Vanished (The Saved Series, A Military Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page B

longer believe everything she said. She knew he’d been furious at her when he heard about Rachel in the tub, and it still scared Abby when she thought of it. No matter how hard she tried, she still couldn’t remember running the water and setting her little dark-haired girl in the tub. She also knew how crazy it sounded when she thought back now, how she’d said someone else had been here and must have done it. In her rational mind, it sounded as paranoid as it did to everyone else, but she still couldn’t shake that feeling. Now, in the light of day, she was positive it had been nothing. She wouldn’t think about it. No, it was best to just push it from her head, be done with it, never think of it again, because everything was going to be okay.
    ****
    “See, I told you the doctor would say I’m fine,” Abby stated to Mary-Margaret as she pushed Rachel’s stroller through the shopping mall. Charlie was in the baby carrier attached to her chest. She said it with a lot of bravado, and even she knew she was trying too hard.
    “Why don’t you let me take the stroller ?” Mary-Margaret asked.
    She started to reach for the handles when Abby snapped, squeezing the plastic with everything she had, “No.” She softened her breathing, forcing herself to relax. “You know what? I’m good. I have to do this myself, anyway.”
    The fact was that she was tired of Mary-Margaret just taking over, stepping in like she was an incompetent twit, making her feel over and over that she wasn’t strong enough. Abby was tired of being judged. She would have none of this anymore, so she held tight to the stroller and kept pushing, the muscles in her arms tightening as she dug into each step. Her worn runners squeaked on the concrete floor of the shopping mall.
    “Abby , you do know you have to ask for help. I need to know you’ll call me and Joe any time, day or night.”
    She kept pushing, just like a pit bull. Abby could feel Mary-Margaret’s energy as she watched her, trying to once again peel back all her layers and find a way into her head. No way in hell was she getting there.
    “I will. I promise you,” she said. She wondered if she was trying to convince herself or Mary-Margaret she was okay. It had been easy with the doctor. She’d smiled answered his questions, remaining mindful of what she said. She’d learned to do that the hard way when Hossein had owned her and kept her locked away for months at a time.
    “Da -da!” Rachel screeched.
    Abby’s heart jolted , and she faltered in her step, looking straight ahead at the poster of a Navy captain in a store window. She sighed, breathing out. “No, not Daddy,” she said. She laughed before she caught a glimpse of a dark-haired, dark-eyed man, so familiar, with a medium build, watching her, and she gasped, feeling a surge of fight or flight that jammed her breath in her throat. She had to fight to tamp it down. She felt the tingle of blood rushing from her face. She shut her eyes, feeling a hand shake her arm. It couldn’t be.
    “Abby , what is it?”
    Abby snapped her eyes open, looked to the side, and caught the worried look on Mary-Margaret’s face. The words jammed in her throat, and she felt herself pulling back as far as she could from this woman. There was no way in hell Abby would share anything with her again. She glanced over to where the man had been, but he was gone. She scrambled for something reasonable, something believable. “It’s nothing. Just missing Eric, you know?”
    W ithout a doubt, she couldn’t tell anyone how she thought she’d seen the devil himself, Hossein. She definitely couldn’t tell this woman who could and would take over her life, her home, her children, and her mind if Abby let her. This was the ultimate form of control, being told how to think, what to say, what to wear, and what to do. She’d been there before. She’d lived it, and she’d never ever allow it to happen again. She also knew it was impossible for her to