Chapter 4
Cooper trusted Kendall’s instincts to an extent, but he’d decide for himself how trustworthy his daughter’s babysitter was. As he’d told her, he’d learned to be suspicious of everyone until he was satisfied they were innocent.
Only a few seconds passed after Kendall rang the doorbell when the door opened to reveal a tiny woman with short gray hair whose eyes were red and puffy from crying. She held out her arms, and Kendall walked into them, and the two women sobbed as they held each other.
Cooper eased around them and walked to the middle of the living room. The room was tidy, everything in its place and not a speck of dust that he could see. An afghan and a pillow were on the sofa and a half cup of tea on the coffee table. Next to the cup was a box of tissues.
“Cooper, this is Amanda Eckerd, Livie’s babysitter. Amanda, Cooper Devlin. Cooper is with The Phoenix Three. They specialize in finding children.”
Amanda grabbed his hand. “Please, you have to find our precious girl.”
“I won’t rest until she’s back home with her mother.” He led her to the sofa. “Can we sit and talk for a few minutes?”
“Yes. I’ll do anything I can to help you find her.” She pulled a tissue from the box and wiped her eyes.
“I appreciate that,” he said. Kendall sat next to her and put her arm around Amanda.
She also grabbed a tissue. He took a seat on the chair facing them.
He’d already decided that the woman wasn’t involved in taking Olivia.
Her tears were real. “I know you’ve told the police what happened, but I’d like to hear it from you myself. ”
A shudder traveled through her body. “I should’ve stopped him from taking her.” She leaned against Kendall. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Kendall said. “No one blames you.”
“Kendall’s right, no one blames you, Amanda. Talk me through what happened.” He hoped she’d remember something that would give him a lead.
She blew out a breath. “Okay. Livie wanted mini meat loafs for dinner.”
“Amanda makes these miniature meat loafs with cheddar cheese inside, and Livie loves them,” Kendall said.
“She does,” Amanda said with a soft smile on her face. “That was all she talked about after I picked her up from preschool. That and would I make double fudge brownies for dessert.”
He made a mental note that his daughter loved brownies. So did he, and the idea of them eating the decadent treat together sent an unexpected longing through him to create memories with her.
“We went to the grocery store on the way to Kendall’s to get what I needed to make her dinner.”
“How long were you in the store?”
She stared up at the ceiling, thinking, then lowered her gaze to his. “Fifteen, twenty minutes.”
“Did you notice anyone paying attention to you? To Olivia?”
“No… Wait, maybe. I’m not sure. The police didn’t ask that question, so I hadn’t thought about it before, but there was a man.”
“Tell me about him.”
“It’s probably nothing. We were in the cake aisle getting the brownie mix when he came by.
Livie was trying to decide between the salted caramel and the chewy fudge.
He chuckled as he leaned down and whispered loud enough for me to hear, ‘Tell your grandma to get you both.’ I rolled my eyes at him, like thanks for that.
He was still chuckling when he walked away. ”
Probably was an innocent encounter, but twelve years in special ops and a few years’ experience in tracking down missing children had his antennae twitching.
“What did he look like?”
“I didn’t pay close attention. He had on a ball cap, wore glasses and had what my husband called a beer belly, a big one. That’s all I can really tell you about him.”
“Was he short, tall, have a scent?”
She closed her eyes. “He was average height, not short, not tall. And he smelled like cigarette smoke.” She opened her eyes. “I’d forgotten about that.”
“Eye and hair color? Any tattoos?”
“He never turned his face to me, so I didn’t see his eyes.
He had on a ball cap, but brown hair was sticking out the bottom of the cap.
He had on a blue, long-sleeved button-up shirt, so if he did have tattoos, I couldn’t see them.
” She frowned. “The police never asked if anyone talked to me or Livie inside the store. It seems like they should have.”
Yes, they should have. “You did good, Amanda. Did you see him again after that?”
“No. Livie decided on the chewy fudge, and after paying for our groceries, we pushed the cart to my car.” A soft smile crossed her face.
