Dying for Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

snowballs, and he grabbed me.”
    “Did he have a weapon? A gun or a knife?”
    He shook his head. “No, he just grabbed me real tight. He said he was taking me to a better place.”
    Dr. Rowen’s mouth turned downward. “Did he tell you where this better place was?”
    “No . . . he said my foster mother didn’t want me anymore. That she said I was too much trouble, and that I had to go with him.”
    John’s chest clenched, and he angled himself toward the foster mother.
    “Did you tell Darby that?”
    “No,” Shayla shrieked. “That’s not true.”
    “How about neighbors or friends? Did you tell anyone that you wished you hadn’t taken Darby in?”
    “Of course not. I told you all this before.”
    “You also said the state didn’t pay you enough for all the kids. Did this man offer you money for Darby?”
    Shayla crossed her arms, her voice brittle. “You think I sold him?”
    “It happens,” John said, deadpan.
    The woman sagged against the chair. “I may not have been the best mother, but I tried. I . . . Darby was just rambunctious sometimes.”
    “And you had to scold him?”
    “All kids need to be reprimanded.”
    He made a note to check the doctor’s reports for physical abuse. If there were signs, he’d personally get Darby removed from the home.
    But if she hadn’t cooperated in the kidnapping, the abductor had used a mental ploy to draw Darby away from the house.
    “Then what happened?” Dr. Rowen asked.
    “He tied a cloth around my eyes and put me in his van.” Darby dropped the brown crayon, picked up a black one, and drew the rag over his eyes with angry lines. John didn’t have to be a shrink to realize he was depicting the terror he’d felt when he was blindfolded.
    “Did the bad man say where he was taking you?”
    “No.” Darby’s voice cracked. “Just that one day everyone would know who I was.”
    John grimaced. Darby had been compliant. Maybe that had saved his life.
    “Did he talk to anyone on the phone or meet up with someone while you were with him?” Dr. Rowen asked.
    A long second passed, fraught with tension.
    “Darby?”
    “He talked on the phone.”
    “What did he say?”
    Tears swam in Darby’s eyes. “He said I was a good one.”
    “A good one?” Dr. Rowen asked. “What did he mean by that?”
    Darby clenched the crayon so hard it broke. “That I did what he told me to do.”
    “What else did he say?”
    “That he’d deliver me the next day.”
    John fisted his hands by his sides.
    When he found this guy, the bastard would never see the light again.

    Nerves tingled along Amelia’s spine as she checked over her shoulder before entering the doctor’s office. She couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was following her.
    A car zoomed past her. Three strangers were walking across the street, then a shadow caught her eye.
    She froze, digging her hands into the pockets of her thick winter coat. The gray fog of winter made visibility difficult, but the shadow disappeared into an alley.
    She took a deep breath, telling herself she was imagining things. She stepped inside the doctor’s office and greeted the receptionist.
    “She’s waiting on you,” the petite blonde said, then turned back to her computer.
    Amelia rapped on her door, then pushed it open. Her therapist, Dr. June Clover, waved her in, and Amelia sank onto the sofa. Dr. Clover had been using hypnosis to help her recover memories and sort the truth from delusions.
    “Tell me what’s going on today, Amelia,” Dr. Clover said with a smile.
    Amelia hesitated. All morning she’d debated whether or not to tell her therapist about the dream. She didn’t want to sound crazy.
    But the doctor had promised to help her.
    “Amelia?” Dr. Clover said. “What is it? Did something happen to upset you?”
    She released a wary breath. “I’ve been having a recurring dream,” Amelia explained. “I’m in the hospital delivering a baby.”
    “Your twin sister just gave birth, didn’t