Page 35 of Protecting Talia

“I do. And I’m sorry you didn’t know that. I didn’t make detective until a few years ago, but I hope that if I found you when I’d been a street cop, I would have tried everything I had to get you justice.”

Amy gave her a box of tissues and poured some tea from a container she’d missed earlier. She appreciated what they were doing. It wouldn’t take away all the years of pain she’d suffered, but knowing someone cared about her made her feel like maybe she was worth something.

After she recovered a little more, Huett assured her they would make the charges against Dave, her new landlord, stick. They were digging to find more people who would testify against him.

This was better than she ever could have imagined. By the time she left the station, she felt better than she had in years.

She sat in her car and sent a text to Zip, telling him everything was great and they could talk when she got home. Excitement filled her, and she drove home carefully, ready to spend the evening in Zip’s arms.

21

Zip was ready to head home when his phone buzzed. All the other guys on his team got the same message. Anger and disappointment twisted together. He wouldn’t make it home tonight. They were headed out of the country.

He stepped outside and called Talia. When he heard her voice, he closed his eyes, taking in the joy as she explained how the police were doing everything they could to keep Dave in custody.

“Hey, sweetie, I got called out on a mission.”

“Wait, what?”

“I know this timing sucks. Please stay at my house. Caroline and Wolf will step in if you need help. Also Kevlar’s team isn’t heading out, so Remi and Wren will be around. There’s a friend, Thario. He’s a good person. We were going to get together with him, but he got a cold. I trust him. I’ll make sure you have their numbers.”

He heard her take a deep breath and let it go. “I’ll be fine. And I’ll be waiting here for you to get home.”

“It could be a week or two. Or maybe a month. I don’t know.” She didn’t say anything for a short moment, and he wondered if he’d lost her. Finally, she spoke.

“That’s okay. I’d rather miss you for a few weeks and have you the rest of the time than never have met you.”

He closed his eyes, drinking in the sound of her voice. “I know I’m not there in front of you, but I wanted to tell you this weekend, or maybe next, but Talia, I’ve fallen in love with you.”

She gasped. “Oh, Zip. I’m falling for you, too.”

“Good. We’ll celebrate together when I get home.”

“Yes, we will.”

He ended that call, glad that he’d called her. She showed him love and kindness. His SEAL brothers were great, but they didn’t match what he felt for Talia. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. They were on the same page, and he couldn’t wait to get back and see her.

22

Talia ended the call, happiness filling her. How had everything gotten so good for her? Luck finally seemed to be on her side. She needed to get rid of her apartment, so while Zip was gone and while Dave was still in jail, she would clean it out.

Being at work when Zip was home had started to wear on her. She needed to find something that would allow her to be gone during the day when he was at work. Coming home to him sleeping and him leaving while she was dead asleep was getting old. She would start looking for a different job today.

There were jobs she wouldn’t do. Anything customer facing was risky. She’d thought she’d changed enough she wouldn’t be recognized, but there were still people like Dave who must have religiously watched the videos she’d been in. Heck, he could have been one of the guys in the videos because the men hadn’t been forced to show their faces and had worn masks. Nothing quite like being abused by masked men.

She pushed away the depressing thoughts and concentrated on what she needed to do to get out of her apartment and start living a better life with Zip.

The list of jobs online was confusing. She’d thought about going with an agency, but she didn’t want part of her paycheck to go to someone else. But there were few options. She had to find something good, and it didn’t seem like there was anything out there.

She stayed up late researching options for a job, finally deciding to go with an employment agency. The articles she found about agencies promised they wouldn’t take her money, so she thought it was worth a shot. Hopefully they wouldn’t know about her past and she would be able to get a good job.

The next day she swung by her apartment and started packing things she wanted to keep. She didn’t have much, but they were her things and she didn’t want to lose them.

When she was almost done, she realized she would have to take a second trip because not everything would fit in her car. For a moment, she thought about calling Caroline and asking if she could help her, but she didn’t want to be a bother. She would come back the next day and get more stuff.

Work was boring and coming home to an empty house was depressing. Also arriving at Zip’s dark house at midnight was scary. She didn’t like coming home this late with no one waiting. Not that his neighborhood was bad, just dark. The houses were older, and some of the neighbors had trees that ate the light. The deep shadows made her wary.

Before going to bed, she pulled the lever on using an employment agency. Hopefully, there would be a job that would allow her to get off earlier in the day so she had more time with Zip.

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