Chapter 2 #3
“No, it’s not poor-me syndrome,” she protested, then clammed up.
She straightened up and quipped, “Next time I’ll bring Tesla with me.
Anyway, I didn’t know how to handle this, and I didn’t have any proof, just wild talk about Arlene and missing students and Tricia’s name.
I figured the police would think I was nuts, and everyone would just ignore me. ”
“I don’t know about everybody ignoring you,” he began, “but I can see that the local officials probably would have a hard time with your story. However, because of Tesla, you have landed in the right department to handle this, but it would have been better if you’d landed in that field well prior to going to that bloody warehouse by yourself. ”
*
Hayden couldn’t believe what Andrea had done, and the fact that she had gotten away from this guy was another factor that he didn’t understand. When he questioned her about it again, she glared at him.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
He rolled his eyes and snorted. “Yeah, that answer won’t fly. Speak up.”
“Fine,” she snapped. “I think he was looking forward to the chase.”
He stopped in his tracks, heading to get a second cup of coffee, thankful that the former tenant had left coffee makings behind. “What?”
“I think he was the kind of guy who wanted me to get away inside the warehouse, just so he could chase me down. He enjoyed the chase, and I think he was looking forward to that.”
“Are you saying he wanted the thrill?” He studied her face for a few seconds, until she raised both hands in frustration.
“That is my understanding of him. I mean, he was creepy as hell, but, as soon as he realized he had been given carte blanche to confirm I didn’t talk anymore, all he could think about was letting me go and running me down in that damn warehouse.
I don’t know who finds these guys, but he was creepy and sleazy, you know? ”
“I don’t think anybody finds them as much as water finds its own level,” he noted. “And you got away?”
“Yes, but that’s because he wanted me to get away so he could chase me. He didn’t tie me up too tightly.”
He nodded slowly. “Right, that would make sense.”
“What? That I can’t get away on my own?”
He just held up his hand and replied, “We’re not going there.
The fact of the matter is, you got away, and we’ll take it.
The current question is, What now? They have your phone and purse and keys, both to your apartment and to your car.
We’ll assign two guys to put a twenty-four-hour watch on your vehicle, just to see if your new friends are hoping to catch you coming back for it. ” He sent off a quick text.
“Who are you texting?” she asked.
“I put Trent and Oakley on your car. They’ll notify me if they see anything suspicious. Of course, like your car, your apartment is also off limits, unless we set you up as bait.”
She gave him a horrified look.
He was at least glad to see that was her first reaction.
“We need to replace your ID documents and cancel any credit cards, but, more than that, the bad guys have your main phone and any contacts on it, plus your home address. So another team of two will watch your apartment.” Again, he sent a text from his phone.
“Who’s on apartment watch?” Andrea asked him.
“Kane and Julius.”
“Is that all of your team then?”
Hayden shook his head. “Rubin is backup as needed for doing online searches or just requesting your missing paperwork in your wallet. Plus, Mason has Tesla and others to do background checks and run license plates or whatever we need. Then we have your father to placate, who will have an awful lot to say about what happens next too.”
“I’m an adult,” she snapped, glaring at him. “I refuse to be sent home, like some child being punished.”
“Your father has promised an international incident if anything happens to you. So no one is dismissing his concerns.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Of course he has.” She exhaled heavily. “That would be him all the way.” She stared off in the distance.
Hayden saw a sheen of tears appear in her eyes again. He sat down and added, “I gather relationships aren’t great at home.”
“No, not at all,” she declared. “It was tough growing up with that family name and the oppression that went with it. My brothers all loved it because it made them feel as if they were somebody, but I wasn’t a somebody at all.
I was the daughter, someone meek, defenseless, to be protected.
It wasn’t the same for my brothers. They were happy to jump on the family bandwagon, running the family business, but that was never my thing,” she shared, gazing at her hands. “I just wanted to somehow …”
Hayden nodded. “You wanted to prove yourself.”
She winced.
Hayden continued. “It’s a common thing in families with successful parents or a well-known last name. Daddy doesn’t necessarily appreciate who and what you are, so you try to find an area, a field of your own, something impressive enough to prove to him that you’re worthy of his love.”
