Christmas Bodyguard by Margaret Daley Read Free Book Online

car.”
    Elizabeth joined them in the foyer while Mary andAbbey remained in the living room, sitting on the couch. “Your daughter wants to go up to her room.”
    â€œThat’s fine. Would you go with her and check it first? I looked in and didn’t see anything, but a more thorough search would be better.” Slade peered toward his daughter who sat with her shoulders hunched, her chin resting on her chest. “Then I’d like to meet with you and Joshua in my office.”
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    Elizabeth stepped into Abbey’s bathroom and surveyed the luxurious room done in beige marble with accents of forest green. Making the rounds, she opened and closed each cabinet and drawer, then headed back into the large bedroom. She checked for likely places someone would put a listening device, even though Joshua would do a more thorough scan of the whole house later.
    Abbey stood in the middle with her arms folded over her chest and a glare on her face. “Don’t forget under the bed.”
    â€œI won’t.” Elizabeth inspected the walk-in closet, twice as big as her bathroom at Joshua’s.
    â€œOh, and I have a balcony.”
    Elizabeth left the closet, shutting the door. “That’s a great suggestion,” she said in the calmest voice she could muster. Teenage kids could be the most difficult to guard. They didn’t like their privacy being invaded even for a good reason. She’d dealt with teens before, and she would deal with Abbey. The best way was to try to win her over, which might not be easy if her pout was any indication.
    Before reaching the balcony, Elizabeth opened each drawer in her dresser, felt around, then shut it. The top one held a journal. Her fingers brushed over the bound book with horses on the front.
    Abbey rushed toward her and snatched the journal outof the drawer. “That’s private. Don’t touch it.” She glared at Elizabeth and hugged the book to her chest.
    â€œI wouldn’t look in it.” She could remember the diary she’d kept as a teenager—many pages of angst. “Do you see anything missing or moved?”
    Skimming her look over her possessions, Abbey backed away. She returned her razor-sharp attention to Elizabeth. “No.”
    Elizabeth swung open the French doors that led to the balcony and moved out into the December air, a stiff wind blowing the strands of her hair. Ten by ten with no easy access. Still, she would have Joshua wire the doors with sensors and secure them better.
    True to her word, when she was back in the room she knelt on plush white carpet next to the king-size, dark-oak canopy bed with a hot-pink satin coverlet and looked under it. Nothing there but a single tennis shoe and one red sock.
    When she rose, she peered at Abbey—the girl’s posture was defensive, one hand quivering when she raised it to sweep her long brown hair behind her shoulders. The dark circles under the teen’s eyes attested to the toll the past few days had taken on her. Something softened in Elizabeth. For a few seconds she recalled her own past fear, the feeling that the circumstances around her controlled her life. “All clear,” she said to reassure Abbey.
    â€œOh, good, I’m relieved to know there are no monsters under it. I quit looking for them when I was eight.”
    â€œI know this can’t be easy, but I’m here to help you.”
    â€œDon’t pretend you know what this feels like. I’m a prisoner.”
    Elizabeth panned the room that lacked nothing, from a big-screen TV to a state-of-the art computer and sound system. “Not too bad a cell.”
    Abbey snorted. “Are you satisfied everything is okay? I’d like to be alone, if that’s all right. Surely I can be alone in my own cell—I mean, bedroom.”
    â€œI’ll be downstairs in your dad’s office.”
    â€œOh, good. That’s right below me. I’ll stomp on the floor if I