Page 63 of Runaway
He shrugged.
Ah, Dad. Silent, steady observer. JJ was too much like him by half. While relieved to have his approval, I couldn't act surprised. Dad was an open book when you really knew him, and he was that way on purpose.
I fidgeted in the chair for a moment, trying to figure out how to voice my next topic. Conversations with Dad were a lot like speed dating. Bullet points. Get to the purpose. Say the important stuff. Move on. Mom was more like a long, country drive. She'd extrapolate all over the place, wander into side roads, get lost in a topic, and be happy every second. Meanwhile, Dad couldn't fathom keeping up with it.
No wonder that marriage crashed and burned.
“Say it,” Dad barked.
“What?” I asked.
“You're fidgeting. That always means you're not sure what to say.”
I sighed, still grateful for his observation. “Stella's in trouble. Ugly trouble, and I need some advice.”
He motioned for me to continue with a wave of his hand, then had a sip out of what looked like coffee. Then I told him everything I'd learned about her and Joshua from the moment she arrived. What the feds said—and didn't say—when she first reported it. Her fear of being paranoid and irrational. Right down to Mav's report today.
Dad's frown grew with each passing minute.
“Stella . . . she keeps saying her life isn't a movie,” I said with a shake of my head. “That this can't be real. Some kind of denial, probably.”
“Shock,” he countered. “She's in shock.”
“That too. But nowI'mstarting to wonder if this is more real than I'd thought, and I'd already thought it was pretty real. If that guy asking about me was Joshua, it probably means he's here and he's up to no good. I don't like that. Not at all.”
Dad's lips thinned and eyebrows thickened, a sure sign he was thinking. I let the silence go, appreciating the quiet tinkle of the creek that calmed me. Repeating the story only made me more agitated. I leaned my forearms onto my knees.
“Feds aren't going to help because it's not really their jurisdiction,” Dad finally said. “Until he actually makes a move, a threat, or harasses, there's nothinganyonecan do.”
“So I'm supposed to let that happen? Hell, no.”
“No,” Dad drawled, “didn't say that. I'll let the guys at the station know, tell them to keep an eye out. Get me a photo of him and we'll send it their way.”
While that made me feel better, it wasn't enough. What if Joshua made a move? He only needed access to Stella once to do irreversible damage, and that wasn't acceptable to me. There were, of course, no guarantees here. But I wanted one. In all my life, I'd never wanted a guarantee more.
“Restraining order?” I asked.
He shrugged. “She doesn't live here.”
“She does. She lives with me. Adventura is her home now.”
Dad quirked an eyebrow. I met his stare and all the thousands of words behind it that he didn't say. Thankfully, he kept that locked away.
“Has she changed her drivers license?”
“No.”
“Does she have proof of residency? Something official sent to her there through the mail?”
My hope started to feel small.
“No.”
“That would be a first step. Even if she does do the restraining order, she'd have to do a temporary one for two weeks, then go before a judge. Do you want her to have to explain this to a judge if Joshua hasn't actually made a move against her? It'll be a disaster. The system is not ideal, but it's how it works.”
On instinct, I fought back a curse in front of my father.
“So what do I do?” I asked.
