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Daniel drove home to pack a duffle bag and texted Anna again, even though she had yet to answer his previous message. He hoped to hear from her just once before embarking on his mission.
~ Still thinking of you and still missing you. I hope you change your mind and let me be a part of your life, Anna. I don't just want the good things; I want to be there for all the bad stuff. Finding you was something I never thought would happen to me, and I'm going crazy without you. You don't have to answer; I just need you to know you're on my mind, and that's not about to change. Daniel xo
The more Daniel thought about it, the more he figured that confrontation was not how to deal with her ex. Trent had the police in his back pocket anyway. He wondered as he drove to Atlanta if he could catch him revealing information somehow. He could use some form of entrapment.
/
"I do want to call him, Octavia."
"Then why don't you?"
"What if I got him injured or killed? How could I ever live with myself?"
"If he's prepared to take the risk then why aren't you?" Octavia argued.
"That beautiful little girl already lost her mother and Daniel is all she has. Trent won't stop until he has ruined everything for me."
"You love him, though, right?"
"I love that man more than I even knew was possible, Octavia. This is tearing me in two, and it's everything I can do not to run over there and kiss him . . . but it's wrong for me to dump my problems on him, that's not love."
Octavia sighed and didn't know what else to say as she prayed that Daniel would be safe in Atlanta. Anna would kill her if she knew that Octavia had assisted his madness in seeking out Trent.
/
Daniel pulled into Atlanta and found a cheap motel for the night. He pulled out his laptop, placed it on the desk in the corner of the dark room, and went to work investigating how to outsmart the creep. He thought of Tina and was determined to return to her safe and sound immediately. Stopping just one prick like Trent felt right since he was a threat to all women, even if Daniel wished he was with Tina instead of in Atlanta.
Daniel Googled Trent Waters and made notes on everything about him. He discovered that the man was a regular atManuel's Tavern, where he shot pool and threw darts. Daniel didn't play darts, but he could clear a pool table, which could be how to get to him.
Trent Waters was tight with the mayor and was his right-hand man for all intents and purposes. The mayor was up for reelection in a few months, and Daniel knew that if he could get some dirt on him, he could use his association with the mayor as blackmail.
An elected official wouldn't want anything to do with him if it could be proven that he raped and harassed his ex-wife.
Daniel cracked a beer and continued to make notes until he was exhausted.
He couldn't help thinking it seemed unfair to fight this hard just to have a girlfriend, but Anna was worth it.
This wasn't who he was; Daniel was a small-town single father, not some kind of sleuth. Still, nobody else was there to step up to the plate for her, so he was happy to do it.
He wondered if his acting skills were up to snuff, he couldn't just be a forklift driver from Brooke way if he wanted to get close to a guy who was so egomaniacal.
Daniel flopped onto the cold, empty motel bed and closed his eyes with the memory of Anna's touch in mind. He wanted to love her freely; if this was how it had to be, it would be done.
CHAPTER17
Daniel had only been up for twenty minutes the following day. He was making coffee in the miniature coffee maker when he got a phone call from Harry.
Harry had a change of heart the night before when he crawled into bed next to Ashley, and it dawned on him that Daniel hadn't had that for 7 years. Daniel slept alone, ate alone, spent holidays alone, and it really hit him then that Daniel needed this. He knew what to do then and told Ashley he'd leave first thing in the morning to help his brother.
"Hey, man, what's up?" Daniel asked as he fumbled with the coffee filter.
"What shithole are you staying in?"
"Why?"
"I'm halfway to Atlanta and I'm going to do this with you. I told Tina and Sarita we're having a guy's weekend of fishing and beer but Ashley knows I'm coming obviously."
"Harry-"
