Vincelooked at her out of the corner of his eye. Fiona’s wardrobe was simple. Plain neutral colors, but it was her herself that made them sexy. “There’s nothing wrong with simple.” Even in the drabbest outfit, Fiona would still stand out in a crowd, she was so beautiful. Damn, he really needed to stop thinking about her like that. Ortiz’s sister, off limits, he was just here to protect her.
“My sisters would disagree with you.”
“They can disagree all they want. Simple keeps an enemy from spotting you.”
“Do you always compare everything to war?”
“That’s been my life for the past fifteen years. I don’t know how else to see the world.”
“Not everyone is out to hurt someone.”
“You can say that after what happened to you?” He gave her a droll look.
Fiona curled into herself. “I can’t judge the actions of a few as a basis for all.”
“And your stalker?” he pushed. He had to make Fiona see the world wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. That danger did lurk in shadows. He stopped seeing the world that way after he enlisted. He had seen too much evil in the world to ever look at it differently again. Everywhere, there was a threat to someone.
“Again, a few.” She stood firm to her way of thinking.
Vincestopped in his tracks, looking at her. How could a woman who had been attacked, kidnapped and almost raped still look at the world with optimism? She should be scared of everything, or at least wary. Several of the women in their group had been through trying circumstances and they’d come out of it being more situationally aware. But not Fiona. She acted like nothing had ever happened.
“What?”
“I wish you would see the world for what it is. It would keep you safer.”
Fiona pursed her lips. “So I should be seeing danger around every corner and thinking every person I meet means to do me harm.”
“Yes.” Now she was seeing what he was talking about.
Fiona shook her head sadly. “The world may not have always been kind to you, Vince, but for me, before a few weeks ago, it was simple. Yes, what happened was horrible and will take a long time to get over, but the majority of the people I met in the Congo were nice. Besides my stalker, everyone has always been nice to me. Just because of two separate incidents, I’m not going to see danger everywhere.Or think everyone is a bad guy.”
“Well, as long as there is a threat, you need to. Your stalker could already know you’re here in Texas. They could have followed you to the house or even here at the mall.” He wasn’t saying this to be mean, but she needed to see there were bad people in the world and he wouldn’t always be there to protect her.
Fiona’s gaze moved around the mall as if seeing it with a new pair of eyes.
“Just be on the lookout.” He softened his tone. “If something doesn’t feel right or you think you see something, tell me. Or if you don’t want to draw attention, signal me like this.” He took her hand in his. To any onlooker, they were holding hands. He pressed his index and middle finger into her hand. “Got it?” This was really important.
“I got it.”
“Good, let’s get the phones and meet Squeaker.”Vincepulled her to the phone stand, not realizing he still hadn’t let go of her hand.
Chapter 7
Fiona stared speechlessly at the person introduced to her as Squeaker. For one, Squeaker was a she instead of a he, like she had first assumed. Damn Vincent for not correcting her. Another thing, she didn’t look like she could be more than sixteen. She was tall for her age, the top of her head came up to Fiona’s chin. She looked thin, but it was hard to tell under her baggy clothes. Her eyes were hidden, as well, behind brown-framed glasses that she kept pushing up the bridge of her nose with her knuckle. How was the teenager supposed to help her?
She glanced at Vincent out of the corner of her eye, wondering if he was playing some kind of practical joke on her. He had to be. There was no way this kid was some kind of computer genius that could fix her problem. There had to be some kind of mistake, or she was being punked.Yeah, that made more sense. This was Squeaker’s child, who would take them to the computer genius.
“Squeaker, thanks for seeing us,” Vincent said when the kid opened the door.
Squeaker pushed her glasses up her nose with her knuckle as she seemed to study her. Fiona arched a brow, wondering what she was looking at. “You said she was in some kind of trouble.”
Her voice was light, lyrical, almost sounding angelic, which shocked the hell out of Fiona. It sounded more like a woman’s voice than a child’s. Maybe she wasn’t as young as she thought, but it didn’t change her confidence level of if she could help her or not.
“Yeah, your help would be appreciated. I need this off record.”
Squeaker looked at her again before walking back into the house without a word. Fiona looked to Vincent for guidance. Did they follow or leave? Vincent just shrugged and walked into the house.
“Can I speak with you a moment alone?” Fiona whispered to Vincent out of the corner of her mouth, so Squeaker didn’t overhear her as he led them through the darkened living room with seventies style furniture to the kitchen that looked even older. My god, did she live with her grandmother?
