Behind the Mask Read Online Free

and be patient. We’ll find a way.”
    “Thank you, Georg,” Cameron said and his voice trembled. “I owe you my life.”
    “Now we’re even,” Georg answered.
    The two men embraced, then Cameron mounted the waiting horse and rode further into the forest.

    Throughout the following days Abbi spent a great deal of time with Blaze, but she found her thoughts preoccupied with the documents hidden in her drawer. More than once she almost opened them, wanting so badly to know what they contained. But lives were at stake, and she was determined to heed her father’s instructions in every respect. Even Elsa, who was more a friend to her than a personal maid, did not share Abbi’s knowledge in this matter.
    Abbi tried to imagine what could have possibly happened to make her father do something so bizarre. Trying to comprehend what it meant, she contemplated all she knew of him, and realized it was little. Since his wife’s death more than ten years earlier, Gerhard Albrecht had shown little interest in his daughter’s life. Abbi had been raised by her grandfather, who spoke of his son, Gerhard, grudgingly and with contempt when he mentioned him at all. Abbi had no idea what her father did to make a living; she only knew he had been disowned. She felt no real emotion for her father, simply because she hardly knew him. To her he was little more than a visitor, who rarely visited except on occasional holidays. Her only tender feelings for him were connected to the imperfect black pearl he’d given her soon after her mother’s death. The gift she wore around her neck was the only tangible connection she had to her father, but her sentiment was tied more into the symbolism he’d shared with her concerning the gift, rather than its being given to her by a man she hardly knew. But now he was in some kind of trouble, and Abbi felt afraid for him. As the seventeenth of the month drew closer, she began to watch for him at every turn. When the specified morning came and she hadn’t seen him, Abbi had to resign herself to carrying out her father’s assignment.
    “I believe I’ll go into town this morning,” she said cautiously to her grandfather.
    From the other end of the dining table Josef Albrecht looked up from his breakfast. “Alone?” he asked.
    “You’ve let me do that before. You know I’ll be careful and—”
    “Meeting that father of yours, I presume.”
    Abbi was surprised. She wondered how he knew, but didn’t dare ask. “Yes,” she stated.
    “I don’t know what kind of trouble that boy of mine has gotten himself into this time, but mind that you don’t get too caught up in it.”
    “I’ll be careful, Papa.”
    “I know you will, Princess,” he conceded. “Just mind how you go now. If you’re not back by noon, I’m sending Georg after you.”
    “Yes, Papa.” She smiled warmly and he returned the gesture, but she didn’t miss the concern in his eyes.
    Abbi rode quickly in order to arrive by ten. She wondered what to expect, and felt an ominous fear that he wouldn’t be there. As much as she wanted to know what was in that sealed packet of papers, the thought of having to open it according to his instructions frightened her. She was relieved to find her father waiting on a particular bench. He rose to greet her with a kiss on the cheek, but his smile couldn’t hide the fact that he was nervous.
    “You’re safe,” Abbi said. “I’m so glad.”
    Gerhard looked into her eyes, and Abbi’s relief waned. Despair washed over his expression, making her heart beat faster.
    “You must come again next month,” he said. “Every month. It’s the only thing keeping me alive, Abbi. I didn’t know it would turn out this way. I’m trapped in this predicament. There’s nothing else I can do. Promise me you’ll come.”
    Abbi hesitated, remembering Papa’s advice. “I’ll come,” she promised, and the fear in her father’s eyes lessened slightly.
    “I must go,” he said, glancing one