Free Taken by Lisa Harris Page B

music.
    Marcus saw the truck a second before it hit Chad, but by then it was too late. The driver honked his horn and slammed on his brakes. Chad’s body flew like a limp rag doll, before slamming seconds later onto the pavement.

SEVEN
    K ate pressed through the crowd that had gathered in front of the church, straining to see where Chad had gone. Music blasted. A horn sounded. Brakes squealed. She turned toward the commotion just in time to see a truck slam into Chad.
    “Chad!”
    Kate barely heard her own scream above the music entertaining the crowd. She tried to push her way toward the street, straining to see what had happened. He was lying there, still, as the driver exited his car.
    Someone grabbed her arm from behind. Instinctively, she tried to pull away as panic whipped through her. Chad had been right. They were here. And they’d found her. Ready to hurt her as they’d hurt her sister and now Chad...
    “It’s okay... It’s me.“ Marcus loosened his grip, but didn’t let go as he turned her around to face him. Both of his hands rested against her arms as he caught her gaze and pulled her away from the crowd. “Kate?”
    “Marcus?” Kate felt a flood of relief surge through her, but even that relief did little to alleviate the fear or the images she couldn’t erase from her mind. “Someone just hit Chad. I need to see if he’s okay.”
    “I saw what happened, but I need you to come with me.”
    “No. I can’t. Not yet.” She tried to pull away from Marcus’s grip. The flow of traffic had yet to stop, as the crowd of spectators turned their attention to the accident. “I can’t just leave. I need to see if he’s okay.”
    “Pierre and Jocelyn are there and the police will be here shortly. I don’t want you out there, Kate. It’s too exposed. Not until I know you’re safe. Not until I know exactly what happened.”
    “What happened?” Her mind struggled to follow his reasoning. “My brother-in-law was hit by a truck...”
    She paused, realizing what he was thinking. What if it wasn’t an accident? What if someone had attempted to kill Chad as they’d tried to kill Rachel?
    But why? Nothing made sense.
    Marcus pulled her back toward the shadows of the towering church, stopping close to the cold stone structure. “Until I know if that was an accident or not, you need to stay out of sight. We need to get out of here.”
    Kate hesitated, unable to pull her gaze away from the street. Marcus was right. Someone was after Chad. And that someone—if they thought she was Rachel—was now after her. The music stopped. In its place, sirens screamed in the distance. She could still see Chad’s form lying on the ground in front of the taxi. Blood pooled from his head. The driver waved his hands around, shouting something she couldn’t understand.
    He had told them Rachel had the diamonds.
    They thought she was Rachel.
    They’d tried to grab her...
    Kate shivered in the warm afternoon sun, not wanting to continue putting the pieces together. “He hasn’t moved, Marcus...”
    Her heart raced. Her head throbbed. How could she simply walk away? Chad had answers to her questions. Something had spooked him, and she needed to know what.
    Marcus tipped her chin slightly, until she was forced to catch his gaze. “You have to trust someone. I need you to trust me. We need to go.”
    She swallowed hard, knowing she was panicking and not thinking straight. Marcus wasn’t the bad guy in this situation. He was only trying to help. And at the moment, she clearly needed all the help she could get.
    Marcus pulled her toward him, his hands on her shoulders. “I’m going to keep you safe, Kate. I promise.”
    She couldn’t see Chad anymore because of the growing crowd that had formed around the accident scene. She had to know what happened, and it was more than that. Chad had been in contact with Sophie’s kidnappers. Without the diamonds, without Chad, they’d lost their connection to finding her.
    “He