“Livie likes to help me push the cart. After putting the bags of groceries in the back, we returned the cart to the… I don’t know what you call it, but the place you leave empty carts in the parking lot.
Then I was buckling her into her car seat, and that’s the last thing I remember. ” Tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“She woke up on the floor of her car,” Kendall said. “The police think whoever took Livie pushed her into the car after hitting her on the head, then closed the door so no one would see her.”
“From the time I was buckling Livie in, to the time I woke up, about five minutes passed. I called the police as soon as I realized Livie was gone.”
Plenty of time for the kidnapper to disappear with Olivia. “Thank you for talking to us. You’ve been very helpful.”
“I hope so.” Amanda clasped her hands as if in prayer. “Please, find her.”
“That’s the plan.” He stood. “We’ll leave you to return to your rest. If you think of anything else, please call Kendall.”
“I will.”
The two women hugged again, and when they let each other go, he got a hug from Amanda.
“Still think she might be involved?” Kendall asked when they were back in the car.
“No, but I do have a bad feeling about the man who talked to Olivia in the grocery store.”
“Why? It could have just been an innocent remark.”
“Entirely possible, but in today’s world, where people are more suspicious of strangers, men don’t tend to talk to little girls they don’t know.”
“I close my eyes, and I can almost hear her crying, begging for me.”
He reached over the console, took her hand and squeezed.
It was the best comfort he could give her as there was nothing he could say to dispute what she feared was probably true.
His phone chimed as he was backing out of Amanda’s driveway, and he stopped.
“It’s one of my teammates,” he said when Grayson’s name appeared on the screen.
“Hey. I’m in the car with Kendall. What you got for me?”
“Just got off the phone with one of Decatur’s finest. He was doing a background check on you.”
“Yeah, the detective on the case is territorial and isn’t happy having me on the scene.”
“Bet that didn’t go over well with you.”
“Affirmative. I asked to see the video from the grocery store, and he finally agreed if I and The Phoenix Three checked out.”
“I managed to impress him, and you’re good to go.”
“Thanks, brother.”
“Let me know if there’s anything we can do from here.”
“I will.” He disconnected, then dropped his phone in the cupholder. His stomach growled, reminding him that he’d missed Grayson and Harlow’s cookout. “You have dinner?”
She shook her head. “Not hungry.”
“Well, I am. Where’s a good place to grab a bite?”
Although it was small, the first smile he’d seen on her appeared. “The Tipsy Turtle.”
“Ah, the scene of the crime.” He returned her smile. “I think I remember how to get there. Let me know if I take a wrong turn.”
He only took one wrong turn, and after they were seated at a booth this time, he glanced at the bar where they’d sat that night. “Brings back memories, being here. Good ones.”
“My memories that night weren’t so great,” she murmured.
He didn’t know what to say to that. He’d thought they’d had something special for two people who didn’t know each other.
She blinked and her cheeks pinkened. “I didn’t mean that like it sounded.
I have wonderful memories of you and our time together.
Before you sat down next to me, I… Well, that night was the anniversary of my kidnapping, and it was always a hard day for me.
” Her eyes locked on his. “You helped me forget, and for that, I was grateful.”
“I wish I’d known then. I would’ve been gentler with you.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t want gentler. I needed what you gave me, and the best thing that came from that night was Livie. After I had her, those anniversaries aren’t as difficult anymore, so thank you for that.”
“I still wish I had known.” He couldn’t know for sure, but he thought he would have tried harder to get her to tell him her name.
“Can we not talk about this anymore?”
“Sure.” But he hoped she would eventually share that part of her life with him. He picked up the menu and scanned it. “What are you having?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You need to eat something, Kendall, even if it’s a bowl of soup and a little bread. You’re no good to Olivia if you end up making yourself sick.” He picked up the menu again. “How about a bowl of vegetable soup?”
“I don’t know if I can eat.”
“At least try.” The waiter came to their table, and he ordered a melted ham and cheese on sourdough with a side salad, along with a bowl of the soup, and asked for some bread.
