Read Last Chance for Free Online Page B

to its burning presence.
    This pool was for her. He'd had it built just for her, because she loved to
    swim. He remembered taking her to the lake when they first started dating.
    She'd been so sweet, so cute in her new bikini. The one her mother had told
    her she couldn't buy. He'd given her the money and she'd gone back the next
    day and bought it. She hadn't liked being told what to do. He'd loved that
    hint of defiance and independence. Had seen it as a challenge.
    The emptiness of the pool taunted him. She should be swimming in it,
    enjoying herself. Instead, she continued to run from him. When would she
    learn her lesson? When every person she cared for was gone? Why hadn't he
    seen that selfishness in her when they first met? When would she understand
    that he would never give up looking for her, wanting her, loving her? Years
    might have passed, but his love for her would never die.
    Her defiance against her parents had been funny. He'd encouraged it,
    nurtured it. It had worked so completely with his plans. However, her
    defiance against him had been another matter. Something he hadn't been
    able to tolerate.
    "Mr. Hughes, the investigators are here."
    Damon stood, resigned to hearing yet another of their failed reports. If
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    he hadn't been quite sure that everything was being done to find her, he
    would have had every one of the bastards ripped apart and fed to the sharks.
    But he believed them. The last couple of years, she'd become excellent at
    hiding. Where she'd gotten the help and the training to do such a thing
    bothered him almost as much as not being able to find her. If he ever found
    out who had assisted her, they'd be screaming for death long before he
    granted it to them.
    As he headed to his offices, he paid little attention to the opulence that
    surrounded him. He'd become accustomed to such things in the last few
    years. Though he had worked hard for his money and stature, they hadn't
    brought him the happiness he sought. Happiness couldn't exist until she was
    back in his arms, where she belonged.
    Delaying the inevitable, Damon bypassed his office and headed
    upstairs. His investigators would wait...they worked for him. He had a need
    to feel close to her for just a short period. If he were to hear, as he fully
    expected, that there were no leads, he wanted to have this peaceful memory
    in his head.
    He pulled the key from his pocket. He and his trusted housekeeper,
    Margret, were the only two who had access to this room. No one else dared
    come in here; they knew their lives would be over. He stepped inside and
    leaned against the closed door. He inhaled deeply, the scent of light floral
    perfume washing his senses in memory. Her favorite. He had it replaced
    each month so it wouldn't lose its fragrance. Each day Margret would come
    in and dust the room, and before she left, she would spray just a hint so he
    could come in and enjoy it when he pleased.
    The room was pink and feminine. An exact replica of the bedroom
    she'd had as a teenager. And it was such a representation of her. Fair and
    delicate as a flower. That was one of the things he loved the most about her.
    She was all girl, pure femininity. No bows or frills, nothing silly. Just a soft,
    lovely fragility that literally made him ache.
    The first time he'd seen her, at a theater in Omaha, Nebraska, his heart
    had raced. He had sneaked in to watch the movie and had ended up watching
    her instead.
    She'd worn a blue sundress with white flowers on it. Her soft, golden
    brown hair had been long, reaching just above her beautiful bottom. She
    hadn't giggled like so many other girls her age. She'd seemed serious, mature
    but oh so innocent. And though she was only sixteen, he knew from the
    moment he saw her that she was his dream come true.
    As usual, he was drawn to the photograph of her he'd had enlarged
    and framed. It was the first thing he'd put in this room; the only thing that
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    Christy Reece
    was different from the