Page 17 of Save Her Life (Sandra Vos #1)
SIXTEEN
The next day was a slow one and just what Sandra needed. Most of the morning her head was fuzzy from the champagne. She was considering packing things up at the office when her cell phone rang. The name of Olivia’s violin teacher flashed on the screen, and Sandra answered.
“Sandra, it’s Penelope Randall, do you know where Olivia is? I’ve tried reaching her but keep landing in her voicemail.”
It took a second for her mind to process Penelope’s words. Olivia’s lesson was from five to six and when she’d just looked at the clock it was ten after five. She’d drilled punctuality into Olivia from a young age. There was no way she’d be late unless she didn’t have a choice. The mother in her panicked. The FBI agent thought about it rationally. “She could have been held up getting there. You know what traffic can be like.” She had an hour’s journey from her school back to their neighborhood on a good day. It was possible that had delayed her.
“But she’s never late.”
To have that stressed hushed her inner agent’s voice of calm. And Penelope said she’d tried Olivia without success. So why wasn’t she answering? “Let me see if I can reach her.”
“I’ll wait for a bit longer, but every minute that passes is cutting into her lesson. I have another student scheduled after her.”
“I understand.” The location of the lesson alternated between the penthouse and Penelope’s rowhouse, which was only two streets east of theirs. “Just give me a minute. Do you want to hold the line and wait, or have me call you back?”
“Either is fine.” Penelope let out a rush of breath, clearly frustrated.
“I’ll call you back.” Sandra ended the call and hit Olivia’s name. The line rang. Come on, come on, pick up…
“Hey, you’ve reached Olivia’s voicemail. Leave your message, and I’ll call when I can.”
Something was wrong. It was a feeling that started in the pit of her gut and worked its way up to her chest. She gripped her St. Michael pendant. “Liv, it’s Mom. Call me. Penn’s wondering where you are, and so am I.”
Sandra hung up but didn’t release her phone. There had to be a logical explanation for this. Maybe Olivia had left her phone in her locker at school. But the likelihood of that was zilch when the device was attached to her daughter like an appendage.
“Vos, everything all right over there?” Brice was looking at her.
“I don’t know.” The cold, honest truth.
“Anything I can do to help?”
“I don’t know yet. It’s probably nothing.” Sandra looked at the phone in her hand. Olivia had made her promise she wouldn’t install a tracking app on her device. Sandra had kept her word despite it working in conflict with her instinct. Now she wished she hadn’t. Being with the FBI she wasn’t without resources but if she acted without navigating the proper channels, she’d violate her daughter’s rights and break the law. Legally, she needed a court-ordered warrant. If she brought this to her boss, he’d be sympathetic, but it was hardly time yet to raise the alarm. He’d argue she was a teenager and had lost track of time. Not that it would explain her failure to answer her phone. And her daughter loved the violin and wouldn’t miss a lesson unless she couldn’t help it. That right there was enough reason to be concerned.
Breathe, Vos…
She pinched the pendant tighter, shut her eyes and took some steady, even breaths. Nothing good ever resulted from losing focus or clear thinking.
“You’re panting like a fat man on a hot day over there. Clearly, it’s not nothing.”
She opened her eyes at Brice’s offensive comment. “Speaking of panting”—she pulled back—“I feel your breath on my arm.”
“What is up?” he persisted.
“I can’t reach my daughter, Olivia. She should be at her violin lesson right now.” She snapped her mouth shut. Just saying violin lesson sounded uppity. Her family money wasn’t something she ever flaunted. It was one reason she dropped Davenport from her professional name. The nice home and car were things she got for herself because she loved them. Simple as that.
“And I’m guessing that was her teacher who called?”
“Uh-huh. Actually…” She held up her index finger to Brice and called Penelope back. When the woman answered after the second ring, Sandra said, “I can’t reach her either, but I’m sure she’s fine. If she shows up, please have her call me. Obviously, bill me for today’s full lesson.”
“Thank you, Sandra. I hope you get a hold of her. I just have this… Well, I probably shouldn’t say this to her mother, but there’s a burning in my stomach, like a premonition that something is wrong.”
Sandra shielded herself from the woman’s psychic hunch. “I’ll call you once I get her.”
“Take care, Sandra. Bye for now.” Penelope ended the call, and Sandra racked her brain for an explanation.
What if her daughter had been injured in an accident and was unable to answer her phone? What if she was lying in the street somewhere? Or in a hospital?
Calm down, Vos. Breathe.
She was grateful for the rational little voice in her head. It was her reliable companion and guide when she needed it most.
“Have you tried her close friends?” Brice perched himself on the edge of her desk.
“Would you kindly get your ass off my?—”
“Well, you haven’t lost your sense of spunk.” Brice remained planted for a few seconds longer, likely just to defy her. “Her friends? Have you called them?”
“You’ve heard all I’ve done so far.” She selected Avery from her contacts. The line rang once and hit voicemail.
“Avery, it’s Ms. Vos, Sandra , Olivia’s mom…” She was rambling, not at all like herself. After all, Avery would know very well who she was. “I’m looking to talk with Liv. Please have her call me.”
Another dead end. And was Avery involved in an accident with Olivia? Were both girls unable to get to their phones? But even as the thought cycled through, she knew that wouldn’t explain why Avery’s phone had gone straight to voicemail. That indicated her phone was either off or she was on the phone and her call waiting line was tied up, which was completely possible.
“Given the smoke coming from your ears and the look of constipation on your face, you’re thinking far too much.”
“What would you know of it, Sutton?” She dredged up his surname. They really had the stereotypical brother/sister relationship at times. Not like the one she had with Sam though. She and her twin were simpatico.
He waved his hands. “Sticks and stones.”
“My daughter is missing, and you’re bugging me at a time like this?”
“You don’t know that she is missing. Not yet. You’re leaping to the worst conclusions.”
“Thanks for putting those in my head.”
“They were already there. Just talk me through a normal Friday for her. She has her violin lesson, school before that, I presume?”
“Yes. Until three thirty.” She didn’t know if she cared for how he’d articulated violin lesson but maybe that was a judgment on her part. Sometimes people viewed those with money in a harsh light, or as being above regular-people problems. Which was all utter crap. Everyone was the same. She’d hold back that her daughter attended one of the most esteemed private elementary schools in the country.
“And then…?”
“She and Avery, that’s her best friend who I just called, either pop into Georgetown Cupcake or go to DiversaBlend down the street from where we live.”
“DiversaBlend?”
“It’s some new coffee shop that pledges to donate a portion of their proceeds to diversity causes and claims to be environmentally conscious. They’ve opened a few test locations in DC.”
“Targeting Gen Z.”
“Yeah, I guess. Anyway, every other Friday, she heads out to Penelope’s rowhouse, which is where she was due tonight.” Olivia could have popped home for some reason, to grab her violin, though she often carted it to school with her, and left her phone behind. Sandra was grasping for some innocent explanation.
“All right, we can work with that.”
She gave Brice a blank look. Whether they could or not, it was what they had. But at what point was it okay to worry? If this was an investigation related to her job, she’d have a calm, level head right now. But this was her baby, Olivia Grace. She had to be all right. She just had to be.