Freeing Her Read Online Free PDF Page A

find him when she
least expects it. Now let her be.”
    Gabby finally stopped coughing and
smiled.
    They finished lunch and promised to catch up
soon. Gabby said she wanted to have a girl’s night with Sky and
Cara, another mutual friend.
    When she got back to her office, she felt
somewhat better. The burger and fries felt like lead in her belly,
but her headache was gone and she had more energy for her afternoon
patients. Though Danny still rattled her nerves, she was more
focused on her work and the afternoon sailed on by.
     
    # # #
     
    When six rolled around, his curiosity could
no longer be contained. Kolson joined Sam when he went to check up
on Gabby. They parked about a half a block away, near the subway
entrance, and watched her leave her office. Kolson couldn’t get the
dark-haired psychiatrist off his mind. Something about her had
reached inside him, which troubled him for more than one reason. He
wasn’t the kind of guy who usually gave a shit about strangers and
he never got involved in other people’s lives, particularly those
with issues. Why he was tracking her made absolutely no sense at
all. He needed to have his head examined.
    He laughed to himself. What a fucking joke.
Here he was, the most screwed-up individual he knew, following a
psychiatrist who apparently had her own issues and he was telling
himself he needed to have his damn cerebral matter examined.
    After she locked the
office door, she trudged toward the subway station. She had taken a
cab that morning and since she was on a barely existent budget, she
couldn’t afford another one. She carried her briefcase in one hand
and held her purse next to her body with the other. About twenty
yards from the stairway to the train, a shadow crossed in front of
her and she looked right up into his face. The briefcase hit the
sidewalk with a thud.
    “ Didn’t think you’d see me
so soon, did you, cuz?”
    Her heart hammered her ribs so hard, she was
sure he could hear it.
    “ H-how did you find
me?”
    Danny laughed. “For such a bright girl, you
sure are stupid. You’re in the fucking phonebook, you idiot.”
    Gabby tried to inhale, but the steel band
that had tightened around her trachea made it impossible. He’d
found her office. God, she prayed he hadn’t discovered where she
lived too. What would she do if he had?
    “ What? Aren’t you happy to
see your cousin Danny?” He spread his arms out wide, like he was
going to hug her. If he touched her, she would scream. He laughed
again, the sound like fingernails on a chalkboard. She
cringed.
    She bent down to retrieve her briefcase,
never taking her eyes off him. Her mind raced—what should she do?
If she had to, she would check into a hotel. There was no way he
could find out where she lived. She shook with fear, and it pissed
her off because he knew it. He saw the effect he had on her. His
menacing laugh confirmed it.
    His hand stretched out as if to touch her
cheek and she stepped backward. The sidewalk dipped slightly, and
she lost her footing and started to fall.
    But she didn’t. A pair of sturdy arms
wrapped around her and pulled her back to her feet, steadying her.
“There you are, precious. I was wondering what happened to
you.”
    Skippy! Or Mr. H. or whoever he was.
    She spun around in his arms, latched onto
his coat, and held on to him like a lifeline, pressing her cheek
against his chest. She knew he felt her trembling. He held her
close while his eyes narrowed and targeted cousin Danny, who didn’t
look as threatening as he liked to think he was. Slightly paunchy
in the middle, Danny appeared to have lived hard, though he may
have been attractive at one point in his life.
    “ You must be the cousin
Danny I’ve heard so much about.” There was no disguising the menace
layering Kolson’s voice.
    “ Yeah, I am. What’s it to
you?” Danny stood facing Kolson, dark orbs flashing dangerously as
though he owned the world.
    But Danny couldn’t miss
the hostility on Kolson’s