stop it from happening?”
It would have been easy to lie to her and make a deal so I could get what I needed, but I wouldn’t have felt right about deceiving her.
“I honestly don’t know. I can promise you this—whatever I find out today I will share with Cade McCoy, and he will do everything he can to help you. But if you want my honest opinion, they’ll come anyway.”
“What should I do?”
“Is there somewhere you could take Sierra for a few days or send her?” I said. “They’ll have plenty to do when they first get here, so that might take the attention off Sierra and put it somewhere else.”
“I don’t know. I suppose.”
“I’m not telling you to avoid the FBI or not to work with them. I would never do that. But maybe if you spoke to them first, without Sierra here, you could appeal to them as a mother. It wouldn’t hurt to explain your feelings. Maybe they’ll take it under consideration.”
“I appreciate your help,” she said.
I didn’t want to push by asking her to speak with her daughter one last time, so I didn’t. In a situation like this, it all came down to respect.
I turned.
“Enjoy the rest of your day.”
Hold on a minute,” she said. “I’ll let you speak to Sierra, but just for a few minutes, and only if she is receptive to you. If she isn’t, please don’t force her.”
“I will be as sensitive and as quick as I can,” I said.
She flattened her hand. “Wait here.”
Mrs. Johnson returned a few minutes later and invited me in. “I’d like to sit in while you talk with her.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I said.
Sierra sat nervously on the living room sofa, looping her fingers around the edge of a piece of fabric from the outfit she was wearing.
“I like your dress,” I said when I walked into the room. “It’s very pretty.”
She looked at her mother but not at me. When talking to children Sierra’s age in the past, I found their attention span was minimal. I needed to keep the conversation brief. It was best to ask specific questions, making it easy for her to answer. She needed simplicity so she didn’t become confused.
I sat down on a chair next to the sofa, giving Sierra the space she needed.
“I’m trying to find your friend, Savannah,” I said.
Sierra looked over at me. “Do you know where she is?”
“Not yet,” I said. “I was hoping you could help me.”
She looked at her mom again and frowned.
“But I don’t know where she is.”
“I saw Lily the other day. We made macaroni and cheese together. She seems pretty lonely without her sister to play with.”
Sierra’s face changed. I knew she was listening to me, but she still wasn’t ready to talk. Her mother looked at me and nodded, letting me know it was okay to continue.
“Someone told me a man came to the daycare, and that when he left, he took her with him. I want to find the man so I can ask him to give her back, but I don’t know what he looks like. Can you help me?”
Sierra’s mother put her arm around her daughter. “It’s okay, honey. This nice lady is my friend.”
Sierra nodded and crossed her legs under her dress.
“Did you see the man who took Savannah?” I said.
She bobbed her shoulders up and down.
“I don’t know.”
Ms. Johnson said, “She never looked at his face.”
I imagined since he was a stranger, Sierra had been too frightened. Maybe that’s why she’d noticed other things, like the watch and the color of the car.
“If I show you a few pictures, do you think you could tell me if it’s the car you saw the man driving?”
She thought about it.
“Okay.”
I pulled some photos out of my purse that I had printed earlier that morning. The first was a Ford Mustang. “Is this one it?”
She shook her head.
Next I tried a Chevrolet Camaro. She scooted to the edge of the soda and looked harder at it. Again, she shook her head.
Now that I had her attention, I held the picture of the Dodge Charger in front of her. “What about this one?”
As soon as she saw it, she jerked back. I folded the picture and put it away. “Was that the car you saw?”
She nodded.
The watch would be harder for her to identify, and I questioned its significance. I hadn’t brought any photos, but I wore one to see if it triggered anything.
“Do you