Hour of Need (Scarlet Falls #1)(64)

Downstairs, the cop and Grant were sitting at the kitchen table. Mac, who’d finally returned Grant’s call and agreed to move in for a few days, walked by with a fussing Faith on one shoulder. On the other side of the kitchen, Hannah leaned backward against the cabinets. A coffee mug steamed in her hand. No relaxing for Grant’s sister. She caffeinated 24/7.

McNamara rubbed his face with both hands. Bags under his eyes attested to the hours he must be putting into the case.

“Can I get you some coffee?” Hannah offered.

“Please,” the detective said.

Hannah poured a mug. The detective waved off cream and sugar. He drank while Carson and Julia shuffled into the room.

“Hi, kids. Do you think you’re up to looking at a few photos for me?” McNamara opened the envelope. “We’ll do this one at a time, OK? Julia, would you wait in the hall?”

She nodded.

Carson pulled his hand out of Julia’s and hurried to Grant to climb on his lap. Grant folded his arms around the child and brushed blond bangs off his forehead. Ellie took her daughter’s hand and led her to the hallway. It had been a long time since Julia had allowed her mother to hold her hand, but tonight, she curled her fingers and hung on.

“Now that I’ve recovered from the sheer terror, I want to tell you how proud I am of the way you handled the situation today,” Ellie said.

“Proud enough to lift my sentence?” Julia’s attempt at humor told Ellie her daughter was all right.

“Not a chance.” She squeezed her daughter’s fingers.

“It was worth a try.” Julia shrugged.

“But maybe I haven’t given you enough credit.”

They heard papers shuffling, then Carson’s small voice. “This is him.”

“All right,” McNamara said. “Julia, your turn.”

Grant stood with Carson in his arms and walked out of the room. Ellie and Julia took their places at the table. McNamara spread six head shots across the table. The photos were all of young, rough-looking Caucasian men in their early twenties. None had tattoos.

Julia scanned the photos. Her eyes moving back and forth. She pointed to the third picture. “I think this is him.”

“Think?” the cop asked.

Julia’s face scrunched. “The closest he got to me was about thirty feet, and it was only for a few seconds before he ran away. I wasn’t even close enough to see the tattoos Carson was talking about. And I was pretty scared.”

Ellie wrapped an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. She was simultaneously proud and terrified that Julia had defended the children at her own risk.

McNamara called Grant and Carson back into the room. Carson was perched in Grant’s arms. His little blond head tilted to rest against his uncle’s broad shoulder.

“Can the kids go?” Grant asked.

“Yes.” McNamara nodded. “Thanks, both of you.”

Julia took Carson from Grant. Ellie’s stomach clenched. No doubt both kids would have nightmares tonight. At least she and Julia were sharing a room. Ellie would be there if Julia needed her.

“Well?” Grant eased into a chair.

“The kids both identified Donnie Ehrlich. Julia was hesitant, but Carson seemed sure. Donnie is a local. Twenty-one years old. He did eighteen months for ID theft and has an earlier assault charge he weaseled out of with community service. He’s been out for three months.”

“ID theft and assault? That’s a big stretch to murder and kidnapping,” Ellie said. “Does he have a juvenile record?”

“That would be sealed.” But McNamara’s pointed expression made her suspect Donnie had been in trouble in his younger years.

“The man in the picture doesn’t have the tattoos,” Ellie pointed out.

McNamara gathered the pictures and lined them up with a tap on the tabletop. He slid the neat pile back into the envelope. “The teardrop and the shamrock are tats he picked up during his incarceration. These mug shots are from his original arrest. We’re going to pick up Donnie and ask him some questions. I’ll call you in the morning to let you know if we have him.”

“Thanks.” Grant showed the cop out. After he left, Grant steered Ellie back to the office and closed the door. He perched on the edge of the desk. “Did the guy in the picture look familiar at all? Could it be the man who abducted you?”

Standing in front of him, she lifted a palm to the ceiling. “I can’t say. I didn’t see his face, but the body structure is about right.”

“What about his voice?” He scraped a hand across his unshaven jaw. “Would you recognize it if you heard him speak?”

She thought about the encounter in her car. “He whispered the whole time, so I doubt it.”

“What about an accent?”

“I didn’t hear an accent.” She put a hand on her head, where a mental clip of her abduction played in an endless loop. “What now?”

“We try to get some sleep.” Grant let out a short laugh. Exhaustion lined his face as he rubbed his temple. “As if that’s a possibility with Faith around.”

“There are four adults in this house tonight perfectly capable of walking that baby. I vote that you go to bed. You look like you haven’t slept since you came home.” Ellie put a hand on his forearm.