Did he want to keep it secret that Livie was his daughter?
Chapter 4
Cooper trusted Kendall’s instincts to an extent, but he’d decide for himself how trustworthy his daughter’s babysitter was. As he’d told her, he’d learned to be suspicious of everyone until he was satisfied they were innocent.
Only a few seconds passed after Kendall rang the doorbell when the door opened to reveal a tiny woman with short gray hair whose eyes were red and puffy from crying. She held out her arms, and Kendall walked into them, and the two women sobbed as they held each other.
Cooper eased around them and walked to the middle of the living room. The room was tidy, everything in its place and not a speck of dust that he could see. An afghan and a pillow were on the sofa and a half cup of tea on the coffee table. Next to the cup was a box of tissues.
“Cooper, this is Amanda Eckerd, Livie’s babysitter. Amanda, Cooper Devlin. Cooper is with The Phoenix Three. They specialize in finding children.”
Amanda grabbed his hand. “Please, you have to find our precious girl.”
“I won’t rest until she’s back home with her mother.” He led her to the sofa. “Can we sit and talk for a few minutes?”
“Yes. I’ll do anything I can to help you find her.” She pulled a tissue from the box and wiped her eyes.
“I appreciate that,” he said. Kendall sat next to her and put her arm around Amanda. She also grabbed a tissue. He tooka seat on the chair facing them. He’d already decided that the woman wasn’t involved in taking Olivia. Her tears were real. “I know you’ve told the police what happened, but I’d like to hear it from you myself.”
A shudder traveled through her body. “I should’ve stopped him from taking her.” She leaned against Kendall. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Kendall said. “No one blames you.”
“Kendall’s right, no one blames you, Amanda. Talk me through what happened.” He hoped she’d remember something that would give him a lead.
She blew out a breath. “Okay. Livie wanted mini meat loafs for dinner.”
“Amanda makes these miniature meat loafs with cheddar cheese inside, and Livie loves them,” Kendall said.
“She does,” Amanda said with a soft smile on her face. “That was all she talked about after I picked her up from preschool. That and would I make double fudge brownies for dessert.”
He made a mental note that his daughter loved brownies. So did he, and the idea of them eating the decadent treat together sent an unexpected longing through him to create memories with her.
“We went to the grocery store on the way to Kendall’s to get what I needed to make her dinner.”
“How long were you in the store?”
She stared up at the ceiling, thinking, then lowered her gaze to his. “Fifteen, twenty minutes.”
“Did you notice anyone paying attention to you? To Olivia?”
“No… Wait, maybe. I’m not sure. The police didn’t ask that question, so I hadn’t thought about it before, but there was a man.”
“Tell me about him.”
“It’s probably nothing. We were in the cake aisle getting the brownie mix when he came by. Livie was trying to decidebetween the salted caramel and the chewy fudge. He chuckled as he leaned down and whispered loud enough for me to hear, ‘Tell your grandma to get you both.’ I rolled my eyes at him, like thanks for that. He was still chuckling when he walked away.”
Probably was an innocent encounter, but twelve years in special ops and a few years’ experience in tracking down missing children had his antennae twitching.
“What did he look like?”
“I didn’t pay close attention. He had on a ball cap, wore glasses and had what my husband called a beer belly, a big one. That’s all I can really tell you about him.”
“Was he short, tall, have a scent?”
She closed her eyes. “He was average height, not short, not tall. And he smelled like cigarette smoke.” She opened her eyes. “I’d forgotten about that.”
“Eye and hair color? Any tattoos?”