When she’s not at work her look says come-here-big-boy-I’m-about-to-teach-you-somethin’. But right now, she is very classic-pink-diner and even though she looks nothing like my mother, I think of her as a surrogate. She’s always trying to take care of me and she keeps Vivian stocked in crayons when she’s here, so I love her for that.
As far as her job goes, Carla has been waitressing her whole life and she can easily rake in nearly five hundred dollars in tips on a weekend, she’s that good at it.
“Have you seen Vivian?” I ask her.
“No. Not all morning, hun. In fact, I thought you left her at home today.”
I stand there, confused. Speechless. Confused again. Then I smile. “No. She’s here. I brought her with me this morning. She’s probably in the bathroom.”
I check the bathroom. No Vivi.
I check all the dining rooms, I check out in the back alley where there are a few tables for the smokers, I check out front on the steps, I check everywhere.
And my daughter is not here.
Then I panic.
CHAPTER SIX - DAISY
Everyone rallies around me. Every single waitress, every single bus boy—hell, even Judy is trying to comfort me with positive thinking as the afternoon hours tick off.
“She’s OK, darling,” Carla keeps saying. “She just wandered off. She’s around here somewhere. We’ll find her.”
The Fort Collins police are here. The sheriff is here with six of his deputies. The Anna Ameci girls are here, since it’s just right next door and they are all a bunch of nosy gossipers. Hell, even the manager of Big City Burrito is here. He’s been trying to date me all summer.
And even though I appreciate this support, I can’t really appreciate this support. I can’t think straight. I can’t think about anything but my missing child.
I want to curl up and die, that’s how sad I am right now.
“Ms. Lundin?”
I look up at the sheriff. “Did you find her?”
“No. Not yet. But we’ve made some flyers and we’ve got a whole troop of people out looking for her right now.”
Oh, my God. Flyers have been made. My child is officially missing.
I begin to cry.
“Now, now.” The sheriff pulls up a chair and sits down next to me. He kinda pats my shoulder, but it’s one of those I-don’t-really-want-to-touch-you pats. “Don’t worry. We’ll find her.”
His radio crackles on his shoulder. “Sheriff Madison?”
“Go ’head. I’m here, dispatch.”
“We may have a sighting of the missing girl.”
I grab the little radio right off his uniform and press the button. “Where!”
“That you, Sheriff?” I can hear the dispatcher’s smile. This is not a time for smiling.
The sheriff grabs his radio back and points a finger in my face. “Do not touch a man’s radio, Ms. Lundin. Unacceptable.”
“Sorry,” I mumble.
“Go ’head, Rosa. What do we got?”
“Yes. Well, let’s see. We’ve actually had several sightings. Someone saw her eating donuts at an AA meeting this morning.”
“What?” I can’t even wrap my head around that.
“Then someone reported her getting coffee at the Bohemian Poet’s House.”
“What?” I say again.
“Then she was at the art building on campus. Um. Sheriff? Can I get a private moment with you?”
“Private? Why does Rosa need privacy? Whatever she’s got to say, I deserve to know.”
“You hold on there, Ms. Lundin,” the sheriff says. “I’ll be right back. It’s probably got nothing to do with your girl.”
He walks off talking low into his radio and Carla sits down in the chair next to me. “She’s gonna be fine,” she says, picking up right where she left off the last time she told me that.
I watch the sheriff closely. He appears confused. Looks out the front window. Looks back at me. Looks at the flyer in his hand. Then nods his head and starts walking this way.
I stand up. Something is happening and I don’t like it.
“OK. We do have several sightings of the little girl.”
“You do?”
“Yes, ma’am. She’s been making the rounds, it seems. But I have one question for you, Ms. Lundin. Before we make everyone go crazy over a missing child.”
He just looks at me and no question comes forth. “What? What question?” I ask.
“Do you have any kind of personal relationship with the Vaughn family?”
My heart skips a beat. This isn’t happening. I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry. “W-why would you ask me that?”
“Because it appears that your daughter is in the company of one Vicious Vaughn.” He nods his head to the tattoo shop across the street. “Did you ask him to babysit?”
“No! What the actual fuck? He has never even met her! She does not know him! He is a stranger! And he needs to be arrested, right now!”
“Well, we sent the local PD over to the mansion, but the only person home is the grandpa and he’s quite crazy. He’s shootin’ BBs at the officers as we speak.”