Page 39 of Fatal Betrayal

Monica looked a lot like his mom with blonde hair and hazel eyes, while he resembled his dad with brown hair and green eyes. Kyle had been a mix of both their parents. Monica took one look at him, then poured him a cup of coffee and put an apple-filled pastry on a plate.

"You look like you could use some caffeine and some sugar," she said.

"Is that a polite way of saying I look like shit?" he asked dryly.

"Yes, because I've matured over the years."

He couldn't argue with that. His baby sister was twenty-seven years old now and an assistant manager at this bakery. Monica was also becoming an excellent pastry chef.

As another clerk took over the register, Monica followed him to a table and sat down.

"What's going on?" she asked, her gaze intent on his face.

"Not much."

"Liar. You rarely show up here without something on your mind."

"That's not true. I come in all the time," he argued.

"And there's usually something you want to talk about, so talk."

"You're busy," he stalled, knowing she was right. He did want to talk, and while he could talk to Monica about anything, he didn't think anything included Andi.

Monica was five years younger than him and had only been nine when Hannah was kidnapped, when Andi had turned on the family. She might not have understood everything that had gone on between them, but she'd been around for the aftermath.

"Carey can handle the counter." Monica pulled the band out of her hair and shook out her blonde waves. It's not that crowded today. I can take a few minutes. What's bothering you?"

"Neil Benedict's daughter was kidnapped yesterday."

"Oh, my God. I had no idea. And you just said nothing much was going on. What happened? Isn't his daughter a baby?"

"Yes. Elisa is six months old. She was taken from her bedroom, from her crib."

"Oh, man. This must be bringing back some bad memories for you, Cooper."

"It is," he admitted.

"Well, hopefully, the outcome is better than what we saw with Hannah. I still can't believe that no one has ever found her." She paused, her gaze narrowing on his face. "And now I know why you look like you haven't slept. Hopefully, the caffeine and sugar will help."

He gave her a weak smile as he sipped his coffee. "It can't hurt."

"Is there something else? Because it feels like there's something else on your mind."

"Andi is back in LA. She's an FBI agent now, and she's working on this kidnapping case."

Monica's eyes widened in shock. "Your Andi?"

A strange tingle ran down his spine at her words. "She's not my Andi," he snapped. "And what other Andi would I be talking about?"

"Sorry. Did you see her?"

"I spent half the day with her yesterday. Neil asked me to make sure the FBI isn't going down the wrong road with their investigation, which means I have to follow Andi around."

"And she's okay with that?"

"Apparently, the FBI will play along up to a point, just to keep everyone happy and keep the focus on finding Elisa."

"This is crazy. What's Andi like now?"