Page 51 of Koa's Little Girl
Giana turned to face the main section of the office and asked, “Who was that? She’s not moving into my old apartment, is she?”
“Sorry, we don’t reveal the names of our residents. It’s strange you never ran into her. She’s been here about six months.”
“Oh. I guess if I worked regular, office-type hours I would have run into her at the mailboxes or something.” Giana switched her focus back onto the matter at hand. “So, everything’s set. I just need to pay the penalty for breaking my lease early?”
“The paperwork is all done. Take a second and look through these documents. And then, I need your signature at the bottom of the insurance settlement and on the early release from the rental agreement.”
“Can I get a copy of these for my records?” Giana asked.
“This folder is yours.” The manager handed her a manila envelope with photocopies.
“Thank you. I’ll sit over there and read through everything. If I don’t have any concerns, I’ll sign and return it in a few minutes.”
“Take all the time you need,” the employee told her.
It took about ten minutes to read through all the fine print. The settlement with the insurance was very fair. Giana took a few minutes to compare various parts of the contract with her copy to make sure she had a good copy. It meshed perfectly.
With a flourish, Giana wrote her name on the spaces indicated by the bright arrow stickers, then she clicked the pen closed.Thank goodness this is over.
She returned the papers to the office manager with a smile. “Hey, thanks for all you’ve done to get this settled. I’m sorry this happened.”
“Believe it or not, this isn’t the worst thing I’ve seen while I’ve worked in the apartment biz. The most important thing is you’re safe. Sometimes moving is the smartest thing to do, even if we’re sorry to see you go.”
“Thanks. Stay safe.” As she walked out, Giana shook her head. She’d seen some tragic and frightening things in her line of work as well.
Movement near her old building caught her eye. Something familiar about that man tickled the back of her brain. He wore a souvenir-type bucket hat, pulled low over his face. Giana didn’t know why she got the impression its purpose wasn’t to shield thesun from his eyes, but to conceal his face. As she watched, he turned to look at her truck for a few seconds too long.
Was he going to do something to her truck? He paced forward. When he’d gotten a couple of feet away from her truck, two kids and their mother burst from the next building. From the mother’s unhappy scolding, Giana could tell the children had missed the bus.
When she turned back to see where the man was, the area around her truck was empty. Where had he gone? She should go back into the office and ask for security to walk her to her vehicle. But….
Long ago, Giana had learned to trust her instincts. They had kept her and her teams safe in many dangerous situations. Koa’s punishment would be fierce if he ever found out she had acted impetuously.
The desire to get home made her shrug off her concerns. Silencing the warning signals going off in her brain, Giana continued toward her truck. She needed to get out of here and put this place behind her.
At the scrape of a boot on the pavement, Giana whirled around to see the man in the hat stand up from where he had crouched behind her vehicle. She balanced instinctively on the balls of her feet as she took a defensive posture. “What are you doing?”
“Picking up a quarter?” The man’s tone was mocking and rough as he peered at her from under the brim of his hat. He held up the coin.
The feeling that she knew him grew stronger. She scanned his body. He was fit and powerful. The man put the money in his pocket. His hand brushed aside his baggy clothing showing a decoration on the skin at his waistline.
“Tom?” burst from her lips. She remembered when he’d gotten that tattoo. The jerk had moaned about it for days as heattempted to walk around the fire station without a shirt to show it off. Giana had put a stop to that quickly.
His chin lifted, revealing his face. Tom’s gaze radiated anger and something else that unsettled Giana.
“Did you trash my apartment?” she asked.
“Of course not. What apartment?” he said, shrugging. He visibly controlled his expression and smiled at her. “Do you live here or are you visiting someone?”
She needed to get out of here. Tom wasn’t huge, but he was firefighter fit. Just by mass and male muscle power, he could overpower her. She almost liked the menacing look better than this smile. He made her skin crawl. He always had.
Giana ignored his question. “Hey, if you’ll move away from my truck, I’ll head to work. They’re expecting me.”
“You’re not on the roster.”
“I’m always on call.” She waited for him to shift to a safer spot. He didn’t.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he stated firmly. His menacing glare intensified. “I’ve tracked your truck for days and this is the first time you’ve been away from the fire station and that military hotshot.”
