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Her stomach lurched at the thought. Another one took root in her mind, equally as disturbing. Autumn worked at Haints, which overlooked White Lilies cemetery. What if she’d taken Ava and dumped her there?
Dear God, she hoped she was wrong…
Still, she relayed her suspicions to Derrick. His whole body tensed as he considered her theory. “You’re right, Ellie, we should check out that cemetery. Maybe we should divide up.”
Ellie agreed. If Ava was alive, she might be running out of time.
Fifty-Three
White Lilies Cemetery
Derrick offered to search the cemetery but considering it had only been months since he’d buried his own little sister’s remains, Ellie insisted on going instead while he handled the construction site.
Her own nerves were on edge as she met with the caretaker of the cemetery, an older bald man named Floyd. The sight of the tiny burial plots, some so small they were for infants, others three to four feet long for older children, was the saddest thing Ellie had ever seen. Markers engraved with angels, doves, prayer hands, and baby shoes, and beautiful sentiments etched in the stone. Small vases held seasonal flowers, but this time of year tiny Christmas trees and poinsettias filled them. Families had left wrapped presents on the small graves, presents their child would never get to open.
Some folks said the ground stayed green here all year long from the tears the parents shed. Others said it rained more often because the angels were crying in heaven.
Floyd rubbed a hand over his thick beard. “Lordy, I saw that story about the missing girl on the news.” He gestured around the pristinely kept lawn. “Why do you think she’d be here?”
“We’re pursuing every possible angle,” Ellie said. “Have you seen anything suspicious?”
His sagging cheeks bunched as he frowned. “What you mean?”
“Like someone digging a grave,” Ellie said.
He shook his head. “Nothing like that. Mostly families visiting. A real sad time for them.”
“Do you have security cameras?”
He nodded. “Put them in last year after someone started stealing the gifts and toys the parents left.” He rubbed his beard again. “Damn low thing to do.”
“I agree,” Ellie said. She’d even heard that some older women stole fresh flowers from graves to carry home for their tables, or to put on their own loved one’s graves.
“Let me walk around, then I want to view the security tapes,” Ellie said. “Can you pull last week’s footage?”
“All right,” Floyd said. “But I hope that little girl ain’t here.”
“So do I,” Ellie murmured.
Her pulse clamored as she began to comb through the rows of graves. The names and dates on the tombstones revealed lives cut short bringing a wave of sadness over her. The sight of the toys was heartbreaking. A blue teddy bear, a toy train, a truck, plastic cars, a baby doll wrapped in a blanket…
She passed grave after grave, searching for disturbed ground or a mound suggesting it had been recently dug. But the grounds were well kept and she found nothing suspicious.
She released a relieved breath, then followed the cobblestone path to the caretaker’s building. When she entered, Floyd waved her into a small room set up with security monitors.
“Pulled up last week’s like you asked,” Floyd said. “You see anything out there?”
Ellie shook her head then thanked him for giving her access to the footage. She claimed a chair to watch and Floyd rolled the film.
Her heart dipped as she watched families––mothers, fathers, children and grandparents–– visit the graves, crying and praying, their grief a palpable force.
Ellie had always been too dedicated to her career in law enforcement to consider having a child of her own, but she imagined that the holidays intensified their grief.
As the footage scrolled past, she carefully scrutinized the visitor’s faces. She didn’t see Autumn.
But the hair on her neck prickled as a woman wearing a black coat and scarf ran through the rows of graves, her body movements agitated. She kept her eyes downcast, face away from the camera, and she dropped to her knees on the ground in front of a marker engraved with entwined hands of a mother and child, her body shaking with sobs. A tall broad-shouldered man in a dark green coat moved up beside her and put his arm around her, but the woman shoved him away. Ellie saw the shock and pain on his face as he looked at her.
Then the woman turned and shouted something at him. Ellie could have sworn she’d said, “You killed our daughter.”
