When Charlie walked through the front door of the cottage, Melissa rushed to him. She felt a wave of relief wash over her as he held her. Nothing about the horrible situation had changed, but somehow, now that they were together, she could believe that everything would be okay.
When he finally let go, she had a hard time meeting his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
The male detective—Marino was his name—stepped inside as well and seemed to be monitoring their interaction.
“Shh,” Charlie whispered. “It’s all going to be all right. We’re going to find her. You’re not to blame,” he added, as if reading her mind.
She felt a pang of guilt that he was the one comforting her. Riley was his daughter, and she was the one who lost her.
The female detective offered Charlie a handshake as an introduction. “Mr. Miller, I’m Detective Hall. You’ve already met my partner, Detective Marino.”
Earlier, Marino had stepped outside to call Charlie on his cell phone while Detective Hall had continued to gather details from Melissa and Mike. They had explained it was in the interest of “efficiency” since Charlie was still making his way from the airport. Perhaps. But Melissa had been a prosecutor. She knew the reasons to interview spouses separately when family matters were involved.
“I was just talking to Detective Hall about putting out an Amber Alert as soon as possible,” Melissa said. She noticed the two detectives exchange an annoyed look. She had already insisted that they bring a crime scene analyst to the scene to search for fingerprints or other possible physical evidence.
Melissa’s cell phone buzzed on the sofa next to her. Another call from Katie, her second in the last few minutes. She declined the call.
“Do you need to get that?” Hall asked.
She shook her head. “My friend, Katie. My guess is our friends are calling each other about Riley.” While they’d been waiting for the police to arrive, Melissa had contacted Neil and Amanda to see if Amanda, as an NYPD officer, might be able to help.
Marino held up his palms. “Look, I know you’re all worried. Of course you are. But Amber Alerts are a tightly controlled system. They won’t let us put out an alert unless we’re confident there’s been an abduction. And luckily we’re not there yet.”
“With due respect,” Mike said, “my niece just turned three. It’s not like she climbed out a window and swiped the car keys for the night.”
“My son can slip a Pack ’n Play like a miniature Houdini,” Hall said with a sympathetic smile. “And Melissa, you said you were certain the doors were all locked, correct?”
She nodded eagerly, wanting desperately to believe that someday they’d tell the funny story about the time adventurous little Riley gave them all a scare by sneaking off from her travel bed and exploring Grand-Nan’s new neighborhood by herself. The front doorknob was set to lock automatically when closed, and Mike had confirmed he had to use his key to enter when he got home. The back door was also locked. The sliding windows in the cottage were old and could possibly have given someone a way in, but they all appeared secured now. It was plausible Riley had walked out the front door and then couldn’t get back inside. But then where was she now? Certainly, someone would have stopped to check on a toddler walking down the sidewalk alone, unless, she realized, someone stopped for reasons other than Riley’s safety.
The thought of it made her nauseous.
Detective Hall continued her attempts to reassure them, emphasizing how rare it was for children to be abducted by a stranger.
Marino interrupted. “That does raise the question of whether we should be looking at someone who’s not a stranger. Far and away, the most common explanation when a child goes missing is some kind of custody issue.”
“That’s not the case here,” Charlie said. “As I already explained, my wife—my first wife, Linda—died when Riley was just a baby.”
“What about other family?” Marino asked. “Your siblings? Parents? Any acrimony there we should know about?”
He shook his head. “My parents have both passed. My sister lives in Brooklyn. She’s great. She’s the one who helped me keep it together after Linda passed. She babysits for us all the time. Kept Riley so we could take a honeymoon. We’re close.”
“And you think she’s okay with the two of you?” Marino asked. “No chance she feels threatened?”
Charlie’s eyes widened in shock. “Of course not,” he said testily. “She’s my sister.”
From his seat in the corner, Mike spoke quietly. “They’re only asking questions, Charlie, and your sister didn’t even go to the wedding. I managed, didn’t I?”
A silence fell over the room. Charlie walked stiffly to the kitchen, scribbled a note, and tore it abruptly from the pad. “Rachel Miller. Here’s her number. She’s an esthetician. She performs facials and other kinds of spa treatments in clients’ homes. I know for a fact she had stacked appointments all weekend. That’s why Riley came out here instead of staying with her aunt.”
“And if you don’t mind,” Hall said, “how did Riley’s mother pass away?”
