Her Dangerous Promise - Part 2: (Romantic Suspense Serial) Read Online Free PDF

cars, what would he make of them?
    “How can I help you if you won’t let me?”
    “I can take care of things myself. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my class is waiting.” Mary brushed past Thom. She stomped down the hallway, fuming. How dare he manipulate her that way? To send his niece to trick her into talking with him, how despicable was that? And what about that almost kiss this morning? Had that just been another trick to weasel past her defenses? He probably didn’t even find her attractive. He probably thought she was just some helpless, foolish, old schoolmarm who would swoon at the touch of a man and spill her guts.
    And the fact that she had swooned ticked her off. Why wouldn’t he just take her word for it and trust that she had taken care of the whole incident herself? Even the guy who snatched her had at least trusted her at her word. And she’d kept her promise, hadn’t she? Everything was going to be fine, if only Thom would quit prying at her emotions.

Chapter Seven

    The rest of the morning and all through lunch, Mary thought of a thousand things she could have said to Thom. None of them were about the abduction and none of them were very nice. It wasn’t until recess that her thoughts finally strayed from Thom.
    The playground twisted around the school building in an L-shaped pattern. Even though a fence surrounded the playground, it only stood waist high and in several places bushes and trees planted outside the schoolyard grew against and over the fence. Mary and the other teachers who shared the recess period patrolled the area. The usually relaxing duty today filled Mary with gut-twisting tension.
    The faculty parking lot, where Mary had been snatched, lay just a few feet from the playground, near the slides. She couldn’t keep from glancing in that direction, checking and double-checking for anyone who appeared out of place. Just standing so close to that parking lot sent knives of dread through her. If she could have justified it, she would have ordered all the children to stay away from that side of the playground but that pushed the bounds of sanity.
    Being careful and living in fear, were two different things. She couldn’t let her own paranoia affect the whole school. In time, she assured herself, the fear would fade. In time, she’d feel safe on the school grounds. She’d survived so far, hadn’t she?
    Then why did she feel so vulnerable? Why did she have to dig her nails in her palms to keep from screaming? Why did she wish Thom had stayed to scare away all the boogeymen?
    “Just relax,” she mumbled to herself. “The kids can sense when something is wrong. That will only upset and distract them. Put on a happy face.”
    Mary forced herself to wear a plastic smile; certain it fooled no one who gave her a second look. She hummed the “happy face” song the children sometimes sang in music class. Gradually, she did relax slightly. Her children were safe and happy, she told herself. She was safe and happy. Nothing was going to happen. It had all been a bad dream and it was behind her now.
    “Miss Seeton?” Tricia Woods, one of her students, skipped up to her.
    “Yes, Tricia?”
    Tricia held up her balled fist. “I’ve got something for you.”
    “What is it?” Mary asked, trying to affect an interested tone of voice, even though she cringed at the thought of some slimy, creepy critter squeezed in Tricia’s hand.
    “That man over there gave it to me.” Tricia twisted around to point and then frowned. “Where’d he go?”
    Mary felt phantom hands closing around her neck, squeezing, making it hard for her to speak. “What man?”
    “He’s gone now. He was mostly in the bushes. I couldn’t really see him.”
    “What did he give you?”
    She opened her hand and showed Mary a button. “He said to tell you to keep your promise.”
    Mary lifted the button and examined it. The mother of pearl button had an engraved cameo on it. She recognized it as one that had come from