Read Twin Threat Christmas for Free Online Page B

swallowed quickly, pushing it back before it could creep into his voice. “Okay, then, I think we’re ready. You’ve got your key-chain flashlight. Debbi will stay here with the girls—”
    “They should sleep until after I get back,” Vanessa predicted. “They won’t ever know I was gone.”
    Eric nodded, not trusting his voice anymore, the reference to her absence too much, the reality of her presence slowly eclipsing his surprise. She was alive, she was here. She looked great, but she’d been through so many awful experiences, scars buried deeper than he could see. He wanted to throw his arms open wide and embrace her, but he was terrified of how she might respond.
    Debbi insisted he take the hunting shotgun and a box of buckshot. While Vanessa hastily left instructions for what Debbi should do if the girls awoke before they returned, Eric carried the gun outside and put it in his car. He hoped he wouldn’t need it, but these men had killed a man today already. He had to be prepared for the worst. They couldn’t hurt Vanessa, not again, not if he had any say in the matter.
    He couldn’t think of anything else to bring, but moved the Sequoia out of the way, backed his Mustang out of the garage and then parked the wanted SUV out of sight inside.
    By the time he pulled the garage door closed, Vanessa stood by his car, ready to go.
    How many times had he wished for such a simple thing, to see her standing by his car, leaving with him? They’d never gone out on a proper date. He’d been too nervous to ask, and then it was too late.
    At least tonight, he was able to open the door for her. Their eyes met briefly as she stepped past him and took a seat inside the vehicle.
    In spite of the darkness of the northern Illinois woods at night, he could see the fear clearly on her face. Unsure what he could possibly say to reassure her, he closed her door, then climbed in behind the wheel.
    “You’ll have to tell me how to find this place,” he reminded her as he navigated the twisting gravel driveway.
    “Just get on highway fourteen and follow it toward Chicago for a while.” She fell silent then.
    Eric had hoped to chat, but he wasn’t sure what to say. He couldn’t commiserate with her because he didn’t know all about what she’d been through, nor did he feel comfortable asking, certainly not now. Perhaps they ought to discuss what lay ahead, but everything depended upon what she would find in Jeff’s office.
    After a long silence, Vanessa spoke in a quiet voice. “Thank you.” Her voice hitched, as though she was about to say more, but had to fight back a sob.
    Eric hesitated to respond, listening for whatever she’d been about to say, reluctant to speak for fear he might cut her off. They drove in silence awhile longer. Finally, he offered, “It’s no problem.”
    She made a sound that was half laughter, half miserable sigh. “Yes, it is. You could get in big trouble for helping me. Debbi probably had the right idea. You might regret that you didn’t listen to her.”
    “Never,” he vowed quickly.
    Vanessa glanced at him, and he took his eyes off the road just long enough to meet her eyes.
    “My only regret is that I didn’t do something eight years ago.”
    “Do what?”
    “I don’t know. Something, so that you wouldn’t ever have disappeared.”
    “There’s nothing you could have done. You didn’t know. I didn’t know.”
    “But you were vulnerable. I mean, that Jeff guy, he preyed on you. It shouldn’t have happened. How could something like that happen? To you, of all people? I mean, I know you’re beautiful—”
    “I don’t think so.” Vanessa cut him off, her tone outwardly joking, sarcastic with an undertone of longing so buried, he might have thought he’d imagined it.
    But he couldn’t let her believe otherwise. “Vanessa, you are. You’re beautiful, and that’s why he targeted you.”
    “You don’t know why he picked me. How could you know? You never met