CA 50.7 Little Girl Lost Read Online Free PDF Page A

from the cupboard above the sink and opened it. When she'd removed whatever was inside she walked back to where he waited and thrust it at him.
    A photo. A four-by-six print that could have come from any drugstore or photo processing booth. A little girl with long dark hair and blue eyes stared back at him. His heart stumbled. She looked the way he imagined Sophie would look now. "Who is this?" The growl in his tone gave away the emotions twisting inside him.
    "That's your daughter. Don't you recognize her? She has your eyes and your mother's nose—bless her heart."
    No. He would not get his hopes up like this without evidence. He handed the photo back to her. "What other proof do you have?" He'd had his heart ripped out too many times to be this gullible.
    She snatched the photo from him. "It's her. I've seen her, Paul. It's Sophie. She has the scar from when she fell on that glass."
    Her last statement chased away a little of the doubt. "You saw the scar?" Anticipation seared through his veins. Could their girl be alive.. .here? Hope crowded into his chest.
    "No, I didn't see the scar but he told me about it."
    Defeat sucked the wind out of his sails. "Who mentioned it first? You or this anonymous source?" He hated the frustration that colored his tone.
    She noticed the change. "I wouldn't want you to waste your time. Why don't you go now and save us both the grief of what we know will come next?"
    That was it. His patience snapped and he shot to his feet. "You think I don't spend every day of my life wondering what else I can do to find her?" He pounded his chest with his fist. "She's my little girl, too. But she's gone, Jen. She's gone. Letting these freaks draw you into their trap, for whatever sick motives they have, is not going to find her! You're only hurting yourself. You've already let this destroy us."
    He hadn't meant to say the last part. The agony in her eyes tore at the unhealed wound in his heart. But what he said was the truth.
    She stood there, looking at him for a moment that seemed to last forever. "She is here and I intend to prove it. If you get in my way, I will never forgive you, Paul.” She gestured to the door. "Just go and let me do what I have to do. I don't need you to rescue me."
    He wanted to be angry. They'd been through this so many times. But he couldn't. Whether it was her fragile condition or the photo.. .or her relentless belief in miracles, he couldn't just turn his back and walk away. He had tried that this past year, and it hadn't worked.
    He lowered himself back onto the lumpy sofa in hopes of gaining a reprieve. "Tell me about this anonymous source—this man who contacted you. How did he find you? What was his reason?"
    For a moment he wasn't sure if she would give him any more information. She chewed her bottom lip the way she always did when she weighed a situation. Then she sat down on the coffee table facing him.
    "He's a very wealthy older man. He's been donating large sums of money to research for years. Recently he lost his wife and his only child, a grown daughter. All that loss so close together made him rethink some of the things he'd helped finance in the name of research."
    Paul worked at keeping an open mind. This was sounding more and more like a scam. "How is our child related to his epiphany?"
    "She and six other children were taken from their families for a top-secret research project. The masterminds behind the project were convinced the only way the research would lead to what they wanted out of these children was if they were separated from their parents. No interference. Apparently similar projects in the past had failed for that reason. So they took the kids—like they were pieces of property that could be replaced or would scarcely be missed."
    "Why these particular kids?" He wanted to believe she was on to something. He really did. But she had to face the facts.. .their little girl was likely dead.
    "I saw the other children, too, Paul. They're all there at