Page 8 of Deuce

“Sophia here was just going to explain why meeting her dad would be a bad idea.”Deuce looked at me expectantly.“I’m not sure if you meant he’s the kind of guy who’s likely to call the cops on me, or an end-of-the-world prepper who’ll beat the crap out of me for looking at you.”

I sighed.“The second one.He’s got enough guns and ammo to blow up half the town, and enough practice in hiding in the bush to make sure no one ever finds the bodies.”I looked from one to the other and realized how that sounded.“Not that he’s ever killed anyone, except maybe when he was in the SEALs,” I added hastily.

“Sounds like my kind of guy.”Rattler grinned and took a big gulp of his coffee.

I shook my head.“You don’t get it.If he thinks you two were the ones who hurt me, he’d shoot first and ask questions later.That’s assuming he doesn’t decide he’s got enough time to beat you to death with his bare hands.He loves me, but he’s not a gentle, cuddly kind of dad.”

“I do get it,” Deuce said.“If I had a daughter, I’d probably feel the same way.Sounds like he really cares about you.”

“He does.”I picked up my tea and took an experimental sip.“He’s always been there for me.”

“What about your mom?”

I shrugged.“Don’t really remember much about her.She took off when I was three.Dad says she just wasn’t into being a parent.I was an accident she didn’t want to deal with, so she split.”

“Ouch.”Rattler grimaced.

Why was I telling these guys my life story?“Not really as bad as it sounds.Dad was great and always made sure I knew I was loved.He just finds it a little hard to accept that I’m an adult now and can take care of myself.”

Rattler and Deuce exchanged one of those looks.

I rolled my eyes.“Okay, I kind of got in over my head this time, but who the hell expects drugs in a coffee?”

Rattler’s phone pinged, and he pulled it out of his pocket to glance at the screen.“Gotta take this.”He slid out of the booth, putting the phone to his ear as he strode away from us.

“You were drugged in a coffee shop?”Deuce frowned, and I realized I hadn’t told these guys the whole story.Somehow, we’d skipped over to my family situation.

“Yeah.There’s this dating app that’s supposed to be super safe and easy.”I explained the whole sequence of events to him, stressing how I’d taken every precaution to protect myself even though it hadn’t been quite enough.Hindsight being 20/20, the only way I could have possibly avoided the situation was to have a bodyguard nearby for the whole date.

Needless to point out, if I’d felt that was necessary, I never would have gone.

“Does this George guy know where you live?Or where you work?”Deuce looked thoughtful.

I shook my head.“No, but I’m not sure where my purse or phone is.I think they got left behind at the coffee shop, but if those guys have them, they’ll know where to find me.My phone is locked to my faceprint, but my driver’s license and credit cards are all in my purse.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be home alone tonight.”Deuce sounded dead serious.“Any chance this prepper dad of yours could come stay with you for a day or two?Just until you’re sure this whole thing is over?Sounds like he could scare off just about anyone.”

“Hell, no!”I snorted.“If I tell him what happened he’ll hunt George down, and then I’d have to spring for bail, and a lawyer.”

“I thought you said he knew where to hide the bodies?”Deuce sounded amused.

“Doesn’t mean I want him to have to.”

“Good point.”

“Maybe I should report this to the police.”I paused.“You know, in case they try it again with some other woman and there’s not a couple of awesome bikers nearby to whisk her away to safety.”

“Good idea, but don’t expect too much.”

“Why not?”I frowned.

“Cops are understaffed and overworked.Since you obviously escaped, they might decide it’s not worth pursuing.”

“Oh.”I wanted to protest, but these guys probably had more of an insight into the local police situation than I did.

Deuce held out his phone to me.“Pull up the guy’s profile for me.I’ll bet George isn’t his real name, and there’s nothing on there to lead back to him.”

I took the phone and pulled up the app on the web.It didn’t take much to log in, but when I did the conversation between me and George had disappeared completely.

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