I could call him that, but it sure as hell wasn’t his name. I’d bet money on that and take it right to the bank. “Alright,Rob, what else do you want to know?”
“You haven’t answered my first question. Why would someone so beautiful and obviously intelligent and witty want to join up with the likes of the Serpents? You don’t fit the mold.”
“Rob” knew nothing about me, yet he was making all sorts of assumptions. And it was stupid and immature, but all I could focus on was the way he’d called me beautiful. I was a mess. Was he blind?
“Why were you at Buzz’s?” I fired back. “You’re obviously more than some common stripper. You on their payroll?”
His grin only widened. “I tried to take you to a hospital, and you flipped out. Said if I stayed away from hospitals and cops, you’d tell me everything. Start singin’, little bird.”
“Or, you could just let me leave and we can pretend this whole kidnapping thing never happened.”
“Kidnapping? You mean saving your ass from whoever beat the shit out of you? Were you hopin’ for a repeat performance? You into that masochistic shit?”
I shrugged. “Maybe, but it’s none of your business since I asked you to leave me. You should have respected my wishes. Hasn’t anyone told you about women’s choice?”
His jaw ticked. I couldn’t tell if he was trying not to glare or trying not to laugh. “Decent deflection, but it needs work because if you really don’t want to be here, I have no objections to dropping your ass off at the hospital or the Seattle PD. Hell, it would make my life much easier. You have no idea the shitstorm your presence is causing.”
I chewed on that for a moment, wondering what kind of trouble he was talking about, but I could tell he was serious. And I wasn’t about to push him further. If he dumped me off at either of those places, I was a dead woman.
I had to trust someone.
Why not the sexy stripper who’d risked his life to get me out of Buzz’s house? If he chose to kill me, at least I’d die staring at his fantastic pecs.
“I’m with the Seattle PD. I’m officer Sasha Petrov.”
His eyebrows rose. “So… you’re undercover?”
I could tell this was going to take a while. “Not exactly.”
He folded his arms across his chest and gave me a respectable ‘don’t bullshit me’ glare. “Why don’t you tell meexactlywhat you’re up to, then?”
Regardless of how complicated this stranger had made my mission, hehadrescued me. He saw a woman in a dangerous situation and took her out of it against her will.
How many times had I wanted to do that for a domestic violence victim?
In his shoes, I would have probably done the same thing. As misguided and unwelcome as that rescue had been, it showed character and a willingness to put himself in danger to help others. Especially since he obviously knew who Buzz was. In fact, he knew far too much for some run-of-the-mill stripper.
Maybe he’s a fed?
That would explain why he was so secretive and why his security seemed so tight. I was usually good at reading people, and despite his obviously fake name, “Rob” seemed legitimate. I was in over my head with the Serpents, and I needed someone to talk to, maybe even bounce ideas off. More than that, I had to get back to Breaker so he knew I was still in. And since my mysterious rescuer was parked between me and the most-likely locked door that led out, I didn’t have much of a choice. So, I opened my mouth and sang him the full tune, starting with missing girl cases. I told him everything.
Well, not quite everything. I brushed over the sex with Breaker.
Not because I was interested in Rob, per se, but because I didn’t want him to think I was a slut.
And Rob was hot.
After I finished, my rescuer launched a string of questions at me. He was sharp and intuitive, and every ounce of information he pulled from me made my mind spin a little faster. I’d missed so much trying to do this alone while Breaker kept me doped up. I seriously could have used Rob’s mind while I was in the compound.
He had to be a fed or something comparable.
Wincing while I leaned forward, I said, “I didn’t think about getting the blueprints for the compound. That’s brilliant, um… Rob.”
He considered me for a moment before correcting me. “Tap.”
I’d given him all sorts of information, and he was finally handing me a crumb. Tap was a strange name but it felt honest, so I rolled with it. “Nice to finally meet you, Tap. I’m not gonna thank you for taking me out of Buzz’s office, since that was right where I needed to be and I’m still salty about being abducted. But I will thank you for bringing me somewhere safe. Where are we, anyway?”
He shook his head. “Let’s not worry about that right now. Those wounds need to be cleaned and I’m pretty sure your leg needs a couple of stitches.”
