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plenty of family and teen counseling. The bastards who’d put this together knew just how to prey on young girls going into or struggling with puberty. Their dream of popularity, acceptance, to be the prettiest, with the most popular boyfriend, made them easy prey. No, not all young girls felt that way, but she’d seen more than her share to know that these people had a huge cache to pull from.
    “So, how are you going to stop them and how can I help?”
    Appreciation glinted in his eyes. “I think the window of opportunity will be closing soon. They know they’ll only be able to do this for so long until word gets out that there’s an online predator organization and what the MO is. If we’re going to find them and hopefully the girls they’ve abducted, we have a very short time frame to work within.”
    “Okay, but where do I come in?”
    “I want to use you as bait.”
    Wow. You don’t get much more blunt than that. Even though that’s where she figured this was headed, the words still shocked her.
    “It’ll be completely controlled. First, we’ve got to attract him. Once we do, we’ll play along. He’ll suggest a meeting place. You’ll be there, just in case he wants to see you before he comes in. Once he sees you and enters, I’ll take over.”
    “You act as though this will be just one man. What if it’s more?”
    “No, it’ll be more than one. I’ll make sure we have enough to cover you.”
    “What happens once you nab him, or them?”
    “I get information.”
    “How?”
    “You really want to know?”
    His voice was mild, his expression neutral, but for some reason she shivered. Noah McCall would do what he thought he had to do, no matter what that was. She shook her head, not wanting to go further into just how ruthless this man could be.
    “So, will you do it?”
    “Why me?”
    “You’re small, young looking, but smart and old enough to handle yourself.”
    She raised a surprised brow at that. Her size made him ask for her help? “LCR doesn’t hire small women?”
    “No, only tall, busty blondes.”
    Samara laughed. Who would have thought it? Noah actually had a sense of humor. And she knew they weren’t all busty. Eden, Jordan’s wife, was a little over average height, slender, and not heavily endowed at all. “No really, why me? There’s got to be plenty of other—”
    “Not at LCR … at least, none available this quickly. They’re either involved in other cases or not able to carry it off.”
    “Why couldn’t they carry it off?”
    “You have an innocent air about you. You don’t just look younger. Something in your eyes, the way you stand … I don’t know, you just don’t look twenty-seven.”
    Samara grimaced. The bane of her existence … always looking ten years younger. “My mom told me I’ll appreciate it when I get older.”
    “Well, I appreciate it now. So, will you do it?”
    Help save innocent young girls from probable rape, possible murder? What other answer could she give him other than “Hell, yeah”?
      Noah cracked opened the door to his hotel room. His gaze zoomed to the floor, at the edge of the door. Yep, the tiny piece of thread was still there. A small security precaution to make sure no one had entered since he left.
    Throwing his keys on the desk, he stripped off his clothes and headed to the shower. Tonight had gone better than he’d expected. Tying her to a chair had been unexpected, but she was almost to the point of getting hurt. Samara getting hurt in any way wasn’t something he was willing to chance.
    Hot water beat down on him; Noah lowered his head and closed his eyes. He’d bruised her skin. That bothered him, more than he’d like to admit. He told himself it was because she was an innocent young woman, but he knew it was more than that. There was something about Samara that brought out his protective instincts. It wasn’t just her size, though she was a tiny little thing. There was another reason. One he refused to give