Page 27 of Off Limits Daddy

"Georgie, can you go get your mom for me?" Oliver said to the girl.

"Okay." She ran off.

"I want to go too," another of the three girls said, rushing off after her sister. The third girl came and stood behind Oliver, wrapping her arms around his leg.

"We can sit in the living room. Do you want coffee or something?" Oliver led me, with his daughter still clinging to his leg, to the living room.

I shook my head. "No, thank you."

Lindsey showed up, and just like Oliver, she looked at me with worry in her expression.

"Everything is fine. I just wanted to talk to Oliver again,” I said, sitting on the couch.

"Come on, Olivia." Lindsay called to the girl still wrapped around Oliver. "Let's go in the kitchen and have a snack."

Lindsay and her three girls disappeared into the kitchen.

Oliver sat in a chair across from me. "I've told you everything I know."

I nodded. "Sometimes, going over it again can reveal new information that had been forgotten, or maybe you'll say something that triggers something for me. I'm wondering if Darcy Patrick said something to you that stands out."

He shrugged. "At the time, I just wanted my daughter.”

“I understand that.”

“Darcy did seem annoyed that I would think she would hurt Olivia, but she'd kidnapped her. What was I supposed to think?"

"I think it's safe to say that Darcy Patrick was in over her head. When did you become aware that she was working with Detective Donovan?"

"Not soon enough." He scraped his hands over his face, and I imagined he was reliving the entire incident over again. I didn't have children of my own, but I remembered a few times when one of my siblings would wander off and the terror I felt about what could happen to them.

"Have you been able to learn anything new from the little boy? God, I can't even imagine what it must be like for him,” Oliver said.

"He hasn't been able to tell me anything that's helpful." It was hard, sometimes, to decide how much to reveal to someone I was questioning. I didn't want to give away information that could come back and hurt my investigation. At the same time, I needed Oliver's help, and more importantly, I needed his daughter's help.

"There is some evidence that suggests he was in the car with Wally when he killed Donovan and Patrick. We don’t believe Wally knew the boy was there."

Oliver frowned. "Good God. How would that be possible?"

"Like I said, the little boy hasn't been able to tell me what's going on. I suspect these are difficult memories, and he's not quite sure whom to trust. So, it's going to take me some time."

Oliver nodded. "Poor kid." He let out a sigh. “We’re sure it’s Wally?”

I gave him a pointed stare. “Wally texted you and as much as admitted it.”

“I don’t know for sure that it was him, but I suspect it. If he knew you were here?—”

I held up my hand. “I know the deal. He thinks he helped you by killing them and in return, you’re supposed to stay out of it.”

He nodded.

God, how was I going to ask to talk to his daughter? “There’s no reason to believe he knows I’m here or why.”

“Why else would you be here?”

I couldn’t believe I was about to say this. “It turns out that I’m engaged to Duncan Ashworth, who I believe is a close family friend.”

Oliver’s brows shot up to his hairline. “What?”

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