Cole shook his head. “Do you have anything new?”
“I’ve extended the Amber Alert nationwide, Cole,” McCoy said. “We’ve had an agent from the FBI assigned to us and have access to their databases. We’re getting their input on both our cases, Sophie’s and Candace’s.”
That sounded reassuring and should pacify Olivia. But the idea of any connection between Sophie and Candace made his stomach churn. Sophie couldn’t end up like Candace. “Do you have any new leads?”
“We’re following up on everything as it comes in. Nothing has developed yet.”
“What’s the status on Gus Tilley? Is he still a suspect?”
LoSasso shrugged slightly. “Our suspect list isn’t exactly set in stone. People rotate on and off as more information comes in. We’ll stay in close contact with Mr. Tilley.”
The door behind him opened, and Deputy Brody spoke. “I need a word with you, Sheriff.”
LoSasso looked at Brody sharply and left the room with the sheriff. They all stood, but Mattie stayed, her dark eyes searching his face before looking at Angie and touching her arm. “You’re exhausted, Angie. Why don’t you go home and get some rest? Even if you can’t sleep, just lie down for a while.”
Angie’s eyes brimmed, and a tear trailed down her cheek. “I can’t. I can’t go home. Mom’s there.” She began to sob, her hands covering her face.
With a stricken look, Mattie took Angie into her arms and held her, burying her own face on the girl’s shoulder.
“Mattie . . . please . . . find Sophie,” Angela said between sobs.
Cole stood and wrapped the two in his arms, bending over them and fighting his own tears. He struggled to keep himself from begging Mattie too. He heard the door open and glanced up to see Deputy Brody peer in. The man withdrew, closing the door.
“I’ll do everything in my power to bring her home, Angie,” Mattie said, her voice thick and hoarse. “I promise you that.”
Cole knew Mattie was right—he needed to take Angela home to rest. It was ridiculous to stay away because his ex-wife was there, and he needed to man up and take care of his daughter. After leaving the station, he led her to the passenger side of the truck and opened the door for her. “We’re going home now, Angela.”
She shrugged, looking resigned. “Okay, but I’m going to my room.”
“That’s fine. You need to get some rest, because if Sophie’s not home by morning, we’re going to go out again.” He planned to go back at it tonight, but she didn’t need to know that. She would insist on going with him.
She nodded.
“You’ll need to talk to your mom sometime, Angel, but it doesn’t have to be tonight.”
“I have nothing more to say to her.”
“Maybe not, but she might need to talk. Let’s just take this as it comes, okay?”
Again, the shrug. Cole closed the door gently and went around to climb into the driver’s seat. The one-mile drive home seemed to take forever, and Cole grew more and more tense as he neared the house. The crew who’d come to work the crime scene had come and gone, taking the yellow tape that had marked it with them. Everything looked back to normal.
But things were anything but normal. He hoped like crazy that Sophie was warm and asleep somewhere. She’d been sick at the end of the school day. How did she feel tonight? Was she awake and frightened? Awake and uncomfortable? In pain?
Oh, dear God, I hope not.
He pulled the truck into the garage so they could enter through the kitchen, where the lights were on. After unloading the dogs, he followed Angie into the house. Jessie came into the room, anxiety consuming her face, her movements stiff. She squeezed Angie’s arm as the girl passed her to head up the stairs, Belle trailing close behind. Bruno went to his food dish.
“Do you have any news?” Jessie asked.
Cole summarized the updates. While he was speaking, Olivia entered the room, her eyes bleary. She’d thrown the chocolate-colored fleece blanket from the den over her shoulders like a cape, her slender hands holding it tightly bunched at her chest.
“What about bringing in outside help?” Olivia asked.
“They’re coordinating now with the FBI. They’re going to be working the cases too.”
“Cases?” Olivia said. “What do you mean?”
He wished he’d phrased it differently. Now he needed to tell her what else was going on. “A girl was killed on the hill behind the high school earlier this week.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Bruno, come with me,” Jessie said, leaving the room and heading upstairs. Bruno quickly dogged her tracks.
Cole leaned against the cabinet, needing support in the face of Olivia’s rage.
“Who was killed?” Olivia asked, her face blanched, lips tight.
“A girl named Candace Banks, from the junior high.”
She appeared to be searching her memory and then shook her head slightly as if coming up with nothing. “Do the kids know her?”
“They know who she is but weren’t close. She was between them in age.”
Cole could see her begin to shiver from across the room, and her fear struck a matching coldness inside him.
“I can’t believe you continue to live in this town, Cole. First Grace Hartman, and now another child. It’s too much.”
He didn’t know how to respond. “In light of school violence in the cities, Timber Creek seems like a safer option.”
“Our child is missing!” Her eyes filled with tears. Clutching the fleece throw to her chest, she bowed her head and sobbed.
He felt his throat swell, and the tears he’d kept at bay came on hard. The one thing he could relate to with his ex-wife was the fear and helplessness she was feeling right now. He took a step toward her but stopped short, unable to cross that gap between them. “We’ll find her, Liv,” he said, choking on the words. “We’ve got to believe it.”
She stifled her sobs, still holding a hand to her face. “How? How are we going to find her?”
“The Amber Alert has been expanded nationwide. People will be looking for her. We’ve got good people here working on it, and now they’re bringing in the FBI.”
She nodded, looking away to scan the countertops. Evidently spotting what she’d been searching for, she crossed over to the end of the counter and swiped a tissue from its box. Taking a second one, she handed it to Cole and then blew her nose daintily. Cole trumpeted into his tissue, balled it up, and threw it into the trash.
He touched her arm and she melted toward him. Before he knew it, she was in his arms, letting him hold her against him in that familiar way, his chin resting against her hair. He tried to take comfort in it, but there was none to be had.
When he’d been in vet school during the early years of their marriage, they were a team. It was the two of them plugging along through the system, and she’d worked a job in retail so he could be a full-time student while they planned their future. Her pregnancy with Angela had been a surprise, but they’d taken it in stride, rejoicing in the birth of their baby girl. Then Sophie came, planned seven years later, after he’d graduated and started his practice. One happy family—or so he’d believed.
Where had it all gone wrong? When had the feelings changed?
Perhaps feeling the same lack, Olivia pulled away and huddled inside her blanket, leaning against a countertop opposite Cole.
He couldn’t help himself. He had to ask. “Why have you disappeared from our lives, Olivia?”
“Do we have to talk about this now?”
He shrugged. “I suppose not, but I can’t help but want to know. I mean, I understand why you wanted to leave my sorry ass. You made that perfectly clear. But you’re a good mom, Olivia. Why have you turned your back on the kids?”