Uncaged by Lucy Gordon Read Free Book Online

plate of bacon and eggs in front of her. “Eat up,” he said. “You haven’t had a proper meal for days, and it takes strength to hate someone as much as you hate me.”
    She thought she couldn’t touch anything he’d cooked, but after the first mouthful she couldn’t stop herself. It was delicious. When she could spare the time to speak, she said, “I’ve lived on hate. I’d almost forgotten what anything else tastes like. You’re a good cook. I’ll admit that. I suppose I really should thank you for taking care of me.”
    Daniel managed a faint grin that briefly lightened the habitual sternness of his face. “Don’t force yourself if it’s hard. Having led the press to you, I had to rescue you.”
    “I suppose your appearance on the scene gave them an even better story.”
    He shook his head. “I’ve been watching the papers. One or two of them said you’d been found and escaped. One of them mentioned a ‘mystery man,’ but nobody realized it was me. We were lucky. The light was poor, and they didn’t recognize me.”
    “Well, I’ll swear that’s the first piece of luck I’ve ever had where you’re concerned.”
    “What I said still holds. I’m the best guarantee of your anonymity while we sort things out.”
    “Sort things out? What do you have in mind?”
    “You’re in a kind of limbo. We can’t just leave things there.”
    “Is that why you’ve been going through the evidence?”
    “How did you know that?”
    “I’ve seen the room where you keep the tapes.”
    “Did you look at them?”
    “Only briefly. I remember it all pretty well without help. What is this, Mr. Keller? An attack of conscience?”
    “Don’t you think you could call me Daniel? Or is that too much to ask?”
    “Much too much,” she told him.
    “All right. I’ve been going through those tapes, trying to remember the details...to work out where I went wrong—”
    “Will it make any difference?”
    “I’m not sure, but I have to try. If you’re innocent—” He stopped, realizing that anything he could say would be dangerous.
    Megan was looking at him wryly. “Yes,” she said. “My innocence really causes you problems, doesn’t it?”
    “So would your guilt,” he growled. “Okay, let’s leave it for the moment.”
    * * *
    For the first few weeks in prison, Megan’s sleep had been haunted by nightmares. They’d returned when she was released, but for the past few nights, although her dreams had been feverish and disjointed, they hadn’t been painful. But this night she was gripped again by anguish. Tommy was just out of sight, but when she tried to reach him, Brian stood there, blocking her path. She tried to get past him but he fought her off. She lashed out blindly, screaming at him to let her go, but he was too strong for her.
    Suddenly his face changed and became the face of Daniel Keller. She fought harder. He didn’t fight back, but held her, saying, “Hey, come on, it’s all right, wake up. Wake up, Megan. ”
    She finally managed to awaken, to find that she was in bed and Daniel really was there, holding her. “Wake up,” he said again.
    She was gasping as if she’d been running hard. “It was a bad dream,” she said. “I’m all right.”
    “Are you sure? You were screaming.”
    “I was trying to find Tommy. That’s all there is in the world now, trying to find Tommy. Brian was keeping me away, and when I tried to get past him, he turned into you.”
    He grimaced. “The villain always turns into me, doesn’t he?”
    She sighed. “You know the answer to that.” He was still holding her and she turned her body to edge away from him. His pajama jacket was much too large for her and the slight movement made it slide halfway down her arms, exposing her breasts. She drew in her breath and snatched at the jacket, pulling the edges together at her throat.
    Daniel snatched his hands away and rose from the bed, moving backward quickly, staring at her in dismay. Somehow he made an