Page 93 of Prey for You

“Trusts you so much, she ran?” he grunted, then gave me a petty smile.

“She wouldn’t have run if I’d been there,” I insisted, hating telling this mananythingabout either of us. But I needed him to trust me. “She’s running because they’re using her to get to me. I wasn’t ever hurting her. I want to protect her. But I have to prove I’m innocent before I can do that properly.”

He sneered. “You don’t have to be in the same house to protect her. If that’s really what you wanted to do… but you’re the stalker. You know that.”

I shook my head. “That’s not what’s going on here, Gordon.”

“Oh, right. I forgot. You gotgodon your side. Seems like he’s not talking about where my daughter ran though? So maybe he doesn’t exist—or maybe he just doesn’t likeyou?”

“See, that’s one of themanydifferences between you and God, Gordon. God doesn’t require a person to do everything right before He’ll protect them.”

“Don’t preach to me, I don’t need it.”

“I’m not. You said in your letter you were trying to protect her when she was young. Was that true?”

“You wait ‘til you have a daughter and you tell me.”

“I think it was. I think you knewexactlythe kind of men you were bringing around her, and you were working hard to keep their hands off her. Because you didn’t want for her what you’d given to women your whole life. Am I right?”

“Why would I tell you?”

“Because if youactuallymeant what you said in that letter, then you’d want to help me right now.”

His jaw rolled. I pushed the advantage.

“I know about you, Gordon. I know the kind of racket you ran. You were a guns and money guy. Violence was a tool for you. A means to an end, not the thrill you were pursuing. Am I right so far? So I’m guessing that killing your wife had more to do with being betrayed, than getting off on the violence of it.”

His head tipped back and his expression hardened, so I hurried on.

“And if that’s true, then I’m guessing all this hustle around Bridget her whole life was because you kept people watching out for her. But the Feds thought you were trying to hurt her, right?”

His expression didn’t change.

I swallowed. “I might have an inkling about how that feels. So here’s the thing… I’m pretty sure there wasonelie in that letter.”

He made a little grunt and shook his head, finally turning those glittering eyes off me, turning like he was about to get out of that chair. But that just convinced me I was right.

“I think you still have people on her. And I think maybe they know where she goes at this time of year.”

The pause was tiny. Barely a hitch in him shifting his weight in the chair. But I caught it and satisfaction simmered in my chest.

I was right.

“If you haveanyclue where she is, or how I can find her, I’ll be really grateful. And I’m going to be honest with her—when I find her and help her, I’ll tell her that you helped me.”

He gave a little snort. “You might want to keep that to yourself. Seems like she doesn’t have a lot of interest in getting my help.”

“She doesn’t believe it’s what you want to do. So that’s the big question, Gordon.”

“What’s that?”

“Do you want to helpherbecause she needs it? Or are you just trying to manipulate her to get her to do what you want?”

“You’re such a smart guy, you tell me,” he muttered.

“Nope. That’s on you. But if you want to helpher,actually help her, you’ll help me. Help me find her so I can make her safe. If you’ve been following her all this time, then you know when she’s alone and scared she can do some pretty stupid stuff.”

He didn’t move or speak, but I felt him swallow a huff of amused laughter at the understatement.

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