Silent Vows Read Online Free PDF Page B

one was in his sights, but the larger man heaved himself over the chain link fence and moved out of firing range.
    Todd shifted his eyes to the top of the woman’s head buried deep into his shoulder. In that second, the scrawny guy made his escape.
    He would have given chase if he’d had back up.
    Instead, he holstered his gun and focused on the woman trembling in his arms. He didn’t know who was more startled, her or him. Renewed fear for her safety quickly replaced his relief at finding her.
    She held on to him. He found his arm inching around her waist and pulling her close. She let out a slight whimper that reminded him of a wounded animal scared and alone.
    “They’re gone. Shh... It’s okay now.” His hands stroked up and down her back.
    Her body relaxed and the tears started to flow.
    She mumbled something in a language he didn’t understand.
    He couldn’t tell if it was an oath or a prayer. He pulled away and looked at her. “Did they hurt you?”
    She shook her head. “If you hadn’t come...”
    “They’re long gone and can’t hurt you now.”
    Nodding, she sucked in a deep breath in what Todd thought was an attempt to control her emotions.
    He kept his arm around her and walked back to his car parked half on the curb with the driver’s door open and with the engine still running. “Let’s get you out of here.”
    He helped her into the passenger seat and then took his own.
    “Buckle up,” Todd told her before putting the car in reverse.
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    Silent Vows

    The car moved. Her hand clutched her bag in a white-knuckled grip.
    “Buckle up,” he told her again.
    When she responded with a blank gaze, he assumed she was in shock. He reached across her chest, pulled the strap over her lap, and clicked it in.
    She still trembled.
    “Hey, you’re safe now.” Todd placed his hand on hers. Heat surged with the connection he tried his best to ignore.
    She gazed up at him with her innocent, trusting eyes. Thank God she’s safe.
    “What are you doing out here, Officer Blakely?”
    Her words stopped him from staring at her.
    “Todd,” he placed his hands on the wheel and maneuvered his car onto the street. “Call me Todd.”
    “What are you doing out here, Todd?”
    “Searching for you.”
    “Why?”
    Why? Dammit. Wasn’t that the same question he had been asking himself over the past nine hours? He stopped at a red light. “Because you don’t belong out here.” Her hair was escaping the rubber band holding it. Her dirt smudged face held those big Bambi eyes that resembled a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car. No. She didn’t belong on the streets.
    “I’m not going back to that place, that mission.
    The minds there are sick.”
    “True.”
    “And the hospital is for those who are ill.”
    “True.” Now what? He hadn’t thought farther than finding her. Now what was he going to do with her. He knew of a women’s shelter, but they closed their doors after ten, it was going on eleven now.
    Not that she’d be any safer there. The women in those places led hard lives.
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    Catherine Bybee

    “So, where are you taking me?”
    He let out a long-suffering breath, and hoped he wasn’t making a huge mistake. “Home.”

    ****
Todd’s home was a small bungalow nestled in an older part of town. The streets were tree-lined and quiet. The yards were small, but not so much that he could hear every conversation his neighbors had, just the ones when voices were raised.
    He walked around the car and opened her door.
    She either was accustomed to this, or had no idea how to open it. By her expression, he wasn’t sure which was true.
    Once inside, he tossed his keys on the table by the door and switched on the lights.
    She walked behind him and glanced about the room. It was sparsely furnished with an old worn leathered sofa and two side chairs. He had a small fireplace that hadn’t been lit in years, and a flat screen television hanging above it.
    Todd disappeared around a corner and