Chapter 13
13
H e huffed out a breath. "Yeah. I would imagine they knew that anyway. There's no way you'd run with piles of documents."
Her head bobbed slightly as she thought. It was one of the things he'd initially liked about her. She was a thinker. She was cautious though and now he knew why.
She took a deep breath. "Are you tired?"
He chuckled at the change of subject. "Not really. I normally come home wired after a busy night at the Sandbar."
"Me too."
She leaned back. "I'm going to do some research. Want to research together?"
He chuckled. "Yes. I'd love that. Do you like coffee while you research?"
"Yes."
"I'll get a pot going, you get your computer."
She stood and sauntered toward the bedroom, and he watched her. He stared at her while they were at the Sandbar every chance he got. He enjoyed watching her walk. She was strong and confident and sure of herself. It didn't hurt that she was gorgeous. A beautiful woman who was also smart and confident, though scared right now. She was confident enough to even blow the whistle on a crime syndicate in the first place. She'd get her mojo back as soon as she realized she had more power than she thought.
Marco poured them each a cup of coffee and set them at the dining room table.
He was finally going to use his dining room table, though it wasn’t for a meal with his friends as he had first envisioned. It was going to be for research.
That was okay.
He was going to use it for the first time with Theresa, and there was a lot to like about that.
Theresa came in and set her laptop on the table next to his, near where he had placed her coffee cup. She opened the lid on the laptop and then settled in. He sat in the chair next to her and did the same with his laptop.
She took a deep breath and looked at him.
"What do we start researching first?"
He chuckled. "That is the fifty-million-dollar question, isn't it?"
"I think we need to look first at new businesses within the last... what, how long did you say you were on the run?"
She swallowed. "I've actually been on the run for about a year now. It'll be a year—oh, next week."
"Okay, so where were you before you came to Blossom Springs?"
"Well, I left Maine. I ran to New York City. I didn't like how busy it was, and I figured they had a lot of connections there, so I left and started heading southwest.
"I drove and drove and drove. I spent two nights in St. Louis—just outside of the city. I didn't like that city either, then I narrowed my focus to small towns.
"So I drove into Kentucky. I found some small towns and spent some time there. Then I moved through Tennessee, staying outside of the major cities.
"Next was Georgia, and I found some small towns around the military bases. I felt safer there, I suppose—because of my military service, being near bases, it seemed like security for me. But I never really felt at home or completely safe.
"So I left Georgia and came into Florida. I spent a month in a couple of different cities in northern Florida, then decided to move farther south.
"And that's when I ended up here."
He nodded. He watched her face as she spoke.
You could see it when she mentioned certain cities—like New York and St. Louis.
The look on her face said it all.
She didn’t like those cities. And likely, not feeling safe anywhere had a lot to do with it.
"Okay," he replied, "so probably not enough time in any of those cities or towns for them to follow you or trace you anywhere. Did you ever feel like you were being watched or followed?"
She put her hands on her lap and turned to look at him.
Her pretty brown eyes stared into his, and he could see right into her soul.
At least, he felt that way.
She didn’t look away from him. She wasn’t trying to hide anything.
"No, I don't think so. I think it was just a general fear that they would find me. And in those bigger cities, I hadn't really met anyone. So who would I call if I needed help?
" I started to feel like maybe being lost in a big city wasn't where I wanted to be, and I made the move here.
"I needed to work for a few reasons. I didn't want to chew up all my savings—that was one reason.
"And the other one is, I didn't want to just sit at home all day long and worry. So being out in the workforce kept my mind occupied. I found the job at the Sandbar in the local paper when I was up north—outside of Tallahassee—and I thought, a small-town bar on the water. Well, it's not like the syndicate is going to have people lying around the beach. So, I jumped at the chance.
"After I met Jace, I realized what his preference was for hiring military veterans and helping them. I figured I fit the bill. Not only do I have a little PTSD, but man, I was running scared. And he seemed solid and nonjudgmental, and I figured working for him would be good. So I took the job."
"Okay," he grinned.
When she talked about Jace and the Sandbar, they, Jace and Margo, really had developed a nice little community there.
"So, you started working, and you slowly became comfortable here."
"Yeah. I mean, like I said, the syndicate wasn't going to have guys hanging out at the beach or at a beach bar. And, you know, I kind of felt like no one was really going to be looking for me working in a bar of restaurant kind of place.
"And I didn't have anything happen to make me feel suspicious or worried. So yes, I grew comfortable. That was my mistake."
He nodded. "I think that's how people always get caught. They just get comfortable."
He continued, "Well, it could be—" He paused. "You were smart about the things that you did, Theresa.
"You were smart about continuing to move. You were smart about not using electronic devices. Getting a cell phone in your mom’s name was smart. They could look, I suppose, for her name, and maybe they did. Maybe that's how they found you. It's not a secret who your mom is."
"She's dead."
"Honey, you're not the first person who has taken a dead relative's name when you're in trouble."
Her shoulders dropped.
"I'm not as smart as I thought I was."
"Well, you've made it a year. I mean, that's pretty good. Normally, they'd get you within the first couple of weeks. So I'd say you were very smart."
She grinned. "Thanks."
"Okay. So, in knowing all of that, let me change my mind. Let's start looking for businesses that are newer in the last year here in Blossom Springs. If you want to do some searching on that, what I'm going to search for are businesses who have had hard financial times and suddenly are doing much better."
"How are you going to find that out?" she asked.
He grinned. "Small towns are a pretty hard place to hide financial woes. Everybody knows."
She chuckled. "I suppose. It’s difficult to hide a lot of things in a small town. I've noticed that. As soon as Jace and Margo started dating—oh my gosh."
"Yeah. That’s a fact. It’s both the bane and the joy of living in a small town. Correct?"
"Correct."
He nodded. "Okay. So, here’s what I would do if I were you. Get in touch with Carley Thompson. Since she is a realtor in the area, she may have records of new businesses that have started up in the past year. She’s probably helped with hundreds of transactions and might be willing to share the records. And I will work on my end with some things. I’m going to also send Mitch an email and tell him what we’re doing. I’ll copy you on it so you can see what the communication is. And that way, nobody is duplicating any efforts. And he'll know what we're working on, so he can focus on other things. Deal?"
She slightly chuckled. "Deal."