Page 22 of Koa’s Little Girl (Soldier Daddies #8)

F rom the safety of Koa’s deck, Giana dealt with the problems weighing her down.

Of course, everything had to be a huge hassle.

Shaking her head in exasperation, Giana disconnected her call with the apartment complex management.

They were doing all they could to help her, but she’d had to work through so many steps to resolve this issue: her contract, the deposit and unit damages, and the clean-up.

Koa’s team had helped so much in clearing out the apartment.

There had been little to salvage. Most of her furniture had been slashed.

They’d simply set the couch and chairs down by the dumpster with a sign that they were free if someone wanted to reupholster them.

Koa had hauled her mattress and box springs to the dumpster when they discovered the intruder had peed all over them.

Giana shuddered. That jerk had marked them like an animal. There was no way she’d ever sleep on those again.

The apartment had cameras scattered around the complex.

They’d picked out footage of a non-resident entering her building, but his hat and bulky clothing had prevented the police from getting a clear picture to help in identifying the jerk.

Giana had recognized his vehicle as the one belonging to the man who’d gotten so pissed at her for spacing out in the parking lot and for kissing Koa by his truck.

“You okay, Flame?” Koa asked, flipping burgers on the grill. “I still have those wings if you’d rather have those. I could throw them on, too.”

“Sure, go ahead,” she said offhand, not picking up on Koa’s joke.

“Now I know something is wrong.” He set down his spatula and walked toward her. “I figured hell would freeze over before the fire captain in you would okay me to cook poultry.”

“I wish I’d gotten that guy’s license plate number,” she muttered.

“It was a stolen plate. I’m sure he’s changed it by now.”

“You ran it?”

“Not me. But a buddy.”

“I asked in the apartment complex’s Facebook group if anyone recognized that car. Several people thought they’d seen it, but no one knows who owns it,” Giana told him.

“So, he doesn’t live there but keeps showing up. Only one possible reason comes to my mind. He’s watching someone in the complex. Combine that with his temper, I would bet it’s a failed relationship.”

“That’s a lot of assumptions,” Giana pointed out.

“But logical ones. I wonder if the police or apartment management would know who has a protective order in that area.”

Giana shrugged her shoulders as her mind whirled. The man she’d had the unpleasant encounters with had a boiling temper. “Why would he have trashed my apartment?” She shivered at the thought that someone out of control had focused on her.

Koa was quickly at her side. Kneeling next to her chair, Koa pulled her into his arms to hug her close. “I know this is scary, Flame.”

“The worst part is there’s so much we don’t know,” she said and pushed against his hard chest to meet his concerned gaze.

“It’s possible he has some mental problems, little girl. Or he’s gotten you mixed up with someone else. Or he’s pissed off about something totally different and has made you his target. Who knows?”

“Hopefully with me moved out, this will all go away.”

“That would be incredible, but keep your guard up. A guy that angry doesn’t give up easily,” Koa warned.

“How could he find me?” Giana asked, trying to squelch that small voice in the back of her mind that had been working overtime to put her on edge.

“You have fire department emblems on your truck. Does it tell which station you’re at?”

“Not anymore. I had those a few years ago, but random guys showed up at the station to ask me for a date. I advise all the female firefighters at my station to learn from my mistake.”

“Smart. I’m glad you’re looking out for others, but now, you need to focus on heeding your inner radar that tells you something is wrong. You call the police and then me immediately. We could get you one of those medallions that send out an alert.”

“It’s against policy, I can’t. Not the warning device itself, but all jewelry is forbidden. The high-heat conditions would melt metal in a snap. No one wants jewelry embedding into their skin,” Giana explained.

“Understandable. We have regulations as well.”

An aroma wafted to her. “Um, Koa?” She waved a hand toward the grill.

“Fuck!” Koa jumped to his feet and raced back to the grill. He picked up one blackened hamburger patty. He tossed the meat onto a platter, where it landed with a hard thunk. Others followed as she tried not to laugh, covering her mouth with her hand.

He met her gaze before ruefully shaking his head. “You’re not going to believe this, but I’m actually a grill master.”

“Of course you are, Daddy,” she said and then failed miserably at containing her giggles. Shaking his head, Koa joined her mirth. His deep laughter meshed perfectly with hers.

When she could talk, Giana said, “I really wanted pizza tonight, anyway. Take out?”

“I’ll call,” Koa muttered, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

Giana peeked up at Koa as he called her favorite Italian place. She didn’t argue when he added vegetables to their pizza. She was getting really crafty at hiding them in her napkin.

He lifted an eyebrow when she smiled at that thought.

Thank goodness he had to focus on the shopkeeper’s questions.

She lifted her shoulders and looked back at him as if she were completely innocent.

Koa tilted his head, holding her gaze. Giana knew he was on to her and slumped back against her chair. She’d eat the vegetables. Tonight.

Giana scoped out the parking lot as she drove into the apartment complex three days later. Her insurance and the managers had come to an agreement. They needed her to sign some papers, and the hassle would be over.

Laughing at herself for pulling her truck instinctively in her old parking spot, Giana slid out of the cab. “One last time for old times,” she said to herself and headed to the complex office.

As she pulled the decorative door open, a woman with a hoodie pulled over her head approached on her way out. The woman froze in place and kept her head down. Fear radiated from her.

“Hi,” Giana said cheerfully and stepped out of the doorway to allow her to leave.

“Sorry,” the other woman mumbled and tucked a few strands of her long brown hair that had escaped back under the material before stepping outside.

Concerned, Giana watched her scan the area as the woman scurried to a shaded area by the brick exterior. She never raised her head to reveal her face. Giana got a brief glimpse of her profile.

Not wishing to stare, Giana stepped into the office and turned to make sure the swinging door had closed. She saw a movement a small distance away and focused on it automatically. To Giana’s surprise, the mysterious woman walked into a building. The same building that Giana had vacated.

“Are you ready to be done with us, Giana?” a familiar voice called.

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 the sun 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 he attempted 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.”

She needed to get out of here now. Think, Giana!