Texas Takedown by Barb Han Read Free Book Online Page B

out of a tub. The harsh reality set in that his baby girl was missing.
    â€œWe’re going to find her,” Brody reassured him. “No matter what it takes.”
    The air thinned as if it had been sucked out of the room. The notion that Dylan might not ever see his Bel again pressed down on his chest with the force of a drill.
    â€œWe’ll find her. And we’ll bring her home,” Brody said.
    â€œI’m coming.”
    â€œIt’s not safe for you on the highway. Whoever’s after Samantha will be waiting.”
    â€œYeah? They’re about to get a surprise.” Dylan searched for his duffel. He’d blow up the whole freakin’ town of Austin if it meant getting to Mason Ridge faster.
    Samantha sank to the floor. “He took her. He said if anyone helped me they’d regret it.”
    All thoughts of his daughter wandering off on her own exploded in an audible crack.
    This was a coordinated attack, bringing up the question once again of who would have resources to pull something like this off.
    Dylan dropped the phone, turned to face Samantha and then stalked toward her. “What else do you know?”
    She gasped. Tears streaming down her cheeks did nothing to soften the steel fury coursing through him, making his veins burn.
    â€œI already told you everything.”
    â€œYou better start talking or I’ll walk you outside and dump you on the street myself. We’ll see how long it takes for those men to find you.” He wouldn’t do it, but she didn’t know that and he needed to know exactly what she knew. Rather than allow his violent side to take over, he paced.
    She looked up at him. The fear in her eyes didn’t sit well with him, but he didn’t have it in him right now to go easy on her, not while his baby was out there somewhere, God knew where, with people who wanted to use her to get to Samantha.
    Her eyes were glossy and wide, fearful. They had an almost animallike quality to them. “He must know you’re involved. That’s why I didn’t want you here in the first place. You should’ve just let me deal with this on my own.”
    â€œI couldn’t leave you alone, Samantha.” She had tried to push him away and get him out of there from the second he’d shown up.
    â€œThomas Kramer or whoever is behind this didn’t hurt the boys. We have to hold on to the hope that he won’t change that now,” she reasoned.
    â€œWe have a small army after us.” Dylan didn’t voice his fear that he’d led them straight to her. Someone must’ve been watching the movements of the group of her friends to see if anyone came to find her. But why? Who else was involved? “My daughter is missing.”
    The US Army–trained sniper inside him—the man who could set aside personal feelings and regard for life in order to fire at a target—wanted to force more information out of her. But the man, the father he’d become knew that would just shock her deeper into her shell. He sank down in front of her. Desperation was as unforgiving as the bare wood floor against his knees. “I’ve got nothing here. I need your help.”
    * * *
    L OOKING   INTO D YLAN ’ S   intelligent and intense green eyes stripped away Samantha’s defenses. She saw that same look that had been in her eyes when she’d learned about her mother’s accident. That had been Samantha’s fault, too. Guilt pressed down on her shoulders until her arms grew numb. Her mother had been making a school run during a snowstorm. Samantha had forgotten her math folder. Some of the roads had been icy. Trotter Road had been the fastest route to school but it had that long bridge.
    Her mother’s car had broken through the ice. A chill raced down Samantha’s spine at the memory.
    And now a little girl’s life was on the line...
    Telling anyone about her father might put him in more danger. And