Page 54 of The Girl in the River

And he needed her. She’d begun to see a change in Bryce since he’d learned he had a daughter.

Cord sipped his coffee and angled his head toward her. “You sleep last night?”

She shrugged. “Some. But I keep thinking about Mia and wondering if she’s okay or if… she was in that barrel.”

“That sheriff didn’t seem very cooperative.”

“He wasn’t. He insisted the autopsy be performed at his morgue. Laney stayed in Red River Rock last night so she can assist with it.”

Cord forked up a bite of fried egg. “You don’t trust the sheriff?”

Ellie made a harumph sound. “I don’t trust anyone.” A little smile tugged at her mouth. “Well, maybe except for you. And Derrick. And Shondra. Laney, too.” They made a good team.

He chuckled. “Happy to be among that list.”

“You’ve earned it, Cord. I know you’ll always be honest with me.”

His eyes flickered with some emotion she couldn’t quite define as he locked gazes with her. A second later, it disappeared and he looked down into his plate, picked up his biscuit, slathered it with peach jelly, and ate half of it in one bite.

The air suddenly stilled in the café, voices dying and heads turning as Mark Wade and Liam James walked inside.

Ellie gripped her coffee mug, the atmosphere in the room causing even the tourists to quiet.

Aware people were staring at them, Mark and Liam stopped at the door, both tensing. When they saw Ellie, they headed toward her, patrons gawking at them.

Ellie swallowed hard, stood and met them, ignoring the stares and whispers, then herded them outside away from prying eyes.

SIXTY-NINE

“We went to the police station to see you,” Mark started when they were outside. “But they said you weren’t there. Then I spotted your Jeep here.”

“What the hell is going on?” Liam barked. “Mark said Mia wasn’t really Mia, that she was some woman named Jesse.”

She forced herself to remain calm. Both men had reason to be upset. Both had lost women they loved. One whose wife had been murdered in cold blood.

“That’s where the investigation has led,” Ellie said. “We matched DNA from the scene at the wedding to a woman named Jesse Habersham who disappeared from Red River Rock five years ago. Her DNA also matched Mia’s. Special Agent Fox and I have spoken to the sheriff who investigated Jesse’s disappearance.”

Mark’s labored breath rattled in the air. “And?”

“I don’t know the reason she disappeared, yet. If it was foul play or if she planned it,” Ellie admitted. “But I’m headed back to Red River Rock today. I understand this is difficult for both of you but bear with me. I will get to the bottom of this.”

Liam shot her and Mark a furious glare. “So what you’re saying is that my wife was murdered because Mia was a damn liar?” He gripped Mark’s shirt. “Did you know who she really was?”

“Of course not,” Mark said defensively.

Ellie rushed to diffuse the situation. “Listen, both of you. Don’t do this. Don’t blame each other. I suspect this situation is far more complicated than we think. There had to be something really wrong for her to lie to all of us.”

Liam released his friend with a little shove and Mark took it without pushing back.

Ellie gave them a moment as two more vehicles pulled into the parking lot. A family unloaded from the van and strolled into the café.

The tension was palpable as they waited until the people stepped inside before continuing.

“You said Mia…” Mark’s voice wobbled. “That Jesse disappeared from her wedding to a man named Kevin Moon. Do you think he had something to do with this?”

Ellie did not want to incite suspicions to the point Mark might attempt to find answers for himself. “I honestly don’t know. But I have to warn you that when his father realized Mia had a child, he questioned whether or not the child was Kevin’s. I’m just telling you in case they try to reach you.”

Worry dimmed Mark’s eyes. “Oh, my God. What if Pixie’s his daughter?”

---