“Can we come in?” Ellery said.
“It’s not a great time. My grandma is sleeping. Late shift at the hospital, you know how it is.”
“Yeah?” Ellery turned to look. “Her car isn’t parked in the driveway.”
Snuffles barked and wriggled, and Ty wrinkled his nose at her. “Is that Chloe’s dog?”
“Yeah. She could use some water. Can we come in or what?”
Ty looked behind him for a moment before widening the door. “Okay, just for a second.” They followed him to the kitchen, where he tripped over a chair and then fumbled the plastic dish he was using to get Snuffles some water. Bingo, Ellery thought.
“Did you see the news?” she asked.
“Yeah, that crazy dude grabbed Chloe. That’s wack. I saw he’s dead now. Is that true?” He folded his arms over his chest, leaning back against the counter in an attempt to seem casual.
“It’s true. We haven’t found Chloe, though.”
“Yeah?” His voice cracked and he coughed to cover it. “That’s, uh, that’s too bad.”
Ellery put the dog down near the water bowl. She took one lap at it and then took off sniffing around the kitchen. “You have any idea where she could be?”
“Me? Why would I know?” He jumped when Snuffles started vigorously sniffing at a crack under a door. “Hey, she’s not going to pee in here, is she?”
“What’s behind that door?” Ellery asked as Snuffles started to whine and paw at it.
He scratched the back of his head. “Uh, nothing. I mean, just the basement. There’s storage and crap down there.”
“I’d like to check it out.”
“You guys already been down there,” he protested. “Remember? You checked every inch of this place and I told you—I did not take Chloe.”
“We believed you then,” Ellery replied, limping for the door. She opened it and Snuffles took off like a cartoon animal, paws scrambling, practically leaving a vapor trail in her tracks. She barked excitedly as she hopped down the stairs. Ellery grimaced as she hobbled behind the dog with her bum ankle. Reed and Ty followed, too.
“Look, I can explain,” Ty began as Snuffles found another door, this one apparently to the furnace room. She stood on her hind legs and did a dance in front of it. Ellery gave a crooked smile.
“Whatcha got there, girl?” She tugged the door open and Snuffles flew inside—right onto Chloe Lockhart’s stomach.
The girl lay on a sleeping bag with a blanket over her. A half-eaten sandwich and a large cup of water sat nearby. She roused as Snuffles wriggled and pounced over her body. “Snuffy,” she murmured, giving the dog a clumsy pat. “I missed you.”
“She just showed up here on my porch in the middle of the night,” Ty said. “You gotta believe me. She said the guy dropped her off and told her not to call the police or he’d kill her mother. I didn’t know what to do, man. I’ve been waiting for Grams to get off shift so she could sort it out.”
“It’s okay,” Ellery said, still smiling. “We believe you. Chloe … I’m Detective Hathaway, and this is Agent Reed Markham from the FBI. We’re here to take you home now.” She knelt next to Chloe and looked her over for any injuries, but the girl seemed to be in better shape than Ellery was. Ty had given her a bandage for the cut on her arm. She had visible bruises on her face and wrists and of course her hair had been shaved off, but otherwise, she appeared perfectly whole. “It’s going to be okay. You’re safe now.”
Chloe cuddled the dog to her chest. Tears appeared in her eyes and her chin trembled. “I want my mom.”
“She’s right outside.”
“Really?”
“She’s been searching for you this whole time. Here, can you stand up or do you need help?” She held out a hand and Chloe took it as she got to her feet. She wore a giant T-shirt of Ty’s and a pair of gym socks that slouched around her ankles.
“I didn’t have nothing that fit her,” Ty said with regret.
“You did fine,” Reed assured him, clapping the kid on the shoulder.
Ellery led Chloe slowly up the stairs and out onto the front stoop. A second later, the back door of her SUV swung open and Teresa rushed out. “Chloe!”
“Mommy.” Chloe sobbed as she fell into her mother’s arms. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I ran away.”
“It’s okay. It’s okay. I love you so much.” Teresa rained kisses down on her daughter’s fuzzy head. “Oh God, thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Chloe sniffed. “He cut all my hair.”
“I don’t care.”
“I threw away my phone.”
“I don’t care about that, either.”
“Mommy.” Chloe clung to her and buried her face in Teresa’s chest. Her voice was muffled, mournful. “I did a terrible thing. I—I had a second phone. One that … that…”
Teresa took her daughter’s face in her hands. “One that your other mother gave you. Yes, I know.”
Chloe cried harder. “No, I didn’t want another mother. I just wanted to know the truth. She seemed so nice.”
“It’s okay, my darling. We’ll figure it out. If you want to talk to her, it’s fine with me. If you don’t want to talk to her, that’s fine, too. Whatever you want, I will help you.”
Chloe had a death grip on her. “I want to go home. I want to see Daddy. I don’t ever want to go outside ever again.”
Ellery looked away. That terror was too familiar, even now. Teresa stroked her daughter’s back and held her close. “Yes, you will,” she said fiercely. “You will grow up and go out into the world and live your life.”
“No. He’s out there.”
“No, he’s dead. He can’t hurt you anymore, sweetheart.”
The way Chloe shrank from the words told Ellery that the girl had already learned the hardest lesson. Bobby Frick was a threat she hadn’t seen coming. What you can’t see you can’t protect yourself from. He might be gone, but there would be others. “He was crazy. He had a gun.”
“I know he was scary. I know. I was afraid, too, the whole time you were gone.” She rested her cheek on her daughter’s head. “You know what else I saw, though? I saw these people—Detective Hathaway and Detective Bennett. Agent Markham. Captain Conroy. So many others, too. Your friends left messages for you. Your friends’ parents dropped off food. Hundreds of people came out to look for you and to offer any help they could.”
Chloe sniffed and wiped her cheeks with her hands. “What about Devon James? Did he leave a message?”
“Um, I’m not sure. Who is Devon James?”
“The most popular boy in school. He doesn’t know I exist.”
Teresa hugged her daughter tight. “Well, I’m sure he does now. Let’s go home.”
Dorie stepped forward with an apologetic cough. “She’s going to need to be checked out by a doctor.”
“I am a doctor.”
“With all due respect, ma’am, you’re her mother.”