Catch Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Let me look at you. Let me see how healthy you’ve become.”
    “I certainly feel much better.”
    Indeed, he looked it. His face had lost the pained, pinched pallor that had overwhelmed him over the previous year and a half, and his brown eyes sparkled once again with the mirth she remembered from childhood. Even his hair looked healthy, as he’d taken to combing it back with pomade again. But his frame remained spare and he’d dropped even more weight.
    She cupped his face. Freshly sprouting whiskers abraded her palm. “Are you eating well?”
    “I certainly am.” A smug smile took over his mouth. “I’ve eaten everything I’ve been given and managed to retain it for two weeks now.”
    “Oh, that is so wonderful.” The pain that struck him upon eating had been her biggest fear. A body couldn’t survive without taking sustenance. “But then why do you look so slender?”
    He shrugged. “The fare here is quite plain. It gives one what’s necessary and no more. I’ve no fear I’ll be able to maintain such a diet once we return home.”
    Maggie dropped her hand and stepped away to the window. She chewed her bottom lip. This was the part of the plan she’d dreaded all along. Her father’s disappointment would tear her soul to shreds. “We’re not returning. I’ve only come for a visit. You’ll be able to remain and continue for as long as you need.”
    “Masterson came through with the loan?” Father nodded as he crossed his arms over his now-narrow chest. “Good, good. I knew Willheim wouldn’t let me down.”
    She gripped the window frame and took a deep breath, gazing blindly across the rolling green lawns. She’d considered lying to her father, but knew it would never succeed. All her life, Father had only to look at her to know when she’d lied, even about something as little as sweeping out the tack room.
    “He didn’t. Said it was a bad risk, as once you were gone I’d have no way to pay back any sort of loan.”
    Even now, tears threatened again as she remembered the cold scorn with which Masterson had said it. Maggie had burst into embarrassing sobs at the shock of the moment. Never before had she known Mr. Masterson to be such a stonehearted bastard.
    “He didn’t? Then…then how can I stay here? Did one of my investments finally pay out?”
    “No.” She spun back to face him. “No investments. There’s no money left. No land, no nothing.”
    Confusion drew his expression into a caricature of widened eyes and opened mouth. “Then…How?”
    She pushed her chin into the air and, drawing forth every bit Mother taught her about proper posture, tightened her spine into a semblance of assurance. “I robbed the Fresh Springs bank.”
    He blinked and rubbed a hand over his hair. “You’re joking.”
    “No. I’m not.”
    “You did what?” He was across the room in two strides. He gripped her shoulders and shook her until her teeth slammed together. “I’m a sheriff, for God’s sake. You’ve betrayed everything I’ve ever taught you. How could you?”
    “How could I not?” The tears won the battle. She dashed them away with the meat of her palm. “How could I let you die? You’re all I have left.”
    “Jesus,” he breathed. He drew her into his arms and hugged her so tight her ribs clenched. “That’s the way of it, my girl. Fathers die before their daughters.”
    She pushed out of his grip. She couldn’t afford to entertain guilt over her actions. Regret would take her apart piece by piece. “He deserved it. If he’d had a dozen banks, I’d have robbed every one. You didn’t see him. He seemed to almost… enjoy it when I told him you could die.”
    Father’s gaze went cloudy as he looked out the window. “Yes. Yes, I can understand that.”
    “Why?” She wiped away another spate of tears. So much for remaining strong. “How could he do that to you? To us? You two were supposed to be friends. It’s his fault we don’t have any money.”
    Father shook