Chapter 17
Dane
We didn’t fall back to sleep until the sun was coming up. I’m still holding her in my arms a few hours later when I open my eyes.
Paige is holding her hand in the air and staring at the ring I put on her finger in the middle of the night. She’s grinning. It’s a nice look. We’ve done a lot of crying in the past few weeks.
She looks at me. “I think we should stop being sad and miserable about the past and start laughing and smiling and feeling lucky about the future.”
I smile back at her. “Okay, baby.” I bring her hand to my lips and kiss her fingers. I glance at the box we set on the floor in the night. “I hope the things I saved for you can bring you peace and make you feel like you have some of your past back.”
She snuggles into me. “You did great.”
“Did I miss anything huge?”
She lifts her head. “The only thing I wish I had, which isn’t possible, is my phone. There were so many pictures on it.”
Fuck. I forgot about her phone. How the hell did I forget about that? I slowly smile at her before I ease her away from my chest and lean over to open the drawer on my nightstand. I unplug her phone and roll back to hand it to her.
She sits up so fast she nearly knocks me onto the floor as she snags the phone from my hand and flips it around. “Holy shit. Dane. How is this possible? You kept my phone?”
“Yeah. It was weird and morbid. I never told anyone because who the fuck would do such a thing?” I wince. It is the strangest thing I did after she died.
She runs a finger over the screen. “Too bad it’s useless. I’d never be able to retrieve anything from it. It’s not like it would still hold the data.”
I reach up and push the button to turn it on. “Everything is still there, baby,” I whisper.
She jerks her gaze to mine, her jaw dropping. “How?”
I draw in a deep breath. “Because I’ve been paying the bill all this time. I kept telling myself it was dumb. Every month I gave myself a pep talk, telling myself to stop the nonsense, but I couldn’t.”
Less than a minute after she declared that we were going to be happy and smile from now on, tears run down her face. This is my fault. “Dane…”
I swallow. “I felt more connected to you as long as I could still call you, hear your voice, leave messages for you. I talked to you.” I lick my lips. “There are hundreds of messages from me on there.”
Paige stares at me, tears streaming, lips parted. She doesn’t blink. Finally, she says, “You loved me so much.”
I nod. “Yes, baby. So fucking much.”
She looks at the phone again. “I’m going to cry for hours when I listen to these messages.”
“Yeah.” I tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.
She turns it off and reaches over me to set it on the nightstand. “I’ll do it another time. I’m too emotional right now.” She slides back down on top of me and wraps her body around me.
I run my hand along the length of her back. She ditched the sweatshirt at some point, so she’s only wearing a T-shirt. Her body is warm against mine. I could lie here and hold her for days without moving. Eventually we have to get up, though. Her life won’t fully be hers again until I find Damion Tombeck.
We were working a pretty good lead yesterday. I’m hoping it will pan out, and I can put an end to my girl needing to hide. She hasn’t said much about her father yet, but I know she’d like to be able to contact him. She can’t do so until I find Tombeck.
I kiss her temple. “I need to get up, baby.”
She moans. “Can’t we just stay in bed for the rest of eternity?”
I chuckle. “I wish. I will promise you that the minute Tombeck is no longer a threat to you, we’ll go see your dad, get married, and then go on a long honeymoon.”
She lifts her head and grins at me. “I’d like that.” At least she’s no longer begging me not to go after Tombeck. She knows I’ll never give up, and she’s learned that my skills and resources are far beyond what they were three years ago.
I hold her for a few more minutes before I ease out from under her. I tuck the covers all around her and kiss her. “Snuggle a bit longer. I’ll make coffee.”
She smiles at me. “And eggs? And bacon? And toast?”
I chuckle. “Yes, baby. Any other requests?”
“Nope.” She keeps grinning.
I kiss her again. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
I stare at her, stroking her hair off her face before forcing myself to break away.
Four hours later, we’re in our home office, both of us at our desks.
I’ve been on the phone with JT and Brant twice already. We have a lead in Colorado. They both headed to Colorado Springs a few hours ago. It feels like a long shot, but every lead feels like a long shot.
“Dane?” Paige says from a few feet away.
“Yeah, baby?” I turn to look at her, expecting her to tell me she needs more coffee or she’s ready for lunch. Or, hell, knowing my girl, I might find her sitting behind me naked, wanting more than coffee or lunch.
Instead, she’s focused intently on her computer. “You should see this.”
I quickly roll my chair over next to hers. “What is it?” She has surpassed even my expectations in the past week. She’s not only caught up on technology, but I’m sure she now knows more than anyone in my office.
She pulls up a surveillance camera for a convenience store in rural Colorado and zooms in on the man at the checkout. Her voice cracks when she speaks. “That’s him.”
My breath hitches as I lean in closer. She would know better than any of us. She’s the only one who saw him in person. The rest of us only have pictures and sketches. Artists’ renderings of what he could possibly look like today under various circumstances. Long hair, short hair, beard, no beard, mustache, no mustache. Every combination.
I don’t ask her if she’s sure. That would be insulting. “When was this taken?”
“Two hours ago, outside of Pueblo, Colorado.”
“Where that robbery took place yesterday…” This is the kind of hit we’ve been searching for. The profile we have for Tombeck indicates the man is an equal-opportunity thief. He robs every sort of establishment, from banks to restaurants to dental offices. We’ve been watching for his face to show up in or around any robbery that takes place. It’s tedious work since there are robberies every fucking day all over the country.
I grab my phone and call JT.
“Boss.”
“I’m sending you the location where Tombeck was last seen. Maybe he has a motel in the area, or he’s heading out of town away from Pueblo in that direction. I’ll see if I can get?—”
“I have the car and the plates,” Paige interrupts, answering my question before I’ve had a chance to ask it.
I jump to my feet because that’s huge. I’m going to have to get my ass to Colorado. “Paige will send the plates, make, and model. I’m on my way.” I end the call.
Paige jumps to her feet. “Dane…”
I grab her around the waist and kiss her soundly before rushing from the room. I know she’s stressed. She hates the idea of me going after Tombeck.
She follows me into the bedroom.
I grab my already packed to-go bag and swing it over my shoulder. I always have a duffel ready. Taking her hand so she doesn’t feel like I’m ignoring her, I tug her back into the office, where I slide my computer into the sheath and zip it up.
There is no time to hesitate. I cup her face and meet her gaze. “Be strong for me, baby. I’ll be back before you know it. Stay in touch with JT and Brant. Use the group chat.”
She inhales slowly. “I hate this.”
“I know.” I kiss her forehead. “Can you get me on the next flight to Colorado Springs while I’m driving?”
“Yeah.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too. You better fucking come back, Dane. I won’t accept a body bag, and I don’t want to visit you in prison.”
“I promise, baby.” One more kiss and I turn to jog out of the office, heading for the elevator. I have a good feeling this time. I think this lead is strong. After all, this is the first time Paige has positively ID’d Tombeck.
I’ll be damned if I’m going to let the authorities know we’re onto him. Not yet, anyway. I don’t want to risk them fucking anything up. I want Tombeck out of the picture. There is only one way to ensure he is no longer a threat to my woman.