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Chapter Forty-Three
Terry
Mia was finally getting some much-needed rest. We had moved her to her bedroom and insisted she try to sleep. It took some prodding, but we finally got her to agree to it. Her brow was furrowed, her eyes scanning the room, and she kept fidgeting. It was clear that having all these people in her once quiet home was getting to her. She needed to relax. She needed a break.
I had a quick conversation with Catherine and Ally, and we made it happen.
I strode over to Jackson to see where we were with things.
“How much longer for all of this?” I asked, gesturing around the room at the men seated in front of computers. There were half a dozen of them here, and those that weren’t in front of a computer were having hushed conversations that I hoped, eventually, I’d be let in on.
But I had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen. Jackson was the captain of this ship. Catherine had called him in when things went sideways, and he wasn’t backing away until Mia was safe. I knew he was doing this for the right reasons; he was a decent man. But part of me wondered if some of it was because Catherine could end up caught in the crossfire, and that was the last thing that he wanted. I couldn’t say I blamed him. The last thing I wanted was for Mia to end up hurt, but that wasn’t what happened anyway. She convinced me to go for the stupid run, and he got to her. The guilt of it all was ripping me in two.
“How do you mean?” Jackson asked as he scanned the room.
“How much longer for all the men here? I mean, I know Hawkeye is planning on hanging around for a little while, but what about the rest of them?”
“Hopefully, not too much longer. We’re setting up the security, and that’s nearly done. Some strategizing is happening now, and we can do that anywhere. There’s just a lot of us here right now so it makes it easier.”
I nodded. “While she has all this extra protection, can I go get some stuff from my apartment? I don’t want to leave her alone.”
“She’ll never be alone. Not until this is all over with.”
“Yeah, I thought the same thing, and look what I let happen.” I shook my head, completely disgusted with myself. I don’t know why I let the words slip out. I think part of me wanted him to yell at me. Chastise me for being stupid enough to let her go for a run. But judging by the sympathetic look on his face, I wasn’t going to get that.
“Don’t. Don’t do that. You don’t get to fall into a world of pity right now. She wanted to go for a run, and you were right there with her. But Mia’s her own woman. She got away from you and it happened. Move past it, let it go. If guilt has taught me anything in my life, it’s that you can’t hold on to it. It will wreck the best parts of your life.” When he finished his words, his gaze wasn’t on me. He was looking at Catherine.
“You’re speaking from experience.”
He nodded, confirming my suspicion. “I know you feel responsible, but guys like this are going to find a way. He was always going to find a way. Right now, we just need to be thankful that you were there and able to get to her as fast as you did. And that it wasn’t any worse. Move forward, that’s all we can do. Right?”
I nodded in agreement, but Jackson looked at me, eyebrows raised. He wanted verbal confirmation. I laughed. “Right.”
“Okay, good,” he said, clapping me on the back. “Now, if you want to go grab some extra clothes, go for it. I’m sorry, I would have suggested it sooner, I just thought that the two of you lived together or something.”
“No, we did. But that ended. I’m hoping to fix that, though,” I admitted to him.
Jackson gave me a knowing grin. “These women, they have a way of making you realize what your life has been missing, don’t they?”
I knew in an instant that he was again talking about Catherine. It made me smile, because he was right. Mia had that effect on me, and I didn’t want to lose her again.
“They certainly do.”
“Go grab some of your stuff, and we’ll see you back here in a little bit,” Jackson said. Before heading over to the team of guys set up at Mia’s dining room table, he turned to me and said, “Don’t worry about Mia. We’ll keep her safe until you get back.”
Before I got to the front door, Ally came over to talk to me.
“You heading out?” she asked, eyes searching the room.
“Yeah, I just need to grab some things from my apartment. I plan on staying with her until this all blows over and that bastard is caught.”
Ally nodded in understanding. “Okay, well, I’ll be here when you get back. But I guess I should head out eventually. Check on some things at the office—from home, of course,” Ally said. Jackson’s team had ordered Ally, Catherine, and me to stay away from the office for the time being. We were the only ones Chad would have seen Mia with, and he wanted to make sure we weren’t made into targets as a result.
“You need to make a run to the office? I could take you?” I offered.
Ally laughed. “No, I have everything. However, if I didn’t, I would ask one of these gentlemen to escort me.”
“Enjoying all of this, are you?” I teased.
