Page 82 of The Ice Sisters

“Yes, you have to help us.” Her husband Michael heaved for a breath. “I ran after them but couldn’t find him.”

“What happened?” Ellie asked.

“We were here enjoying the day. Ivy wanted to do the photo booth and ran over there. We watched from the side.” His voice cracked. “When she came off the stage, a man dressed as Santa snatched her.”

“I tried to save her,” Loretta cried, “but he knocked me down.”

“What about Barbara?” Ellie asked.

Michael frowned. “Who’s Barbara?”

“A friend of mine,” Loretta said. “She was with him,” Loretta screeched.

“Your friend helped abduct our daughter?” Michael asked, shock on his face.

“I’ll tell you about her later,” Loretta said brokenly.

“Does Barbara know where he’s holding Mazie or taking Ivy?” Ellie asked.

Loretta gulped back a sob. “She passed out before she could tell me.”

“Did you see where he went?” Ellie asked.

Loretta shook her head.

Her husband’s breathing was labored. “No, I lost him in the crowd. You have to help us.”

“I promise we’re going to do that,” Ellie said, but twinges of guilt and fear ripped through her. So far she’d failed.

Loretta swayed, but Michael caught her and she leaned into him, her body trembling.

“Loretta, I want you and your husband to meet us at the hospital.”

Michael nodded, then Ellie crossed to Barbara where Derrick stood. “How is she?”

“Unconscious. Head injury. They’re going to transport her to the hospital.”

“I’ll ride with her in the ambulance in case she regains consciousness,” Ellie said. “The Stuarts are in shock. They’re meeting us at the hospital. Maybe they know something that will lead us to this bastard.”

ONE HUNDRED TWO

COAL MOUNTAIN HOSPITAL

Ellie and Derrick left Shondra and Deputy Landrum working the crowd. Ellie climbed into the ambulance, while Derrick drove her Jeep and followed the Stuarts who insisted on bringing their own vehicle. The medics had applied blood stoppers and hooked Barbara up to an IV. One was monitoring her vitals while the EMT raced toward the hospital.

Ellie’s phone buzzed and she snapped it up. “Shondra, tell me you have something.”

“Everyone we interviewed said Barbara didn’t appear to be in distress before the confrontation. All they saw was the kidnapper in a Santa outfit. They said he tried to take the little girl and Barbara, dressed as Mrs. Claus, was with him.”

Ellie glanced at Barbara, willing her to regain consciousness and explain. “The question is, was she his accomplice or was she trying to save Ivy?”

“What can I do?” Shondra asked.

Ellie’s stomach clenched. “Ask Deputy Landrum to find security and review the footage.”

“Copy that.”

She hung up and phoned Cord to alert him in case they found an address where Mazie might be being held. But thephone went straight to voicemail. Anxious to talk to him, she phoned Lola at the Corner Café. Lola sounded winded when she answered.

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