Read Online Twin Threat Christmas by Rachelle McCalla - Free Book Online Page A

time? And then, would the authorities believe her story? Would Vanessa’s evidence be enough? And—most important—would they be able to figure out who was really behind the crime ring? If they couldn’t cut off the head, chopping off an arm would only anger the monster. He didn’t know a great deal about criminals, but could guess that much for certain.
    Vanessa cleared her throat. “I’m so sorry for dragging you and Debbi into this.”
    “We’re glad to help.”
    “You can’t be.” She made a sound that was almost laughter, though it was weighed down by heavy emotion.
    “I am,” he insisted, squeezing the hand he still held. “When you disappeared, I vowed to do anything and everything. I knocked on doors, hung up posters. Raged at the world. Remember that old gnarled tree in the woods?”
    “Our monster?”
    “I chopped it down with an ax.”
    “You left it dead?” She quoted the poem again. This time her attempt at laughter sounded a little lighter, tinged by hope.
    “I wanted to slay the monster that took you. I prayed God would give me the chance. One chance to storm the castle and bring you back, if only He’d show me where you were.” Eric cleared his throat, realizing how dramatic his words probably sounded, even if they were all completely true. “And now you’re here. And I’m glad. I’m glad to help.”
    Vanessa said nothing, but pulled her hand free of his. Eric glanced away from the road just long enough to see her wipe away tears.
    “Vanessa?”
    “I’m okay. It’s okay.” She composed herself. “I just wish I’d known...before I went with Jeff.”
    Her voice faded to almost nothing, but Eric still heard her. He heard, too, what she’d left unspoken. She’d gone with the kidnapper because Jeff had treated her as if she was someone special, as if she was beautiful. Maybe if Eric had figured out how to tell Vanessa how he’d felt about her before she met Jeff, the kidnapper wouldn’t have found such an easy target.
    Eric had failed her. Worse than that, looking back now, he distinctly remembered things he’d said, negative comments he’d made to her in an effort to disguise how he really felt. Even the day he’d dressed up as the highwayman, he’d treated it like a joke rather than confess his feelings. Who was he to think he could defeat that monster? He’d practically shoved her into Jeff’s arms.
    If she hadn’t needed his help tonight, she probably wouldn’t even speak to him. He wouldn’t blame her. “Where do you want to go next? To the county sheriff’s office, to see your girls?”
    Vanessa let out a thoughtful breath. “I don’t think I’m ready to go to the sheriff’s office, not yet, not until I know the evidence I’ve gathered is enough to defend my innocence. If I walk in there unprepared, I might not get the chance to walk out.”
    “So, where do you want to go? We’ll need to upload the pictures from my phone, plug in the computer... Do you want to go to my house?”
    “The cabin is a lot closer. I need to make sure my girls got out okay.”
    “But Virgil—”
    “We’re ahead of him. We know we’re ahead of him now. Besides, when Virgil’s boss asked him about the cabin, he said he hadn’t checked it yet because he didn’t know where it is.”
    “He can get the address from public record, probably find it online. GPS will do the rest. It won’t take long.”
    “And they have to change a flat tire. We have time to look at the evidence I’ve gathered, to decide if we have enough to prove my innocence.”
    “And if we don’t?”
    “I’ll make that decision once I see what we’ve got.”
    “At the cabin,” Eric concluded, pressing his foot a little harder on the accelerator. “We can go there, make sure the girls got out okay, view the pictures. I know the fastest way to get there that saves a good ten minutes off the fastest route any GPS will recommend. I don’t know how long it’s going to take them to change that tire,