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I offered a warm smile. This woman was either weighed down by guilt or she was truly grieving Ava and fearing for her daughter’s safety. I was betting on the latter. “Yes. Millie?”
She nodded and opened the door wider, still staying behind it. I walked inside, and she quickly shut the door behind me. I was face to face with her now, and my belief that she was reeling from the news of Ava’s disappearance increased.
“Vanessa said you’d probably want to talk to Casey, but I wanted to talk to you first,” she said, her hands clasped in front of her. “If that’s okay. I’ll do whatever you need me to do to find Ava.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” I said softly, hoping I was reassuring her. “Where is Casey now?”
“Upstairs. In her room with her brother. I told her to get started on her homework.”
I nodded and gave her a smile. “That’s good. I was going to suggest we chat first anyway.”
“Okay.” Her voice was shaky as she gestured to the living room. “I don’t know where you want to do this. I’ve never been interviewed by a police officer before.”
“First, you need to know I’m not currently an officer. I was a detective with the Little Rock Police Department for six years and before that a patrol officer. So while I’m not currently employed by any law enforcement agency, I do have experience that I think will be beneficial to helping Vanessa find her daughter.”
Tears flooded Millie’s already bloodshot eyes. “Okay.”
“And we can do this wherever is more comfortable for you. The living room? Some people like to sit in the kitchen.”
“I was making cookies.” She grimaced. “Nervous baking.”
“Then let’s go in the kitchen and you can keep making them if you like.”
“Okay.”
She led me to the back of the house, an open concept space that took up the full width of the house with a family room, kitchen, and breakfast nook. A cookie sheet was on the counter along with a mixing bowl containing what looked like chocolate chip cookie dough.
Millie started to scoop dough into the miniature scoop then looked up at me. “Vanessa said your sister was kidnapped when you were teens.”
I was surprised this seemed like fresh news to her. “I take it you aren’t from here?”
“No, my husband transferred here for a job about ten years ago. I’ve heard rumors about a girl getting kidnapped twenty years ago, but sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s rumor and what’s fact.” Fear filled her eyes. “Was Ava kidnapped?”
“The police think she’s a runaway.”
Her eyes darkened as she dumped the ball of dough on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. “That’s what Vanessa said. She’s furious with TJ because he thinks she’s overreacting and Ava will walk in the door any minute.”
“Do you think Ava will walk in the door at any minute?” I asked gently.
Tears fell down her cheeks, and she swiped at them with the back of her hand. “I don’t know.”
I let her cry for a few moments and then catch her breath before I opened my notebook and asked, “How well do you know Ava?”
Millie sniffed and resumed her task of making cookie dough balls and dumping them onto the sheet. “She’s over at our house a couple of times a week, so pretty well.”
“Do you know if Ava is happy at home?”
She froze. “What does that mean?”
“Does she get along with her parents? When she was with you, has she ever expressed a desire to run away?”
Her teeth caught her bottom lip. “I know she and TJ don’t see eye to eye. TJ’s too hard on her, if you ask me. He expects too much of her. She’s a good girl, and she wants to make him happy, but he’s much too controlling. He’s stifling her.”
I leaned forward. This could change everything. “So you think Ava could have run away?”
She considered it a moment, then shook her head. “She might run away from home, but she wouldn’t just leave. She’d call Casey or me. She knows I’m a safe place. Like I said, she spends the night with us all the time. She’s comfortable here.” Millie hesitated, then added, “She’s told me before that she wishes she could live with us.” Tears filled her eyes again. “But it would kill Vanessa to know she said that.”
Vanessa loved her daughter, but at the same time, she had to know that TJ was making Ava miserable. The sentiment couldn’t have surprised her that much.
