Ransomed Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page B

motionless. Gracie screamed for help and ran to catch him as he turned and moved out of sight. She ran closer to him until he was just within reach
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    Then tires squealed and he sped away in a black truck. MVB. She repeated the license plate letters over and over again
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    Her heartfelt as if it would slam through her chest, but she had to get back to save her family. This time they would survive
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    But the crash site disappeared, leaving only bright white hospital lights assaulting her eyes. She stood in the silent emergency room surrounded by three tables covered with sheets. The bodies underneath terrified her. She couldn’t look at them
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    “No!” She bolted upright in bed, waking from the nightmare. Her comforter felt like a lead weight. She threw it aside, heaving for breath.
    Jake scrambled from the bed and stood at her bedroom door. Even her dog couldn’t handle her emotional outburst.
    She clutched a pillow to her chest and fell back, drawing into a ball. The vise grip of grief closed around her heart.
    Images of Mark, Elizabeth, and Joshua faded in her mind’s eye. Gracie tried to focus, but only watercolor shadows remained. She felt her empty left ring finger.
    “Oh, God, why couldn’t I have been in the van too?”
    Silence answered her.
    Moving to the hope chest at the foot of her bed, she uncovered the green velvet case. Its cool softness mocked her. Unlike the first time she’d held that box.
    No. Everything had changed since then.
    For over two long years she’d been without her family. She’d become one of those lonely women hiding instead of wearing her wedding rings. She’d grown tired of explaining her widowhood and the pitiful, sorrowful looks that accompanied her confession.
    Tears dotted the little velvet box. Opening the lid, she fingered the jewelry that had been so much a part of her for seven years. Every time the marquis-cut diamond caught the light, she’d smile with loving memories.
    No longer.
    She closed the lid and returned the green box to its resting place.
    Meeting Steven Kessler must have brought on this dream. A dream she hadn’t had in months. She shook her head. More likely it stemmed from her upcoming trip and the anxiety that had been building all weekend.
    Still, thinking about Steven Kessler didn’t help anything. It only intensified the ache.
    The past held her captive. She wasn’t free to date again. It didn’t matter that her sister and parents said it was time.
    Not yet.
    Standing up made her head pound. She massaged her templesand neck while crossing the cold hardwood floor. Moving aside the floor-length rose curtains, she peered into the thick darkness. No moon to soften the blackness. No stars shining. Only clouds and night.
    She pressed her forehead onto the cool glass. “Help me find the man who killed my family. Father. Please help me put him in jail.” Jake nudged her hand with his nose and she stroked his warm fur.
    Nothing would bring them back. But justice had to provide some comfort, some sense of closure to the entire nightmare. If that man were locked behind bars, he could never destroy anyone else’s family.
    That had to count for something.
    She padded over to her dresser. The leather book, placed there last evening, drew her. She flicked on an antique lamp and held the book close to her heart.
    The clock flashed 1 a.m. Monday morning. Gracie sat on the bed and pulled the comforter to her waist. Jake settled back down to sleep at her feet. She fingered the worn leather Bible Mark had given her on their fifth wedding anniversary. Flipping through the highlighted passages, her eyes settled on Jeremiah 31:3: “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”
    She wanted to pray that if God loved her. He’d help her on her quest. But years of Sunday school and listening to her parents share truth about God reminded her that a prayer like that wasn’t a guarantee He’d act.
    Still, she had a good cause. Justice. And starting tomorrow, she’d force