“Ari?” Liv called. Abandoning gelato cups on the vendor’s cart, she ran toward the spot where Ari rescued the puppy, yelling, “Ariel Kelly! Stop hiding. This isn’t funny.”
Liv saw a bit of purple in a wheel well—the beret, now grimy with tire tracks. Ari must have lost it when she went…where? Liv sprinted toward the park.
The dog’s owner had gone, leaving her baby carriage behind. When Liv looked inside the carriage, she shrieked. A baby stared at her with dead eyes. No, not dead eyes, doll eyes. It was one of those dolls people bought when they couldn’t have babies, the kind they pretended were real.
Feeling sick, dizzy, confused, Liv staggered toward the gelato man. “My friend,” she said, holding out Ari’s hat, “did you see her come back?”
He shook his head. “You have problem?”
Liv gazed at the purple beret. “Big problem.” Hands shaking, she pulled out her phone to dial 911.