Untainted: (Crime Romance: The Photographer Trilogy #3) by Sarah Robinson Read Free Book Online

soaring above them.
    “Can’t you feel those wings behind you?” She looked seriously at Annie.
    “Yes!” Annie beamed at her and clapped her hands, bouncing in her seat.
    Kate put her finger to her lips to remind Annie to stay quiet, so their mother wouldn’t hear them.
    “Let’s fly away together. We can go anywhere you want.” Kate leaned her head against the head rest, looking toward her sister with a dreamy look in her eyes.
    “Katie?” Annie whispered after a quiet moment of staring out the window together.
    “What?” She looked at her sister, her little face deep in thought.
    “I think I would be happier if we were birds. Then we could fly away anytime someone tried to hurt us.” She whispered to Kate, surprisingly insightful for her age.
    “Me too, baby girl.” Tears stung at Kate’s eyes as she whispered in response to her sister, while Annie dropped her head to lean against Kate’s small shoulder.
    “One day we will, I promise.” Kate spoke softly, caressing her sister’s hair as they both stared out the window and watched several flocks of birds flying over the field they were passing.
    She felt Annie smile at her words, bringing a warm sensation to her heart. Her sister was everything to her and she had long ago made it her life’s mission to shield Annie from the evils of the world.
    The evils that a six year old girl shouldn’t be aware of, and yet Kate was.
    She kissed the top of Annie’s head and Annie reached for her hand, sliding her stubby little fingers into her palm.
    The sisters held hands as they flew off to play with the birds.
     
    ~~~~~~
     
     
    “You know, you really fucked things up for me, Kate.” A sharp pain radiated up and down her side as a pointed boot collided with her ribs.
    Kate groaned and rolled over onto her side, trying to pull away from her attacker. She squeezed her eyes closed tighter as another kick spiked her hip, making a cracking sound that she couldn’t identify but knew wasn’t good. She shrieked in response, unable to keep the pain from bursting out of her.
    “So you said already, asshole.” She spat angrily at him as she glared at him through narrowed eyes after she got her breath back.
    “And yet you still haven’t put the pieces together. Not as smart as I thought apparently.” He chuckled as he grabbed her hair and pulled her up into a seated position.
    Kate screamed at the sharp pain in her skull as he yanked harshly on her now messy locks. Her sounds of agony only made Frank grin with pleasure as his eyes hooded over with desire.
    She felt her stomach threatening to heave again at the very idea of what he might be thinking. He lowered his head down to close the distance between them and she could smell cigarettes on his warm breath.
    “I’m going to make you scream a lot more before I’m done with you.” His voice was husky and his face was adorned with a huge smile.
    She grimaced and rolled her eyes at him as he let go of her and walked over to the wooden wall of the stable and grabbed a large coil of rope off a hook. She pushed back on her ankles as much as she could being bound, attempting to get as far away from him as possible. He glanced over his shoulder at her and chuckled, then brought the rope over to her.
    “You’re not going to get away, Kate.” He laughed, standing over her.
    “Fuck you.” She said through clenched teeth, doing her best to hold on to her inner strength, refusing to let him have that too.
    “Oh don’t worry, you will.” Frank laughed, bending his knees to come down to her eye level again.
    His face suddenly went serious, his eyes darkened, and only the hint of a sickly smile appeared.
    “You’re going to die today, Kate.” He whispered to her in an ominous voice, full of hatred and bitterness.
    Kate felt the color drain from her face as she struggled to figure out why her lungs had suddenly stopped working. She felt her hands and feet tingle with a numbing sensation under their binding, and