Sister, Missing Read Online Free PDF Page A

World and telling
her everything that had happened. But the text made me think twice. Mum would absolutely forbid me to make any contact with Madison’s kidnappers. And I was pretty certain she’d be on
Shelby’s side over calling the police too. Anyway, I was still furious with her for not telling me Sonia Holtwood was out of prison.
    I reached the pond. Feeling nervous, I glanced up the ravine to where I knew Rick was watching. We’d swapped numbers earlier, which meant I could call him if I saw anything weird. As my
fingers hovered over his number, just in case, he sent a text himself.
    I can see you, kid. Any trouble I’ll be with you in less than a minute.
    Slightly reassured, I leaned against the tree at my back. The ground all around was dry and hard. It hadn’t rained for days. My phone buzzed again. This time the text was from a withheld
number. I opened it quickly.
    Path left of pond. Thirty metres. Broken bench. Look underneath.
    It was the kidnapper. I glanced ahead, into the shadowy path that led away from the pond. The first bench was missing the two slats at the back. I jogged over. There was no sign of anyone
– though I knew Rick was still watching over me up the ravine – and no sound other than the wind in the trees and the distant sound of the sea sucking at the shore.
    My fingers trembled as I felt along the rough wooden underside of the bench. A padded envelope was taped to the slats. I ripped it off and tore it open. Inside was Madison’s phone. As I
picked it up, it beeped with a video message.
    I watched, my heart thumping, as Madison’s face filled the screen.
    ‘Lauren?’ she said. Her lips wobbled and tears welled in her big brown eyes. ‘This message is for you.’
    A lump rose in my throat. I couldn’t bear to see her so frightened and upset.
    Madison turned her head, clearly looking towards someone in the corner of the room, off camera. A second later she picked up a piece of paper from her lap, tucked her hair behind her ear and
gave a sniff. In a shaky voice she read out loud:
    ‘The woman who has me knows us because of you, Lauren. She wants the money from Daddy’s will.’
    I blinked. Sam’s money? Was that what this was all about?
    ‘You have to have the two million pounds life in . . . insurance . . .’ My heart seemed to tear a little as Madison stumbled over the word and looked anxiously into the corner
of the room again. ‘. . . ready in cash by tomorrow morning . . .’
    My grip tightened on the phone. I knew very little about Sam’s life insurance . . . only that he’d arranged that, if he died, Annie would be entitled to a huge lump sum, and that she
had finally received the money the week before she arrived in Britain.
    On the screen, tears were now streaming down Madison’s face. ‘I don’t know where I am, Lauren, if you’re there, but I’m really scared and this woman is mean. I
haven’t seen her face, but she’s American.’
    At that point the screen fizzled into silence. I stared at it, panic clutching at my throat. The kidnapper must be Sonia Holtwood. She had to be. All that stuff about her knowing us
because of me. Plus, she was clearly from the States. And why else would she be hiding her face if she wasn’t scared Madison would recognise her?
    A twig cracked behind me. I jumped. Spun round.
    ‘Who’s there?’ I said. ‘Rick?’
    ‘No.’ And then the last person I expected to see stepped out of the shadows.

 
5
    The Money
    ‘Jam?’ I stared at him, taking in his broad shoulders and handsome, square-jawed face. All so familiar and yet still so gorgeous to me.
    Since we started going out two years ago, Jam had grown several centimetres and was now a head taller than me, but the warmth in his hazel eyes was just the same.
    He held out his arms and I stumbled into them, feeling a weight lift from my back. In spite of the terrible situation poor Madison was in – and my own feelings of guilt – there was
something about