Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Matthew
There was nothing worse than being close to the daughter you’ve never met, but not actually knowing where she was.
"The house is clear."
I hung my head at Hendrix's words. We knew it would be a long shot that Sarah and Olivia were at their house. The agent in charge had said they were missing, but I needed to be sure. I needed to know that I wasn’t being lied to.
They could be anywhere. Devastation consumed me.
Maybe we weren't as close as I thought.
"And?"
Hendrix knew what I was trying to ask even though I couldn't get the words out.
"There was no sign of a struggle. We didn't find a car but it doesn't look like they packed up to leave either."
So whoever took them, grabbed them while they were out.
"We'll find them, I promise you. Maisie wants to meet her niece, and you should know, I give Maisie whatever she wants."
It was still weird to hear my sister being called by another name. I wanted to dislike Hendrix on sheer principle alone, but from the little I’d seen, he was great for my baby sister. I never thought she could look so happy after everything the two of us had been through.
I was half listening to Hendrix and his team come up with a plan when the shrill sound of my phone ringing caught our attention. I didn't recognize the phone number but it had a Wichita area code.
I showed the number to Hendrix before answering.
"Hello?"
"Daddy?" A scared voice hit me like a ton of bricks.
"Olivia, is that you?"
I could see from the corner of my eye Nolen pull out a small computer.
"Yes." The one word broke my heart. I was hearing my daughter's voice for the first time and she was so scared. "Mommy told me if anything ever happened, to call this number. She made me memorize it."
"You did a good job, Olivia. I'm so proud of you. Where is Mommy?"
Nolen made a “keep going” motion. He wanted me to keep Olivia talking, which I had no problem doing. Now that I heard Olivia's voice, I wanted to hear it every minute of every day for the rest of my life.
"He shot her."
I froze. I didn't think it was possible to want to kill someone as bad as I did in that moment; I’d never had the urge before. My sister liked to joke that I was even-tempered, whereas she had the murderous impulses.
Now I understood how she felt.
"Who shot her, Olivia? Who shot your mom?"
"They guy who grabbed us."
"Got a location!" Nolen announced with pride. "She's ten minutes from here. Let's move!"
"Olivia, did you hear that? We know where you are. Ten minutes, baby. We will be there in ten minutes. Daddy’s coming for you."
Hendrix climbed in next to me while the rest of his team filed in. "Ask her where she is and who’s there with her," he whispered from his spot.
"Olivia, can you tell me where you are exactly? What kind of building you're in?"
"Umm . . . I think it's a house. He put me in this room. It looks like a library. There was this really old phone that I had to turn the numbers to get it to work."
A rotary phone? My eleven-year-old daughter was calling me from a rotary phone. I wasn't sure who I needed to thank for that bit of history to work but I was forever grateful.
"And where is the guy now?"
"I don't know." Her soft voice trembled with fear. I would kill the man for putting it there. "He locked me in here and told me to stay put."
And yet, she had been smart enough to look through the room to find a way to call me. My little girl was so damn brave.
"We're almost there, Olivia. I'm coming for you, baby," I repeated.
Nothing would keep me from meeting my little girl for the first time.