LITMIR.BIZ

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daughter, and Glynnis hadn’t found out about her existence until Ben had died.

      In fact, Sabrina was the one who came to Ivy to break the news—something Ben had asked her to do in a letter he’d left with his lawyer. That was tough on her. Her mother, Isabel—Ben’s only legal wife—was hysterical over Ben’s double life and mortified by the scandal it had caused in their little town. She would have felt completely betrayed by Sabrina if she’d known of her daughter’s involvement with her husband’s other family.

      Sabrina had been put in a horrible position, which only became more difficult as she got to know Glynnis and the children, whom she’d immediately loved.

      And then, complicating matters even further, she fell in love with Gregg. For a while, no one who knew the story thought it could possibly have a happy ending, but it did. In fact, Gregg and Sabrina were one of the happiest couples Glynnis had ever known. And not long ago, their happiness had become complete when, on their daughter Samantha’s christening day, Sabrina’s mother had forgiven Sabrina and the two had reconciled.

      Isabel was remarried now, which was a whole other story.

      Thinking back over the rocky road they’d all traveled, Glynnis knew they were lucky to have ended up a loving family unit. Glynnis would have loved Sabrina under any circumstances, simply because she made Gregg so happy. It was a bonus that she was such a wonderful person and someone Glynnis would have enjoyed having as a friend even if they hadn’t been related.

      When Glynnis finished explaining everything, Gregg said he’d like to talk to the cop in charge.

      “That’s the other thing I wanted to tell you,” Glynnis said. “He’s Kat’s brother.”

      Gregg turned to Kat. “I didn’t know you had a brother on the police force.”

      “Dan’s six years older than me and he’s lived in Chicago since he was twenty. He was with the Chicago PD for more than seventeen years. Three months ago he decided he needed a change, so he moved back to Ivy, and now he’s a lieutenant with the Ivy Police Department.”

      “That’s good news,” Gregg said. “He’s probably got a lot more experience than most of the cops on the force.”

      “Yes,” Kat said. “He does. And believe me, he’ll do everything possible to find Olivia. Everything.”

      “I’d still like to talk to him.”

      “Then let’s go see if we can find him,” Kat said.

      “I’ll stay here with Glynnis and Michael,” Sabrina said. She smiled down at Michael, who hadn’t left her side since she’d arrived.

      After Kat and Gregg left them, Sabrina said, “Are you doing okay? Is there anything I can get you? Something to eat?”

      Glynnis shook her head. The thought of food made her feel sick.

      “What about you, Michael?” Sabrina said.

      “He ate earlier,” Glynnis said.

      “A cookie, maybe?”

      Glynnis knew Sabrina just needed to feel she was doing something useful, even if it was only feeding them. God knows Glynnis understood. She’d felt totally useless for hours. She looked down at Michael, who gave her a hopeful smile. “Are the shops in the food court still open?”

      “Not all of them, but the cookie place was when we came in.”

      “I’ll walk out with you,” Glynnis said.

      They bought Michael his cookie and then slowly walked back to the management office. Gregg and Kat rejoined them a bit later. Gregg sat next to Glynnis and squeezed her hand. “Lieutenant O’Neill knows what he’s doing, Glynnie. He’ll find her.”

      But as the clock moved inexorably forward, Glynnis’s hopes began to fade. If Livvy had been in the mall, surely they would have found her by now.

      Finally Sabrina rose. “Glynnis, Gregg is going to stay with you, but I’ve got to go. I told Mrs. Phillips I’d be back for Samantha by ten-thirty, and it’s almost that now.”

      Glynnis looked at her sister-in-law. “It’s okay. I understand.”

      “How about if I take Michael with me? He can spend the night with us.” Michael, head leaning against Glynnis’s shoulder, had fallen asleep an hour ago. “In fact, you can spend the night with us, too. I don’t think you should be alone if…” Sabrina, looking stricken, let her voice trail off.

      “If they don’t find Olivia tonight,” Glynnis finished for her. Her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t think they’re going to.”

      “Oh, honey,” Kat said. “They might. They haven’t finished searching everywhere yet. That woman might have found a hiding place.”

      Glynnis shook her head. She knew Olivia was not in the mall, because if she had been, that woman—whoever she was—would not have been able to keep her quiet. Livvy was nothing if not vocal. If she was anywhere within hearing distance, the police would have discovered them.

      Gregg, who’d been out front talking to the security people, walked back into the office. “You going to leave now?” he said to Sabrina.

      “Yes. And if it’s okay with Glynnis, I’ll take Michael home with me.”

      “Yes, I think that’s a good idea,” Glynnis said. “But I won’t be coming. When they finish here, I’m going home.”

      “You shouldn’t be alone,” Sabrina said. She looked at Kat. “Don’t you agree?”

      “Yes, I do.”

      “But what if Livvy or that woman who took her should call? I have to be there.”

      “How could they call? You said you didn’t know the woman. Do you think she knows you?” This question came from Dan O’Neill, who had walked in behind Gregg.

      “No, I don’t think she knows me, although I can’t be sure. But Olivia has an ID tag inside her jacket, sewed on to the lining in front. It’s required at her day care center. The tag lists her name and our phone number.”

      “You’re right, then. You should be at home,” Kat said. “Don’t worry, Sabrina. I’ll stay with her. In fact, I’ll call Bill right now and tell him.” Out came her cell phone before Glynnis could even think of protesting. Not that she wanted to. She had no desire to be at home alone.

      “I just came back to give you a status report,” Lieutenant O’Neill said. “We’ve finished searching all the stores and the areas behind each store, as well as all the places in the inside of the mall. Everything is locked up now, and the mall’s been emptied of all the shoppers and most of the store employees. The only ones left are a few maintenance people, the mall manager and his assistant, and the security personnel.”

      Glynnis’s shoulders sagged. Even though she’d been afraid the woman who took Olivia was long gone, it was one thing to fear something and another thing entirely to know it for sure.

      “Now that we’re sure your daughter isn’t in the mall,” the lieutenant continued, “I called Chief Crandall, and he’ll take care of issuing an Amber Alert. Do you know what that is?”

      “It’s a nationwide alert system, isn’t it?” Gregg asked.

      “Yes. A description of Olivia, along with her photo and the photo of the woman from the security tape will be faxed to primary radio stations under the Emergency Alert System. In turn, that information will be sent by them to area TV stations and radio stations. The radio stations will interrupt their programming to broadcast the information and TV and cable stations will run a ‘crawl’ on the screen along with the photos. In some places, the authorities will even incorporate electronic highway billboards. Every possible avenue will be covered. We’re also setting up an 800-number hotline for people to call.”

      Glynnis nodded, unable to

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