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“We have a call in for her, sir. Did you say she’s safe?”
“Yes, she’s safe. She’s a little shaken up, but she’s with my nephew now and seems better.”
“Your name, sir?”
Jesse watched Daisy start loading ice cream into the milkshake mixers, keeping one eye on the children. “Jesse Truelove.”
“And the cafe?”
“Ditzy Daisy’s.”
“We’re on our way. Please keep the child in the cafe.”
“Yeah, of course. So you’re gonna tell her dad?”
“Officers are on the way,” the woman repeated. “Please do not move from your current location.”
She hung up. Jesse stared at the phone for a moment with unease sneaking through his insides. He returned to the booth just as Daisy set two glasses overflowing with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and sprinkles in front of the wide-eyed children.
“There you go, me dears,” she said, tucking a glittery straw into each glass. “That should keep body and soul together until we get you home.”
“Amazing,” Oliver enthused. “This is thebiggestone I’veeverhad.” He slurped noisily. Dimity watched him with a shy smile. “Go on. It’s caramel choco fudge, my favorite.”
The little girl sipped from her own glass. She smiled shyly through a cream mustache.
“Good, huh?” Jesse smiled, and the girl nodded. “And I’ve got some good news,” Jesse said. “Your dad’s on his way.”
She beamed. “He is? Really?”
“He’ll be here any minute,” he said. “So you better start work on that.”
She grinned wider, showing a gap near the front where a new adult tooth was just starting and went at the whipped cream with the long spoon Daisy had laid on the table.
“Thanks, Daze,” Jesse said, handing the phone back. “You’re a lifesaver.”
“Don’t worry about it. Poor little thing must have been terrified. And you can forget about that, too,” she added, as Jesse started rummaging in his pockets for money. “It’s on the house.”
Jesse smiled sheepishly. “A double lifesaver.”
“Not a problem, hon. Want a coffee before the coppers get here?”
“That’d be great.”
Jesse perched at the counter with his coffee, grateful for the bitter heat warming him through from the inside. Daisy flipped the sign toClosed, just as blue flashing lights filled the cafe and three police cars crowded the curb outside. Jesse straightened as a black car muscled between them and out climbed a tall, thin woman, immaculately turned out in a peach belted overcoat and black patent heels, her silver-streaked hair gathered into an artful arrangement at the nape of her neck. She screamed money, and her tall, rigid posture screamed control, but the look on her face was unmistakable. She was scared.
She strode into the cafe with three police officers and what looked like two members of private security at her heels, her eyes darting everywhere until they landed on Dimity. The worry in her face stiffened into hard lines of anger.
“Dimity Hawthorn, there you are. Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been?”
The girl cowered into her seat. Oliver glanced between the girl and the gathering in the doorway with wide eyes. Daisy watched with a wary expression from behind the counter.
Jesse frowned and stepped forward. “Uh, hang on…”
The woman’s gimlet-sharp gaze transferred from the girl to Jesse. He saw her take in his undercut, nose ring, tattoos and leather jacket and watched a familiar look of disdain fill her amber eyes. “And you are?”
“Jesse Truelove. I called the police.”
“Oh,” the woman said, looking down at his ripped jeans and worn-out trainers. “Well, we thank you for keeping Dimity safe, but she’s coming with us now. Dimity? Come along at once.”
