No arguments. No questions. The first few times Cara had asked questions, but even then she had not protested. She had just accepted.
Which made Elena wonder if that doctor she’d taken Cara to had been right, that she had no real memory of that night. She hoped that was true. Cara had been a child of three, and what she’d experienced had been enough to traumatize an adult. Yet there must be subconscious memories because the nightmares remained. She would wake crying and shaking in the night, but nothing could get her to tell Elena about them.
But if even scanty memory remained somewhere in that child’s mind, it might be reason for her not to argue about fleeing at even the hint of danger.
She looked back down at the photo of Jenny. So alive, so incredibly lifelike for a child killed all those years ago. She felt a wrenching regret.
I’m sorry, Jenny. I can’t help you now, just as I couldn’t help you then. All I can do is try to keep Cara alive.
Get moving. Get packed. Hope that someone hadn’t seen this story and decided to call the cell number listed. Someone who had noticed the curious resemblance to Cara …
CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER
“Any word?” Eve asked Terry Brandell when she answered her cell. “It’s almost noon. Have you heard anything?”
“We’ve had a few calls but nothing definitive,” the journalist answered. “A lot of curiosity seekers and one pastor who thinks that you should have left the remains to return to dust.”
“No one who recognizes her face? I can’t believe it. She’s very memorable. You even thought you recognized her.”
“But I haven’t been able to tell you from where,” she said. “Could be imagination. I’ve got to go. I’ll let you know if I get a solid lead.” She hung up.
Eve turned to Joe. “No luck yet.”
“So I heard. It’s early.”
She braced herself. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
“I’ve been waiting for that.” Joe’s lips tightened. “I was hoping for that same miraculous call you did, but it isn’t happening. You know that these photos sometimes pay off and sometimes don’t. No one knows that better than you.”
“If it doesn’t happen the first day the photo is published, the chances get slimmer and slimmer.”
“And so do the chances of that little girl Walsh is targeting.” She leaned forward and took his hand. “I have to go to Carmel and see if I can find out anything more.”
“The school photographers? One of the first things we checked when we were going through those photos at Sacramento PD were the ones from that city. We didn’t come up with any photos that bore any resemblance to Jenny.”
“But maybe she didn’t pay to have her school photo taken. If her parents knew she was targeted, they might have refused to let her do it. But I was thinking, club photos, organizations, yearbooks. She might be in one of those.”
Joe was silent.
She suddenly realized why. “You thought of that, too,” Eve said. “You didn’t bring it up.”
“At the time, we had enough victims to worry about. You were practically overwhelmed.”
“No, that’s not it.” She was studying his expression. “You were going to go back on your own later and check it out. You thought that it might be a danger zone, and you didn’t want me there.”
“Guilty,” he said warily. “No reason to be upset. It was only a possibility.”
“Yes, but you were going to do it again. The same thing that happened at Tahoe. Close me out and take over.” She was shaking with anger. “Dammit, you can’t do that, Joe.”