Read Online ChasingShadows by Erin Richards - Free Book Online Page B

she’d delved into the
kidnapper’s mind through touch telepathy. It was far different from the night
dreams when her mind was already open and receptive. The intrusion felt like a
can opener prying the lid off her mind and sucking it into his. Her head still
reeled from the force.
    Alex stared down at her fixedly. Worry creased his forehead.
“You okay?”
    “I think so.” She pressed her fingertips to her temples. A
deep shudder shook her.
    An insistent thought reached the surface of her mind. “The doll
box! I remember what bothered me about it.”
    She struggled on the couch, and Alex helped her to sit. Her
thick braid had unraveled completely, and her hair tumbled around her
shoulders.
    “Do you need an aspirin?” Andrea asked. “Water? Anything?”
    “No. I’ll be okay.” Juliana forced a confident smile.
    Alex examined her with hooded eyes. Satisfied, he snatched
his notebook and pen from the glass-topped coffee table. “What about the doll
box?”
    The scene from her early morning dream sprang to mind as if
unearthed by a shovel. “The kidnapper sat on the side of the bed and he
accidentally kicked the doll box. Then he pushed it away with his hands.” Juliana
sorted through her memory, rubbing her fingertips over her face. “Something
dropped inside the box.”
    Lines of concentration deepened across Alex’s forehead as he
made notes in his notepad.
    “That’s not what you dreamed, is it?” Andrea rose from the
floor and sat beside Juliana on the couch. She picked up the damp washcloth
from the floor, twisting it with both hands.
    “No,” Juliana said in a soft voice.
    “Is she okay?” Andrea cried in alarm.
    “Yes.” She squeezed Andrea’s arm. Her heart pulsed in
empathy, unable to fathom how Andrea dealt with her fear and worry.
    Juliana began with a hesitant preamble. “She’s alive and
well.” She glanced at Andrea’s slender fingers fisted around the red-striped
washcloth. “He hasn’t hurt her. She’s locked in a bedroom and knows he lied
about you joining them, Andrea. She’s upset and won’t eat.”
    Andrea hiccupped and wiped her nose on the washcloth.
    Juliana continued, “Someone’s bringing a meal. She seems to
know what Lisette will eat.” She didn’t want to divulge the rest to Andrea. Lifting
her eyes to Alex, she arched a brow and winked twice. Would he remember their
old eye signal? She instantly recognized a perceptive flicker in return.
    He stepped behind Andrea and rested his hands gently on her
shoulders. “I’ll take a full statement in my office.”
    “Yeah. I could use a breather.” Juliana smiled, hoping to
alleviate the tension stifling the room.
    She attempted to rise to her feet, but a flash of vertigo
overwhelmed her and her knees collapsed, depositing her back on the couch.
    Alex came around the sofa and crouched in front of her. Concern
shifted across the hard planes of his rugged face.
    “Give me a minute,” she said as he stroked her cheek. A jolt
from his touch invigorated her and she shook off the lethargy, willing strength
back to her body and mind.
    “Don’t move.” A glimmer of tenderness reached Alex’s eyes.
    * * * * *
    Alex settled Juliana and Andrea in the living room and went
off to examine the doll box.
    The emotions he experienced when Juliana fainted stunned him.
He wanted to protect her, care for her and never let her out of his sight.
    For the first few years following her vanishing act, he
waited for her to come back, never wanting to surrender the flame of hope. As
time dragged by and there was no word of her, the fire burned into embers until
cold dry ashes remained. And a great fear of love.
    Now back in his life, she had reignited that spark.
    A dog barking in the neighbor’s yard returned him to the
present. Leaving the past behind, he locked his thoughts away and concentrated
on his job.
    Using evidence bags as makeshift gloves, he lifted the doll
box off the closet shelf. All evidence pointed to the fact that