Page 100 of Dangerous Pursuit

“I’m sorry, honey,” Mom says.

“No, it was good.” I shake my head. “I still can’t believe it.”

“Believe what? What did he say?” Eli asks.

“They didn’t tell Mia who replaced her or how. They simply told her she was being released because they had a better witness. She had no idea about her dad or that I was the one to track him down.”

“That’s crap,” my dad says angrily.

“Did Walker tell her? What did she say?” Eli adds.

They all fire off questions, but Cici has the most important one. “But, Jackson, does it matter? I thought she was with someone else.”

I repeat what Walker told me.

“Now that you know, what are you going to do?” Eli asks.

“You need to go talk to her. Show up at her work and tell her how you feel. Get her back,” Lily chimes in, surprising me.

“Walker got her address for me, so I’ll be showing up on her doorstep,” I tell them.

“Then go. What are you waiting for? Oooh, I’m so excited!” Cici claps her hands, beaming.

“I don’t need to leave on Christmas. She’s not going anywhere. I’ve waited this long. I can handle one more day.” Not really, but I can’t walk out on Christmas.

“Jackson,” my mom interjects, “you’ve waited long enough. Go.”

That’s all I need to hear to get my ass moving.

It took twenty minutes on the phone with the credit card concierge to find out I wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow afternoon, whether I left on tonight’s flight or the one in the morning. The city Mia chose, Presque Isle, is literally the farthest airport possible from San Diego, if we’re not counting Alaska. Not to mention, only one airline flies in and out.

I was deflated, but it allowed me to finish Christmas Day with a few smiles making an appearance. All night, my head was occupied with what I would say, how to apologize, what it would feel like to hold her in my arms—whether she’d let me.

The dark circles under my eyes this morning prove I didn’t sleep. I’m walking to my gate two hours early with only my wallet and the clothes on my back after Cici dropped me off. I’m usually the guy who’s rushing through security, arriving right before boarding, but I was too eager to get here. Today, I’llhappily wait for the chance to see Mia again. After 291 days, what’s a few more hours?

Mia

We found a flight out late that afternoon, which is a miracle considering only one airline services our small area. The bad news is that it was an overnight layover with a flight so early in the morning that I decided to stay at the Newark airport and wait it out. It was a long night of head bobbing.

It gave me time to call Jeff and explain what was happening. I felt terrible, but he was more understanding than I expected. He was blown away by the whole story and sympathized with what I had been through. Having witnessed my behavior since I’d arrived, he said it made a lot of sense now. Hanging up the phone was like ending a conversation with a good friend, and I see us continuing that way.

All night, I recited lines about what I’d say to Jackson. How I needed to apologize in person before anything else and then tell him thank you, which isn’t nearly enough. I still can’t comprehend how he gave up so much time, his entire life, to find my dad, and that he did it all for me. Could it be because he still loves me? Or maybe that’s wishful thinking. What if Walker misread him, and he only did it because he felt responsible for the situation in the first place?

Questions like that have been swirling in my mind the entire way here, and now that I’ve finally arrived in San Diego, I’m about to get the answers I’m desperate for. It’s surreal being back. The last time I walked through this airport was with a sense of hopelessness, and now it’s with hope. The anxiousness, though, remains the same.

I’m so close, taking the last moving walkway before exiting security, when my heart stops as I spot someone on the left side,freezing me in my tracks. The guy behind bumps into me and yells, “What the heck, lady? Can you move over if you’re just going to stand there?”

He’s so loud that it causes everyone to look over, and that’s when I lock eyes with Jackson for the first time in 291 days.

FULL CIRCLE

Mia

“Mia?”

We’re moving in the opposite direction, our shocked gazes following each other until he jumps the handrails to my side right after passing.

“What are you doing here?” he asks when he reaches me.

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