Page 4 of Lost Lake
She knelt beside the woman and began snapping pictures. Her camera flash revealed the victim’s pale skin, her forehead, an ugly purple bruise. Weeds tangled in her soaked red hair. Clothes clinging like rags. Wrists and ankles, raw and red, as if they’d been restrained. Dark staining on the woman’s knit top, made lighter by her time in the water.
Blood.Help me find who did such an awful thing to this defenseless woman.
El narrowed her focus to the blood. No tear in the fabric or obvious wound, so where had the blood come from? Her killer?
El turned to the drag marks. One line, coming from the lake. Probably from the witness who’d rescued her. Not the person who’d put her in the water. Did they drop her from the dock or were they strong enough to carry her?
“What happened to you?” El said under her breath.
“Obviously she drowned,” Massey said behind her.
El turned slowly. “Did you look at her?”
He hesitated. “Our witness said he found her floating.”
El bit back the sharp reply rising to her tongue. “Come here.”
She angled her flashlight at the victim’s throat. Raised, reddish welts bloomed under the light. “Tell me what you see.”
Massey squatted beside her and went still. “Strangulation?”
“Likely.” El stood. “Checking for petechiae in her eyes would help confirm it, but we’re hands-off until the ME does her preliminary examination.”
Massey nodded, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Right. Burst capillaries, red and purple dots in her eyes. Classic sign.”
“ME’s on her way. Hopefully she’ll check that out and find some ID.”
He scanned the shoreline. “Cell phone’s over there but no purse. Might’ve gone under.”
“As could the child. We need a dive team.” El shot another look at the empty car seat and nausea rolled through her. “Sheriff Ryder’s county is the closest one with divers. I’ll get Mina on the line and get them over here.”
“And what do you want me to do?”
“Bring some lights down here so you can photograph the entire scene then watch the trails. Make sure no one tries to access the scene and contaminate evidence.”
He glanced at the water as if he wanted to say something else. She followed his gaze. This was a real circus. One where she was the ringmaster and everything depended on her direction.
She straightened and made eye contact with Massey. “We find that kid. No excuses. Let’s move.”
He bolted into action. but El allowed herself one more moment to take in the scene. The wind had died down, and Lost Lake was quiet now, too quiet, as if holding its breath. And in that stillness, the weight of the scene crushed El. The lifeless mother, the missing child, and the invisible clock ticking relentlessly against them all.
El shivered. She would never look at the lake the same way again.
Please God, the woman has died, but let me find the child. Watch over her. Care for her before…
No. She couldn’t say it. Not even to God, who knew everything. She forced her attention away from the shadowy water. She had a job to do.
The witness was secure, the scene locked down. Now there was only one priority.
The child.
She pulled out her phone and dialed the office. “Mina. It’s El. We’re looking at a possible homicide. Possible missing child either in the water or the woods. Maybe abducted. I need search teams around the lake. Divers. ASAP. A K-9 unit, too.”
Mina exhaled hard. “I’ll handle it and keep you updated on their arrival times. Do we have an ID for the woman?”
“Not yet. ME’s en route and hopefully she’ll find something on the body. There’s a cell phone near the water. Might get a quick ID there. I’ll get it to our tech team as soon as possible.”
A pause. Too long.
