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Vivian gripped Kaylee’s arm. “How can you be sure?”

“Because it’s something we made up. I told her if I could create a version of Kuromifor her, it would be a cute Kuraimee. She liked that idea because I used her name in it.”

Vivian’s hand trembled. “She’salive.”

I wrapped an arm around her. “She is. We’ll find her.” I hadn’t told her what I’d learned from Calvin regarding the death of her grandfather yet.

The news reporter had moved on to something else, but we rewound it, pausing at the man holding the sign.

“‘Kuraimee is happi.’” What does that message mean?” I asked. “Happy is spelled wrong.”

“Aimee is too smart to spell happy incorrectly.” Vivian looked at me.

“She was at McDonald’s,” Kaylee said. “She loves their nuggets and fries. They make her happy. It’s something I would know. We always talked about silly stuff.”

“Maybe the man misspelled it,” I thought out loud.

Questions crowded my brain. How had Aimee gotten the man to ask for help? Did she write the message herself? Or had she asked him? Did her kidnapper take her to McDonald’s? What kind of kidnapper was this? Were there other kids with her?

“Maybe.” Vivian met my eyes. “Or maybe it was intentional. Let’s go ask him!”

CHAPTERFIFTY-ONE

VIVIAN

Thirty minutes later,Arrow, Kaylee, and I walked around the strip with a McDonald’s. Nothing was open on Christmas except the drugstore, gas stations, and two Chinese takeout restaurants. I didn’t know if we’d find this stranger with the Patriots’ hat, but I didn’t want to miss the chance.

What if he’d spoken to Aimee? Maybe she’d given him another message. Maybe he saw the kidnapper.

For all I knew, he could be the kidnapper too. But intuition told me otherwise.

The weather was cold, and the sun had a few hours before dipping below the horizon. Arrow clasped my gloved hand in his as we walked up and down the street, looking for a stranger. People were out and about. Some had joy on their faces, while others looked tired and worried.

What did I look like? Probably a combination of all three.

Today had been a wonderful day spent with people I cared about. I got to cook for the man I loved—the man transforming me from the inside out. A man who knew the chances of us finding a stranger were minimal, yet he didn’t object to driving here to search with me.

Magic was in the air for me. But fear and danger also lurked, diminishing the joy I would’ve felt if I hadn’t been worried about finding Aimee.

This was the first hopeful clue because it proved she was cognizant enough to reach out to us. I had feared she was drugged and locked up somewhere. I shouldn’t think about those things, but I wanted to be practical.

Glancing around, I said, “Look for the guy with the Patriots hat.”

We searched for about ten minutes with no luck and returned to the area around the McDonald’s.

Disheartened, I dropped down on the iron bench and released a sigh. “I don’t think we’ll find him today. We can check back tomorrow.” I looked toward the McDonald’s entrance. “Maybe an employee saw her.”

“I’ll have a look at the recordings.” Arrow offered me a nod.

He could hack into the cameras inside the McDonald’s, including the traffic cameras in the vicinity.

“Thanks.” I smiled at him.

Kaylee stood on the sidewalk with her bunny knit hat, looking for the man. She and Aimee had gotten to know each other when Kaylee had moved in to live with me. They’d connected instantly. Kaylee had cried for days when Aimee first went missing.

I could only imagine what she was feeling now. Hope and fear—the same mix of emotions whirling inside me.

“There he is!” she shouted, waving us over. “Hurry!”