Page 25 of Protector

“Don’t you mean a Todd of all trades?” She giggles.

“I have the resources and connections, so we’ll do what we can. If the time comes that we need a professional investigator, I’ve got connections there as well…until you’re ready to make this official and go to the police.”

“Okay.”

Knowing this time with her could be limited, I press on. “What about anyone from your past? Any jealous boyfriends, girls who didn’t like you…anything you can think of will help.”

Looking down at her hands, she fiddles with her fingers. “I, uh…” When she looks up, I see something in her gaze. Something she hasn’t told me yet that could be important. I only have a moment to ponder what it could be when Adele walks into the dining room where we’ve basically got command central monopolizing her table. “Hey, Mom.”

“Hey, baby. How was the workout?”

Shay smiles, looking relieved. I don’t know if she stopped talking because she’s hiding things from Adele or just doesn’t feel comfortable sharing certain things. That conversation could have taken a turn anywhere, and I definitely plan to revisit it.

“It was good. Is everything set up at the mall?” Shay drinks from a glass of tea and watches her mom.

I glance over to Adele, wondering why I haven’t heard anything about a mall event before now.

“Mostly. I just don’t know how the PR people are going to break it to those girls that Taylor won’t be there.”

Shay sets the glass down, leans back, and crosses her arms. “It was never advertised that she would be. I’m the face on the poster. You think they won’t be happy with just me?” Her eyes narrow, pointing up at Adele.

“Of course not. I’m just saying, you never know how these things will go. I just want to prepare you.”

“What’s at the mall?” I ask. Though Shay finally gave me access to her schedule, we didn’t have a chance to look at it yet.

“It’s sort of like a meet and greet, promoting Taylor’s new Accents makeup line. It’s targeted to young girls, like thirteen to fifteen.”

“Um…not that you’re old, but you’re not fifteen either.”

“Come on. I’ll tell you all about it while we shop.” She stands and looks at me expectantly.

“Shop?”

“Yeah, you said, remember? We have some events coming up, and you’ll need the right look.” Glancing over at her mom, she adds, “We’ll meet you over there.”

As Shay and I head for the door, Adele shouts, “I won’t say don’t be late because I want you there early.”

Shay closes the door without responding.

* * *

The shopping excursion was less painful than I expected, and despite agreeing to let Cal accompany us, it was just Shay and me since we had the mall event right after.

I don’t consider myself anything close to the male models Shay works with on the regular, but when I stepped out of the dressing room in a black designer suit and crisp white dress shirt, I couldn’t help notice Shay’s reaction. The look was concerning on several levels. It’s not unusual for a female charge to develop some sort of an attachment to me, and given Shay’s age, there’s even more risk. My logical brain told me I’d better do whatever it takes to keep that in check, to keep my distance. And yet, the swell of my chest, the racing of my heart, was too persistent to ignore. Not to mention the easy conversation between us as we chatted and shopped. If this were a different situation, a different time, it might not feel so much like we were from two different worlds, like there was this big age difference between us.

Now, as I watch her amongst the crew of people setting up for this event, I feel…admiration. She’s confident, friendly, and seems to be providing guidance about the setup and answering questions about the products before the thing even starts.

Shay looks up and our eyes meet. As if I’ve called her over, she moves toward me.

“We’re going to set up there in front of the store. Mostly, I’ll be handing out samples, signing autographs, posing for selfies, stuff like that. There will be a tutorial I prerecorded playing on that screen.” She points to it and then glances out toward the open mall area. “You know, it’s just a ton of young girls. No threats here, so you can go do something for a few hours if you want. Plus, Adele will be here.”

I shake my head, scanning the area myself. “In situations like these, when you least expect a threat, that’s when you should be on guard.”

She laughs and taps my chest. “Okay…Unc.”

“Okay, that’s where I draw the line.”

Her phone draws her attention, so she doesn’t reply to that. “Speak of the devil, that’s my mom. She’s parking.”

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