The Stuffing of Nightmares (The Mysteries of Bell & Whitehouse Book 7) by Nic Saint Read Free Book Online Page A

coming. He was a huge and bankable star, after all. They could probably fetch millions for him. He just hoped they’d be quick about negotiating his release. He didn’t enjoy being cooped up, creature of comfort that he was.
    And then there was Alice to think of. She was probably worried sick. Perhaps for her sake he should have hired a bodyguard, like his agent had told him. If something ever happened to her, he’d never forgive himself.
    And he was staring out in front of him with unseeing eyes when there was a rattle at the door, and it swung open, hitting the wall hard. The same blond woman who’d captured him stood framed in the doorway.
    She’d changed her outfit and was now dressed in jeans shorts and a sexy top, looking like a million bucks. Instead of admiring her form, however, he glowered at her. “What do you want?” he asked in a grating voice.
    She looked like a fresh-faced teenager, not a vicious kidnapper.
    “Isn’t it obvious what I want?” she asked, entering the room. “I want you, Chuck MacLachlan.” She was holding that small peashooter out in front of her, and he eyed it narrowly. It looked like an ordinary gun, but he knew better. It either spewed gas bullets or darts, designed to knock him out in seconds flat.
    “Just get in touch with my agent, will you? He’ll wire you the money.”
    She laughed at this, throwing her head on her neck like a crazy person.
    “What’s so funny?” he growled.
    “You’re funny, Chuck,” she said, leaning against the wall. “For thinking that you could simply buy your way out of here.”
    “If it’s not money you want, what is it?” he asked. Most kidnappers were happy to talk turkey, but this one seemed different. There was something not quite right about her. As if she was a few cards short of a full deck.
    “Like I said, I want you. And now I’ve got you.”
    He frowned. “I don’t get it.”
    She grinned. “That’s pretty obvious. I’m a collector, Chuck. Only I collect people. Professionals like you.” She ticked off on her fingers. “I’ve got a mailman, a carpenter, a plumber, a gardener…” She gave him a beaming smile. “And now I’ve got myself a bona fide movie star, haven’t I?”
    He shook his head, not comprehending. “You collect professionals?”
    “That’s right. You could say it’s a hobby of mine to own every profession out there, which is quite an ambitious project if you think about it.”
    “You’re crazy,” he said. “Stark raving mad.”
    She laughed again, that same maniacal laugh she’d emitted before, and it was obvious that his words weren’t wide of the mark. She was nuts.
    “Words like ‘crazy’ are so easy to hurl at a person,” she said, drawing daisies on the cement floor with the tip of her espadrille. “But how can you know for sure? Are you a mental health professional? A psychiatrist?”
    He wasn’t, of course, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make a sound judgment call. This woman was nuts, and if he knew anything about nutters it was that they were easily swayed. So he tried another tack. He produced his most winning smile. “You don’t want to do this, honey. Collecting people is a crime, didn’t they teach you that in high school?”
    “Of course I know that,” she snapped, her mood abruptly taking a turn for the worse. “Which is why I’m going to collect a lawyer, a policeman and a judge as well. Then if there’s trouble ahead, they can tell me what to do.”
    “What does your father think about this, huh? Or your mother? Do they even know about this hobby of yours?”
    She produced a pout. “Daddy knows. And Grandpa, of course. He’s the one that started all this. Mommy doesn’t, but then she’s not around much. She left me and my daddy years ago, and I’ve hardly ever seen her since.”
    Classic, Reece thought. Little girl spoiled rotten after mommy left, and now daddy doesn’t know what to do with her. He probably thought she was collecting dolls, not