RunningScaredBN by Christy Reece

being able to find her.”
    “If we have no idea what’s she suffering from, it makes it almost impossible to narrow down where she might have gone. We need everything we can get on Jessica. In fact, I’d like to see her full medical history. If you can’t share, then I’m afraid this meeting is at an end.”
    “That’s ridiculous! I’m not going to—” A cold, dark look entered Larson’s eyes as he leaned forward. “Do you know how much money I have, McCall? I could bury you without blinking.”
    “Please try, Mr. Larson,” Noah said softly. “I would love to take you on.”
    Larson’s face puffed up like an angry blowfish and turned red. Noah couldn’t deny he was enjoying the show. Apparently, Larson had only a limited ability to play the concerned, loving father before his real nature surfaced.
    A giant, rasping sigh released, bringing a more normal color to Larson’s complexion. “My apologies, Mr. McCall. My love for my daughter is so overwhelming sometimes that I tend to lose my temper. Your request, of course, is reasonable, but I’m afraid I don’t have that information with me. Would it be appropriate to send those documents to you at a later date?”
    “That would be acceptable. Why don’t you, in the meantime, tell me more about Jessica? Where did you last see her? Where would she feel the safest place to hide? Does she have any relatives or friends she might have turned to?”
    Larson leaned back in his chair. Having regained his composure, the man was now in his element. Both eloquent and emotional, the act was impressive. No doubt, all the practice he’d had over the past few years enabled him to recite the details from memory.  
    The pitch of his voice, the husky tone when he talked about his little girl, the sheen of tears in his eyes—all a masterful performance. There were many reasons Larson wanted to find his daughter, but love, especially a father’s love, had nothing to do with it.  
    If this bastard and his wife ever found their beloved Jessica, Noah could only wonder who would try to kill her first—her loving father or sainted mother?  
    No. That didn’t make any sense. No way would the man spend money on trying to find his daughter just to murder her. Killing Jessica would not be his ultimate goal. He would do to her again what he’d done when she was eighteen years old. He would turn her over to a monster.  
    It was Noah’s responsibility to make sure none of them ever found her.  
    But now there was a new concern, even more alarming. Someone else was in just as much danger as Jessica had once been in, perhaps even more so, if that was possible. If what he feared was true, then they had only a short amount of time to act.
    The question was, when this was over, would he have destroyed a young woman he had once saved? But he had no choice in the matter. Besides, if there was one thing he knew for certain about her, Riley Ingram would face this challenge head on.

Chapter Nine

    Alexandria, Virginia
    Her knees were knocking as she readied herself for her meeting with Noah and Samara. All morning long, she’d been telling herself that this was her choice. No one was making her take this step. She could still call Noah and tell him she’d changed her mind. Things could stay as they were. She didn’t have to do this.
    But didn’t she?
    The trip down the mountain yesterday had been excruciating. The trek up had been no gabfest, but going down she hadn’t uttered one word. Justin had made a few remarks, but when she’d barely responded, he gave up. Her lack of words had been from extreme embarrassment and shame. She supposed Justin’s had been from bewilderment and confusion.
    A normal woman would not have been offended by being called beautiful. A normal person would have taken it as a compliment and moved on. Or maybe blushed, giggled, simpered. Whatever a normal woman did when she was told she’s beautiful.
    How stupid for her to try to pretend to be someone