Broken Ties Read Online Free PDF Page A

stop died the moment they entered her house. There was no longer any doubt Sidra was a target. The question was whose, and what did they intend to do to her once they had her. Dread became a rock-hard knot in his stomach as she continued to stare at him, questions burning in her eyes.
    “I don’t know, Sid, but I promise you we’ll find whoever did this.”
    “You keep saying that, Levi, but I’m pretty sure he’ll find us before we find him,” she retorted as she pushed past him. “After all, he knows who he’s looking for and exactly where to find me.”
    He followed her to the living room, where she began trying to straighten the mess the intruder had created.
    “Help,” she ordered, motioning to the upended bookshelf, which he lifted with ease.
    She began plucking items from the broken glass of the curio cabinet while he set the sofa, easy chair, and tables upright. He turned back to find her setting a half dozen porcelain dolls, each dressed in a flowing jewel-toned gown, on the shelf, at perfect angles to the romance novels she’d already placed in neat, symmetrical rows. He shook his head in surprise. He would never have imagined Sidra as the fairytale-believing, doll-collecting type, but he couldn’t deny the proof before his eyes. Romance novels and princess dolls were a dead giveaway of a hopeless romantic.
    As she set the last doll on the shelf, she lost her grip on it, bobbling the figurine a moment before catching it. The tiny gold crown fell off the doll’s head and landed on the floor at her feet. With a sigh, she bent to scoop it up, but stopped suddenly, seeming to stumble before sinking to her knees.
    “Sid?” He rushed toward her as she braced her free hand against the floor and squeezed her eyes closed tightly.
    “Wave good-bye, Princess.” The man shoved her into the back seat of the car and Sidra fell across a woman’s lap. The tiara slipped from her head and landed with a soft thud beside the sensible pumps the woman wore. The woman bent to retrieve it as Sidra scrambled up the back seat, tears streaming down her cheeks while she watched her home grow smaller and smaller in the rear window.
    “Mama! Papa!” she cried, her small fists pounding on the glass.
    As they rounded the corner that hid the castle completely from view, the woman spoke with the same guttural accent as the man.
    “Sit down, Princess. You will never see your parents again.”
    “Sidra?” Levi was kneeling beside her, his hand gentle on her back. “Are you okay?”
    She nodded and pushed herself to her feet. “I’m fine.”
    He came to his feet, his eyes searching her face as he put an arm around her and led her to the sofa. She was shaking, her heart was beating frantically, and she could feel the tears on her cheeks.
    “What happened?” he asked.
    “A memory, a flashback. I don’t know. Maybe just a vivid daydream.”
    “And?”
    “And…I think I’m a princess.”
    “A what?”
    “A princess. You know, a girl whose father is king and mother is queen?”
    “I know what a princess is, Sid. I just don’t know what makes you think you could be one.”
    “I was wearing a crown when I was kidnapped. I remember it fell off and landed by a lady’s feet.”
    “Don’t a lot of little girls wear crowns when they’re playing? My niece loves to pretend she’s a princess.”
    “Yes, but this one wasn’t plastic and rhinestones.”
    “How can you know that?”
    “I just do,” she insisted. “I saw my home, Levi, and it was a castle.”
    “A castle?”
    “I am not explaining to you what a castle is.”
    He chuckled and touched her hair while she waited with bated breath to see if he believed her.
    “I can picture you in a crown and a castle,” he admitted. “I just can’t imagine how a princess came to be alone beside an American interstate. We don’t have royalty here.”
    “I know that, Levi. But the woman in the car spoke the same language as the man who accosted me. Obviously I wasn’t