When they were alone again, he said, “Tell me about Olivia.”
She opened her purse and took out her phone. “Here’s a picture of her. She has your eyes and mouth.”
He took her phone and saw his daughter for the first time. Something cracked open in his chest as he traced the outline of Olivia’s face in the photograph, feeling a surge of love and protectiveness wash over him. “She’s beautiful,” he whispered, his voice choked with emotion.
“I’ll forward it to you.”
“Thank you.” A few seconds later, a text notification alert sounded. If you’d told him yesterday that he’d have a photo of his daughter on his phone, he would’ve laughed in disbelief. He really was shocked by how okay he was with that.
“Will you… Will you want to be a part of her life now?”
He met her gaze, wanting her to see the truth in his eyes. “Yes. I want to be there for her. I want to make up for all the lost time and be a father to her.”
She tore little strips from her napkin. “Do you blame me for someone taking her? Are you going to try to take her away from me?”
“Hey, now.” He reached across the table and pulled the napkin she was shredding from her hands.
“No, I’m not going to take her away from you.
I’ll never do that. And no one blames you for what happened, okay?
I want to be in my daughter’s life, but how we manage that will be a decision we make together. After we have her back with you.”
“I’m sorry. You’re being amazing about everything, and here I’m worried about what you might do.” She raised tear-filled eyes to his. “What if we don’t find her?”
“Kendall, listen to me. We’re going to find her even if we have to tear this county apart or the state of Georgia if it comes to that.”
The waiter came to their table with their dinner. “Eat some,” he said when she just sat, staring at the soup. He buttered a slice of the corn bread the waiter had brought with the soup and slid the plate across to her. “Please, eat a little.”
She looked exhausted, not just physically, but mentally, too.
Even with red, puffy eyes and the lines of tension, she was as beautiful as he remembered.
Her black hair had been halfway down her waist when he’d met her, but now it was shoulder length.
Framed by that black hair, her baby blue eyes were a startling contrast. Over the years, he’d dreamed of kissing those full lips.
He’d never forgotten her, had always regretted not getting her name and contact information.
Now, he was sitting across from her in the same place he’d met her.
Was it fate? Destiny? He’d never been a believer in such things, but he found he was open to the possibility that there was such a thing as destiny.
That they were meant to find each other again.
He only wished that it hadn’t taken Olivia being kidnapped for him to find Kendall again.
“Eat,” he said, putting a touch of command into his voice. He dug into his sandwich, pleased when she picked up her spoon and started on her soup. Not wanting to distract her from eating, he kept quiet. He didn’t think she even realized she’d finished the bowl of soup and half of the corn bread.
His phone chimed as the waiter was handing him the check. It was a Decatur area code. “Cooper Devlin here,” he said as he handed the waiter his credit card.
“This is Detective Rossi. You can come to the station tomorrow and see the video.”
“Excellent. We’ll be there in the morning.”
“You’re bringing Ms. Hart? You think it’s a good idea for her to see it?”
He lifted his gaze to Kendall’s. “It’s her choice, but I doubt she’ll let me leave without her.”
“Be here at nine.” With that, the detective disconnected.
“We’re to be at the police station at nine, but if you don’t want to watch the video, no one would blame you.”
She shook her head, determination shining in her eyes. “I need to see it.”
“Thought you’d say that.” He signed the receipt, then put his credit card in his wallet.
“You ready to go? I’d like to see Olivia’s baby book.
” What he didn’t tell her was that as soon as he’d seen the photo of his little girl, he’d been an instant goner, and the thought of his daughter crying, begging for her mother made him want to tear the town apart with his bare hands until he found her.
There was no fear inside him that he’d be anything like his father.
No fear that he’d treat Olivia the way their father had treated him and Emmie.
If anything, from a young age, he’d stepped up and been a father to his sister in a way his father had never been.
Emmie had taught him what little girls needed, and now, he would thank her for that.
As soon as they had Olivia back, he’d call his sister and tell her she was an aunt.
Was she ever going to be surprised.