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Ellie. He swatted flies away as he quickly connected.
“She’s been found, Cord,” Ellie said. “She’s okay.”
“Good news. What happened?”
He gripped his phone as he looked up at the legendary bridge above, half expecting to see the spirit of a woman in a blue dress wandering aimlessly across it.
“She was chasing a kitten,” Ellie said. “According to Betsy, the neighbor’s daughter rescued her, but there was a man in black in the woods that scared her. Be on the alert for him.”
“Understood.” He reached the clearing at the edge of the lake, directly in front of what he’d seen, and realized it was the rear bumper of a car.
“Cord?”
He cleared his throat. “El, we have a problem.”
“What’s wrong?”
“A car is submerged in the lake about two miles from where you are. Could have gone off the Lady in Blue bridge. Can’t tell how long it’s been here until I get a closer look. I’ll dive in and see if anyone’s inside.”
“I’ll be there ASAP.”
Cord updated the search teams and requested his coworker Milo join him. He yanked off his T-shirt, belt and boots, then stuck his phone inside his shoes and set them beneath a tree. Gripping his flashlight, he dove into the lake. The water felt slimy and hot. Debris, mud and weeds sucked at him. Algae floated around him and fish nibbled at him.
He guessed the distance to the vehicle to be three-quarters of a mile. At its high, the lake was one-hundred-and-fifty-six feet deep and stretched over thirty-seven acres. If not for the drought, the car would have been completely submerged.
Mosquitos buzzed, the sound of frogs croaking blending with the soft lapping of the water as he pushed through. As he neared the vehicle, he noted mud, leaves and rust covering the bumper. This car had been here a while.
He took a deep breath, dove deeper and swam toward the driver’s side. Squinting through the fog, he peered inside the car and silently cursed.
A skeletal body was inside.
FIFTEEN
WIDOW LAKE
Lorna Bea watched her father head to the house. She had to hurry. Get inside.
She jumped to reach the lowest tree branch, then swung her body to gain enough momentum to thrust herself up to the next one. The bark scraped her leg, but she ignored the sting.
Standing on tiptoe, she strained to reach the next limb and caught hold. Like a monkey, she propelled herself from one to the next until she landed on the branch outside her window. By then she was out of breath and sweating like a pig, so she straddled the widest part and leaned against the massive tree trunk to catch her breath.
A siren wailed in the distance. An ambulance pulled up. Two medics got out, walking over to the little girl and her parents.
Then she spotted the boy—he had to be Betsy’s brother—staring up the hill as if he was looking for her. She ducked behind the leafy part of the tree branch so he couldn’t see her.
SIXTEEN
After notifying all the parties that Betsy had been found, Ellie drove to the bridge.
It was a well-known landmark and only two miles away. She parked at the overhang, then hiked down the hill.
Cord stood on the bank, dripping wet and soaked in grime.
“You okay?” she asked.
He gave a quick nod and aimed his flashlight at the rear bumper of the car.
“There’s a body inside, driver’s seat,” Cord said. “There are no fresh tire marks down here. Looks like it’s been there a while.”
