Read Out of Reach: A Novel for Free Online

and dirty, looked touched by gold. “I bet he’s been fighting since he was five, just because of that face.” Alec tapped a finger on the glossy photo. “This boy was targeted.”
    “Okay.” She shrugged. “So he was targeted.”
    “High risk
and
targeted.” The worst possible combination. “Whoever took this boy was a pro, someone who’s done it before, a lot, and knew what he was doing.”
    “And?”
    Reality was a bitch, but Alec had never been one to shy away from her. “The only way we’re going to find Cody is if we get very lucky.”
    “Or the kidnapper gets stupid.”
    Alec arched an eyebrow, then shook his head slowly. They both knew the chances of that one. “Not likely.”

IV
    T HE FIRST MILE was always the hardest, before Erin hit her stride, before her mind and body slipped into a place of pure physical effort. Then her thoughts shut down, the constant mind chatter finally quieting. She forgot about Claire and the CIA, her classes and students at Georgetown, this month’s constant stream of bills, her mother’s death, and even her concerns for Janie.
    Instead, Erin concentrated on her breathing, the steady beat of her heart, and her feet pounding the hard-packed dirt. She slipped into a world of silence that she found only while running.
    She’d started jogging in her early teens, in the months following Claire’s disappearance. The first time had been after an argument with her mother. She couldn’t remember what they’d been fighting about—though she didn’t doubt it had been fueled by their grief over Claire. Angry, Erin had raced out of the house, with no particular destination in mind. She’d just run, away from her mother, away from the ghost of Claire, away from her own fear and guilt over both.
    Two hours later, she’d returned home physically spent but rested, too, in an odd sort of way. She’d then been able to face her mother, who’d been so relieved when Erin returned that she hadn’t punished her for taking off. At the time, Erin hadn’t understood. She did now. After losing one daughter, Elizabeth Baker would never have survived losing a second.
    From then on, Erin had run regularly, anytime her sister’s disappearance closed in around her or the life of a teenager became too high pressure. She’d found it helped with her martial-arts classes as well, making her stronger and faster while increasing her ability to focus.
    Even now, after all these years, running was part of her discipline, part of the regimen she followed to stay in top form. During the week, she got up before the rest of the household and walked the few blocks to Jamestown Park, the starting point of a jogging/biking trail that followed one of the dozen streams flowing into the Potomac. Round-trip it was an eight-mile trek, with mile markers all along the way. Monday through Friday she did six, but on the weekends she slept in, waiting until nearly seven before heading out and doing the whole eight miles.
    Today she was even later than usual. Thanks to her conversation with Bill, sleep had eluded her for most of the night. His observation about her anger had gnawed at her. She knew he was right, but after hours of restless tossing and turning, she’d realized he’d been wrong about the source. True, she missed the excitement of working as a covert officer overseas and the knowledge that she was making a difference, serving her country in a way that suited her. Here, her position within the CIA was in a holding pattern while her superiors decided what to do with her. However, there was one major compensation for her stagnated career. Janie. It had taken only a few months for Erin to realize what she’d almost missed, and now she wouldn’t have exchanged this chance to watch her niece grow up for anything.
    Still, her anger hovered close to the surface. Bill hadn’t been wrong about that. The question was why, and the answer went back to Claire’s kidnapping, to the single act that had forever