Page 55 of The Girl in the River

SEVENTY

Of course both men would question the identity of Pixie’s father. Ellie was wondering herself.

“We’ll run a DNA sample to determine paternity,” Ellie said. “Although Mia could have met someone and had a relationship after she left Kevin.”

“Or she could have cheated on this guy Kevin and had that man’s baby,” Liam said, his voice bitter.

With more questions than answers, Ellie could not argue at this point. “Again, we’ll compare DNA to determine that.”

She had to cut this short and get moving. “Sorry, guys, I have a press conference in a few minutes. I promise to keep you updated on anything I learn.”

Mark cleared his throat. “Please, Ellie, find her. I know she lied to me, but… still…”

She squeezed his arm. “I won’t give up until I do. She was my friend, too.” Mia’s smile as she planted sunflowers in Ellie’s yard taunted her. Mia had looked so happy and at peace. There was no way Ellie could have been that wrong about her. Whatever had happened, Mia was in trouble and needed her.

The sun poked through gray clouds, the heat rising to the mid-eighties and the cloying humidity making it hard to breathe. It was going to be a scorcher today.

She ducked back inside to get her to-go order and saw Bryce paying his bill and Lola still talking to him. Cord looked sullen as he watched them, arousing her curiosity again. When Lola spotted her, she rushed to the kitchen then returned a minute later, handing over her food.

Ellie thanked her, paid cash, then left, knowing Angelica would be waiting. She’d already given her the green light to report on Tori’s murder.

SEVENTY-ONE

RED RIVER ROCK

He watched the press conference in Crooked Creek with a football-sized knot in his gut. The lead detective, Ellie Reeves, was a pint-sized ash-blond woman with a ponytail and soulful blue eyes. She looked harmless. But he knew different. She was a storm to be reckoned with. She’d plowed through multiple cases, brought down vicious serial killers, and was still standing.

She’s never dealt with the likes of you though.

Another curse rolled off his tongue, and he blotted the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief as she spoke into the camera.

“We are still searching for Mia Norman, who has been missing now two days, and working the investigation into Tori James’ murder, which we believe is connected.” The detective lifted her chin as she continued, “In more news, late yesterday the body of another woman was found in a whiskey barrel near Red River Rock. At this point, the remains have not been identified and we don’t know if her death is related to our current investigations or not. We’re working in conjunction with the Red River Rock Police Department to determine what happened. Again, we implore anyone with information regarding these cases to call our office.”

“There you have it,” the reporter Angelica Gomez said. “We’ll keep you abreast of any developments in these stories as soon as information becomes available.”

He punched off the television with a curse then snatched his phone and made a call.

“Did you see the news? That damn ranger discovered a whiskey barrel with a body in it. How the hell could you be so sloppy?”

“It should have sunk to the bottom by now,” came the reply. “I can’t help it if the weather knocked down a tree and it got caught up in it.”

“The last thing we need is a slew of damn cops crawling all over Foggy Mountain.” Their town had its secrets and he’d managed to keep them hidden for years.

“Don’t worry. If she gets too close, we’ll take care of her.”

“A fucking fed is with her, too,” he bellowed. “You mark my words. No one is going to ruin what we have going here. And if you screw it up, you’ll end up in a damn barrel yourself.”

He didn’t wait for a response. He hung up, knowing his message was received. Others had tried to betray him before. And they had learned their lesson.

There were some deaths that came easy. Some more painful. Some begged to end their lives and stop the suffering.

SEVENTY-TWO

CROOKED CREEK

Ellie gathered the information they had and met Captain Hale, Deputy Eastwood, Deputy Landrum and Bryce in the conference room at the police station while Derrick remained in her office and made some phone calls. Everyone shuffled in with coffee, tea and water, gathering around the table.

“How’d the press conference go?” Bryce asked.

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