Cold Jade Read Online Free Page B

ached.
    Worst of all, she couldn’t move because her hands were tied behind her back, and her feet were tied together.
    The van occasionally bounced and jostled, but the movements were slight. But she could sense the momentum. The sound of an engine running at an even pitch. Rebecca guessed they were driving on a somewhat smooth, and fast surface, probably a freeway. The sense of touch came over her and she could feel the ropes binding her wrists beneath her, and the tightness of tape across her mouth.
    And then fear. It came like a great wave of cold water that splashed over her soul, and shook her to the spine.
    She closed her eyes as the tears came.
    Rebecca saw herself in the restroom at the mall. She had been sitting on the toilet in the stall, texting her friend while she relieved herself. When she was done, she’d gone to the sink to wash her hands. She’d set her phone down, and then she’d knocked the phone through the hole in the counter that led to a wastebasket. She had cursed herself, finished drying her hands and was about to dig through the wastebasket for her phone when someone grabbed her and slapped something across her mouth.
    She remembered a chemical smell.
    And then there was nothing.
    And now this.
    Who had taken her and why?
    She thought maybe it was a practical joke, but then quickly realized that no one would play a joke like this on her.
    No, this was real.
    Someone was taking her somewhere.
    Rebecca tried to calm herself. It all had to have something to do with her father. He was a Senator and she knew that he had a lot of enemies. He had a lot of friends, too, but there had been plenty of hate mail that reached their house. Phone calls that were somehow made even though their phone number was unlisted, all with messages that in no uncertain terms expressed a severe dislike for Archibald Spencer and his policies.
    But what if it wasn’t about her Dad?
    She squeezed her eyes shut even harder. What if it was some kidnapper rapist who just wanted to take her somewhere and do awful things to her and kill her? Then dump her body in a ditch somewhere?
    Rebecca closed her eyes and thought of church. They went pretty much every Sunday to St. Paul’s just down the street. It was a beautiful church and Rebecca enjoyed going even though sometimes she pretended to have too much homework to get out of going to Mass.
    Now, she pictured the church, the priest, and the feeling of holding her mother’s hand during the ceremony. She heard the sound of the church choir singing praise.
    Rebecca prayed like she had never prayed before.
    And then she started crying again.

12
    Silicon Valley, California
    B ernard Evans nearly gasped .
    The newest product on The Store immediately spoke to him. It was the kind of girl he always looked for as he endlessly surfed through porn sites and triple xxx videos.
    A farm girl. Pale white skin. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Rosy cheeks. Solid and wholesome with meat on her bones and the kind of sweet body you could rock all night long.
    And young.
    So young she was probably illegal.
    He laughed. This whole thing was about as illegal as you could get.
    He couldn’t believe it. For years he’d sought out escorts, street prostitutes, strippers, and worst of all, ordinary women on dating websites just to find his farm girl.
    There had always been so much disappointment. The women were either lying online, or using fake pictures, or just somehow never lived up to his expectations.
    But this, this was different.
    Evans instinctively knew that this girl was the real thing. An honest-to-goodness young, virginal farm girl with flawless skin and a succulence that only came from fresh air and unspoiled innocence.
    Now, at long last, here she was.
    With a price tag of two million dollars.
    Evans smiled. Two million dollars was chump change. Especially considering what he would get for his money. A long weekend alone with this girl in a remote location where he could do whatever he wanted, with