Abducted (Amber Alert Series Book 2) Read Free Page B

and while my loss would have hurt, you could have done it."
    "Maybe, but then no one would come within ten feet of me. No one would want to date me after being kidnapped and defiled,” my mom said with a light laugh in her voice.
    "They wouldn't know what they were missing then, because you're an amazing person and an even better wife. Even if you wouldn't let me name one of our daughters Kelly," Dad said with a laugh as my mom slapped him on the back of the head.
    "That's not funny," Mom stated with a giggle.
    "It made you laugh, so I think it's funny."
    "You always made me laugh, even when I was trapped in that house and we were screaming down each other's throats." 
    They laughed about old memories as I started to connect the dots. Did she say she was kidnapped and trapped in a house? My father had said she was the main witness. She said that she didn’t advocate for these laws. I shook my head trying to get rid of the thoughts that my mom was Anna Cowles. My mom's name was Anna Williams until she married my father, then it became Anna Thomas—unless she changed it so she could move out of the area undetected. Why else would she have been the reason Steve was put behind bars? Could my mom be  the  Anna Cowles?
    "Are you Anna Cowles?" I asked, emerging from behind my hiding spot.
    "Audrey, we thought you were in bed," my mom said, avoiding my question.
    "Are you Anna Cowles?" I asked, repeating my question. 
    "Audrey, we didn't want you to know because it would affect how you saw us. We wanted you to have a normal childhood, one that we didn't have. In this case ignorance was for the best,” my father said, taking over the conversation. 
    "You lied to me?”
    "We did it in your best interest! Did you want to know that Steve Bennett took your mother from a public park in broad daylight and shot two people? Did you want to know she was tortured and there was nothing anyone could do about it? What good would that have done you?"
    "I'm the child of the  Anna Cowles! The girl that was forced into a psychopath's home because she didn’t fight?" I blurted out in anger and betrayal.
    "Audrey!" my mother shrieked.
    "I hate you, and I never want to see either of you again!" I screamed as I ran out of the house. I heard their calls behind me, but by the time I was down the block I knew I was free. I had nowhere to go for the night, though; it was against the law to go over to friends’ houses this late. Their parents would call the police on me, and I’d be taken right back home—but if I'm going to break another law tonight, it's going to be wiping my memory with alcohol.
    I cut through yards and made my way downtown where Mark took me to get my first drink. They didn't check identification, and I was able to get a few drinks pretty easily. I didn’t think about getting home afterward, I figured I would make a new friend while I was out anyway. I might as well get tipsy so I could flirt my way home.
    "Give me one," I said to the bartender. He slid a beer my way, and I grimaced. I hated the taste, but it was all he would dish out to underage kids. It was against the law, but he got paid by every teen that came here and probably made more money like that. I gulped down the beer, knowing it would take a few more, but eventually I lost count of how many I had had. By that time the bartender had told me he thought I had enough and I was caught off.
    "Do you want me to get you a ride home?" the bartender asked. 
    "I got her. I'm sure she won't mind," a deep voice said from behind me. I swiveled my chair and turned to see a handsome man in his early twenties with jet-black hair and light tanned skin. His smile was breathtaking, along with his enticing scent of fresh rain and flowers. It brought a smile to my lips.
    "I wouldn't mind at all. I'm Audrey Thomas," I said, as I almost tipped out of my seat.
    "I'm Damien Clark. Now let's get you home before you pass out," he said with a light chuckle that made me swoon. Or maybe