Page 99 of Traces Of You

“Come in.”

“I didn’t know it was your girlfriend,” Patrick Dugen said. “She should have told me.”

Yep, she should have. He’d have to find out why that hadn’t happened before she handed over her license.

“It is what it is,” he said. “You were doing your job. She’s not in trouble with the law.”

“She said that she had a nasty breakup and left.”

“That’s right,” he said. “She did. She doesn’t owe anyone an explanation. Between us, you pulled her over, confirmed it washer and she was safe and sound, then let her go. End of story. You didn’t hear where she lived or where she worked.”

“Shit,” Patrick said. “Could someone come after her?”

His lips were tight. “Come in and shut the door.” He didn’t want to get too in depth with things that might not come about, but he wouldn’t hide anything either.

“She’s in trouble, isn’t she?” Patrick asked.

“No. Not legally. I won’t get into her past. I took care of her case file so she’s not listed as missing anymore. As far as anyone knows, she was passing through and was stopped.”

“That’s all it is,” Patrick said, nodding.

“Good.”

Patrick left after. Ford finished up a few more things, then locked his office and drove home to shower and change. It was after eight, but he’d told Reenie he’d come see her.

He pulled in front of her cabin, saw the lights on and the curtain move, then the door open.

She came running out the front door into his arms.

How he dreamed of this greeting for decades.

“Hey,” he said, kissing her quickly, then smoothing her hair. “It’s okay. The good news is, you’re no longer missing. It’s taken care of.”

“How?”

“I reported that you were fine. It’s not mandatory for you to give an official statement. You told Deputy Dugen that you left on your own, you were of sound mind and body and alone. That’s all. It will just close the case so that no one is spending energy on it.”

It was best to tell her this, not that if Oliver did have connections in the Gainesville PD that he might find out sooner rather than later where Reenie was.

“That’s it, nothing more?”

“Do you know how many people are reported missing who only went out of town without telling anyone? It happens all the time. On that end, it’s good. Oliver had been questioned by an Officer Stiles, who took the statement, went to his house and looked around, found no evidence of a crime and that’s it.”

Clay had already talked to Grady to get more boots on the ground and find out if anything had changed.

“Really?”

“Trust me,” he said. “I know it’s hard, but you have to. Why didn’t you tell him you were my girlfriend when he pulled you over?”

“I don’t know who I can say things to,” she said. “I really don’t. Some officers get pissed if you do that.”

A simple infraction like this wouldn’t have caused much of a ruckus. “It wouldn’t have happened over a brake light.”

“I told him I was returning to work at the orchards. He has to know it’s your family business. I was testing the waters to see if he’d say anything else.”

“By doing that, he would have most likely reduced any other ticket if you were speeding or something else because he might think I’d get the call to do that anyway. But he had to run you being out of state. I can’t fault him.”

If she was a local, he might not have run her information. There wasn’t anything he could do about what happened other than plan what to do in the future.