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She stepped back into the waiting room just as the ER doors swished open. Bryce entered and stormed toward her. “What the hell, Ellie?” the sheriff boomed. “You chased down a possible child predator and I didn’t know anything about it.”
“I was going to fill you in,” she said through gritted teeth. “But I didn’t want the Trumans to know until I questioned him.”
Bryce glared down at her. “They’re going to find out. Especially now you’re protecting the bastard.”
Ellie crossed her arms.“What else can I do?” she said, her voice icy. “If he abducted Ava, which he denied just before he shot himself, he can’t tell us where she is if he’s dead.”
Bryce’s breathing echoed in the loaded silence. “If he hurts children, he doesn’t deserve to live.”
“Neither you nor I get to play God here, Bryce.” Ellie pushed aside her own feelings. “Besides, Grueler claims a woman in a white van was watching Ava.”
Bryce grunted. “He’s probably just taking the heat off himself and you’re so gullible you believe him.”
“I’m banking on the system working,” Ellie said.
“And I’m willing to bet that protecting him is going to bite you in the butt.”
“It may,” Ellie said. “But I have to abide by the law, Sheriff. And if you don’t post a guard by his door, I will.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Bryce said. “I want to talk to the guy myself.”
Trembling with fatigue, Ellie rushed down the hall and outside. Already she couldn’t breathe. And she had no doubt Bryce was right.
Some of the locals had turned on her father when they learned he’d kept information about Vera’s son to himself. The town would probably crucify her for her decision to keep Nolan Grueler safe.
But she couldn’t dwell on that now. Getting the job done sometimes meant stepping on toes.
Ava was worth crushing a few for.
Thirty-Six
Crooked Creek
With the doctor’s permission, Ellie had explained to Nolan’s mother what had happened. The poor woman looked distraught but resigned. “He’s such a tormented soul,” she’d murmured weakly. “Maybe it’s better this way. He can finally be at peace.”
Her comment echoed in Ellie’s head as she drove home. Rays of morning sunshine splintered the clouds like shards of broken glass, the smell of winter hanging in the air.
She hurried inside her house and took a quick shower, dressing in layers for the day. With her fridge empty and knowing she needed fuel, she called in a to-go order at the Corner Café, noting fliers with Ava’s kindergarten picture on them had been tacked all over town.
As she entered the café, the earthy comforting scent of ham and red-eyed gravy swirled around her, at odds with the sudden hushed silence that greeted her. The enthusiastic chatter about Christmas from two days ago had turned to worried whispers, and fear buzzed through the room.
A group of young women had gathered at a table, their children seated next to them. “Isn’t it just horrible about Ava Truman disappearing?” a blond in a jogging suit asked.
“I joined the prayer vigil last night. So sad,” a dark-haired woman with three kids in tow murmured.
A woman holding a baby on her lap spoke in a low voice. “They’re asking everyone to keep a candle lit in their windows until Ava comes home.”
“Whose child do you think will be next?” the blond said.
The baby’s mother hugged her infant to her chest and rocked her, pulling her pig-tailed toddler closer to her. “I don’t know, but I’m not letting my kids out of my sight.”
The mother of three pressed her hand to her chest. “Can you imagine your daughter being snatched right outside your house?”
One of the little girls started crying. “Mama, I’m scared.”
The child’s mother pulled her in her lap to console her as Ellie’s phone dinged with a text from Cord.
Searched ten-mile radius. Did not find Ava or any signs of her. Plan to do one more sweep, then heading back.
