Snapped Read Online Free PDF Page B

The room was hot and airless, packed with too many anxious bodies. Sophie closed her eyes. The girl’s skinny arms tightened around her neck, and she felt a fresh wave of panic. She had no idea what to do next, so she started humming the first thing that popped into her head. It was an old gospel song about flying away, which was exactly what she wanted to do right now.
    The girl’s arms gradually relaxed, so Sophie kept humming. She glanced down at the scraped little legs wrapped around her waist. She smoothed a hand over the girl’s hair and picked a leaf from one of her pigtails. The girl’s head drooped, and Sophie continued to hum softly. She turned toward the door leading to the back where the guy with her phone number on his hand had disappeared.
    A man stood there, staring at her. He was oddly motionless amid the chaos of the ER. Sophie shifted so he could see the girl in her arms, and his entire face flooded with relief. He pushed his way through the crowd.
    “Becca!” His voice caught on the word, and the little head jerked up from Sophie’s shoulder.
    “Daddy!” She launched herself out of Sophie’s arms and into the man’s, and he squeezed her to his chest. Sophie stepped back to give them room. Over his daughter’s shoulder, the man met Sophie’s gaze. The pained look in his bloodshot eyes spoke volumes, and Sophie knew that Becca’s mother was dead.
    Jonah pulled into the apartment complex and glanced up at Sophie’s window. Looked like she was awake, which was both good and bad. Good, because he wouldn’t have to turn around and go home, and bad, because what he needed to do right now was turn around and go home.
    Home was where he should be. It was late, he was beyond tired, and he wasn’t fit company for anything other than a bottle of Jim Beam. But he’d been thinking about Sophie all day, and somewhere along the way he’d convinced himself that this detour was a good idea.
    He parked his dinged pickup and hiked up the stairs to her apartment. The place looked just as dumpy as he remembered it, only someone had gotten around to pouring some chlorine into the pint-size swimming pool. Must be new management.
    Through the paper-thin walls, Jonah heard newscasts blaring as he made his way down the row of doors. Sounded like everyone in town was tuned into the same story. He reached Sophie’s unit and rapped on the door. He waited. And waited. He rapped again.
    Jonah’s pulse spiked when she answered. He didn’t know what he’d expected. It was after ten. Maybe he’d thought she’d be weeping into her pillow, or talking onthe phone, or watching TV. He hadn’t expected her to be naked.
    “You always answer the door like that?”
    She had only a bath towel wrapped around her and she hitched it up higher. “Are you off for the night, or is this a police visit?”
    “I’m off.”
    She stepped back to let him in, and he frowned down at her as he crossed the threshold.
    “You didn’t even ask who it was.”
    “You have a distinctive knock.” She tossed a look at him over her bare shoulder as she walked to the back of the apartment.
    Jonah’s feet remained firmly planted in her living room.
    The bathroom door was ajar and he saw a sliver of her reflection in the mirror as she leaned over the sink.
    “You just getting off?” she asked.
    “Yep.”
    “Long day.”
    “Yep.”
    “There’s beer in the fridge.”
    “I’m good, thanks.”
    She finished doing some makeup stuff to her eyes and closed the door. He heard drawers opening and closing, then a hair dryer.
    Jonah took a moment to look at her setup. It was just as he remembered it from the one other time he’d been in here: small TV, inexpensive prints on the walls, worn but comfortable furniture. Everything was simple and affordable, with the notable exception of her stereo. It was sleek and new and perched on a six-foot bookshelf,along with her extensive collection of CDs. She had a purple iPod plugged in at the moment and