“What about you?”
“Child Services was called in. My only other living relative, my Aunt Evie, was asked if she would take custody of me.”
“You went to live with her?”
“No,” Olivia replied flatly. “She didn’t want me.”
“What?” Theo frowned. “But she was your family. It was her duty to care for you.”
“Theo, you can’t make someone care out of duty. Besides, I wouldn’t have wanted her to. At least she was honest. I knew where I stood, and I guess I can understand to a certain extent. I was a constant reminder of everything she’d lost and of the man who had taken it from her.”
“How old were you?” he demanded.
“Eight.”
“For God’s sake, Olivia, you were a child,” he replied angrily. “I don’t understand how a woman can blame a child for the sins of her father. She was not worthy of you.”
“Maybe, but it doesn’t change anything.”
“What happened after she refused you?”
“I was put into the foster care system.” She shrugged. “I bounced back and forth between a few different families, but as I got older, I knew they got more and more uncomfortable about having me around.”
“Olivia.” He struggled to find the right words.
She shrugged. “I got over it a long time ago. You can’t blame people. After all, no one wants to adopt the child of a murderer.” She huffed quietly. “It makes people very nervous.”
“How can you smile about it?”
“There’s no point in being bitter because no one wanted me. I realized pretty early on that no one was coming to save me, and if I wanted to make something of my life, I was going to have to save myself. Fortunately, school was always easy for me, so I studied hard and got into college on a full scholarship.”
“You’ve always been alone?”
“Not completely,” she replied. “In college, I met Mags, Margaret Hale. She was a guest lecturer, and we just kind of hit it off. She’s much older than me, and she seemed to fill all those spaces that were missing. She became my family. She was the one that encouraged me to study the history of witchcraft, then New England history. She also helped me get my first couple of books published.”
A sudden pounding at the door had Olivia rolling her eyes and yanking the throw off her legs. “I can’t believe I thought moving here would mean peace and quiet.”
Theo climbed to his feet and followed her from the room. It was getting late and was already dark outside. He watched as she peered through the peephole and sighed.
“Jake,” she greeted him cautiously as she opened the door. “You don’t look happy. Why do I get the feeling you’re about to give me more bad news?”
“Olive.” He nodded as he stepped through the door, closing it behind him. “Theo.”
“What’s going on?”
He removed his hat with one hand and clasped a manila folder in the other.
“There’s been another disappearance,” he replied. “A nineteen-year-old kid this time.”
“How long has he been missing?”
“Three days.”
“Three days?” Olivia repeated. “Why are we only hearing about this now?”
“Because he was supposed to go visit a friend in Salem. He never made it there, but his parents thought he was there while his friend figured he’d changed his mind when he was a no-show. It was simply a case of miscommunication. It was only when he was due back earlier today and never showed that the parents called the friend and realized he was missing.”
“Damn it,” Olivia whispered. “When the hell is the chief going to figure out it’s not me and actually start looking for the killer? How many more people have to get hurt first?”
