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“He might have had a friend take over his place, stay there and keep things going until he gets out. This just makes me more determined to check into Fuller’s friends and associates. We need to do this right away.”
Mia already felt horribly guilty about Grant missing so much time at work. He’d told her that it was okay, he had weeks saved up that he’d never used, but that just made it worse. He’d hardly taken any vacation for himself, and when he did take time, it was because her life was a mess. He wasn’t packing his bags and heading for Tahiti.
“All your deputies are going to quit if you keep taking time off.”
“Doubtful,” Grant laughed. “All my part-timers want more hours. My second in command loves it when he’s in charge. I think he sits in my office with his feet on the desk. I’d think I was a terrible boss, but so far, they say that I’m not. And believe me, I’ve asked them more than once. They just tell me that they feel less stress when I’m not there because they don’t feel like they have to impress me.”
“But you don’t want to take time off.”
“I love my job,” Grant replied with a shrug. “I like vacations, too, but I find my job very rewarding.”
“I still worry about you taking time away from your job.”
Grant dropped a quick kiss on the tip of her nose before levering up from the couch.
“I’m going to call my cousin Jason about Fuller. Make sure he’s still in prison. In the meantime, I think I should plan to travel up to Savannah tomorrow. Look into things back in your hometown.”
“I want to go with you,” she said immediately. “I need to go with you.”
She had never been back since she’d ran. It might be a positive thing to face her past head on.
“I was going to give you that option, or you could stay here. I know Trey has some time on his hands. He could play bodyguard while I’m gone.”
“No, I want to go with you.”
It might be pathetic that she only felt safe when she was with Grant, but at this point she wasn’t going to question it.
“I’ll call Lane and Mike about what we see on video while you call your cousin,” she said. “I’ll let them know to keep their eyes peeled.”
Mia was already thinking about selling that house. It had once been her refuge from the world, but now it had become something of a nightmare. If Kevin had found her, she simply couldn’t stay. But it didn’t feel right to run either.
She wouldn’t allow Kevin to chase her away. Not again.
19
It was almost like an out of body experience, standing here in front of her former apartment building. Mia used to park her car just over there and unload her groceries onto the steps before finally bringing them inside. In the spring, the apartment maintenance personnel would plant flowers around the buildings and along the walkways. In the summer, residents would fire up the grills around the pool.
She couldn’t say she didn’t have any good memories. She did. In the beginning, things hadn’t been so bad. She’d laughed and enjoyed life. It was only later that the relationship had begun to fray, revealing all the problems that Kevin had tried to keep her from seeing. The bad outweighed the good, but it was strange that the first things she thought about after stepping out of the rental car was a few of the more pleasant memories.
Not much had changed, to be honest. There were still flowers and grills. There were still people coming and going. On the drive, she’d seen a couple of new stores and restaurants, but the vast majority had been exactly the same.
Mia was the one who was different. She’d changed. She wasn’t the person who had stuffed a few worldly possessions into a backpack and ran.
“It’s weird being back,” Grant said. “I would imagine it would feel strange since you’ve been gone for so long.”
“It is weird,” Mia agreed. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel, to be honest. Relieved? Upset? Angry? Happy?”
“You could probably make an argument for any and all of those emotions.”
“It doesn’t feel real. It’s a million miles ago, and also just yesterday at the same time. I’m not sure how it’s like that, but it is. All I know is that the Mia that lived here isn’t the person I am now.”
“I think she was pretty strong and kick ass. After all, she’s the one that got you out of that relationship. She’s the one that was brave enough to leave.”
True. There were things about the old Mia that shouldn’t be lost. But she’d waited so long to make any changes in her life. If only…
If only she’d done something sooner. But she hadn’t. That wasn’t how it was supposed to be apparently. If she’d left sooner, then she wouldn’t have met Grant. Her life might not have worked out the way it had.
“According to the background check, Fuller is still the leaseholder on the apartment,” Grant said. “Despite being in prison.”
