Forbidden Falls (Virgin River #9)(83)

“He’s trying a little damage control, but it backfired on him. When we get a hearing, the judge will hear about that, too. Before we get that far, he was lying, wasn’t he, Ellie?”

“Of course he was lying! I worked in a strip club, you know that. A clean club—the boss was always on the lookout for funny business. Most of the women who danced there were single mothers, doing it for the money. I swear to God!” She ran a hand through her hair. “I have to get to my phone, in case they call me!” And with that, she ran out the back door and down the street.

Ellie didn’t even notice Jo and Nick sitting on their front porch as she ran past until Jo called her name. Ellie stopped for just a second, made a sound of despair and then hurried on to her apartment. She tried calling from her own phone, but she knew Arnie didn’t have caller ID. At least he hadn’t when Ellie lived with him; he didn’t want the phone answered, period.

There was no answer. Again.

Ellie paced, but it wasn’t very long before there was a tapping on the door and Jo popped it open without being invited in. “Sweetheart,” Jo said. “What’s the matter?”

Ellie quickly ran down what had just happened in the bar. Then she added, “Jo, that bar I told you I worked in? It was a strip club and yes, I danced. But I swear to God, I never took drugs or worked as a prostitute! I promise you! And if I don’t talk to my kids real soon, I’m going to Arnie’s and if I have to tear the doors and windows off the place, I’m going to be sure my kids are—” She stopped as the phone rang and she snatched it up. “Hello?”

“Mama?”

“Oh, baby, where are you?” Ellie asked Danielle.

“I’m here,” she said. “I’m at Arnie’s house.”

“Are you all right?”

“I think so,” she said. “He said we could have supper when he comes back.”

“Danny, are you alone? You and Trevor?”

“Uh-huh. The phone’s been ringing and ringing, but he said don’t answer the phone and if it was him, playing a trick, maybe we wouldn’t get supper.”

“All right, sweetheart, I want you to listen to me. You’re not supposed to be left alone, so a police officer is coming to check on you. Ask who’s at the door and if he says it’s the police, you can let him in. Just so he can be sure everything is okay.”

“We can’t, Mama,” she said.

“Of course you can, honey. It’s okay.”

“No, Mama, the door is locked!”

“It’s okay for you to unlock it for the police, honey. In fact, I’ll stay on the phone with you until they get there.”

Over her shoulder, Ellie noticed that Jo had taken up the pacing. Nick came into the apartment, a look of concern on his face. There were pounding footfalls on the stairs and Noah appeared in the doorway.

“But, Mama, we can’t reach the lock!” Danielle said.

Ellie sighed. “Pull a chair over, Danny. It’s okay. But wait until the police—”

“Mama! It’s locked on the outside!”

Ellie was speechless. She had to shake herself. “Danielle, Mommy’s coming right now. It will take me a while, but I’m coming right now. I love you.”

“Mommy,” she said. “I’m being afraid.”

“And I’m coming right now. Jo Ellen is here and she’s going to talk to you while I’m on my way. You just stay on the phone with Jo and everything is going to be okay.”

“Bye,” she said. “Bye, Mommy.”

Ellie took a breath and, with her hand over the mouthpiece so Danielle wouldn’t hear her, she looked at Jo, Nick and Noah. Her voice was softer than usual; deadly soft. “He locked them in,” she said. “The door is locked on the outside. They can’t get out. They’re trapped.” Then she handed off the phone to Jo, grabbed her purse, lunged out of the upstairs apartment and fled down the stairs. Noah was on her heels, moving fast to keep up with her.

When she hit the bottom, Noah caught her. “Whoa,” he said. “Want me to drive?”

She wrenched free and literally dove for the car, throwing herself behind the wheel, digging frantically in her purse for keys. The passenger door opened and Noah jumped inside as she started the ignition. “I grew up on these mountain roads. Buckle up and hang on!”

Deputy Stan Pierce pulled up to the address he’d been given and, as he walked to the front door, he scowled. He couldn’t make it out from the curb, but as he got closer he could see that right inside the screen door, bolting the door closed from the outside, was a padlock. A padlock. Like an ordinary lock a firefighter could just release wasn’t enough? Like a dead bolt with a key they could turn on the inside wouldn’t do the trick? He opened the screen, pulled on the lock and felt a groan escape. He knocked on the door.

A very small voice asked, “Who’s there, please?”

“I’m a police officer. Are your parents at home?”

“No. Just me and Trevor. Arnie went on an errand.”

“All right, I’m going to get this door open. It’s going to make a noise, but don’t be worried. It’ll just take a minute.”

Pierce went back to his car, opened the trunk and pulled out a crowbar. He radioed his dispatcher that he’d need a social worker from Child Welfare Services, but in the meantime he was going to open the house and look around inside. Rather than trying to cut the lock, he pried the whole contraption off the door and frame. Screws fell to the ground; the padlock bounced on the walk and into the bushes.