Melissa was about to ask why it even mattered when Charlie explained that Linda had slipped while trying to take a selfie above a waterfall when they were on vacation in Norway. Melissa reached for Charlie’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She knew this was the explanation he had given to their family and friends after he witnessed Linda’s fatal plunge to the rocks below. It was during her fourth session in the grief-counseling meetings where she had first met Charlie that he shared his suspicion that the deathly fall wasn’t an accident at all.
The entire reason for taking the trip without Riley was because Linda had been struggling with the adjustment to parenthood and had asked for a vacation alone with Charlie as a chance to “find themselves” again. On the last full day of their trip, they took a long hike above the cascades, one that she had requested. Despite Charlie’s pleas, Linda ventured off the main trail, eager to get a better look at the water crashing against the rocks a thousand feet below. When she reached the cliff’s edge, she turned around. Assuming she was positioning herself to take a selfie, Charlie cried out over the sounds of the falls for her to be careful. Melissa would never forget how haunted he sounded in therapy as he described the scene: “She gave me this look that felt like a goodbye, and then she was just… gone.”
Charlie had no way of knowing whether Linda’s death was an accident or a suicide, but he had decided it would be better for everyone, especially Riley, if he kept his suspicions to himself.
“What about Linda’s family?” Marino asked. “Any in-laws?”
“She was an only child.”
“No parents?”
“Her parents are still alive,” he said, “but they’re in their seventies. And live in Oregon.”
“Have you told them Riley’s missing?”
Charlie shook his head, then ran his fingers across his face. “Wow, I don’t think it really sank in until I heard you say that just now. She’s missing. I have a missing daughter.”
“If you give us their contact information, we can make the call for you,” Hall offered. “Sometimes it’s easier that way. We can break the news, and they can follow up with you.”
“I’m going to need to think about that. It’s complicated.”
“If it’s complicated, that might be exactly why we need to have a word with them,” Hall said.
“Trust me, if there was any chance at all they were involved, I’d fly to Oregon right now and grill them myself. I just don’t want to turn their lives upside down, okay?”
The two partners exchanged a skeptical look, but it was Mike who interrupted to change the subject. “What about that weird woman who accosted my sister in the park? Melissa gave you her description and said she’d definitely recognize her again. She left the park on foot, so she probably lives nearby. Can’t you find her? Melissa’s also been getting all these crazy stalker comments on social media. Maybe this woman’s obsessed with her and decided to follow her home.”
“We’re going to look into that as well,” Hall said. “Ms. Eldredge, do you have a theory about why this TruthTeller person is accusing you of being hypocritical or hiding the truth?”
The pause that followed felt long, even to Melissa. When she finally spoke, she didn’t have a name to offer. While Jennifer Duncan might be resentful enough to lash out at her online, there was no way she would kidnap a child. “My agent tells me it’s all part of the online landscape these days,” she said. “You can say the sky is blue and someone will find a reason to attack you.”
“Okay,” Marino said, “but do let us know if something more specific comes to mind. Maybe a disgruntled client or whatnot. The most urgent thing right now is to find Riley. We’ve got officers on the street organizing a search. The department’s putting out the press release and social media alerts as we speak. I know you’re new to the area, moving your mom and all, but we’re a real tight community here on the East End. Volunteers will be scouring the neighborhood into the night if that’s what it takes.”
Charlie choked back a sob. “I know you need to ask questions, Detectives, but all I want to do right now is jump back into my car and start looking for my daughter. I’ll cover every square inch of Long Island if I have to. Do you need anything else from us here?”
“CSI’s still doing their work,” Hall said, “but by all means, of course you want to get out there and look for Riley.”
“I’ll go, too,” Mike offered. “The more eyes, the better.”
When Mike stood, Melissa gave him a hug and thanked him. From the second he had found Melissa asleep without Riley, he had been fighting for them—from rousing Melissa to calling the police to pushing the detectives to locate the woman from the park. And he had referred to Riley as his niece and was now going to search for her. Inside, he was still the same boy who had always looked out for Melissa, their whole lives.
She pressed her car keys into Mike’s hand, thanked him again, and said she’d ride with Charlie. The detectives assured them that uniformed officers would remain on site in case Riley returned.
“I’m positive there are private helicopter operations out here,” Melissa said. “You could call them and see if any of the pilots will volunteer to help with the search.”
“Appreciate the advice, counselor.” The tone of Detective Hall’s voice was professional, but Melissa noticed another loaded glance between the two partners.
They were walking out the front door when Detective Marino said, almost as an afterthought, “You know, Charlie, if we do our job getting the word out, your former in-laws could even hear the news about Riley in Oregon. You sure you don’t want us to contact them?”
“That’s not going to bring my daughter home.”