, did you hear me?”
Ellie swallowed hard to make her voice come out. “House… crow feathers…”
“What?” His choppy breathing followed. “I’m on my way. Stay in the damn car and lock the doors. Do you hear me?”
Ellie’s hand reached for the door handle, but common sense kicked in. She needed backup. And she couldn’t find Minnie’s killer if she was dead.
“Copy,” she muttered as her eyes searched the darkness. Her heart pounded, and she phoned the station. Landrum was still on duty. “Deputy, send the sheriff and an ERT to my house. Someone’s been here.”
Deputy Landrum cursed. “On their way. Stay on the line until they arrive.”
She thought she muttered an agreement, but her voice rasped out. She checked the door locks and used her flashlight to keep eyes trained on the drive, the yard, the front of her house and the surrounding area.
