Page 34 of The Kidnapped

“I can. Or, I can get you something to eat from the cafeteria, so you can have some time with her first, if you want.”

“Actually, that would be amazing. I’m starving,” Hollis said, finally able to feel something other than worry.

“Sandwich?”

“Whatever they have is fine. I’m not picky.”

“I’ll be five minutes, okay?” Raleigh told her.

“I’ll text you the room number once I know it.”

Raleigh walked to the elevator just as a nurse came to take Hollis back to see her mother.

CHAPTER 13

“So, take me back to that day,” Dylan requested.

“We went to the park, like we always did.”

“No, before that.”

“But that’s where she went missing.”

“I know. But let’s start at the morning. Did anything out of the ordinary happen that morning when you woke up or went to get her out of bed?”

“You really don’t have kids,” Raleigh said, laughing a little. “She woke me up. We had this clock on the wall in her room. Have.” Raleigh swallowed. “We have this clock on the wall of her room. She was an early riser, so I used a marker to mark between six and seven on the clock in red, and seven to eight in yellow. If it was red, she had to play in her room until it got to at least the yellow. She rarely made it to the yellow.”

“So, Eden woke you up that morning.”

“Yeah. That was normal, though. She was in a toddler bed with one of those mesh railings, but she could get up whenever she wanted. She’d been doing well with her potty training, so sometimes, she would go to the bathroom first before she’d come into my room and proudly tell me that she went in the potty like a big girl.” Raleigh smiled. “Other times, she’d just come into my room and wake me up.”

“Then, what did you do?” Dylan took notes in her little notebook.

“I made breakfast. I’m not much of a breakfast eater, so I made coffee for myself and got her settled at the table. After she ate, I told her to go to her room to get dressed, which wasn’t exactly something she was doing well at yet. I mean, she could pick a random pair of pants and a shirt, but she’d forget socks or pick some pants and a shirt that didn’t match. She’s three, you know?” Raleigh looked down at her hands, which were twisting on the table as she talked. “She was three. She’s four now.”

“Right,” Dylan said. “And then, after she got dressed?”

“I got dressed as well on the days when we went out. She usually played in her room or came into mine with me and colored in one of her coloring books on my bed.”

“Any phone calls?”

“No, not even from any of my clients.”

“And these clients, how often do you meet them in person? Did any of them see you with Eden?”

“I’ve never met any of them in person. That’s kind of how the VA thing works: I work here; they work wherever they are. I don’t really reveal details of my life to them. I’m there to take care of the administrative things.”

“How many of them knew you had a daughter?”

“None, as far as I know. I’m technically self-employed, so my benefits and taxes – the things that would reveal a dependent – aren’t through my clients.”

“But they’d have your address on file for paychecks.”

“No. It’s all direct deposit. And I have a PO box for business stuff, so none of them knew where I lived. I also use my first and middle name for my business, not my last name. So, they might not even know that. They know my time zone, but that’s about it. Some virtual assistants work differently, but I’ve always liked my privacy, and that was especially true after I had Eden.”

“Okay.” Dylan took another note. “And after you got dressed?”

“I put her in the car seat, packed her stuff in the trunk, and we went to the park.”

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