When a Stranger Calls. Kathleen Long

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ in 9-1-1 then quickly giving the address and details to the dispatcher. With his free hand, he reached for Lindsey’s, intertwining her slender, soft fingers with his own.

      Protectiveness hummed to life deep within him—a determination to find whoever had done this and make sure he never had the chance again.

      Lindsey’s lush black lashes fluttered against her pale cheeks and she moaned, the sound nothing more than a soft cry. Matt pressed his lips close to her ear, inhaling her soft floral scent. “Stay still. Help’s coming.”

      “Shoved me.” The words slipped over her lips, like the murmurings of a sleepwalker.

      “Don’t try to talk.” Matt squeezed her hand tighter, willing her to hang on.

      Her eyes flashed open like huge saucers of sky, frightened, slowly focusing on his face.

      “It’s Matt Alessandro. You’re safe now.”

      “You shoved me.”

      Lindsey’s accusation slammed him like an oncoming freight train. “No.” He shook his head as he uttered the one-word response, stunned she could think him capable.

      A shadow of doubt glazed her stare, and reality settled in, chilling Matt to the core.

      Lindsey Tarlington eyed him as if he were a killer’s son, but then, why wouldn’t she?

      In her eyes, he was.

      LINDSEY WOKE TO THE sensation of someone squeezing her hand. Rugged male features flashed through her mind. Hazel eyes. Sharp jaw. Piercing gaze.

      Matt Alessandro.

      Fear seized her, and she jerked her arm, trying to free herself from his grip.

      “Hey, hey.” A soothing male voice slipped into her consciousness. Familiar. Gruff. “Who you fighting now, peanut?”

      She forced open her eyes, relief coursing through her as she met the familiar, yet concerned, pale gray eyes. “Uncle Frank?”

      He leaned to press a kiss to her temple.

      “It must be bad if they dragged you away from city hall.”

      His warm laughter rumbled through the small room. “At least that wit of yours is still intact.”

      Pain pulsed through Lindsey’s skull. She could remember the moment of impact but nothing after. She scanned the room, taking in the small, sterile details. Chrome, tile, plastic. The walls and floor a bland mixture of teal and cream. “Where am I?”

      “Cooper Hospital.” Her uncle’s voice had gone uncharacteristically gentle. “Doctor says you’ll be fine. They’re going to keep you overnight, but there’s nothing to worry about.”

      “What happened?”

      Her uncle shook his head, his features falling slack. “Matt Alessandro found you, Lindsey. He took care of you until help got there. You really took a fall.”

      Alessandro? A fall? Lindsey’s pulse quickened. “He shoved me from behind.”

      “Why on earth would you think that?”

      “I felt him.”

      “Did you see him?”

      Lindsey rankled at the disbelief palpable in her uncle’s voice. “I saw a shadow.”

      “You were unconscious when Alessandro found you. Maybe you simply blacked out. Only thought you saw a shadow.”

      Incredulity flooded through her. “You can’t believe that.”

      He nodded, his pale gaze narrowing in an obvious attempt at sympathy.

      “What about the ring?”

      Her uncle frowned, tiny creases framing his surprised stare. “Ring?”

      “Mommy’s ring? I found it right before I was attacked.”

      The lines of his face deepened. “There was no ring. No evidence that anyone had been in your house. We had our best team out there just to be sure. You fell, peanut.”

      She shook her head, wincing as a fresh band of pain wrapped its fingers around the side of her skull. “You missed it then. Her ring was there in an envelope.”

      “No.” His tone dropped to the low, all-business timbre she’d dreaded ever since he’d married into the family. “No ring, honey.”

      Lindsey swallowed, unable to believe her uncle would doubt her word. “Then someone took it.” She struggled to sit up, but had to settle for merely shifting against the pillows, too sore to do anything more. “Whoever shoved me took it.”

      Anger flashed across his now stern features. “Tony Alessandro took your mother’s ring seventeen years ago.” He squeezed her hand. “I’d like to find the monster who left you that copy last night. It’s brought back your old nightmares.”

      Frustration mixed with the fear churning in Lindsey’s stomach. The nightmares had started the night her mother disappeared. The blackouts had begun a few weeks later. What had happened today had been neither. “This wasn’t a nightmare.”

      Her uncle’s forced smile crinkled the lines framing his eyes. “I’ll go get Aunt Pris. She’s been waiting outside.”

      He stood to leave, but Lindsey tightened her fingers around his, determination filling her with strength. “I saw Mommy’s ring.”

      Her uncle extracted his hand then pushed away from the hospital bed. “You’ve had a shock. You only thought you saw it.”

      Lindsey stared at his back in disbelief. She had no doubt about what had happened. She’d been attacked. The only question was by whom? And what had happened to her mother’s ring?

      If Uncle Frank wasn’t going to help her find the answers, she’d find them on her own.

      MATT SHIFTED AGAINST THE stiff back of the waiting room chair, doing his best to ignore the nonstop glare Lindsey Tarlington’s aunt, Priscilla Bell, had been channeling in his direction.

      The mayor’s wife had always kept a low profile, but she hadn’t been seen in public in months. Based on her appearance, the rumors about her health might be true. She looked like hell. Thin, frail, sickly. Perhaps being married to the mighty Frank Bell had taken a toll.

      When Mayor Bell emerged from Lindsey’s room and huddled with his wife, Matt discreetly stared at the floor. He did his best to pick up scraps of their conversation, but they kept their voices too low for him to make out their words.

      Frank Bell. Matt fought the urge to snarl at the man.

      Bell had been a hotshot in the district attorney’s office at the time Lindsey’s mother, the D.A.’s younger daughter, had disappeared. Convicting Matt’s father had catapulted Bell’s career onto the fast track. Of course, the fact he’d been married to the D.A.’s older daughter, Priscilla, hadn’t hurt, either. And now СКАЧАТЬ