Find My Baby by Mitzi Pool Bridges Read Free Book Online

police would believe her. “There,” she pointed. “Take that exit.”
    He followed her instructions. When they were on the frontage road, he looked over at her. “Where to from here?”
    “Take the first road to the right. I know where I was picked up. I just don’t know where the house is since I came through the woods.”
    “We’ll find it.”
    The confidence in his voice, the timbre of it and the way it rumbled in his chest, made her more certain of herself.
    She concentrated on her surroundings, trying to distinguish every landmark, looking for something familiar.
    Since the road wasn’t heavily traveled, Luke drove slowly, allowing her to view the area. “I don’t remember any of this.”
    She’d been running for her life, her only thought to save herself. In daylight nothing looked familiar. If she couldn’t find the house, no one would believe her. Panic sent her heartbeat pounding.
    It was bad enough the cops didn’t believe her, but for some reason, she very much wanted Luke to.
    “Do I need to turn around?”
    They’d gone a good five miles. And if she remembered correctly, the cops hadn’t driven very far to reach I-45.
    “I don’t know.” She hated the way her voice trembled. “Maybe.”
    He made a U-turn and headed back to the frontage road. In minutes they were there. “Now what?”
    “Take a right and look for a road.”
    She’d cut through the woods, which meant there had to be another road to the house.
    Then she saw a path. “Take that.” She pointed.
    Luke had almost gone too far, but he cut the wheel and bounced over the uneven path into the woods.
    “Do you think this is it?”
    Kayla stared out the window. The trees all looked the same. A sob rose up in her.
    “There’s something. Looks like an old house,” Luke said.
    She saw it. It looked empty, desolate, like it should be torn down. The porch sagged. The roof peeled back and was patched haphazardly. “Maybe,” she said as she tried to tamp down the sudden leap of hope.
    He cut the ignition and coasted to the front.
    “Does it look familiar?”
    “I never saw the outside. They put a blindfold on me in the van. If we can get inside, I’ll know”
    After pulling a flashlight from behind the seat, he went around to open her door. But Kayla was already out and headed for the house.
    At the door, she was unable to move, unable to put one foot in front of another.
    “You okay?”
    “Go ahead,” she said, the words barely audible.
    He took her arm gently. “We have to know if this is the right place,” he said softly.
    She braced herself. When he turned the knob she followed him inside. The orange smell assaulted her the minute she stepped through the door. Her stomach heaved.
    “This is it.” Gagging, she put a hand over her mouth and ran back outside.
    He followed her. “What’s wrong?”
    “The smell.”
    “Actually, for an old house, it’s not that bad.”
    Stepping away from the sagging porch, she bent over and heaved. There was nothing to come up but tea and the few bites of pancake she’d had earlier, but the effort left her weak and shaky.
    He was beside her, held her at the waist. “Can I help?” he asked, handing her his handkerchief.
    She shook her head, gathered her strength. “I’m all right now. Let’s go.”
    “You sure? This is the second time you’ve been sick this morning. Are you ill?”
    “Morning, noon and night, the kidnappers all but force-fed me oranges. Vitamins, they said. Worse, every time they came close that’s all I smelled. Now, even the smell of oranges makes me sick.”
    She could do this. She had to.
    He stepped back into the house, his arm at the curve of her back. Somehow, his touch made her feel stronger.
    The room was dim and the lights didn’t work so he turned on the flashlight.
    She took a minute to be elated. They’d found her jail. The cops would believe her now. So would Luke and the FBI.
    “Here’s the room where they kept me,” she said, leading the way