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Freak out? I’m beyond freaking out. My breaths come in short pants. Adrenaline pours through my damn veins until I’m a trembling mess. My daughter is missing, and everyone thinks it’s normal. It’s not. This party is about her. Making her the center of attention. Something she can’t pass up. If Olivia is frantic and pale-faced, then something is truly wrong. You can’t convince me otherwise.
“Look at me, Riv. We’re at a huge amusement park. She probably wandered off with one of the other kids, and they were playing. Cal turned his back for five seconds to grab a drink for them, and when he turned around, she had taken off. We’ll find her.” Olivia gives me that Veritas look she loves to give me when she knows she’s right. Or wants to prove a damn point. She’s awful fucking bossy sometimes.
“I’m so sorry, Little Star,” Callum says with tears, looking on the verge of a freakout. “I didn’t… I would never…” His gaze falls to the ground. Hiccups fall from his lips as he tries to take deep breaths.
“It’s okay. She’s probably trying to find her favorite ice cream,” I say, squeezing his hand with reassurance. “You didn’t do anything wrong. She could have done this with anyone. Even me. She’s five. They’re slippery at this age.” I try to give him my best reassuring smile so he doesn’t continue to beat himself up. But it doesn’t work. His face falls, and tears slip down his cheeks.
Olivia claps a hand on his shoulder, taking control of the situation before we all start slipping into hysterics.
Ly is probably having fun somewhere with one of her cousins. That’s it. She hasn’t been kidnapped or abducted by aliens. There’s a perfectly rational explanation for this.
“Believe me, that child wanders when she wants to. Something probably caught her eye. Maybe a balloon or a unicorn. We’ll all split up and look for her,” Olivia demands, looking each of us in the eye. “Calmly and collectively. The partygoers are helping, too. There’s no need to freak out yet, okay? Last we saw her, she had come out of the fun house with Cal. They went to the hut, fifty feet away, to grab a drink. No one saw her slip away when Cal put in the order. Remember, she’s wearing her unicorn dress. Riv, you’ve got a picture?” When I nod, she nods back. “Good, send it to all of us. We’ll start canvassing the area and trying to find her. Since it’s just us in the park, maybe call her name or call out her outfit.”
My heart races in my chest when I bring the photo up on my phone and send it to everyone I can think of at the party. Someone will see her. Or find her. They have to. She can’t be too far away. It’s her damn birthday party.
Right?
“You two, start over there,” she says, pointing to me and Asher, who stands rigidly beside Callum with worry in his eyes. “And you two over there, you two over there. Okay? You all have your phones?” Everyone nods in silence as the situation sits heavy on our shoulders. “Good. Please message me. I put my number in each of your phones when I had them on your trip to Central City. And I’ll meet you wherever. I will check over by the entrance and canvas, making sure she didn’t make a break for it.”
My eyes follow her finger, pointing to the right where the unicorn carousel stands still, and the tall roller coasters stand beyond that.
“Okay,” I breathe, sucking in air, trying to clear my muddled brain.
“We’ll find her, Little Brat. It’ll be okay,” Asher whispers in my ear, gently taking my hand in his.
Together we walk as a unit, splitting off from the rest of the group as Olivia directs them to different areas to search.
I swallow hard, remembering Lyric’s words from this morning.
“Mommy, I can’t wait to ride the unicorn ride. The one that spins in circles and has pretty music.” I grin as she twirls in her dress, going round and round with a squeal of pure joy.
It was one of the first rides she begged to go on when we stepped foot in the park.
I heave a breath when we all separate. Echoes of Lyric’s name being shouted through the park rattles my nerves. This isn’t like her. She doesn’t wander off. She…
“She’s going to be okay,” Asher says, clinging to my hand as we walk around the carousel, sitting hauntingly still in the middle of the day.
The sun blares down on us without a cloud in the sky. It’s the perfect day to celebrate a birthday. If the birthday girl wasn’t missing. How could this happen in such a short period of time? How could she just wander away without anyone noticing? Doesn’t this place have cameras? My heart drops more. Desperation claws at me. I need her in my arms.
As we make our way around the ride, the operator casually lounging back in a chair catches my eye.
“Maybe,” I mutter, pulling out my phone and bringing up the picture of Lyric from this morning. “Excuse me, Sir. Have you seen this little girl?” I ask the operator as he lounges back in his chair.
A toothpick hangs from his mouth, jolting around when his tongue rolls. He pushes his sunglasses down to the tip of his nose, staring at the picture of Ly in her pink, purple, and sparkly unicorn dress, smiling at the camera.
His brows raise as he checks it over and gives me a sharp nod. My heart leaps out of my chest with hope latching on.
“Yeah. I saw her about five minutes ago. She was walking with some guy in a red zip-up hoodie.” He shrugs nonchalantly, pointing in the direction of the rollercoasters.
My heart drops. Red hoodie? Who the fuck was wearing a red hoodie? Everyone I saw was in T-shirts or dresses. It’s seventy fucking degrees right now.
So, who the hell has my baby?
“What? What did he look like?” I stumble over my words, begging my heavy tongue to cooperate.
“About this tall,” he says, holding his arm up. So not fucking helpful. “Brown hair. That’s about it.”
My eyes dart around when we take a few steps away from the operator. Someone has her. She could be anywhere. Fuck. With trembling hands, I let Olivia know what I just found out so she can keep an eye out in case anyone wants to leave.
