Daniel Read Online Free

the more beautiful
pieces I’ve seen of his work. Do you know him?”
    “No, just the same last name. That’s
kind of why I collect them.” Reilly rolled her eyes. “Well, if there’s nothing
else, I have supper to put together.” She hung up.
    They were sitting down to salads and
pizza when he finally spoke. “He didn’t scare me.”
    Reilly looked up from her bite that was
nearly to her mouth. “Who? What man didn’t scare you?”
    Her heart was pounding. Ever since the
two of them had packed up and moved to Ohio soon after she’d gone back to New Jersey,
he’d shied away from people. It had only been recently that he’d let her hug
him, but men still terrified him.
    “There was a man at the shop when I went
in. He was coming in as I was putting the vase up. He didn’t touch me or
nothing, but he didn’t make me sweat, either.”
    “Anything, he didn’t touch you or
anything.” She put her slice down and took a deep breath. “Did you hear his
name? Do you think he was…I don’t know, looking for you?”
    She still had nightmares about seeing
her sister. She knew that Benny had seen her, too, had actually seen them
hurting her. She couldn’t imagine what he was going through with that
knowledge. And even after all this time, she still had to try and not scream
out in the middle of the night. She knew that he had dreams, too, but she
wasn’t allowed to go to him.
    “No, ma’am. He didn’t seem like it. He
just didn’t make me feel like he would hurt me.” He looked down at his dinner. “He
made me feel safe for some reason.”
    After Benny went to bed, she went back
out to her studio. She didn’t throw anything tonight but went into her office
and sat behind her big desk. Reaching behind her in the small refrigerator, she
pulled out a bottle of water and sipped it. The view from her office window
nearly always calmed her, but tonight her mind was too busy.
    The backpack that Benny had had with him
was still in his room. Whenever she’d started to pick it up, he’d snatch it
away from her and stand back. She didn’t touch it often, but when she did, she
always apologized. She often wondered what he had in there.
    The file that her sister had given her
was still in the drawer here in this desk. She’d read it over finally and had
several times since. Meagen had made arrangements. She’d called them to keep
her son safe. She’d hinted that Benny knew things, but after that first night,
after they fled across the states, she’d never asked him again.
    Picking up the folder now, she opened it
to the picture he’d given her when they’d met. It was of her when she’d been
sixteen. He’d told her he almost missed her because the picture had been so
old. Now, while she was sure he didn’t completely trust her, he did love her.
And she loved him with all her heart and then some.

Chapter 3
     
    “Want to earn some brownie points with
Kasey?” Jesse came into Daniel’s office the next morning and tossed a file on
his desk. “I found out something about a local potter that you could persuade
to do her art thingy.”
    The file contained a map and a few
scribbled notes. Daniel looked at Jesse with a raised brow. “How is this
helpful? I can’t read your handwriting.”
    “It’s that guy, Harlequin or something. I
can’t remember his name. But according to the county records, an O. Harlequin
bought the property next to the one we were looking at to build. Joey said it
had been on the market for a while, but before I could see, that guy bought
it.”
    Daniel stood up and pulled his jacket
on. “You coming with me? I can kill two birds with one stone if you do. I need
a witness to the contract we’re employing for the Mason Corporation.”
    “Nah. I have a doctor’s appointment with
Joey. We get to find out what we’re having today. There’s a pretty single nurse
in the office if you want to come with me.”
    Daniel left before he had to look at the
ultrasound pictures again. Or hear