Steal My Heart Read Online Free PDF Page A

heart and made her burst into instant tears. Don’t go inside the building. I have your daughter. If you want to see her alive again, you’ll do exactly as I tell you.
    He must have been watching her. Where had that voice come from? He had to be nearby.
    She’d sat in the car trembling, scrutinizing the surrounding streets and buildings through watery eyes, peering into the other vehicles, unable to see anything through windows that she was sure were tinted over the legal limit.
    She’d wanted to cry out to someone. She’d wanted to call the police. But before she could draw the next breath, the kidnapper said if she tried to get help, he’d kill her little girl.
    There was no choice but to comply with everything he told her to do. And she had, dammit. She had. So where was Holly?
    Running a hand through her hair, she peered into the mirror on the wall. Her reflection was worn and drawn. She was a mess.
    She glowered at the floor. There were no toys to pick up. She wandered to the coffee table and reached for a photo of Holly in an Easter Bunny outfit in a play at daycare. She ran her fingers over it. Then she went to the mantelpiece where there was a portrait of Holly on her first birthday. And the picture she’d taken of her mother and Holly when they went to Central Park for a picnic.
    She ran her fingers over the images. She’d often wished her father had lived to see his granddaughter. He would have been so proud of her.
    On impulse, she gathered up the photos and hugging them close, she plodded back upstairs.
    The house was so empty without Holly’s laughter. Her playful squeals. Her little body running down the hall. Paige would never tell her not to run in the house again. But Holly would be back soon. Soon this would all be over and their lives would be normal again. The words she told herself didn’t have the ring of truth, but she had to believe them anyway.
    She wandered down the hall and into Holly’s bedroom. No toys to pick up in here, either. It wasn’t right. She shuffled to the bed and laid the photographs on the comforter.  She drew a hand across her face and picked up the stuffed animal Holly had lain on her pillow this morning.
    Jack the Rabbit, a terry cloth mess with beady black button eyes and chocolate stains on his body. Holly’s favorite toy since she was a baby. Paige pressed it to her heart and squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry.
    It would do no good.
    Holding the toy, she made her way back downstairs to the kitchen and laid Jack on the counter. She should eat something. All she’d had was cake tonight. She opened the refrigerator door and stared at the contents. They needed milk. Holly liked chocolate and Paige had promised her she could have it on Saturday. Tomorrow. Her heart clenched. Was the kidnapper feeding her?
    What made her think she could eat anything? Paige closed the refrigerator door and meandered back upstairs to her bedroom. She kicked off her heels and peeled off her party dress.
    She picked up her cell again. Where was the damn phone call? There was supposed to be a phone call.
    Too tired to think, she went to the bathroom and stepped into the shower after laying her cell on the counter. That was when the tears came.
    She couldn’t hold them back any longer. They streamed down her cheeks hard and hot, mingling with the water, dripping down her body and into the drain. As the shower pelted her, she let herself sob.
    Then she came back to herself. She couldn’t stay in here long. What if the kidnapper called? She stepped out of the shower and glared at the phone. Nothing. She’d only been in there ten minutes. It had seemed longer.
    She blew her nose, dried off, and put on an old tank top.
    She padded back to the bedroom with the cell phone and sank onto the bed. She laid her head down and felt something hard.
    The purse and jewels under her pillow. With disgust, she pulled them out and shoved the purse into a drawer on the nightstand. She had to