“He started hunting again when Nina became too old for him,” Darcy says, the explanation ringing true in her head. “And he killed the girls who didn’t fit his type. But how did Nina escape?”
Fisher squints thoughtfully and moves his gaze over the forested hill.
“I don’t think she did.”
“Are you suggesting he let her go? Why?”
The agent narrows his eyes and strokes his chin.
“It’s like you said. Nina outgrew her usefulness.”
“She could have run to the sheriff the moment he allowed her to walk.”
“Yet she didn’t. Put yourself in Nina’s shoes. For ten years, she believed her mother was dead. This guy fills her head with all sorts of insanity and leaves her with nothing. Then he tells Nina he loves her, she’s special, and he’ll give Nina the life her mother couldn’t give her. Allow water to ripple through a stream bed for long enough, and even the sharpest stone becomes smooth.”
Darcy clasps her hands over her head and walks in a circle.
“She began to see him as her protector and ally. Stockholm syndrome.”
Fisher snaps his fingers.
“Good theory.”
“That explains the aimless wandering. He shunned her, and she doesn’t have anyone to turn to. Now she’s lost, but she retained enough logic and survival instinct to inspire her to hitch a ride.”
“Remember she’s from Millport, not Scarlet River. Nina Steyer might not realize she’s been living this close to her hometown all these years. He could have told Nina they were in Oz, and she would have believed him.”
Darcy rubs the tension out of her neck as she wills Hensel to exit the van with the kidnapper’s location. The FBI is taking too long to trace his Internet activity. With every passing hour, she fears a farmer will discover another dead body in the field, and this time it will be her daughter they find staring into the sky.
“Nina can only walk so far,” Darcy says, looking up the hill toward the forest. “The kidnapper must live close to the falls.”
“We assumed that much. But there aren’t any residences once you get past the state park.”
“He’s living off the grid. That makes him harder to find, but he can’t hide in plain sight.”
“You’d be surprised how simple it is to disappear with a little know-how.”
Another van climbs the hill, this one with a satellite fixed to the roof.
“Looks like the media vultures found out about Nina,” Darcy says.
Deputy Filmore moves into the street to prevent the vehicle from getting too close. Following on the van’s heels, a blue, rusted sedan skids to a stop before it blasts into the van’s bumper. Darcy recognizes Cherise Steyer when she whips open the door. She rushes up the hill as a cameraman leaps from the back of the van to capture the drama. A second deputy joins Filmore to keep Cherise and the media back. A red-haired woman in heels thrusts a microphone in Filmore’s face.
“Is it true you found Nina Steyer?” the woman asks the distraught Filmore as Cherise shouts her daughter’s name.
The reporter’s questions cause murmurs among the growing onlookers. Several people raise their phones to record the scene. When Darcy fears the deputies will lose control of the situation, the van door opens, and Hensel and Tipton step out. Reinhold and Nina remain inside.
“We’ve got a rough location,” Hensel says. “Nina’s confused, didn’t even realize she’s still in Georgia. She estimates the walk to the diner takes her about three hours. Given the harsh terrain, I can’t see her keeping a fast pace, so that tells me he’s about six to eight miles from Scarlet River.”
“Can she take us there?” Fisher asks, digging the keys out of his pocket.
Tipton shakes his head.
“Not unless you want to kayak down the river in the dark. Once you pass Laurie’s house, there aren’t any roads beyond the falls.”
“Helicopter?”
“That’s an option,” Hensel says, checking the time. “But a copter makes too much noise. Remember, he’s holding two girls. God only knows what he’ll do if he hears us coming.”
Darcy’s hands move to her hip. Her gun rests beneath her jacket, but Hensel must know she’s armed.
“Then drive as far as you can, and we’ll go the rest of the way on foot,” Darcy says, causing Hensel to narrow his eyes.
“You’re a civilian, Darcy. I can’t take you.”
“That’s my daughter. The night I lost Jennifer you allowed me to help.”
“You were a member of the search party, not on a rescue mission.” She argues, and Hensel holds up his hand. “The answer is no. Stay back and let us save Jennifer.”
Hensel hands her a key.
“What’s this?”
“The key to my rental. I may be a hard ass, but I’m not stranding my old partner by the side of the road. Keep your phone on. I’ll keep you in the loop throughout.”
Darcy clenches her jaw, then shoots Hensel a tight-lipped smile.
“I’ll give you two hours, Eric. After that, I’m going after Jennifer, with or without your help.”
Hensel groans and marches past the reporter, ignoring her questions. Fisher gives Darcy a sympathetic nod over his shoulder. Should she take the gesture as an apology or a promise to save Jennifer and Sandy? One of Tipton’s deputies piles into his cruiser with the two FBI agents, while Tipton stays behind until Reinhold finishes with Nina. The emergency lights swirl before the deputy executes a three-point turn and wheels the vehicle down the hill. The brake lights flare, then the cruiser disappears around the corner.
Darcy twirls the keyring on her finger, deciding her next move. No matter what Hensel says, she won’t sit by her phone and wait for news. This is her daughter, her flesh and blood. A hand on her shoulder spins Darcy around. She expects to find the reporter firing off another round of questions. Instead, Cherise Steyer wrings her hands in front of Darcy as her eyes dart toward the van.
“I know you,” Cherise says, swiping a tear off her cheek. “You’re that lady from the restaurant in Millport.”
“I am.”
“You saw the girl Sheriff Tipton says is Nina. Please tell me. Is my baby inside that van?”
Cherise’s eyes won’t sit still, and her hands flutter like trapped birds when she speaks.
“Yes, that’s your Nina.”
Cherise releases a breath. Her shoulders slump forward, and she places a hand over her heart.
“I knew it. All these years I prayed God would bring my Nina back to me. Everyone told me she was dead, but I’m her mother. I’d know if my baby left the earth. When will they let me see her?”
“An agent is finishing up with Nina now, and then you’ll see your daughter. But I want you to understand the agents will have more questions for Nina.”
“Because they want to find the man who took her.”
“That’s right.”
Cherise nods and lifts her chin.
“Nina is a strong girl, she always was. But if it’s true those people saw Nina at the diner, why didn’t she come home after she got free?”
Darcy bites her lip, remembering the kidnapper convinced Nina he’d murdered her mother.
“We’ll find out more soon. Take comfort in knowing your daughter is alive, and you have the rest of your lives to make up for lost time.”
Cherise chews a nail and stares at the van door. It’s all she can do to keep from rushing the van and pulling her daughter into her arms. Darcy wants nothing more than to do the same to Jennifer. How can two days feel like forever? She can’t imagine how Cherise kept herself sane for ten years, but it’s clear Nina inherited her mother’s strength.