Frequent Traveller (Cathy Dixon #1) by Pandora Poikilos Read Free Book Online

a week's time they were to have celebrated their fifteenth birthdays but at that moment he had not seen the girl he grew up with. What he witnessed that day was a woman thrown towards desperation, lost between love and hate. His parents had sent him to his room. A long silence and loud whispers had followed before the sound of police sirens broke into the night.
     
    Her mother had been away on one of her many world saving crusades. Cathy could no longer take her father's abuse. He had repeatedly forced himself on her on other occasions and when he had shown up at her bed that night, she had supposedly stabbed him straight through his chest. It did not matter that he had accosted his daughter since she was six or even that he had allowed his friends to use her.
     
    All the legal system had seen was a deranged teenager who had killed her father. To make matters worse, they were foreigners who lived in a country that did not look too kindly on "children who planned to kill their parents". His parents, also foreigners, had found it exceedingly difficult to get Cathy any kind of help. For more than seven years, they knew close to nothing of what had happened to her.
     
    Thomas' letters to her were returned, unopened and he was never allowed to visit. Prison officials claimed it was high security. He sensed something else was going on and it terrified him. But without proof and given the assurance that she was alive and well, there was little he could do.
     
    Eventually, his parents moved away to seek solace from their retirement. He could not bring himself to leave, in the hopes that a time would come when he would have the answers he needed to the night that had changed both their lives. And more than anything, he would see her again. And then one day, it happened.
     
    Late one night, as he made his way home from work he instantly recognised the familiar tumble of red hair, standing in his doorway.
     
    She had aged more than she was supposed to and looked like all the energy in her had been drained out, yet there appeared to be a sense of renewed strength that nothing would be able to stand in her way. Her eyes had appeared fiery as she hugged him. Her embrace had been longing. All those years, he had ached for her too.
     
    He remembered asking her so many questions and she had told him they "had reached a deal". She had said very little else, other than the fact that part of the deal was a name change, a job within the popular hotel chain MoonStar and that they would check up on her occasionally.
     
    Just the mere sight of her was one he never wanted to lose again. Falling in love was never difficult with Cathy and he knew, healing would be a long journey but one he would gladly take with her and so here they were ...
     
    Cathy, doing her best to find the words to speak without reliving her past as he absorbed her attempts to overcome her fears. He fell in love with her all over again and more, if that was even possible.
     

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
     
    December 2007
     
    The largest city of Sweden is often referred to as "Venice of the North". This is one of the many titles given to Stockholm. Its unique landscape consists of fourteen islands at the mouth of Sweden's Lake Maelara and the Baltic Sea. In recent years, it has gained international recognition for its economic growth and architectural development. The annual Stockholm Marathon is known as "the best marathon in the world". Stockholm is also ranked as one of the three most honest cities in the world.
     
    It is one of the first few cities in the world to have been awarded for its "green" efforts towards environmentally friendly living areas and methods. More than 35% of the city consists of park and lush green areas while another 30% is made up of waterways. The government continues to stress that all efforts will be made to steer clear of heavy industries to enable further advancement with the city's green efforts.
     
    With history that dates back as far as 1250,