Page 112 of The Outpost (Jamison Valley 4)
He laughed too and let go of my hand to toss his arm around my shoulders. I leaned into his side and wrapped my arms around his waist.
“I missed you, Beau.”
He kissed my hat-covered head. “You too.”
By the time we got back to the hotel, I was wiped out. Beau opened the glass doors and let me inside first, waving to the agent that had been following us all day.
The man Henry had assigned to us wasn’t anyone I recognized but I could tell he had experience. He had been so discreet that I’d forgotten he was even with us. The only time I’d noticed he was close was when he’d silently communicated something with Beau.
My phone rang at the same time Beau flipped the lock closed in our room. It had been ringing nonstop all day so Beau and I had made a game of guessing who the caller was each time. Without looking at the screen, I said, “I’m guessing Felicity.”
He shook his head. “Dalton.”
I flipped the screen up. Beau was the winner. Again. “Hi,” I answered. I should have guessed the call was from Henry. His agent had probably reported we were no longer on the loose.
“Are you back at the hotel for the night?” He sounded exhausted.
“Yes.”
“Good. Your apartment is clean and you can go home tomorrow. You’ve got new locks since Mitchell busted in the old ones. Your doorman has your new keys.”
“Okay. Thank you for taking care of that.”
“No problem. How are you?”
I looked at Beau, sitting on the edge of the bed kicking off his shoes. His soft smile was aimed my way. “I’m okay. Good night, Henry.”
“Good night, Sabrina.”
I tossed my phone on the bed next to Beau. “Henry says I can go home tomorrow. Will you go wi
th me?”
“Try to keep me away.”
I smiled and plopped down next to him. I wasn’t sure how it would feel going back to my apartment. That place was starting to have more bad memories than good.
“One day at a time,” Beau said, reading my thoughts.
One day at a time.
Taking a deep breath, I turned the key in the lock. Bleach and air freshener assaulted my nose as the door swung open to reveal the bright afternoon sun beaming through my living room windows. Beau’s hand rested on the small of my back. He stayed glued to my side with each step into my apartment.
I had told him at lunch that I wanted to rip off the Band-Aid. To waltz right into my apartment and walk directly to the spot where I had killed Anton. There wasn’t much waltzing with my heavy footsteps but they took me right to the spot.
On my left was a bouquet of flowers someone had left on the island. It rested in the exact place where Anton’s gun had been. On the right, someone had turned my staring chair around so it no longer faced the windows. And at my feet was a clean and polished floor. All traces of Anton had been erased.
Once I blocked him from my memories, he’d be gone forever.
“Okay?” Beau asked.
“Would it be strange to say yes?” I’d thought it would be scary and emotional to come back in here but it just felt like . . . nothing. I looked up into Beau’s eyes. “I think I let it all out the other night.”
His hand cupped my jaw. “I think you did too.”
I wished there had been another way but it didn’t change the facts. Anton was gone and he wouldn’t be coming after me again.
For the first time in over a year, I was truly safe to live my life.
