The Sacrificial Lamb Read Online Free PDF Page B

damned thing. Tired from her exertions, she placed the chair upright and sat on it. This change of perspective didn’t help. No other bright ideas were forthcoming.
    Alex slumped in the chair, hands shaking, heart thumping heavily, and mouth dry. She gazed down at herself dejectedly, taking in the mess she’d become. Her once pretty clothes were soiled and full of dust. There were streaks of grime down her legs and caked in the creases of her ankles from kneeling on the floor. She didn’t even want to guess at the state of her hair.
    After a moment she gave herself a mental shake. What difference did it make what she looked like? It wasn’t like she had anyone to impress. The fact that she was surrounded by a bunch of thugs should have made her want to look as unappealing as possible. In fact, she should just get on the floor and roll around on it. The grimier the better.
    This thought made her bark out laughter in a short burst. The next thing she knew her chest was heaving painfully as she tried to keep her laughter muffled. Her arms were folded across her mouth, and tears from trying to keep in the hysterical laughter streamed down her face. The ridiculousness of this entire situation struck her as tragically amusing. Who else could have possibly managed to get kidnapped right at her own front door? Was this some cruel joke—her life just wasn’t exciting enough? Alex would have gladly lived an entire life of mediocrity over getting kidnapped.
    Once the hysteria passed, she got up from the chair and began pacing once more. Sleep hadn’t been coming to her. Alex was forced to chase it down every night by walking circles to the point of exhaustion. It was the only way she could make herself fall asleep in this disgusting place, otherwise she would lie there, staring up at the ceiling, surrounded by her own stink and covered by a flimsy, scratchy blanket, in this hell tailor-made for her.
    “What did you do , Daddy?” she whispered to the walls. “What the hell did you and Santino do?”
    That was the question of the day. Something had happened the night John Montgomery met up with Santino DiRocco to put this in motion. It had been severe enough to make her father go to a police station instead of coming home. Awful enough for him to call and warn her. Horrible enough for men to come and abduct her from the hallway of her apartment building.
    Alex spent the better part of the night walking circles through the dust along the floor until she just couldn’t stand any longer. Her jaw gave a loud crack as she yawned and then settled down on the fetid cot. The room was cold but the constant movement had kept her warm. Now she began to shiver violently. Despite her disgust, she grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around herself cocoon-style.
    “What did you do, Daddy?” she asked once more before exhaustion settled into sleep.

6
    T HE G IRL H AD B EEN O N H IS M IND all night. Domenic was trying to figure out a way to get her out of that stinking warehouse, but now knew it would take a miracle. Where else could she be stashed? It wasn’t like he could very well keep her here at his condo. There was one other place he could think to bring her, but that would mean letting Carlo know where he was, and that was unacceptable. The cabin was his secret retreat. No one knew about it.
    Mulling it over awhile longer as he prepared for his day, Domenic decided to go and see the girl to make sure she was all right. Despite the pervasive feeling that something bad was going to happen, he’d convinced himself he could keep the girl alive and well. Even when her usefulness to Carlo had ended.
    While driving back to the warehouse, he took a more circuitous route to make sure he wasn’t being followed. It was very possible that all the major players in the family were under surveillance if John Montgomery had informed the police his daughter had been abducted. He had to be extra cautious, especially now. Carlo had been careful to keep