Page 18 of Save Her Life (Sandra Vos #1)

SEVENTEEN

“I’ve got this, Brice, if you have plans.” Sandra would rather be left alone to muddle through her thoughts. She had some ideas of how to track down Olivia before getting her phone traced.

“I’m not going anywhere until I know your daughter’s safe and sound.”

“Of course you’re not,” she deadpanned.

“You act like I bug the living hell out of you, but I know it’s all an act.”

“Is it, though?” The flicker of a smile, despite her resistance. She couldn’t let her barrier down. It seemed to work well for their camaraderie.

He pointed at her mouth. “I caught that. Just the tiniest of smirks.”

“You need your eyes tested, but could we pick this up another time?”

“Nope. What can I do to help?” His voice held a serious tone, and his eyes were marked with concern.

There was one thing she dreaded doing, and she feared verbalizing it. “I’ll get back to you.”

“Sure. I’ll be right here.” He lowered himself onto her desk again.

“Don’t even think about it.”

He popped back up and went to his desk. She called the concierge desk at her building, and when Earl answered, she said, “It’s Sandra Vos.” She’d typically add from the penthouse but not with Brice listening to every word. Earl would recognize her by name anyhow.

“Yes, ma’am. What can I do for you?”

“Did you see Olivia this afternoon, early evening?”

“I did not.”

So where the hell… “Thank you.” She hung up before Earl could say anything further and rubbed her forehead. An epic headache was rolling in. Where are you, baby?

“Sandra.”

She jumped as Brice bent over and said her name into her ear. “What the?—”

“I’m not even going to ask about that phone call.”

“Good.”

“What is it I can help with?”

There would be no more putting it off… “We need to call the hospitals in the city and see if she’s been admitted.”

“Sure. Olivia, right?”

“Uh-huh.” She mentioned her name to him a moment ago and at least a hundred times since Penelope’s call.

“I’ll handle it.”

She shook her head. “We’ll split them up. I think there are a lot.”

As it turned out, there were seven general hospitals in DC. Brice took four, leaving her three. For every call Sandra made, she cringed as she waited for the nursing staff to come back on the line. Every passing second was like receiving a fresh sting from a bee. When they returned to the line to say they had no patient by that name and hadn’t received any unidentified females of Olivia’s description, Sandra wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or not. It didn’t exactly mean that Olivia was safe.

When she finished her calls, she sat back in her chair and looked over at Brice at his desk. He shook his head, a subtle smile on his lips, and thanked the person he was on the line with. “That was the last one for me. I’m guessing you learned nothing either?”

She shook her head, not able to bring herself to admit it out loud. Where did this leave her? She couldn’t just sit here going mad. “I’m trying Avery again.” And now I’m announcing my next move to Brice… Dear God, if you’re up there… She selected the girl’s name from her contacts and listened to the line ring. Once, twice, three ? —

“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 it ever 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.

“Did some creep take her?” Brice asked. “Just going by what I gathered from listening to your end.”

“You could have put that a little more delicately.”

“Sorry.”

“I can’t think that way yet.” Even though her mind was screaming that exact thing. Some freaking pervert had her beautiful girl. She had a strong grip on her pendant and rubbed her thumb on the backside of it. “Avery said a man was watching her, and he left DiversaBlend not long after Olivia did.”

“That’s enough to support a trace on your daughter’s phone. I’ll get on the line with a judge.”

“Thank you.” She felt numb as her mind processed everything. It was like she was in an alternate reality. Olivia was unreachable. She could be— No, she couldn’t think that way. Not yet. The emotion would strip her of power. She’d best pull on her training as a negotiator. The basis of which would have her calm under pressure.

Brice was on the phone talking to the judge now. She hopped on the tracing system, so she’d be ready the second they had the go-ahead. He gave her a thumbs-up just before hanging up.

Sandra keyed Olivia’s number into the system, and it wasn’t long until she had the results. But as she narrowed in on the map to bring up the location of her phone, her breath froze.

Brice leaned over her shoulder, and she didn’t even protest how close he was to her. “Okay, that’s pointing to Key Bridge. A trail from Georgetown Waterfront Park runs under it. She could be hanging out there.”

Sandra knew the park and that trail well as that’s where she ran in the mornings. She appreciated that he was trying to alleviate her concern, though it was ineffective. Without saying more, she grabbed her coat and headed out into the brisk evening.

“Hold up. I’m coming with you.”