“Thank you,” Emma said into his chest. “Thank you for not leaving me alone with them.”
Thomas’s voice was thick. “You’re welcome, sweetheart. You did good. You didn’t stop. You didn’t pull over. You kept driving and called for help. That’s exactly what you should have done.”
“Good. That means you’re smart. You saw a threat and you responded. The fact that I wasn’t actually a threat doesn’t matter. Your instincts told you to be careful, and you listened. That’s what kept you safe.”
I finally found my voice. “Mr. Reed, I don’t know how to thank you. I was twenty minutes away. If you hadn’t been there…”
“Don’t think about that,” Thomas said firmly. “She’s safe. That’s what matters.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Why? You don’t know us. You could have just called 911 and driven away. Why did you stay with her for three miles?”
Thomas was quiet for a moment. Then he reached into his vest and pulled out a worn photograph. A young woman with dark hair and bright eyes. “This is my sister, Rebecca. She was nineteen when she disappeared from a gas station in 1987. They found her body three weeks later.”
My hand went to my mouth.
He put the photograph away. “Your daughter reminded me of her. Same age Rebecca was when she started driving alone. Same trusting face. When I saw those men, I saw the men who took my sister. And I wasn’t going to let history repeat itself. Not on my watch.”
The officers finished their reports. The men in the gray sedan were taken to the station. Thomas gave us his contact information in case we needed to provide statements.
Before he left, Emma stopped him. “Mr. Thomas? Can I ask you something?”
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