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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
and bag were in the bathroom, and there was a window. Could she
pretend sickness or something, and get in there to try to get out? The
problem was that it was a second story window and she had no idea if
there was anything to climb down, or that she would even fit through
the tiny square. It was, however, worth considering.
She needed a little time to think, so she sat back and looked at him
directly, her blue eyes losing their friendly light. 'So,' she said
abruptly, 'now what? Surely you had something in mind for this
occasion?'
A quick turn of his head had him looking at her oddly. 'I'm going to
take you back home, of course,' he stated calmly. The confidence in
his manner made her hackles rise, but she managed to hide her
antipathy for the moment as she stared at him unblinkingly, eyes
wide. His expression changed, became more gentle. 'There are some
very worried people back in Kentucky, Dee. They care about you and
want you back home. Surely you can work things out, now that
everyone's had plenty of time to think?'
'Don't make me laugh!' she snarled, and as quickly as her hostility had
surfaced, it vanished, as she got a grim hold on herself. She had time
to notice that his brows had shot down at her outburst, his eyes
becoming sharper, stern. She continued hardly, 'Do you happen to
know the law in Ohio, Mr Carridine?' She saw him register her
deliberate use of his last name, felt him tense. 'I don't. In some states
it's against the law to try to force a minor over sixteen years of age to
go back home. Don't you think you'd better check up on that before
you so blithely decide your course of action?'
'I don't need to,' he said quietly, his eyes now as hard as hers,
implacable, frightening. He really was the enemy, she thought,
sickened. He was as much the enemy as all the others. 'You see,' he
said gently, the tone making her shudder, 'you're going to come with
me, or I'm going to the newspapers and tell them your name, address,
place of work and real identity. It's one or the other, Deirdre. Your
choice.'
'God!' she muttered, paling. Her eyes searched his and found him
absolutely sincere, with no softening of resolve. He didn't exactly
look cruel, she had to admit. He was merely doing his job, no matter
what. 'Why? Why does it have to be that way? Why can't I just go on
with my life as it is here? Damn it, man, it's my life, not yours or
anybody else's!'
'You should go back if for no other reason than your obligations,' he
said sternly. 'I was hired to find you. If you don't wish to accompany
me back, I can easily call your aunt and uncle to fly out and make the
trip back with you, if you'd like. It doesn't matter to me. I've done my
job.'
Dee had blanched at the mention of her aunt and uncle and he had
seen it. His face had changed, grown puzzled, but he didn't press the
issue. He let silence fall in the room as he gave her time to consider
the options he had given her. She was feeling that terrible sense of
being trapped again, and it was stronger than before. She couldn't go
back! That would be the death of all her independence and happiness.
Judith and Howard were her legal guardians until her twenty-first
birthday, and that was an eternity away. For all Dee's blossoming
maturity, she somehow shrank at the thought of confronting her aunt
again. She couldn't, wouldn't do it. She had a right to her own life, and
this man sitting so quietly in front of her now was doing his best to
take away that right.
'I don't understand,' she muttered sickly. 'I really don't comprehend
this. I'm nearly eighteen years old! This is a ridiculous situation!'
'You may be nearly eighteen, but you aren't like other
eighteen-year-olds,' he replied, impatience creeping into his
inflections. 'Good God, child, can you imagine the horror if some nut
or criminal found out that you were living in a cheap, accessible
apartment in the bad part of Akron, Ohio? I wouldn't give two dimes
for your chances of survival!'
'Who would know, if nobody told them?' she cried out, then put a
shaking hand to her forehead and then to her mouth. She closed her
eyes and swallowed hard. One part of her was acknowledging wryly
that it wasn't wholly assumed. This man was overwhelming her.
'Are you all right?' he asked her sharply, leaning forward to stare into
her face.
'I'll be fine,' she mumbled into her hand, too quickly. She bent her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
