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“Hello. Ms. Vos?” Avery’s high-pitched teenage voice came over the line.
“Is Olivia with you?” She didn’t care about an unreturned phone call, or whether the girl heard her message. It also didn’t matter that she told Avery to call her Sandra, not Ms. Vos, at least a hundred times.
“No. Should she be? Doesn’t she have her violin lesson now?”
So Olivia had remembered…Sandra shook her head at Brice, who was looking at her. “Did you hang out with her at all after school?”
“Yeah. We went to DiversaBlend for an iced decaf…” Avery’s voice trailed off. “Why are you asking about Liv? I’m sure if you just called her, she’d answer.”
Sandra didn’t want to scare the girl, but it was past that point. “I’ve tried reaching her, and she’s not answering her phone.”
“Huh. That’s strange.”
The girl obviously wasn’t jaded yet, unlike Sandra, who imagined the worst-case scenario. Good for her. Sandra hoped she’d keep her protective bubble intact her whole life without itever having a need to pop. Though that wish was unrealistic. The odds were life would beat her down at some point, and possibly sooner than later. “What time did you leave DiversaBlend?”
“About fifteen minutes ago, but Liv left at four forty-five.”
“Which DiversaBlend?”
“Our regular one. Ms. Vos, why are you asking me all these questions?”
From the coffee shop to Penelope’s rowhouse was about a ten-minute walk. She would have headed straight there. “I haven’t been able to reach her, and her violin teacher hasn’t seen her.”
“Oh. Is she… okay?”
And just like that the girl’s bubble popped as the real world penetrated it. “I don’t know, Avery. Tell me what you can remember from when you were with her. Anything stand out?”
“I don’t think… Oh. Well, it’s probably nothing. We get pervs checking us out all the time.”
The back of Sandra’s neck tightened. “Was one watching you guys today?”
“Ah, yeah. He seemed mostly interested in Liv, but he gave us both the creeps.”
“Can you tell me what he looked like? What he was wearing?”
“He could have been Liv’s dad. Actually, he was older than that. Brown hair, lean. He was wearing a jean jacket, ah, lined with plaid flannel.” She didn’t do well hiding her disgust for his wardrobe choice.
“And what was he doing? Just watching you? Did he ever talk to you or approach you?” Her stomach was turning.
“No.”
“Did he follow Olivia when she left the café?”
“I…”
“There’s no wrong answer here, Avery. Just tell me what you remember.”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry, but when she was leaving, my phone rang and…”
Sandra held the silence, realizing the value of it. Avery’s mind was working.
“Actually, I was looking out the window,” Avery tagged on. “Olivia waved at me, and I waved back. Then I looked back to where the guy had been sitting, and he was gone. Oh my God, did he do something to her? Did he— I should have left with her. I could have protected her.”
“You don’t know that, and we don’t know if he did anything to her.” That’s what Sandra said, but her mind wasn’t buying a word of it. She was past thinking positively. Something had happened to her daughter, and the reason she wasn’t answering her phone could very well be due to that man. If so, he was in for a world of hurt. With what Avery told her, and the fact Olivia was the daughter of an FBI agent, that was enough to support a court-ordered warrant to trace her cellphone.
“Okay, but it’s so odd for her not to answer her phone.”
“I know.” She ended the call a moment later, aware that she had scared the girl, but there was no helping that.