Murphy's Law Read Online Free Page A

running before Murphy could stop her, and dropped to her knees at the
river’s edge to pick up the doll. With a choked sob she clutched it to her
chest and began rocking back and forth, repeating Abby’s name over and over.
The torment in her voice almost undid him. He took a step forward at the same
time a raindrop bounced off his nose.
    Damn.
    Clenching his jaw against the run of bad
luck they were having, he strode to Sara’s side, grabbed her by the arms and
hauled her to her feet. She met him with an accusing glare that would have cut
straight through if he didn’t know where it came from. She was strung out and
thinking the worst. The stress of what might be hurtled her over the edge of
control. To make matters worse, the clouds that had been threatening all
morning suddenly opened up and dumped icy cold rain on them.
    Sara let out a howl of pain and lifted
her face to the sky. The anguish in that one look cut through him.
    When she lowered her head and looked at
him, he could see she’d lost hope. It tore him apart.
    “The rain is washing away her trail,”
she cried over the force of the storm. Rain plastered her hair to her head and
clung to her long lashes. She looked small and defenseless.
    “No, Sara. This isn’t over. I can still
find her.”
    Sara held up the doll and shook it in
his face. “Abby never lets go of this doll. She’s carried it around with her
since she could walk. It’s her favorite toy and she…she…”
    Her voice rose with every word until she
choked on them. Murphy squeezed her arms and gave her a little shake.
    “She may have dropped it out of her
pack. She may not even know it’s gone. You can’t assume anything, Sara.”
    “But it’s by the river! What’s the
chance she dropped it here without knowing? No, I think she dropped it and
wasn’t able to go back for it because she…fell… Murphy, she can’t swim!”
    That broke her. A strangled sob escaped
her throat and her hands fisted on the front of his parka. She began chanting a
mantra that Abby couldn’t swim as she pounded on his chest. Rain continued to
pour down on them, soaking them to the skin as cold wind gusted past and
whistled through the trees. The river crashed over rocks as it moved rapidly
down the mountain, swirling and throwing buckets of water over the bank.
    Murphy stood still, letting Sara take
out her hurt and anger on him. He barely felt the blows from her small fists,
but he felt every emotion. It had been a long time since anyone stirred
feelings inside him. Damn. Much easier not to feel.
    Finally, she collapsed against his chest
and clung to his shoulders. She buried her face in his parka and shook with
sobs. Her gut-wrenching sounds carried over the storm.
    He lifted his face to the sky and closed
his eyes as Sara cried into his coat. He should’ve found the girl sooner and
prevented Sara from this pain. He doubted the girl had fallen into the water,
but he couldn’t be sure. Odd that they’d found her doll at the river’s edge, but
he wasn’t done yet.
    Come hell or high water, he would find
the girl.
    * * * *
    Her heart ripped in two. The pain sliced
through her so deep, Sara wondered how she would recover. Abby couldn’t swim.
This was all her fault. If she hadn’t lost her footing…fresh tears filled her
eyes and she didn’t hold them back. They fell on Murphy’s coat until there were
none left. She didn’t care if they stood in the middle of a storm getting
soaked by icy cold rain. Or that the man standing rigid against her didn’t wrap
his arms around her and offer comfort. She didn’t care that her head felt like
splitting in two, or that her entire body had been run over by a Mack truck.
All she cared about was her daughter.
    “I want her back,” she wailed into
Murphy’s wet coat, fisting her hands in the material at his shoulders above her
head. “I can’t lose her now. Not like this. I’ve kept her safe for so long. I
can’t lose her.”
    She was losing it. The