Ransomed Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page A

your arrival?”
    Steven groaned. He’d forgotten that his dad and stepmom were out of town for the weekend. Too bad his sister, Hanna, didn’t live closer. “I’ll be right there.”
    Clint looked up at his muffled curse. “That’s not gonna make it better. What’s the problem?”
    “Dad and Sue are in Baltimore opening a new coffee shop. James is at school waiting for me.”
    “I can see if Sara will swing back by and pick him up. She should be done with afternoon rounds by now.” Clint speed dialed his wife, one of DC’s finest oncologists.
    Steven closed his partner’s phone. “No. I’m not doing any good here. And it’s James’s last day of kindergarten. I should at least pick up my son once from school.”
    “Your dad and Sue moved to DC to help, Steven. Cut yourself some slack. Single parenting is hard enough without wallowing in guilt.”
    Easy for Clint to say. He and Sara made marriage, parenting, and life look rose colored. Together. Steven shook away the green thoughts. “See you in the morning. Call me if anything changes with Ryan’s condition.”
    Beltway traffic didn’t help him reach his goal quick enough, and thoughts of Ryan dogged him when Alexandria’s red stoplights left him with no cars to pass.
    By the time he parked his blue Explorer, showed his credentials, and bypassed the magnetometers, his son sat in the after-school room with a teacher alone. At least James wasn’t crying.
    Steven leaned against the doorway watching the long-legged teacher invite James to work a puzzle on the floor. The slightly opened door gave him a little cover to observe. Her soft auburn hair, clipped into a ponytail, shook as she laughed with his little all-star.
    Steven had never seen a young, attractive woman enjoy spending time with James. It did something to his insides.
    Something he hadn’t felt in years.
    Angela had left when their son was just a baby. Ever since then, James’s grandparents or an older nanny cared for him. Better not to have a woman seeking a ready-made family trying to win James’s affection. Between James and work, in the last five years dating hadn’t made Steven’s list of things to do.
    Maybe it should have.
    “Agent Kessler?”
    He turned to face a scrawny flip of a stuffed suit.
    “I’m Thomas Perkins, the vice principal.” The man reached over and closed the classroom door. “I’d like to discuss your plans future for after-school care. If you intend to keep your son at Hope Ridge, that is.”
    Steven straightened to a full head over the younger man. “This is the first time James has been picked up late. It won’t happen again.”
    “With your Bureau work, I don’t imagine the hours are ever conventional.”
    “I’ll make sure we have other arrangements worked out before school starts in September.”
    “Good. Please see that the front office is updated as soon as possible.” Mr. Perkins strutted down the hall like he owned the world. The thirtysomething official needed an attitude adjustment in a bad way. But not from Steven. Someone else would have to take that guy down a notch.
    Steven adjusted his favorite red and black tie. He hoped the five years he had on the vice principal made him far less arrogant, not so quick to try and pick a fight. Like he wouldhave done more than a decade ago.
    Before Clint had started feeding him quotes about fools rushing in where angels fear to tread.
    He returned his attention to the classroom and its beautiful teacher. Maybe that was Perkins’s problem. He’d caught Steven staring at his girlfriend.
    Not likely.
    The lady still doing puzzles with his son had more class than that. Given her looks and ease with children, she probably had a husband and kids at home too.
    Before reaching for the classroom door, he checked his phone one last time to see if Clint had left a message about Ryan.
    Nothing.
    Maybe no news was good news this time.
    “I’m here to pick up James.”
    Gracie’s face flamed. She’d caught a