The Lost Victim by Jennifer Hunter

Author:Jennifer Hunter [Hunter, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2023-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Ryan found Officer Ripley in the house, standing outside Olivia’s cubbyhole. “She’s okay. I think.”

He squatted in front of the little room. The crime scene guys had bagged and tagged almost everything, including all the driver’s licenses. Olivia’s little makeshift bed was gone. At the back of the room where it hooked a right into another narrow space, he could see the tips of Olivia’s brand-new sneakers.

“Hey, Olivia, mind if I come in? I’ve got hot chocolate.”

She didn’t say anything, so he took a chance that she didn’t have a strong desire for him to keep out and kind of duck-walked while crouched down low toward her. When he reached the turn, he sat with his back to the wall facing her and held out the Styrofoam cup. She sat with her back against the wall, her knees bent, hands wrapped around them, and her head on her knees.

“I made this just for you. Now, it’s probably not as good as the last one I bought for you, but this one has marshmallows. You probably don’t know what those are, but let’s just say they’re sweet little sugar bombs. Yum.”

She raised her head just enough to peek at him. “Bad.”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“No.” His emphatic response only seemed to make her believe she was even more bad by the look in her eyes. “No, Olivia. You are not bad. But you know what I found out?”

She held his gaze.

“You have had hot chocolate before. Your mom told me that she used to make it for you after you played outside. She said you loved to be outdoors. Didn’t matter how cold it was. And when you came inside, you had hot chocolate to warm up.” He held the cup out closer to her.

It took a few seconds, but she finally reached for it.

“Don’t remember.”

“That’s okay.”

“Them.”

“It’s okay you don’t remember them. They remember you. And they know you aren’t the same little girl they lost. They want to get to know who you are now and help you become the person you want to be in the future. And you don’t have to know who you want to become right now. The nice thing is that they want to be there for you while you discover who you are away from this place. I truly believe they are good people who only want the best for you.”

“Bad.”

“No.” He’d tell her a million times if that’s what it took for it to sink in. “You are helping with this investigation. That’s good. You identified all the victims Dan Hardy abducted and killed. That’s good. You identified all the victims we were missing. That’s good. You said you’d take me to my sister,” he reminded her. “That’s good, Olivia. Helping is good. Being brave is good. Seeing your parents even though you were scared . . . That’s good. You are good.”

Olivia took a sip of the hot chocolate, her gaze steady on him, no trace of her easing

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.