At the word love, she pivoted to stare at him, and he nodded.
“I’m not a psychologist, but I feel—99 percent of the time—these issues are because the child doesn’t feel loved.
In your case, you hid who you were, and I had no clue you were doing that with me too, not in all that time we spent together.
” He shook his head. “I’ve got to admit, that still pisses me off. ”
“What? The fact that I pulled one over on you or something else?”
His gaze narrowed. “Is that how you see it? You pulled one over on me? Is that how you viewed our relationship? Like a game to win? That you had to hide who you really were?”
“No, I didn’t want to hide it,” she snapped, her tone sharp, “but I also wouldn’t let you know who I was in case you were against it. In the end, it’s probably a really good idea that I did what I did.”
He snorted. “I don’t know about that,” he argued, “but I always knew something was wrong, something was off. I knew you were lying about something, and I wouldn’t just sit back and let it continue.
So, I broke it off because I couldn’t trust you.
” When he saw the look of sorrow come over her face, he added, his tone softening, “You could have just told me, you know?”
“Could I?” she asked. “It was pretty tough growing up. Everybody was either after me because my father was who he was, or they were against me because of who my father was. There were no half measures. It went both ways equally enough times that I never had an easy time being a Galanis,” she explained, sending him a glare.
“And, no, I’m not looking for sympathy.”
He nodded, studying her.
“I’ve gotten over it to a certain extent,” she shared, “though clearly I still have a way to go.” She shook her head as she exposed her palms. “What are we doing now then?” she asked, changing the topic.
“As I told you, I’m on babysitting duty. I’ve already checked in with my boss and let him know that I have you safe and sound, close to home again, plus explained where I found you.”
“Oh, great. So, Mason will report all that to my father now, won’t he?”
“I don’t know if he’ll tell Mr. Galanis any details.
As you pointed out, you’re an adult. If you want to go get yourself killed trying to prove something to dear old dad, you are fully capable of doing that all on your own.
If that is the case, I guess there’s not a whole lot we can do to stop you. ”
“I’m not doing that, you know?”
“No, not yet,” he clarified, “but Amir Galanis is a man worth a hell of a lot. He’s got the money to buy his—or your—way out of this.”
“In that case, he would have already done so.”
“That depends on whether he could. Maybe he’s the one who called them.”
“He would not have put me in any danger. He wouldn’t do that to me.
He’s got a reputation as a hard-ass, and we go to verbal blows a lot, but, at the end of the day, he loves me, dotes on me,” she admitted, “even if I don’t always agree with his archaic sexist methods or even understand him.
He’s the boss and, therefore, thinks he can fix everything because he says so.
So he could have possibly thought he could buy them off, thinking why not talk to them?
The next time I speak to him, I plan to tell him that isn’t a good idea. ”
“Good,” Hayden stated forcibly. “The last thing I want to hear is that you were only trying to prove something to Amir, particularly on my watch, because right now you’re under my care.
And, no, it’s not some sexist thing. It’s a skills-related thing.
When you are dealing with kidnappers who are trafficking these women, killing some of them, you are not equipped to handle three kidnappers at once. ”
He snorted. “Not even one of them, especially when you call him the Hulk, which gives me every indication that he was about three times your size and weight. So, I’m your muscle.
I’m your special ops guy. This is my specialty.
If anything happens to you, my neck is on the line.
So, if you’ll pull another stunt like that warehouse meetup again”—he glared at her—“just tell me right now because you’ll completely kill my career in the process. ”
“Oh, so now I’m just killing your career, huh?” she repeated. “I’m nothing else to you?”
He spun and asked her the question that had been on the tip of his tongue since he first saw her. “What do you want me to be? What the hell did you want us to be back then?”
She fell silent as she stared up at him, like a wounded bird.
For the first time in all this, he felt like a heel.
He walked over, sat down beside her. “Look. Regardless of where we were, way back when, … right now, you could be in deep trouble. I don’t know how much trouble right now, but I can guess from what we just went through with Tricia that it’s bad for you. ”