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“And the artist? You’ll work with her?”
He gave another nod, and Ellie stepped from the room to call for a police sketch artist. A commotion down the hall drew her eyes and she saw nurses racing into another room with a crash cart.
She turned her back to it so she could hear as she spoke to her captain. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a man in scrubs pushing a food cart. Carrying a tray, he entered Grueler’s room.
Hopeful for the first time in days, she quickly updated Hale. He hung up so he could call the police artist. The minute she had the sketch, she’d run it on the news.
Pushing open the door, she saw the man’s back as he leaned over Grueler. He was tall and lean, maybe five ten, with brown hair streaked with gray. It took her a minute to realize what was happening. Grueler gasped and was struggling to push the man’s arms away. Then she spotted a knife in the man’s hand as he raised it above Grueler.
This was no doctor or nurse or staff attendant.
“Stop!” Ellie lunged at the man and yanked at his arm. His hand flew up, and she knocked the knife from his grasp. But he shoved her backward so hard she hit the bathroom door, while Grueler groaned.
Stars swam in front of Ellie’s eyes, and she choked out a cry then dove toward the assailant again. He bellowed and turned the knife on her, then she saw blood dripping down the knife as he plunged it at her. The blade struck her arm and she felt her own blood run.
Grueler’s body jerked, then she saw his gown was ripped and bloody. The machines went crazy, the heart monitor flatlining.
She threw up her arm to deflect the knife, then kicked the man in the balls and pulled her gun. “Drop the weapon!” she shouted.
He was doubled over on the floor, but dark rage flashed in his eyes, and he still had the knife. Then he spat at her. “Why are you protecting that sicko?”
Ellie kept her gun trained on him. “I said drop the knife. Now.”
Ignoring the sting of the cut on her arm, she inched forward and pressed the nurse’s call button. The man lunged at her, but she punched him in the face and he slumped over again. The knife hit the floor and she grabbed her handcuffs from her jacket, jerked him around and got them on his wrists. A nurse raced in, took one look at the scene, then called for help. Anger suffocated Ellie as she looked back at Grueler’s limp body. He was staring dead-eyed at the ceiling, his body unmoving.
Ellie rolled the man over to face her and pushed him against the wall. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“Who cares?” he growled. “He took that little girl and probably killed her.”
Ellie shot him a laser-sharp look. “He didn’t take her,” Ellie snapped. “But he saw who did. Now you killed him, we may never find her.”
One Hundred Twenty-Two
Honeysuckle Lane
Lara carefully wrapped the little snow globe with the dove inside and placed it on the mantle beside the other gifts she’d wrapped for Ava.
“That was nice what you did,” Jasper said. “Carrying stockings to the nursing home.”
Lara swallowed against the lump in her throat. “The patients were so excited. It meant a lot to have someone remember them.” Some had even asked about Ava. “I hope Ava will be back to take one to Ms.Dottie next door. She dropped off a sweet potato pie this morning. Said her granddaughter isn’t coming to see her this year.”
Jasper sat down beside her, his bleak expression mirroring hers as he looked at the presents beneath the tree. “You’re amazing, Lara. Even now, thinking of others.”
Despair threatened to overcome her. “What if Ava never comes home?” she whispered.
Jasper covered her hand with his. “She will. She has to.”
“But you hear stories where kids go missing and they’re never found,” she said brokenly. “There was a story about it on the news earlier. It was called ‘The Forgotten Girls’.”
Jasper curled his fingers around her arms and forced her to look at him. “She’s not going to be one of them,” he said with a strength that surprised her. “We won’t let her be. If the cops stop looking, I’ll quit my job and spend every minute of my life searching until I find her.”
Lara squeezed his hand. He sounded like the man she married, strong and determined and loving.
“I was thinking,” he said. “I know Ava wants a puppy.”
“I’ve already chosen one for her.” Lara sniffed. “Oh God, I should call the shelter and let them know I can’t come to collect him.”
Jasper stood. “We just can’t sit here. Why don’t we go pick him up?”
