Page 5 of Guarding Bristol
Chapter Two
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“Just want to restateone more time for the record that I still hate this idea,” Cassie said from behind the wheel as their exit to downtown Portland appeared up ahead on the highway.
“Duly noted,” Bristol answered.She’d been well aware of Cassie’s feelings on the matter since Bristol had first mentioned it yesterday.“But hey, at least I brought you for backup instead of coming on my own.”
“Lucky me.”Cassie sighed.“Your dad’s gonna kill me when he finds out.”
“So don’t tell him.”
Her stepsister slanted her a look.“Areyougonna tell him?”
“Hell no.Are you insane?It would just dredge up everything with Eric all over again.I wouldn’t do that to him.”He had barely survived it.
“Okay, then, we’re agreed.”
Bristol nodded, slightly amused that her highly trained and confident stepsister was intimidated by him, a retired public accountant.“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt us.”
“Preach.”
She glanced at the GPS on the dash display.It was just before noon, and they only had a little under ten minutes left until they reached their destination.They were starting at the construction site Cassie had met TJ at in May, in the hope that he was still working there and had picked up a shift today.
“So we just go ask the foreman if he’s working today?”
“Yep.”
“And if he’s not there, then what?Where should we start looking after that?”
Finding someone on the streets was never easy.Even with her past experience and the hard-won knowledge she’d gained while searching for Eric, finding Tomás would be a challenge.And if it turned out that he didn’t want to be found, then it just might prove impossible.
“Hell if I know.Maybe someone on site will know where he hangs out.Or better yet, we leave word for him to contact you and just head back home.”
“Not happening.”There was no way he would reach out to a total stranger.She wanted to talk to him in person, verify whether he was Eric’s friend, and wasn’t leaving until she’d given finding him a real shot.
Cassie exited the freeway and drove them toward the city center.Downtown Portland looked calm and normal now, except for the blackened end of the large hotel that was still in the process of being demolished almost three months later.“Hard to believe the riots reached all the way down here from the conference center.”
Cassie had witnessed them firsthand while providing personal security for a Canadian billionaire at a global summit here back in May.The resulting protests had spun out of control fast.People had died in the chaos.
“The entire city center was affected.Couldn’t move along this street with the number of protesters, cops, and then all the people evacuating the hotel.”
The latter had included Gavin’s young daughter, whom TJ had rescued from a deranged protestor trying to use her as a human shield to avoid arrest.Thankfully the idiot was behind bars.
Bristol imagined what it would have been like here, adding to everything she’d seen on TV and online.“And TJ was in the middle of it.”
“He says he wasn’t a protester, but he showed up near the front line wearing a gas mask, so regardless of what he did for Gavin’s daughter, my money says he’s full of shit.”
