Page 49 of Echoes of Eternity

“Well, I can’t give that to her.” He must’ve seen the fear that she felt in her heart of the idea of him getting mad. He shook his head. “I’m not mad, Emily. I want to talk to her, let her know that we love her and we are here for her. Can’t you tell that from my tone and expression?”

“I guess so.”

He took Emily by the hands and bowed his head in prayer. “God. We come to You right now asking—begging—for You to intervene on behalf of our daughter. She’s struggling and in pain. What she needs right now isn’t more friends. What she needs right now is to see You, for You to show up in a mighty and powerful way. Help Emily and me navigate our sweet child through this, and please, Lord, show us how to be here for her. Amen.”

Hand in hand, Ryan and Emily went out of their bedroom and down the hallway to Elizabeth’s room. Music blared from inside the bedroom, and he knocked.

There was no answer.

Ryan looked at Emily. “Let’s just go in.”

Opening the door, she suddenly froze in place.

Their daughter wasn’t there.

The window was open and the curtain was fluttering in the cool night breeze.

She was gone.

Collapsing to the floor, Emily’s heart sank into a pain she had not known before that moment. Ryan immediately rushed to her, wrapping her in his arms and saying they’d find her.

CHAPTER 13

As the night bled into the early morning hours in the pursuit of finding Elizabeth, the boys awoke in the backseat. They grew restless and began to fight with one another. It took everything inside Ryan to keep himself together as exhaustion pulled at every fiber of his being. His wife hadn’t stopped crying since they found Elizabeth’s room empty, and with each hour that passed, the worry grew a little more.

Emily pulled her phone out from her purse. “I’m going to try Jasmine’s phone again.”

“It’s four o’clock in the morning, Emily.”

“I don’t care what time it is, Ryan!” Emily sobbed as she threw her phone against the dashboard.

Jack began to cry in the backseat. Then he shouted, “Conner hit me in the face!”

“Knock it off!” Emily whipped around to face the backseat. “Stop touching each other! I already told you that! You need to listen to Mommy!”

Ryan jumped in. “Maybe we should head home. Get a little sleep and start making phone calls again in a few hours.”

“What?” Emily shook her head. “You just want to give up?”

Tilting his head slowly, he looked over at her briefly then back at the road. They had searched Cedarwood Creek more times than he could count, along with the surrounding small towns and the main freeway. He was exhausted. Turning in for a little rest sounded like the best possible decision for not only himself, but his entire family.

“It might be best.” Ryan nodded. “Also, we should file a police report.”

She looked at him with horror. “You know what this town will do if they find out . . .”

“Our daughter is missing. We need to get the authorities involved, Em. No matter what that entails. It’s been hours now.”

Touching her forehead as she stared out her window, she shook her head. “I can’t give up on her.”

Clenching his teeth, he pulled the car over on the freeway and jammed it into park. He got out and walked behind the car a good distance. With his back facing the car and his family, he screamed as he lifted his hands and looked into the dimly lit sky.

“Why are You doing this to me, God?” Dropping to his knees, he started to cry for the first time since Elizabeth had vanished. Raking his hands through his hair, he hunched over as he wept bitterly. Then he prayed. “God, I can’t deal with this. First my dad, then the move, and then the car wreck. Now my princess? When will the pain in my life relent?”

As despair in his soul pulled him further down, suddenly, a hand touched his shoulder.

Lifting his head, he turned on his knees to see Emily standing there.

“Ryan?”

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