Armoured Attraction. Janie Crouch

team.”

      He watched as her eyes widened and her mouth fell open before turning his gaze back to the road.

      “Sounds like you’re pretty qualified to handle what’s going on here, then. You have people you can call in? People with big guns who can shoot the bastards responsible for this?”

      Liam rolled his eyes. “Generally we arrest the bad guys unless they shoot at us first, but, yes, I can get a whole team here.”

      “Then why haven’t you done that yet? Those girls are somewhere out there, trapped. Hurt and desperate.”

      He glanced in the mirror again and saw Karine’s face growing paler. He caught Vanessa’s eye and gestured with his head toward Karine. Vanessa looked down at the girl and immediately slipped an arm around her.

      “I’m sorry, sweetie. I shouldn’t have said that.”

      “It’s okay,” Karine whispered. “They need help.”

      “And we will help them. We’ll get Liam’s friends here—people who help others all the time—and we’ll get the other girls out.”

      Liam caught Vanessa’s eye in the rearview mirror again. “We’ll talk specifics later.”

      She nodded, tugging Karine closer.

      “Where are we going right now?” Vanessa asked.

      “We’ve got to get off the streets. Once they figure out we’re not in the hotel, they’ll start searching again. I’m going to take you somewhere not related to you at all.”

      “Another hotel?”

      “No, that will always leave witnesses. A house.”

      She shook her head. “A friend’s? Are you positive you can trust the person?”

      “No. My grandmother’s house. I still own it.”

      That silenced her.

      He had a cleaning service come in once a month to clean, keep it in shape and take care of any repairs. He even paid for power and water each month, which wasn’t much because it was so small.

      After his grandmother died, he hadn’t been able to sell it. He had said it was because she’d been his last living relative—the only roots he’d ever had—and he didn’t want to part with it if he didn’t have to. But he couldn’t deny the other part of that truth now.

      He’d kept the house because it was the first place he and Vanessa had made love.

       Chapter Six

      An hour later they were safely tucked away in Liam’s grandmother’s house. His house now.

      They had stopped briefly at a grocery store, Vanessa and Karine tucked low in the backseat as Liam ran in. They had agreed it was better to go to the store now to get what they needed so they were prepared for as long as possible.

      In the house of a million memories.

      But Vanessa would accept living with the memories, as painful as some were, if it meant they were safe. If it meant Karine could get some real food and the real rest that she needed. If it meant they could figure out where the other girls were being held and do something about it.

      She still didn’t understand why Liam hadn’t just called in the SWAT cavalry or whatever. But he had been right; they didn’t need to talk about those details in front of Karine.

      Liam had come back to the SUV in less than fifteen minutes. He hadn’t said anything as he opened the hatchback and put the grocery bags inside. Hadn’t hurried around to the driver’s side. Hadn’t done anything that would call attention to himself.

      He was good, Vanessa could definitely see that.

      He hadn’t talked until he was pulling out of the parking lot.

      “You girls okay?” he asked.

      “Yes. Any problems?”

      “Nope. Got food and even a couple T-shirts and sweatpants. I had to get four different sizes, so I explained it was for my family while we’re visiting.”

      “Because you buying a size extra-small pants and shirt might have been memorable.”

      “Exactly. All the cloak-and-dagger was probably unnecessary, but always better to be safe.”

      He was good. He’d thought of details Vanessa probably would’ve missed.

      The drive to his grandmother’s house—his house—took about twenty minutes. They had gone to a grocery store on the opposite side of Nags Head just in case someone remembered seeing him or his car.

      But now they were inside, car pulled behind the back, Karine well fed and sleeping in one of the bedrooms.

      “She still needs medical and psychological help. Professional help,” Vanessa said. It was probably too late for any sort of assault kit to yield any results, but everything should still be documented.

      “Yeah, those bruises on her wrists are pretty bad. And I hate to say this, but I’m sure she was assaulted, right?”

      Vanessa rubbed a hand over her eyes. “She won’t talk about any specifics, but, yes, I would say most definitely.”

      Liam reached out and pulled her down next to him on the seat at the table.

      “She’s a survivor,” he said. “She’s strong.”

      “I know. I just can’t bear to think about what she’s been through.”

      “We’ll get her a counselor and a doctor. We just have to figure out who we can trust.”

      She nodded. “Why haven’t you called in some sort of attack team yet?”

      “Because if we send in a blitz attack on the sheriff’s office, not knowing who exactly is involved and to what degree, the first thing the kidnappers will do is kill the remaining girls. They’re liabilities.”

      Nausea pooled in Vanessa’s stomach. “I hadn’t thought of that. But you’re right.”

      She rested her face in her hands.

      “That doesn’t mean we’re not going to stop them, Nessa. It just means we’re not going to roll in guns blazing.”

      He’d called her Nessa. He was the only one who ever had, ever dared. She hadn’t heard that name in eight years.

      “Not to mention,” he continued, “it’s the word of one small foreign girl, supposedly wanted by the law, against the word of people who may have lived in this area their whole lives.”

      “But I know she’s telling the truth,” Vanessa said. She had no doubt about it at all.

      Liam nodded. “I believe her, too, but it’s about what we can prove when it comes down to a court of law.”

      “I just can’t stand the thought of more girls trapped and scared.” Karine had told them that the youngest of the girls was only eight years old. Fortunately she was being “kept” for someone special—some sick buyer, no doubt—so she hadn’t been assaulted. The older girls hadn’t been so lucky.

      Liam reached over and grasped her hand. “I know. I feel the same. But it’s important that we keep whoever is behind this in the dark as long as possible. That is our best chance at saving those girls. By convincing law enforcement that you don’t really know anything about Karine and that you certainly don’t know where she is now.”

      Vanessa nodded. He was right.

      “Okay, then I need to call my office, let them know I won’t be coming in. If I just don’t show up, everyone there will be worried.”

      Vanessa stood and called her supervisor