Taken

MISSING CHILD

Kate Elliot’s suburban life turns upside down when her sister is shot and her niece kidnapped. Unsure of whom to trust, she turns to FBI agent Marcus O’Brian. But Kate doesn’t want to leave the case to the authorities. Against the handsome agent’s orders, she tracks her niece to Paris, and the City of Light quickly becomes a city of danger. Marcus can’t explain why he feels such a strong connection with the headstrong woman, but soon he’s taking on the role of Kate’s protector. Yet when the kidnappers demand a ransom Kate can’t deliver, he’s not sure how much longer he can keep her alive. Now Marcus has the next twenty-four hours to save a stolen child and the woman he’s grown to love.

“Kate, wait. Before we go…”

Her gaze narrowed. “What’s wrong?”

“I want you to return to the States. I can get you on the next flight.”

“Forget it.” She started for the door. “I can’t return. Not now…not until I find my niece.”

He stepped in front of her, blocking the door. “After tonight, isn’t it clear that it’s not safe for you in Paris?”

“My niece isn’t exactly safe right now, either, Marcus. I’m not leaving her behind.”

“I understand how you feel—”

“Do you?”

He took her hands, but she pulled away. It didn’t matter what he thought. She was staying, and she was going to make the ransom exchange at the Eiffel Tower.

“Kate, those people don’t play by the rules. They don’t care if you get hurt. But I do.”

“You need me here, Marcus, and you know it.”

“I need you safe. What if the next time you run into them you’re not so lucky? I don’t want you a part of this—”

“It’s too late. I’m already a part of it. And I’ll see it to the end.” Even if it cost her her life.

LISA HARRIS is a Christy Award winner and winner of the Best Inspirational Suspense Novel for 2011 from RT Book Reviews. She and her family are missionaries in southern Africa. When she’s not working she loves hanging out with her family, cooking different ethnic dishes, photography and heading into the African bush on safari. For more information about her books and life in Africa visit her website at lisaharriswrites.com.

Taken

Lisa Harris

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

—Psalms 139:8–10

Dedicated to my husband and all of our fun memories of the most romantic city in the world.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EPILOGUE

Dear Reader

Extract

Copyright

ONE

“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”

Kate Elliot pressed her cell phone against her ear with her shoulder as she fumbled to open her sister’s front door with her spare key. The lock stuck. “My sister... I think... I think she’s been shot.”

“What is the location of the emergency, ma’am?”

Kate squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back tears as she gave the woman her sister’s address.

“The paramedics are en route now, ma’am.”

Thirty seconds later, Kate managed to open the door. She stepped inside the two-story house in the upscale Dallas suburb, her heart pounding. Dora the Explorer giggled on the flat-screen TV in the living room. The normally immaculate house had been completely trashed.

“Rachel!” She screamed out her sister’s name.

Kate picked up the remote, froze Dora’s character, then called for her sister again, but only an eerie silence greeted her. Trying not to panic, she checked quickly through the downstairs.

There was no sign of her sister.

She headed up the stairs straight for the master bedroom. Like the rest of the house, the room had been trashed. Bedding lay in mounds on the floor, framed photos had been ripped off the walls and dresser drawers dumped onto the floor. Their contents lay strewn across the bloodstained carpet—all telltale signs of the horror that had taken place moments before.

Rachel lay still on her back in the middle of the room.

Kate dropped to her knees beside her sister, avoiding a thick shard of glass from a broken mirror, and grasped Rachel’s wrist. The monotone beeping from the receiver of the landline vied for attention against a pulse that was steady but weak.

Rachel groaned and opened her eyes.

“Don’t move, sweetie. I’m here.” Fighting back the tears, Kate wiped off the perspiration that had beaded across Rachel’s ashen forehead.

“They broke in through the back door... They had guns... It all happened so fast...”

“An ambulance is almost here, and they’ll get you to the hospital. You’re going to be okay, Rachel. I promise.”

Kate’s gaze shot to her sister’s bloodstained dress and realized it was a promise she might not be able to keep. “Rachel, stay with me. Please.”

Grabbing a bathrobe off the floor, Kate pressed the fuzzy garment against Rachel’s abdomen where the bullet had entered. The white material immediately took on a deep crimson stain.