Perfect Place: a Liars Island Suspense Book by Robbie Peale

Author:Robbie Peale [Peale, Robbie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vintage Housewife Books

Hour 10

1:32 a.m.

Elnar ushered Cora out to the hallway, where she collapsed into Sawyer's arms.

"You did great, babe," he whispered in her ear.

Her response was to tremble against him.

The sheriff and Elnar were standing nearby.

Sheriff Lynch said, "I had a search warrant drawn up, and we got it signed. We're off to search his car and tent, specifically his trunk and seabag. We'd like you both to wait in the room we were in earlier. One of the officers can get you food, drinks, whatever you need."

Officer Templeton burst into the hallway. "Sir, we have a report of a distressed child at the ferry terminal. She's lost and, initial reports say, confused. The terminal manager is with her. The child won't stop crying. She matches Eleanor Kincaid's description."

Cora and Sawyer straightened, a streak of hope rushing through them.

Sheriff Lynch said, "I'll drive. I'm parked in the back." He pointed toward a door marked Exit.

Together, they rushed out of the station and toward the cruiser.

For Cora, the drive to the ferry terminal was slow even though the sheriff was using his sirens and weaving in and out of traffic.

Her thoughts were stuck in a loop of worry and question. Was it Ellie? How had she gotten across the island to the terminal? Had someone gotten spooked and ditched her? Cora didn't care. The child was alive and responsive enough to be crying. Anything else, they could deal with. She grabbed Sawyer's hand, and he squeezed hers in response. He trembled next to her.

"I've never wanted something so badly," he whispered to her.

"I know. Me too."

Elnar had his cell phone pressed to his ear. He gave a clipped farewell, then turned to face them.

"The terminal manager said the ticket collector found the child sitting in a corner, hunched over. When she tried to engage the child, the child screamed. The ticket collector thought the child was lost and scared but then noticed the child had no shoes, her hands and feet were dirty, and she looked…" He cleared his throat. "Roughed up. That's when he got the manager. The manager had seen the Amber Alert we put out about Ellie and felt the child could be her." Elnar put up a hand to stop them from asking their pressing questions. "I want to caution you," he continued. "This may not be your daughter."

Sawyer shook his head. "What are the odds?"

After exchanging a look with the sheriff, Elnar said, "You'd be surprised, Mr. Kincaid. People do terrible things to people in their homes, to people they know."

"It's Ellie," Sawyer said. "It has to be."

Elnar glanced at Cora, maybe asking her to reason with him, but she couldn't because she felt as Sawyer did. She needed the child to be her daughter.

She said, "If Rudy did this, then maybe he has an accomplice, and they got spooked, and he let Ellie go."

The sheriff's gaze caught hers in the rearview mirror. "It won't do to speculate. Let's get there and identify the child first."

They pulled up at the curb of the terminal at the main doors, lights still flashing.

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