“Yeah. I was in a hospital in Jordan. But you were there? You went to the library?”
“Yes.” She said it on a breath of air and he felt the hurt to his soul.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it. First time I’ve ever stood up a date.”
And it had been the most important one of his life.
“My mom tried to convince me you were a figment of my imagination. She said I needed a hero and conjured you in my mind.”
“Can you talk about what happened? How you escaped?”
“I didn’t escape. My uncle paid my ransom.”
“I thought you said your family didn’t have the money.”
“My mom and dad couldn’t, but my uncle came through for them. He’s Syd Green.”
“The movie director?”
“Yes. I didn’t even consider that he might help. He and my parents had a bit of a riff years ago. His daughter Becca is my best friend, but the families hadn’t been close in a while. Uncle Syd didn’t hesitate when my dad called him. He stepped up in a big way.”
He wanted to ask her what happened to her that day, but not if it brought back bad memories. There was plenty of time to talk about that. But he would need to know soon. He had vowed to find the people who’d abducted her and make them pay. He had failed and was no closer to finding them than he had been the day he’d made that promise. She might have clues and insight to help.
Her cries and screams were still in his head—they always would be. But to have her in his arms, safe at last… Never had he witnessed a miracle, but not only had he done just that, he was the recipient of that miracle.
“Isn’t it weird? We actually met each other a few years ago.”
Yes, the infamous smoke bomb that had taken his voice. If he had been able to speak, what might have happened?
“If
I had been able to speak then, and you recognized me, would you have told me?”
She laughed softly. “I hope so. I can’t believe I didn’t blurt it out the moment I heard you a few days ago. I was stupid.”
“You were in shock. There’s a big difference.”
She tilted her head and smiled up at him. “Still my defender.”
He wanted to kiss her…oh hell, he wanted to kiss her. Not yet. Way too soon.
“Okay, Aubrey Starr, tell me about yourself.”
When she started talking, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t recognized her from the beginning. Didn’t matter that her voice was unrecognizable. The way she told a story, her syntax and expressions, were exactly as he remembered.
Settling back, he listened as she described her life. She told him about her mother and how she’d lost her father only a year after her return. She told him about her decision to change from acting to filmmaking, how her experience had inspired her.
Her courage and grit amazed him. Her experience might have destroyed another person, but she was made of sterner stuff. She had taken a traumatic event and turned it into a mission.
When she yawned, he noted the time. Well after three in the morning. They’d been talking for hours. After the harrowing ordeal she’d had, she needed rest. Problem was, he didn’t want to let her go.
“It’s late.” He hugged her against him. “You need sleep.”
She snuggled into his arms. “I’m afraid if I let you go, I’ll find it was all a dream.”
“I promise I’ll be here when you wake up. I’m not going anywhere.”
As much as he wanted to stay like this, he had a responsibility to take care of her. She was at a safe house for a reason. Someone wanted to stop her from making her film.