“Just give me a few minutes to change.”
“Hurry, Mommy.”
Later that night, after Olivia was in bed and asleep, Kendall settled at the dining room table to search for her next podcast child. She was scrolling down the links in the search engine when an article caught her attention. She clicked on the link. It was a feature on three men who’d started a company called The Phoenix Three, their mission to rescue children who’d beenkidnapped or had run away. She started reading the article and was impressed with their success.
Midway through the piece, there was a photo of the three men, and her gaze roamed over their faces. She gasped at seeing the man on the right. “Dear God,” she murmured as she pressed her hand over her pounding heart. It was him, Olivia’s father. The man whose name she’d never known. And now she knew.
“Cooper Devlin,” she said, testing his name on her lips. She would have told him he was a father if she’d known who he was and how to find him. She’d always wished she could thank him for her bright, beautiful daughter.
She closed her eyes and thought of him and that night. On the eighteenth anniversary of her kidnapping, a date that always sent her into a funk, she’d impulsively stopped at The Tipsy Turtle, a bar near her apartment that served good food. It was either that or go home, heat up a microwaveable dinner and be depressed by herself.
The man who took a seat at the bar next to her bought her second glass of wine. “Thank you,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” he replied with a smile.
He was pretty hot. His hair was cut military style, and his dark coffee eyes were warm and kind. They talked about everything and nothing as they ate their dinners. Later, when he stood and held out his hand, she slipped hers in his and left with him.
It was at her insistence that they did not trade names. All she knew about him was that he was a soldier on bereavement leave, and he was returning to base the next morning. That was perfect. She’d never have to see him again. He’d made love to her as if she were something precious. She had never felt more alive and wanted than in his arms that night, a stark contrast to the painful memories that usually haunted her on this anniversary. He’d made her forget, and he’d left her with a precious gift.
Her eyes stung with tears as she opened them. She had to tell him he had a daughter. But how? And what kind of man was he? What would it mean for Olivia? Oh, God. What if he tried to take her baby girl away from her? Should she call him or tell him in person? She didn’t know.
A week. She’d give herself a week to decide when and how to tell him.
Kendall glanced at the clock on the wall. One more hour before she could send all her kiddos home. She’d been uneasy all week, and at times had felt like she was being watched. She chalked it up to stress and nerves because of the decision she had to make. Her time was up, and she still hadn’t decided how to tell Cooper Devlin about Olivia.
She hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since seeing his photo in the article. Maybe she didn’t have to tell him, then she wouldn’t have to worry that he’d try to take Olivia away from her. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, right? No, she had to tell him. It was the right thing to do.
“Time’s up,” she said to her class. “Close your journal and set your pencils down.” Most of her students loved writing in their journals, especially Blane, who always had to be told twice to put down his pencil. “Blane, time’s up.”
He loudly sighed as he dropped his pencil to the desk. “I wasn’t finished, Ms. Hart.”
“You can finish it—”
The door to her classroom opened, and Rebecca King, their principal, walked in followed by Susana Weaver, the school’s secretary. “Ms. Hart, I need to see you for a few minutes. Susana’s going to sit with your class.”
“Okay.” What was up? Both women had serious expressions.
“Bring your purse,” Rebecca said when Kendall stepped toward her.
Now she was nervous. She opened her desk drawer and grabbed her purse. “What’s going on, Rebecca?” she asked when they were in the hallway.
“We’ll talk in my office.”
Kendall tried to think of something she’d done that necessitated a trip to the principal’s office. She drew a blank. When they entered Rebecca’s office, a man wearing black pants and a white button-down stood looking out the window. He turned, and her gaze went to the gun and badge on his belt.
“Kendall, this is Detective Rossi.” After introducing the officer, Rebecca stepped back.
Please, God, no.But she knew. Oh, God, she knew what he was going to say. Her worst nightmare had come true. Her heart hammered in her chest so hard that it hurt, and her vision blurred.
“Ms. Hart,” he said, his eyes filled with sympathy. “There’s no easy way to say this. Your daughter’s missing.”
Kendall fainted.
Chapter 2
Cooper Devlin was the odd man out. He should be used to that. Had thought he was. Growing up in a home that made the worddysfunctionalsound like playtime, he’d learned at an early age not to expect anything. Not a smile or kind word from those who were supposed to love him. His childhood had been a blur of neglect, punctuated by moments of violence that had left both physical and emotional scars.
He’d found a home, though. His Phoenix Three brothers had become the family he never thought he’d have. They were the ones who’d shown him what loyalty truly meant, who taught him that love didn’t have to come with conditions and fists. Grayson and Liam weren’t his blood brothers. He didn’t have one of those. But they were his brothers all the same.