Page 104 of The Girl in the River

Ellie’s pulse quickened. “We’ll look there first.”

“My partner at the Bureau is tracking Kevin’s phone and his car to narrow down his location,” Derrick said.

“Good.” Ellie inhaled sharply. “Bryce, contact all law enforcement across the state, then reach out to bus and train stations, airports and the border patrols, and pass along Kevin and Pixie’s picture. Kevin is probably desperate right now and may be planning to flee the country.”

ONE HUNDRED FORTY

BLUFF COUNTY HOSPITAL

Mark drifted in and out of consciousness but even in his drug-induced sleep, he kept replaying the incident at the park in his head. He could feel Kevin Moon’s gun jabbing into his back. Hear the zing of the bullet. Feel the sharp burn of the bullet splintering through him.

Hear Pixie’s screams and see the tears in her terrified eyes.

Emotions choked him. Where was she? What would that monster do to her?

Guilt pummeled him. He loved her. He wanted to adopt her. Nothing about that had changed. He was supposed to protect her. And now she was gone…

And what had this sadistic man done with Mia?

The drugs pulled him back under, his eyes so heavy he couldn’t keep them open. But on some level, he knew his parents were there. He’d heard his mother crying. His father assuring her he’d be okay. That he wasn’t paralyzed as they’d first feared.

He lapsed into a drug-induced sleep again then sometime later stirred to beeping machines. As the drugs slowly wore off, his parents’ voices drifted through the haze again.

“What did you do, Sylvia?” His father sounded angry.

“I… didn’t mean for this to happen,” his mother said, her voice breaking.

“Tell me,” his father demanded.

A sob escaped her. “You know I thought something was off about Mia so I hired a PI to check into her.”

“You did what?”

“I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to hurt our son,” she whispered.

“Mark is a grown man,” his father countered. “You just didn’t want to let him go.”

“But I was right,” she argued. “The PI discovered her name wasn’t Mia, that she was lying. She’d gotten married and ran out on her husband. I… couldn’t stand by and let her do that to Mark. Their marriage wouldn’t even have been legal.”

His father’s sigh punctuated the air. “For God’s sake, Sylvia. Tell me you didn’t contact that man, Kevin Moon.”

Mark forced his eyes open. Struggled to find his voice. It felt like he’d swallowed a mouthful of dirt. Finally he managed to push out a word. “Mom?”

He blinked her into focus and saw his father pacing across the room. His mother’s eyes were teary, her lower lip quivering.

“Mom, did you call Kevin Moon?”

“Not exactly,” she said, her voice shaky.

If he had the energy, he’d grab her right now and shake her. “Tell me what happened,” he demanded.

Her sob rent the air but he didn’t care. “Tell me, dammit. Pixie’s in danger.”

She pressed a fist to her mouth. “Before the ceremony, I went in and talked to Mia. I… told her I knew she’d been lying and that she had to tell you the truth or I would.”

Mark forcibly swallowed. “What did she say?”

His mother wiped at her tears. “She started crying and then I left but… a man was in the hall.”

---