Touching Silver Read Online Free PDF Page B

out from beneath the blanket and stretched toward him, pushing aside the heavy collar of his coat in order to expose the long line of his neck. The angle made it impossible for Olivia to see what Stacy did, but she witnessed the reaction, witnessed the way Stacy fixed on Nathan’s eyes. Compassion and understanding shone in the dark depths of her gaze, but even more important than that was the delicate strand of trust.
    Going to Isaac had been the smartest choice Olivia had made yet in this case.
    “I’m tired,” Stacy murmured, her hand falling away.
    “I know you are.” Nathan cupped her hand between both of his. “We’ll let you sleep soon. But we need to know who did this to you, Stacy.”
    Gently, he lowered her hand to where the photos were still spread out in front of her. Olivia remained completely still, unwilling to shatter what good Nathan might have done, but her eyes tracked every twitch of the girl’s fingers, every tremor as she pointed slowly at the black and white picture of Gabriel de los Rios.
    Though Olivia wanted to shout for joy, Nathan merely nodded and smiled. “Thank you. That’s exactly what we need to make sure he doesn’t hurt the other girls.”
    Stacy was shaking her head before he’d finished speaking, pulling her hand back to burrow deeper within the blankets. The photos slid off, falling to the floor. “It’s too late. There aren’t any other girls. I was the last one left.”
    Something cold, like a sharp icicle, buried itself in Olivia’s gut. All her cases ended this way. Too late. So sorry. Contact the family . But she thought this one would be different. When Stacy showed up in the emergency room, she thought it had to be different. Hope. She had allowed herself to have hope for a few minutes. Finding those girls had been possible, just within her grasp.
    Nathan didn’t have a visible reaction, except to lean closer to the bed. “What happened to the other girls, Stacy?”
    “He took them away. On his boat, I think.” She squeezed her eyes shut, but Olivia could have told her closing her eyes would do nothing to block out the ghosts. “He always talked about it. The Silver Maiden.”
    Nathan did react now. He reeled back in his chair like somebody had punched him in the throat and his eyes widened. Olivia had no idea what she was talking about, but Nathan clearly did. Or he thought he knew what she meant. Either way, the icicle began to thaw a little.
    “What did he say about the Silver Maiden?” Nathan asked urgently.
    But Stacy was done. Olivia had seen it more than once since they’d got her back. She simply pulled the blanket up around her ears and turned her face into the pillow.
    As promised, Isaac and Remy waited in the hall with coffee. They both stiffened when they saw the look on Nathan’s face. Remy shoved her coffee into Isaac’s tray so quickly, it sloshed over and spilled onto his fingers. His muttered curse was quiet as he regarded Nathan with a frown that only weighed Olivia’s spirits down even more.
    “Well?”
    Nathan nodded. “It’s Gabriel.”
    “She picked him out of the array I gave her,” Olivia added, knowing she should be happier about that than she sounded.
    “That’s not all.” Nathan took a deep breath and looked at Remy. “She mentioned the Silver Maiden.”
    Remy blanched and Isaac turned away, running his hand through his hair as he swore under his breath. Before Olivia had the chance to ask what the hell was going on, Remy whirled on her heel and bolted down the hall. Nathan took off after her.
    Isaac’s strong hand wrapped around Olivia’s elbow when she started to follow.
    “Don’t.” All humor had fled his dark eyes. “Going after them won’t do you any good.”
    “Standing here won’t do me any good either.” She didn’t know why Remy and Nathan freaked out when the Silver Maiden was mentioned—nobody had said anything about a boat—but she didn’t really care. “I need to check out this lead. If I can