See, she was smart. Shay was far more observant than she let on.
Drew nodded. “If you can tell me about the people that held you, people you saw I’ll make sure your somewhere safe until everyone is behind bars.”
“Then what? I just go back to my life like nothing happened.”
Drew strove for patience at her snarky attitude. She’d gone through a traumatizing experience so he was willing to cuther some slack. This was why he left the speaking to hostages to Greg and Lucas. They were better at talking. He was better at leading.
“It’s not safe for you to go home yet. You saw these people. Could pick them out a line up. They aren’t just going to let you go. They need to be put behind bars.”
“I agree they should go behind bars.”
Drew sighed in relief. Good, she was seeing reason.
“So you’ll help me?”
“I’ll tell you what I can, but I’m going home afterward. He can protect me.”
“Like he did when you got kidnapped?” Both times, but he didn’t need to keep rehashing that.
“They took me from the college campus by surprise.”
“Kidnappers won’t give you a courtesy heads up.” Some of his own sarcasm was slipping out.
Maybe he should back off and call one of the guys to talk to her. Help her see reason. She was going into defense mode. It didn’t matter who her dad was, these people would keep coming for her until she was no longer a threat. The minute she told him names she’d have a target on her back.
“They wouldn’t dare come after me once I was under my fathers protection.” She said confidently. A confidence he didn’t share.
“Who is your dad that you think he can protect you?”
Shay bit her lip. He was coming to realize she did that when she felt she’d shared too much. “Kevin Brady.”
He recognized the name but he didn’t know where.
“He’s a US Senator.”
Ah, that’s why he recognized the name.
He was a pretty powerful name in these parts. No wonder Shay thought her dad would protect her. But no one was infallible.
“Why was there never a word you’d been taken? A senator’s daughter being kidnapped should make headlines.”
Shay tried to hide her wince as she stared intently at his side. It had long been cleaned at this point, but he liked her attention. Only an idiot would tell her stop.
“My father hates scandal.” She said as if it explained everything. It didn’t. It explained nothing.
“So? He could have launched a private investigation to find you. Hire a team like mine to extract you. No one would be the wiser.”
“Who’s to say he didn’t already try?” She shrugged, not believing her own lies.
And this was the man she wanted to trust to keep her safe? His protective instincts flared to life. The man didn’t deserve her for a daughter. Didn’t serve her loyalty to him.
He had to give it one more shot to try and convince her to help him. To trust him to keep her safe. “Shay, I know you don’t have any reason to trust me over your father. You hardly know me. But I’m asking for your help and trust. If your father wants to avoid a scandal, he’s going to sweep this under the rug. You know it. Then these people will keep on hurting innocent women. They’ll take someone else off the street. Someone else from their college parking lot. You have a choice though. You can help me put these people away. To stop them from hurting women.”
“You really don’t fight fair.” She mumbled tucking her chin to her chest.
Drew knew this was hard for her. He was asking a lot from her, but she was the only one that could help him.
Drew hooked his thumb under her chin and lifted her face, forcing her to look at him. It felt like a sucker punch when her eyes locked with his. Gorgeous was too tame a word to describe her. Exquisite?
