19. Bradyn
CHAPTER 19
brADYN
S ammy’s file is a fake.
A very, very good fake but a fake nonetheless.
Tucker pieces together an email and sends it off to Elijah Breeth, a former Ranger turned private security specialist who works with my cousin Silas. Then he spins around to face my father and me.
“You had no suspicions when you hired her?” I ask Dad, who stands beside me.
“No. I asked her the typical questions and had her fill out the application.”
“I ran the background check myself,” Tucker offers. “But I didn’t go very deep. Just the basic surface-level one I run for everyone we hire.”
“You couldn’t have known.” Even as frustrated as I am that someone was hired under a false identity, I can’t blame Tucker. Deep background dives are standard procedure for our Search maybe she laid down and—Bravo growls. A deep, threatening growl.
My stomach plummets as I set the soup aside and draw my firearm. “Sammy? If that’s you, I’m coming in, okay?”
Still no answer.
Reaching forward, I check the handle. It turns easily, so I shove the door open. “ Such, Bravo,” I order. Search. He darts inside, and I follow, weapon at the ready. But from the moment I cross the threshold, I know I won’t find her.
The place is tossed. Every nook and cranny searched. Her mattress has been ripped open with a blade, its stuffing all over the floor. Cabinets were left open, the dishes that were once tucked away inside now littering the countertops.
Someone was looking for something in addition to the someone I fear they found.
“Sammy?” I call out. Please, God, let her be all right. Please let her be all right. Even as I fear the worst, I make my way through the cabin, stepping into the bathroom and clearing the entire place before I lower my weapon and withdraw my phone.
“What is it?” Elliot answers on the first ring.
“Get the others and get to Sammy’s cabin. Now.”
“What happened?”
My heart thuds in my chest as I try to wrap my head around all that’s happened today. “Sammy’s gone, and someone tossed her place.”
“I agree with Tucker. Sammy is not Sammy,” Elijah replies on speakerphone. “Though it’s a great surface story—seriously, I commend whoever created it for her—once you really start digging, it falls apart.”
“That’s what we found too,” Tucker replies. “I’m still kicking myself for not seeing through it.”
“Don’t,” Elijah says. “I wouldn’t have seen through it, either. Not without checking those tax records. I even ran her through a medical database, and nothing popped.”
Which explains why she didn’t want X-rays. Because she knew as soon as they put her in, the facade would crumble.
“Is she Olivia Brown?” I ask, though, in my gut, I know the answer.
“That’s still not one hundred percent,” he replies. “Especially since the photo you sent of Sammy isn’t an exact facial match for an old newspaper article I found about the Browns.”
“What do you mean?”
“I scrubbed the web for a photograph of Olivia Brown and couldn’t find anything except for a science fair project she won in the third grade. The photograph was super grainy though, so it’s possible that she is a match and the distortion can’t give me a complete read.”
“There are no photographs of her? She’s the daughter of a public servant.” Riley crosses his arms. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Someone removed her,” Elijah replies. “And they did a good job.”
“Likely after she was taken. My guess is they wanted to keep it out of the media,” Tucker adds. “This is a mess.”
“The guy who was here today didn’t look like a political aide,” my father interjects. My mother is standing beside him, her face pale, eyes wide. She’s shaken, and it breaks my heart to see it.
“No,” I agree, turning my attention back to the phone. If I can find her, I can fix this. I have to find her. “He was the senator’s son. Olivia Brown’s stepbrother.”
The expressions on my brothers’ faces harden.
“Something stinks here.” Tucker crosses his arms. “And the only person who can answer anything for us is missing.”
“Thanks, Elijah. You’ll keep digging?”
“Always,” he replies. “Check in with you if I find something.”
After ending the call, I shove the phone into my pocket. “Tucker, did you find anything on the security camera footage?” I ask.
“Not a thing. We didn’t pick up anyone in or out of her cabin. With the trees, there are some blind spots, but they’re few and far between. Someone would have to have a map of the layout in order to get out unnoticed.”
“Or have worked here and have a great memory,” I consider.
“You think she mapped out the security cameras?” Riley questions.
“I think she was hiding from them.” My thoughts run loose over the course of what she said earlier today. She’d said she was settled ‘for now’ and that she moved a lot. “When you’re on the run, the first thing you do is carve out an exit strategy.”
“You’re going to look for her, aren’t you?” Elliot asks.
“She’s in trouble, and I intend to find out why.” I take the photograph Tucker printed of Sammy and stick it into my pocket.
