Page 5 of Her Delta Force Protector

“Make time.” Harper stepped in front of her, stopping her. “Are you making porno films?”

Fear flashed in her friend’s eyes. “What? Why... Why would you say that?”

Harper handed her one of the photos. It was of Lisa wearing only black lace panties. “This is why. What have you gotten yourself involved in? Talk to me, Lisa.”

Tears pooled in Lisa’s eyes as she stared at the picture. “You don’t understand.”

“Explain it to me then.”

When Lisa’s lips trembled and the tears fell down her cheeks, Harper led her to the sofa. “Talk to me,” she said after they were seated. “Are you making porno movies?”

“Yes,” Lisa wailed. “But I don’t want to.” The story came out between sobs. “I was in love with him, Harper. In the beginning, he told me that he was filming us for only us. I didn’t see any harm in it. It was kind of sexy. A few weeks later, another man was there, and...” She squeezed her eyes shut.

“You had sex with him, too?”

Lisa nodded. “I didn’t want to, but then they gave me a glass of wine to drink. I think they put something in it because I felt really weird, and I don’t remember much of that night.”

Dear God. “You have to stop, not go there anymore.”

“You don’t understand. They won’t let me stop. If I don’t show up, they said they’d put the videos all over social media.” She frowned at the picture. “How’d you get this?”

“I went to the warehouse. There were photos of other girls, too. You have to go to the police.” She was furious that men would drug a woman to have sex, much less film it for others to see, and that just couldn’t stand. She was also beyond disappointed in Lisa for letting herself be used like that.

Lisa vehemently shook her head. “No, they’ll kill me if I do that.”

“That’s a bit drastic, don’t you think? You can’t let them do this to you. What’s this guy’s name?”

“I’m serious, Harper. They’re not men you want to mess with. You’re better off not knowing his name.”

“Well, you can’t go back there.” Since she had the men’s license plate numbers, she didn’t need their names.

“If I don’t show up, they’ll come for me. I have to leave. Go somewhere far away.”

That was a good idea. “What about your friend in Alaska? Can you go there?” Lisa and Stephanie were foster sisters, the only person Lisa had kept in touch with from her foster care days.

“Yeah, she told me I should come see her sometime. I’ll call her.”

“First, you need to call that man, tell him you’re sick, that you have the flu and you’re vomiting. He won’t want to be anywhere near you. You can’t go back there tonight.”

Relief was in Lisa’s eyes as she hugged Harper. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“Everything’s going to be okay. Just promise not to let another man use you like this.”

“I think I need to take a break from men for a while.”

“That wouldn’t be a bad idea.” She hoped Lisa learned a lesson from all this.

After the phone calls were made, Lisa packed, managing to get almost all her clothes into two suitcases and a carry-on. Early the next morning, Harper followed Lisa to a used car dealer where she sold her nine-year-old hybrid for next to nothing. Then after a stop at an ATM, Harper took her friend to the airport. They’d agreed that Harper would call the doctor’s office when she returned home and tell them Lisa had a family emergency and probably wouldn’t be back.

“Take care of yourself,” she said as she hugged her friend. “And don’t call anyone here, even me. If there’s anything you need to know, I’ll email you.”

“Okay. Thank you for everything. I’m going to miss you so much.”

“Same. Just go and be happy.”

What she didn’t tell Lisa was that she was going to tell the police what was going on in that warehouse.

Harper read over the email she planned to anonymously send the police. After taking Lisa to the airport yesterday, she’d returned home and packed. She hadn’t planned to leave until next week, mostly because she’d hoped Kade would be back by then, but she didn’t want to be around if one of those men came looking for Lisa. The plan had changed, and she’d get on the road first thing in the morning. She’d call Kade after she got home.

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