You’ll like it. The big, beautiful mansion was my home before I was kidnapped. After that, my family moved. They couldn’t bear the pain of living in a place where I had been stolen right out of the nursery during the night. Since that time, my brother turned it into a halfway house. He did it because he hoped that one day I might walk in.”
Suddenly the girl broke down crying. Kathryn stood up to lean over her and smooth the hair from her temples. “I didn’t tell you all this to make you cry. I just wanted you to know that you’re not alone. Sleep now, Anna. I’ll stay right here and take care of you. I’m a nurse who did my training in this hospital. You’re among friends here.”
After a long silence, “My name’s Allie.”
Joy.
“I like that name much better.” She handed her some tissues. “Go ahead and blow your nose, Allie. You must have been congested for a few days now.”
The teen nodded and blew hard. Kathryn handed her a receptacle. “I’m going to get you a cold drink. Fruit punch, Sprite, root beer, Coke, you name it.”
“Fruit punch, please.”
She had manners, too. “Coming right up.”
Kathryn hurried down the hall to the desk. She pulled her mask down again. “Her name’s Allie. She wants some fruit punch.”
A beaming Nancy lifted her head. “I knew it! You have the magic touch. Be back in a tick.”
In another minute, she returned with two cans. Kathryn thanked her and joined Allie, who’d reached for the brochure on the side table and was reading it.
“I’ll raise your head so you can drink without choking. Say when.”
Before long Allie had drained her drink. Kathryn took the empty can from her. “Better?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Shall I lower your head now?”
“Not yet. Where did that kidnapper take you?”
Kathryn sat down on the stool once more. “New York, then Wisconsin.”
Allie’s red-rimmed eyes studied her in fascination. “How did you find your parents?”
“I didn’t. My sister and the man she’s married to now found me. When my family came into my hospital room to see me for the first time, we all looked so much alike there was no question I belonged to them.”
She blew her nose again. “You were in a hospital, too?”
“Yes. I’d been in a car accident and had broken my leg. Because of my cast, everyone had to be very careful when they hugged me, especially my dad. To this day, I don’t know which one of us squeezed harder.”
“My dad can squeeze hard.”
“That’s one of the great things about having a father. It still makes me cry to think how many years I lived without my parents.” Kathryn’s throat swelled with emotion. “I love mine so much, you can’t imagine. My dad’s incredible.”
“So’s mine. That’s why—” She suddenly stopped talking and tears gushed from her eyes.
Unable to stay seated after realizing how upset the teen was, Kathryn stood up and clasped Allie’s free hand. “The longer I live, the more I realize that none of us is exempt from pain.” She handed her more tissue. “How long have you been sick, Allie?”
“I’ve had a cold all week. After I left the bus station I started to look for a taxi, but then this man on a bike grabbed my purse and rode away. It had all my money in it. That’s when I got dizzy and fell down. Then another man walked by. He saw me and called the police. I begged him not to because then Dad would find out.”
She grabbed hold of Kathryn’s arm, staring at her with imploring eyes. “Dad doesn’t know I came here. He thought I was at a sleepover. I planned to be back home by tomorrow so he would never find out. He can’t find out!”
“Why not?”
“If he knew the reason, it would hurt him too much.”
Oh, darling girl …
Chapter Two
Not two seconds after Colt parked in front of the Wagners’ house, their car pulled into the driveway. Reed was with his wife. No one else was in the car.
Colt got out and walked over to them. Wendie rushed toward him. “It’s good to see you.” She gave him a hug and said hello to Matt, who’d trailed him.
“Hey, Colt.” Reed broke out in a broad smile. “To what do we owe this honor?”
“Matt and I just got out of a movie and thought we’d come by to see how the sleepover’s going before we drive home. Allie had a bad cold when she left for school. I almost didn’t let her go and wanted to see if it was worse.”
Both of them looked surprised. “What sleepover?” Wendie asked.
The question was like a punch to the gut. “Obviously there wasn’t one. I thought something was wrong when I saw Michelle and Carrie at the movie. Did Allie come home with Jen after school?”
“No. I picked her up and took her to the orthodontist. Tonight she’s been tending Chelsey and David so we could go to a wedding.”
An icy sensation crept through Colt’s veins.
“You haven’t seen her since she left for school this morning?” she asked.
“No.”
Matt shot him a worried glance.
“Come into the house,” Reed urged. “We’ll find out from Jen where she is.”
The four of them went inside. Reed called to his blonde daughter, who came into the living room dressed in army fatigue pajamas. The second she saw Colt, she froze.
“Hi, Mr. Brenner.” She didn’t look in the least happy to see him. It was very unlike her.
“Pumpkin?” her father inserted. “Do you know where Allie is? She didn’t come home from school today.”
Jen averted her eyes so fast that it reminded Colt of his daughter when she’d told him her cold wasn’t a big deal and she didn’t want to talk about it.
Wendie put an arm around her. “If you have an idea where she is, tell Colt so we won’t have to phone everyone we know. It’s late. We’d hate to have to disturb people who might be in bed by now.”
Jen kept her head bowed. “She made me promise not to tell.”
“Tell what?” Colt asked, trying to remain calm.
“Yesterday she told me she wouldn’t be at school today. She said she’d be back the next day and asked me to do her a favor,