“Are you sure you should go? Don’t you do rotations so you have time to get your mind right?” my mother asks. “I don’t want you running out there so soon after you just got back. What if you’re not ready to be back in the field?”
“I’ll be fine, Mom. I promise.” I can’t tell her that I stay ready. That there’s never been a moment in my adult life that I wasn’t prepared for war. Because if I tell her that I can’t ever find rest, it’ll break her heart.
She just stares back at me.
“Even though we all knew her longer, Bradyn spent more time with her. He has the best chance of finding her,” Elliot offers.
My mom nods. “Just be careful. Something about this feels wrong.”
“I agree, but I need to know if she ran or was taken. Someone was in her cabin, and we don’t have footage of that either. It’s possible someone managed to dodge the cameras.”
“It’s possible.” Riley shakes his head. “Or she tossed the place to cover her tracks.”
“You want me to leave her out there?”
“No, of course not,” Elliot replies. “But rushing out without a plan isn’t smart either.”
“I’m not rushing out without a plan. Bravo and I will go after Sammy while you all make sure no one gets onto this property without you knowing about it. Whatever you have to do, fill those blind spots with something.”
“That would require cutting down trees,” Riley says.
“Then do it.”
My brothers fall silent a moment.
“What’s got you spooked?” Elliot questions. “There something you aren’t telling us?”
“Not spooked,” I reply. “Just cautious. Klive made a couple comments today that sounded an awful lot like threats, and I’ll take no chances. As soon as I catch up with Sammy, we’ll come back here with some answers. Until then, we need to make sure we have our bases covered.”
I get to my feet, and Bravo falls into step beside me.
“Are you sure you don’t want backup?” Elliot asks.
“No. Bravo and I can cover good ground. I want all hands on deck back here just in case something goes wrong.” I start toward the door.
“Wait!” my mother calls out. She rushes forward and wraps her arms around me in a hug. Pulling away, she cups my face just as she did when I was a child.
“I have to track her down and make sure she’s safe.”
Nodding, she releases my face. “I know that, honey. You be safe too. Okay? I don’t think Sammy is wrapped up in anything bad. At least, not that’s her fault, she’s far too sweet for that.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of it,” I promise her, careful not to add to that feeling. Truth be told, I think Sammy might just be the missing Olivia Brown. And I think she’s been on the run. The reason is still a mystery to me, but I intend to find out as soon as I get the chance.
I just have to get to her before they do.
Thirteen hours and two states later, I’m pulling my truck into a rest stop. As I turn off the engine, I note the black sedan that pulls in right after me, parking a handful of spots to the right of me even though there were plenty right up near me.
At first, my tail was a black SUV. Then, once I hit Tulsa, it dropped off, and a white van took its place. This particular sedan caught up to me in Little Rock. But I intend to lose it here.
Climbing out of the truck, I step aside and call Bravo forward. After clipping his leash onto the vest that reads working dog , I let him jump out, grab my bag, and make my way into the rest stop. The bus station in town told me that Sammy booked a one-way ticket to Springfield, Missouri, claiming she needed to see her sick aunt.
So, Springfield is where we’re headed. I’m just hoping we’re the first to track her down and that we get there before she makes her next move.
As I always do when Bravo is with me, I get some weird looks. And since I didn’t see the driver or passenger of the sedan get out, I make my way up to the young guy working the cash register.
He’s likely mid-twenties and looks far more bored than I think I ever have in my life.
“Hey, my truck broke down, and I was wondering if there’s a bus station near here? I need to get to Memphis.”
“Man, that’s a bummer. But yeah. There’s a station about a mile up the road. They have a lot of routes they run, so you might find some luck.”
“Great, thanks.”
“No problem. Cute dog.”
I glance down at Bravo, and he tilts his head as he looks back at me. “You hear that, bud? You’re cute.” I look back at the kid. “Thanks for the tip.” After reaching into my wallet, I pull out a hundred and slide it over the counter. “If anyone asks about me, tell them I went in another direction.”
He grins and takes the bill like I just handed him the world. “You got it, man. No questions.”
I head toward the back of the rest stop and slip through the kitchen which, thanks to the early hours, isn’t operating right now. The back door doesn’t have an alarm notice, so I take the risk and push it open, peering outside before taking Bravo all the way out.
The grass is tall behind the gas station, so we move quickly and silently, using the still-dark morning to shield us from unwanted attention.
By the time the tail realizes I’m not coming out, Bravo and I will be on a bus and hopefully closer to Sammy.