Free Taken by Lisa Harris Page A

about Sophie. They can help us get her back. They just want to talk to you. They’re after the men who took Sophie. You said you had evidence. They’ll listen to you. Make some kind of deal.”
    Chad drummed his fingers against the pew. “They’re here, Kate. And they’ll kill me if they find out I can’t find the diamonds.”
    “Who?”
    Kate studied the people filing by, looking for the men who’d grabbed her. An older couple. Some American tourists. A group of students with a guide. She glanced back at Chad. Surely he was simply jumping at shadows.
    “They’re here to make sure I do what they told me to do,” he said.
    “Where are they, Chad?”
    “I was foolish to think I could outsmart them. If you don’t have the diamonds, then you’re of no use to me or Sophie at this point.”
    “Don’t put this back on me.”
    He stood up and started toward the entrance, and she hurried to follow.
    “Chad, wait. What did you tell them? Where did you tell them the diamonds were?”
    Chad kept walking, avoiding her gaze until they were out in the plaza again, but she wasn’t finished.
    “Chad...” She moved in front of him, forcing him to stop. “What did you tell them?”
    “I told them I didn’t have the diamonds, but I was going to get them. I told them... I told them that Rachel had the diamonds. I was just trying to buy myself some time—”
    “Your buying yourself time might have gotten her killed!”
    “I didn’t think they’d find her. And I had no idea you would show up here.”
    “Wait a minute.” The jumbled pieces of the situation had yet to make sense, but something wasn’t right. Marcus wasn’t the first person who’d told her that she and Rachel could be twins. “They think I’m Rachel.”
    “I don’t know... Maybe... I think so.” She’d never seen him so hesitant. So scared.
    She glanced behind her. Maybe Chad wasn’t jumping at shadows. They had to be here somewhere. Watching. Waiting. And they thought she was Rachel.
    She turned back to Chad. “What happened at Rachel’s house that day? Did the person you sent to find the diamonds end up shooting my sister when she walked in on them?”
    “No.”
    “Are you telling me the truth?”
    “Yes. I’ve got to go, Kate.” He pulled away from her and headed toward the street in front of the cathedral.
    “Not yet, Chad, please... There are still too many questions.”
    She started after him, still not sure about who he’d seen that had spooked him. Still unsure about everything.
    * * *
    Marcus watched Chad slip from the entrance of the church and start toward the busy street. He was walking fast, almost running as he wove between tourists carrying cameras, peddlers asking for money and a group of street performers who were gathering a crowd with their upbeat rap.
    Something had spooked Chad.
    Kate followed behind him, with Jocelyn, in her gray scarf, just a few steps behind her. Either Kate had managed to scare him or someone was after him. He searched the crowd, trying to figure out what had spooked him.
    “He’s running,” Pierre said.
    Marcus picked up his pace. Who was Chad running from?
    People exited the church, but no one who fit any of the descriptions they had. Maybe the man was just being paranoid.
    What just happened in there, Kate?
    He looked back at where a group of street performers were in front of the cathedral drawing a growing crowd, dancing to the music. Kate had vanished into the crowd behind Chad.
    “We’re not losing her again...”
    “She got caught up in the crowd watching the street performance,” Jocelyn responded, “but I’m right behind her.”
    Marcus picked up his pace. “What happened inside there?”
    “I don’t know. They were sitting on one of the pews, talking, when something spooked him.”
    “Grab Chad. I’ll get Kate.”
    He spotted her at the edge of the crowd as Chad stumbled off the sidewalk. He called out to her, but there was no way she could hear him above the