Free Don't Say a Word (Strangers Series) by Jennifer Jaynes Page A

cheeks tear streaked.
    Allie heard the blip of a police vehicle outside. “Yes. He’s gone.”
    “Is he . . . is he coming back?”
    Allie hoped not, but she didn’t know, so she didn’t answer. “Was that Gary? Your mother’s boyfriend?”
    Zoe nodded, her chin trembling.

    An hour later, Allie sat in the kitchen with Zoe and Renee, the forensic therapist Zoe had talked with at the Child Advocacy Center.
    Because Zoe had refused to go back to the center, Detective Lambert had arranged for the therapist to come to the house to speak to her. He’d also arranged for closed-circuit television gear to be set up so the session could be recorded. Sammy was in the living room with Bitty and the girls’ caseworker while Allie sat in the kitchen with Zoe. Throughout the house, the drapes and blinds were all drawn, making it feel much later in the day than it was.
    Zoe sat by the bank of windows in the kitchen, hugging her body tightly and rocking. As Allie studied her, Zoe suddenly looked up and their eyes met. Allie lifted her lips into a smile, but Zoe didn’t smile back. Instead, she studied Allie with those guarded eyes of hers. Although she’d insisted on Allie being with her during the therapist’s interviews, Allie could still tell the girl didn’t trust her.
    “You okay?” Allie asked, then immediately regretted the question. It was a stupid one. Zoe must’ve realized it was stupid, too, because she didn’t bother to answer.
    After talking with Detective Lambert, Renee walked in and took a seat. She was looking very casual again in yoga pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt that read “Calm down. I’m a shrink.” She smiled warmly at Zoe and did her leaning-in thing again. “Is there something at the advocacy center that makes you uncomfortable, Zoe? Is that why you didn’t want to go in today?”
    “I . . . I just wanted to stay home,” Zoe answered.
    Allie was surprised to hear Zoe use the word “home.” She couldn’t help but wonder if it was simply a figure of speech, or if Zoe was already feeling a little more comfortable at their house.
    “I see. I’ll tell you a secret then. I do, too,” the young woman said, and winked. “I love being at home. I wish I was able to be there more.”
    Zoe stared at the woman.
    “So, tell me more about this man, Gary, who paid you guys a visit today. Is he the same person you were telling me about yesterday?”
    Zoe nodded.
    “Do you know what he wanted? Why he showed up today?”
    Zoe shrugged. “He said something about wanting to know what I’d told you.”
    “Did you answer him?”
    “No. I didn’t talk to him at all.”
    “Are you afraid of Gary, Zoe?”
    Zoe peered down at her hands, pressed together in her lap. “I hate him.”
    “Why do you hate him?”
    “He’s weird. He. . .” She lowered her eyes and rocked harder. “Once, he . . .
    Allie shifted in her seat.
    “What did he do, Zoe?” Renee asked.
    Zoe swallowed hard. “I woke up in the middle of the night a couple of weeks ago, and . . . and he . . .” She inhaled sharply and shuddered. When she looked up, her eyes were glittering with tears. “He was standing next to my bed. He asked if he could get in with me and rub my back.”

    The rest of the morning was a blur. Johnny left for Dallas shortly before Zoe’s session with the therapist, and at some point, although she couldn’t remember when, Allie had grabbed Sammy and retreated to her bedroom. Now they lay in bed. The morning’s excitement had sucked them both dry, physically and emotionally. Sammy was taking his second nap of the day, and Allie was trying to fall asleep, but there was still too much adrenaline in her bloodstream.
    As she had sensed, the girls’ arrival had changed everything.
    It had been fewer than three days since she’d first laid eyes on these girls, and now the whole safe world that had taken her years to build felt as flimsy as a house of cards.
    It’ll all pass soon , she assured