Her eyes held him captive. They looked silver in sometimes and blue at others. It depended on the lighting and her mood. Like her own built in mood stone. A tell that could come in handy in the future.
“I’m a hard man. I’ve never played fair. I always played to win.”
“You must have been the popular kid on the playground.”
“It taught the bullies to leave me alone. My enemies have learned the same lesson.”
Her gaze pursued over his body. More than once he’d caught her looking at his scars. He expected disgust or fear. Instead, she looked at him with something else. Admiration. Desire? No that couldn’t be right. He looked like Frankenstein’s monster with all his scars. The only part on him that wasn’t scarred was his face.
“What did you do before your job now?”
“I was in the Army.”
A small smile crested her face. “I should have guessed.”
Was it obvious? He still kept himself in the same physical shape as before. He never knew what his job was going to require so he wanted to be prepared for anything.
“Are your coworkers Army too?”
He didn’t like her thinking about his teammates. As irrational as that was.
“No, we’re all from different branches.”
She cocked her head to the side. Some of her hair spilling over her shoulder like a golden river.
His fingers twitched wanting to run through it, see if it was as soft as it looked. To grip it as he took her hard and fast against a solid surface. To watch it spread around her like a halo as she screamed his name.
Drew took a step back, needing to put distance between them. This woman was more lethal than sniper and she wasn’t even doing anything.
“We can keep you safe. We have places we can hide you until things blow over and you can go home.”
“What about school?”
“If they took you from campus once they can do it again. Campus security would be no match for these guys.”
Shay walked away, her face in concentration. He watched her like a hawk. Waiting to see if she’d give anything away about her decision. If she said no, he didn’t know what he’d do. Wait for another opportunity. Track down the club owner and follow him. The case wasn’t completely dead without her help, but Shay’s insight could make things faster. They’d have a jump on who to look for.
Shay stopped at one of the desks and looked down. It was his desk. The Oregon case file sprawled across it. He’d forgotten to put it away last night.
He watched Shay’s eyes move from picture to picture. The list of names and places. Her face paled and shook. Finally they looked up to him, her spine stiff. A look of determination on her face. He knew what her answer would be before she spoke.
“I’ll help you. Any way I can. I want these animals put away so they can’t hurt someone again.”
“Alright, let’s get started.”
Chapter 13
Shay sat in the chair across from Drew’s desk wringing her hands. It was more to keep her occupied that anything. A nervous tic her father would be furious with her over. It was not something ladies did.
But she was nervous. Not of Drew, at least not anymore. She was nervous about what they men thought they could do to keep her safe. Shay had seen Mr. Sykes. Saw the evil in his eyes. She had been no more than horse flesh to him. He didn’t see her as a human being.
Drew had been right about her dad. He would have swept this under the run as if it had never happened. It hurt when Drew said there wasn’t a word about her kidnapping in the newspaper or news, though it wasn’t exactly surprising.
She was getting so sick and tired of him and his image. His daughter had been kidnapped and he’d done nothing. Speaking with the police chief he’d appeared shocked not only by her story but that she was there. Did she mean so little to her father? She didn’t want to answer that.
She was risking everything telling Drew about her kidnapper. She was putting a giant target on her back, but she knew she couldn’t stay silent. It was worth the risk of missing some school and living off the radar for a while.
Staring at the pictures on Drew’s desk had brought the point home. She had to speak up for all those that couldn’t. Women and children that weren’t as lucky as her to escape.
