Narrow Escape
KIDNAPPED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT Arissa Tiong and her three-year-old niece are snatched off the street by members of a notorious drug gang. Having lost her police officer brother to a drug bust gone bad, Arissa knows the danger she’s in. But she has no idea why they want her.Desperate to protect the little girl, Arissa escapes and runs straight to Nathan Fischer. She knows the handsome, weary ex-narcotics cop hasn’t told her everything about the night that ended her brother’s life and Nathan’s career. But he’s all that stands between her and dangerous thugs who are after something she doesn’t even know she has.
Читать Narrow Escape онлайн беплатно
KIDNAPPED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT
Arissa Tiong and her three-year-old niece are snatched off the street by members of a notorious drug gang. Having lost her police officer brother to a drug bust gone bad, Arissa knows the danger sheâs in. But she has no idea why they want her. Desperate to protect the little girl, Arissa escapes and runs straight to Nathan Fischer. She knows the handsome, weary former narcotics cop hasnât told her everything about the night that ended her brotherâs life and Nathanâs career. But heâs all that stands between her and dangerous thugs who are after something she doesnât even know she has.
âThis morning, two men kidnapped me and Charity.â
âYou should have gone to the police, Arissa,â Nathan said.
âWhat could they have done? We both know that areaâthe gangs rule those streets. If this is related to the drug gang that killed my brother, what hope do I have that the police can protect us? And my parents?â
Pain flashed across Nathanâs face, and he abruptly stood again. This time he went to lean against the fireplace mantel.
Even after three years, did her brotherâs death pain him so much? Or maybe it was the memory of the day Nathanâs leg had been shattered. She swallowed, remembering what heâd told her about his leg. About how he would never walk again because of her brother. The words still cut.
She took a deep breath. Seeing Nathan again had her caught up in too many memories. What was past should stay there. She hoped Nathan would help her, but she couldnât fool herself into thinking their relationship would ever be anything remotely like it had once been....
CAMY TANG
writes romance with a kick of wasabi. Originally from Hawaii, she worked as a biologist for nine years, but now she writes full-time. She is a staff worker for her San Jose church youth group and leads a worship team for Sunday service. She also runs the Story Sensei fiction critique service, which specializes in book doctoring. On her blog, she gives away Christian novels every Monday and Thursday, and she ponders frivolous things like dumb dogs (namely hers), coffee-geek husbands (no resemblance to her own...), the writing journey, Asiana and anything else that comes to mind. Visit her website, www.camytang.com.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him.
âPsalm 40:2â3
Thanks to my Street Team members for helping me with names: Jennifer Fuchikami for naming Arissa and various characters, and Charity Lyman and Holly Magnuson for naming Charity and Mark.
Contents
ONE
Arissa Tiong awoke to darkness and the stench of fear. Pain throbbed from a sharp point at the back of her head and radiated forward to pound against the backs of her eyeballs. She drew in a ragged breath and swallowed dust. She stifled a cough against the scratchy nubs of the frilly carpet she lay on.
Where was she? She tried to move and realized her stiff arms were fastened behind her back, and her ankles were tied together. She attempted to straighten her legs and found her feet were tethered to something. She was bound like an animal.
And Charity. Where was Charity? Her heart began to speed up, and each beat felt like a hammer blow to her breastbone. Her entire body ached.
The dim room narrowed into focus before her swimming vision. Slivers of light came from a boarded-up window. Daylight, it was still daytime. Theyâd taken her sometime in the morning, and she didnât feel sheâd been out for that long, so it must have only been a few hours. The rays spilled onto a rusty metal bed frame that held a thin, sagging mattress with no sheets and several dark stains. Her mind shied away from what made those stains.
The smell of mold was almost overpowering, and dust had settled on the thin carpet, pooling in holes and rips across the surface. The walls had dark water stains painted over older water stains.
She didnât realize there was a ringing in her ears until it started to fade and she could hear noises from outside the room. The sharp hard cries of street kids playing a pick-up game in the middle of a road. She made out a word or two here or there. The kids spoke in Tagalog. She was still in Los Angeles, maybe still in the Filipino community where she lived. She hadnât seen the faces of the men who had nabbed her off the street, but if she remained in her neighborhood, they hadnât taken her far.
What had they done with Charity? Her last memory had been seeing the three-year-oldâs huge dark eyes, her mouth wide open, screaming and reaching for her as Arissa was hauled backward into a van. Had the men left Charity on the street? A three-year-old girl alone on the streets of L.A.? A cold knife blade slid under her rib cage and pricked her heart.
