Her Secret Santa - Miley Maine Page 0,30

I’m sorry she doesn’t live here anymore,” the woman replied.

My heart sank. What in the hell was going on?

“What? She lived there just yesterday. I don’t understand.”

“I’m Mrs. Baggins, the landlady. I just happened to be in this apartment getting things in order for the new tenants to move in. I agree that Julie’s departure was quite fast. She just called me and told me she was leaving town. I’ll have to bill her for the remainder of her lease, but I couldn’t talk her out of it. She sounded in a big hurry. I don’t have any more news than that.”

“What? This doesn’t make any sense,” I said. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. I’m just happy I was able to find a new tenant so fast. Say, are you with that other guy who was looking for her early this morning?”

I didn’t speak. Another guy?

“What? No… someone else was here looking for her?”

“Yeah, some man. I didn’t get the name, but he said it was very urgent that he speak with her. I do hope Julie isn’t in some kind of trouble. I don’t suppose you’d be able to tell me if she was.”

“Trouble? Not that I know of. Thanks,” I said.

I hurried to the car and slipped behind the wheel. I flipped the ignition and the engine roared to life. I started to put the car in gear but then I realized I had no idea where I was going. Where was Julie? Where had she gone? None of this made any sense.

And who was that man looking for her? What had Julie gotten herself into? And why didn’t she come to me for help?

I thought a moment. I felt like my entire world was crumbling apart. This was madness. I missed Julie already and I wanted to hold her, to just make sure that she was ok. I had to find her.

Who would know where she’d gone? Who would have any idea where she might have taken off to? Her family. Her parents. I would go speak to them.

I pulled out my phone and did some digging. After a few searches I had their home address. I drove there as fast as I could.

Julie’s parents, Kevin and Tanya lived in a nice two-story home on the outskirts of the city in a very nice suburb. They were a bit surprised to see me, but they both recognized me the moment they saw me. They were nice enough to invite me in. I explained the situation to them and then the hesitation started. They both seemed as if they were trying to keep a big secret. They knew where their daughter was. I could feel it. And they were scared.

“We can’t say,” Tanya said. “It’s too dangerous.”

“What is? Please talk to me. I can help.”

“We know you mean well, and you seem like a nice man, but trust us when we tell you our daughter is safe now and we want to keep it that way.”

I sighed. “Listen. I care deeply for your daughter. She is very important to me. We’ve become much more than just friends. I doubt she told you, but we’ve been dating for a while. Things have become pretty serious and I love your daughter.”

Their eyes lit up as they looked at each other. She hadn’t told them anything.

Kevin cleared his throat and spoke up. “I’m not sure we can tell you anything. We promised her we wouldn’t say a word to anyone.”

I groaned silently. I was getting nowhere. “Listen. I have resources that a lot of people don’t have. I can make sure your daughter stays safe. I can give her celebrity-like levels of protection. The sky is the limit. I can keep her safe and sound. But you have to talk to me. You have to tell me where she is. You have to tell me what is going on.”

Kevin looked at his wife and then nodded. She began to speak.

10

Julie

I closed the door to my new apartment and looked around. It was smaller than I was used to, but it was cozy. I could get used to it. I had no other option. I wasn’t sure how long I was going to be living there. Just long enough hopefully to establish a new life and then go from there.

I sat down the bag of groceries I was carrying on the kitchen counter and began to put things away. It was mostly easy convenience foods. When you were on