Page 96 of The Sleeping Girls

The doctor breathed out. “Let me look at the warrant and then check my files.”

“Thank you. I’ll wait.”

Piped music echoed over the phone and Derrick stared out the window as he waited. He’d seen the mountains during a freak snowstorm and rain but never the kind of stormy, dreary skies that had prevailed lately. At this point, it seemed like the bad weather would never end. The meteorologist had warned that the creeks and river might flood, which could cause more problems.

“The warrant looks to be in order,” the doctor said as he returned. Derrick heard keys tapping over the line, then Dr. Pugh cleared his throat. “Yes, Mrs. Landrum had contacted the biological father. His name is listed as Jason Jones.”

“Was he a donor match?”

“I have no record that he was tested,” Dr. Pugh said.

“Do you have an address for Jones?”

“Yes.” Dr. Pugh gave him the address of a house on Red Clay Mountain, not far from Whispering Pines where Kelsey had lived.

Ellie burst back into the office, her breathing choppy. “Derrick, Captain Hale just got a call from the Copenhagens. Bianca is missing.”

ONE HUNDRED SEVEN

GEORGIAN MANOR

While Ellie plowed through the rain to the Copenhagens’ house, Derrick issued an Amber Alert for Bianca. Tension strained her muscles as the Jeep churned over the wet pavement, spewing water where it had collected on the street.

Tree limbs were boughed and sagging from the heavy downpour, visibility hazy as she sped up the driveway. Guilt and worry shadowed her mind but questions bled through the fog. If Bianca had disappeared in the last two hours, Landrum’s father wasn’t responsible.

Which meant the killer was still out there. How many more girls would he take before Ellie tracked him down?

Tears of frustration threatened but she blinked them away angrily. The girls needed her to get justice for them. And maybe she could save Bianca.

The wind was blowing so hard, Ellie battled to keep standing as she climbed from the Jeep and hurried to the front door of the Copenhagens’ house.

Mr. Copenhagen opened the door, looking harried, his tie hanging askew, his hair mussed as if he’d been running his hands through it. She and Derrick shook rain from their jackets and raked their shoes on the outdoor mat, then removed theirwet coats as they entered and hung them on the hall tree in the foyer.

Mr. Copenhagen pushed his phone toward Ellie, and she swallowed a gasp as she looked at the picture of Bianca, posed as the other girls had been. “Why would this maniac kidnap my daughter?” Mr. Copenhagen asked, his voice brittle.

Ellie tensed. Why would he take any of them? That was the question. And why not Bianca? Because her father had money?

“At this point, we’re still in the dark,” Ellie said. “But we hope we’re getting closer to the truth.”

“Mr. Copenhagen,” Derrick said. “Let us come in and talk. Is your wife here?”

He spun on his polished loafers and led them through the massive formal foyer to a living room with expensive furniture and oriental vases. A fire glowed in the floor-to-ceiling fireplace, the only homey feature in the room.

Mrs. Copenhagen sat on the white couch, twisting her phone in her hands and staring at it. She glanced up quickly as they entered then returned her gaze to the phone and released a tiny whimper of despair.

Ellie and Derrick traded a look, silently deciding to divide up to question the couple.

Ellie joined the mother on the couch while Derrick and the father retreated to the kitchen.

“Mrs. Copenhagen, I’m so sorry Bianca is missing. Did you try calling Bianca’s friends?”

“Yes, but none of them have seen her or talked to her since she left school today. Kelsey Tiller is dead and you still haven’t found that other girl.” She broke into a sob.

“We haven’t given up,” Ellie said, trying to soothe the woman. Although how could she blame this mother or the others for being angry and upset?

She was terrified herself. Ruby appeared to be dead and so did Bianca.

Stomach knotting as she studied the photograph, she knew the same person who’d taken the other girls was responsible. Bianca was posed exactly as they had been.