Read Online Serial Bride by Ann Voss Peterson - Free Book Online

State Street and the glowing white dome of the state capitol.
    â€œDo you really think Kane is behind Diana’s kidnapping?”
    Bryce glanced at Sylvie’s troubled eyes and pale cheeks. She didn’t seem like a person who would deny an unsavory fact. Not if it was staring her in the face. But she’d been through a lot in the past few hours. Her desperate fear for her sister must becatching up to her. It was understandable she would look for other explanations to explain what happened to her sister. Other options that weren’t so deadly.
    Remembering the way she’d pulled away from him when Yamal spread out the pictures, the vehemence with which she’d tried to refuse his help and his car, Bryce fought the urge to touch her, to comfort her. “I’m afraid I do think Kane is responsible.”
    She shook her head. Apparently he’d given the wrong answer. “It doesn’t seem possible. I mean, how could he be? He’s in prison.”
    He’d asked himself the same thing about Ty’s death. But in the end, there was no other explanation. In the end there was only Kane’s threat and Diana Gale.
    â€œI mean, Sami Yamal seemed pretty bitter,” she said. “Maybe he kidnapped Diana. Maybe he wants to use her disappearance to discredit Bertram.”
    â€œIt seems like there are easier ways for him to do that.”
    â€œOr maybe Bertram did it.”
    â€œBertram? She was helping him with his research. He has no reason to want her to disappear.”
    She blew out a stream of air in frustration. “Maybe she changed her mind about sharing in the book.”
    â€œA book that’s not written? Not sold?”
    â€œWell, he seems like a more likely candidate than a serial killer who is behind bars.”
    â€œYou’re scared.”
    She didn’t say a word, just started walking faster.
    â€œIt’s okay to be scared, Sylvie. I’d be worried if you weren’t. Kane is a scary guy.”
    â€œYou hate him, don’t you?”
    â€œOf course. I would imagine anyone with a lick of sense would hate Kane.”
    â€œTrue. But with you, it goes deeper than that, doesn’t it? That’s why you were willing to stick your neck out to get a look at that folder. That’s why you’re here with me now. You’re out for Dryden Kane’s blood.”
    He wasn’t sure if he was that transparent or if she was trying to convince herself his real motive had nothing to do with actually helping her. “I want to destroy Dryden Kane. But I also don’t want something bad to happen to your sister. True. No matter why she was so fascinated with Kane, she doesn’t deserve that.”
    â€œYou think she is one of those women who are attracted to serial killers—a groupie—don’t you?”
    He wasn’t sure why she was asking these things, what she wanted to hear. All he could do was tell her the truth. “Probably.”
    She dropped her gaze to the leaves scattering under her feet. With her eyes cast down and anxietydigging lines in her smooth complexion, she looked frustrated, hopeless. “I can’t believe that about her. It doesn’t seem like her at all. But I can’t explain why she was so fascinated with him, either.”
    â€œYour sister was playing a dangerous game when she entered that prison to interview Dryden Kane.”
    â€œBut that comes back to what I was saying earlier. He’s in prison. Behind bars. How could he hurt her?”
    â€œJust because he can’t hurt his victims personally doesn’t mean he can’t influence someone on the outside.”
    â€œDo you really think it’s possible he convinced someone to act for him?”
    Would he have thought it was possible before Ty’s death? Probably not. Did he now? “That’s exactly what I think.”
    She wrapped her arms around her middle and shivered.
    Even though he knew her chill