Chapter 3
McCrae
The next morning, I thought back to picking up that woman the night before.
Who was she?
Today was my day off, but I was anxious and edgy.
I told myself that I would let Damon and the other guys run down the leads, but my brain kept churning.
My mind flashed to the card she’d given me. On one side it’d said, “Pete’s Trucking” on the other side, it had “T. Carter.”
T. Carter.
I ran harder. Of course, last night, I hadn’t been able to calm down and I’d run “T. Carter” through the national system.
The woman’s plea for help had been difficult to hear. I wasn’t good at committing to people. Strike that—it felt like whenever I did commit, I was ruined.
Okay. Fine. Rose Jones was another story.
The unknown woman had been shaking so badly at the hospital, so we put warming blankets around her. My eyes had kept drifting back to her delicate features—her pale skin, her green eyes, her red hair matted against her face from the rain …
She was like a broken bird that I’d found in the woods when I was twelve.
I’d been so careful with it, taking off my shirt to cradle it in the makeshift blanket.
I had taken it back to the house so my mother could help me.
We’d tried to coddle the bird and nurse it back to health, but in the end, it had died.
I had been heartbroken by that bird dying.
I pushed the thoughts aside as I finished my run and entered the lake house through the side door.
I gulped down a glass of water, did some stretches, then poured some coffee that I’d left brewing.
With a steaming mug in hand, I went back out to the lake.
I loved this time of day when everything was peaceful, when there was nothing but my thoughts and the coffee.
I took a sip and closed my eyes. T. Carter. The simple “T” in front Carter had me bothered.
I walked back into the house, took a protein shake out of the fridge, and grabbed my stuff for the gym.
It was boxing time for the Armstrong family.
I drove to the local gym in town, a converted warehouse with exposed beams and concrete floors. It was barely seven, but I could see my brothers’ cars out front, and I pulled in at the exact time as Kayla, who was blasting her music—some teenage version of Taylor Swift. Dang, I hated that music.
I cut the engine and got out so I could greet her. “Morning.”
As we walked into the gym together, she turned to me. “Tell me about the woman you brought in last night.”
I glared at her. “There is such a thing as confidentiality.”
She stuck her tongue out at me, which was in character for Kayla. She was a blonde, short, spitfire. She had cancer when she was little, but you would never know it from looking at her now. My brothers and I were protective of her.
Noah already had his wraps and his gloves on as he sauntered over. “Hey. I heard about that girl last night on the radio. Canyon and I were already called out to Casper.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “People said there was an accident, but it ended up being a woman shot in the head.”
I paused. “What?”
He nodded. “Sad.”
“Wow.” We usually didn’t have that level of violence in the area. I moved to his side.
He lightly tapped me in the shoulder with his glove. “What’s the story with the woman you found?”
Kayla winked at me. “He has to be confidential.”
Canyon joined us. “Really bro?”
Kayla bumped my shoulder with hers. “Spill.”
Of course it didn’t matter if I wanted to be confidential or not. My family were cops or search and rescue so they all would hear it. I relented. “The woman was stable last night. She didn’t seem to remember anything, and then she passed out before I could get her to the hospital.”
Damon walked over, putting his bag down.
“She passed out?” Noah repeated, looking thoughtful.
Damon frowned at me. “Let’s not gossip.”
I shrugged. “We shouldn’t live in Refuge Falls if you didn’t want that.”
The gym buzzed with activity around us, but our family circle remained tense.
Canyon cocked an eyebrow at him. “I heard there was a kidnapping last night too.”
I was shocked again. “What?”
“I heard it was Mrs. Higley’s granddaughter,” Kayla chimed in. “They found her, though. They got her before they crossed the lines into Colorado, right?”
I sputtered. “What in the heck is happening?”
Damon glared at Kayla. “That’s something else that should be kept quiet.” He looked around like he expected someone to be eavesdropping. The vein in his temple pulsed visibly.
I grunted. “Wait, so while I was out dealing with the car crash, we had a kidnapping? And search and rescue was sent to Casper, that ended up being a murder?”
Damon glared at me. “Shh.” He finished putting on his gloves; the Velcro made a ripping sound as he secured them. “It was a busy night.”
Now I could understand Damon’s annoyance.
Out of the blue, a voice called out, “Why was it a busy night?”
Surprised, we all turned to see Dylan, our youngest brother, moving toward us. It was a surprise to see Dylan because he didn’t live in Refuge Falls. He was an attorney at a law firm in Denver.
“What are you doing here?” Kayla asked, and she ran toward him and wrapped her arms around him.
He hugged her for a sec and then let go, turning to stare at me. “Well, you know, Mom would skin me if I didn’t come to this guy’s thirtieth birthday.” He wagged his eyebrows. “She’s saying something about a superheroes theme or something?”
Suddenly, all the confusion melted out of me, and it was replaced by extreme irritation. “Whatever.”
All of my siblings laughed.
Noah chucked me in the shoulder lightly. “You going to dress up like Captain? He was your favorite, right?”
I glowered at Noah. “Maybe.” I turned back to Dylan. “My party is Sunday, why are you here on Thursday?”
Dylan beamed at me. “It’s good to see you too, man.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“What can I say? I wanted to come early and spend time with you idiots.” He bumped Kayla lightly in the shoulder. “But Kayla’s the only nonidiot.”
Kayla held up her chin and put on her princess grin. “That’s right.”
Canyon let out a buzzer sound, like Dylan had given a wrong answer. “Wait, so you didn’t hear that Eliza’s in town?”
Dylan looked caught, and he glared at Canyon. His face flushed beneath his tan.
The rest of us laughed.
Dylan shrugged. “Eliza’s in town?”
We could tell he was lying.
A huge grin swept over his face. “Well, maybe I’ll have to go see her, too.”
We all laughed.
Noah strolled off to start hitting a nearby punching bag. “Okay, we got another Armstrong brother romance brewing.”
“That’s right, little Eliza Burke is back in town.” I made obnoxious kissing noises as we moved to a punching bag.
Dylan grinned and quickly put on his gloves. “Hey, maybe I’d like to be doing that.”
I laughed and grabbed the punching bag between us. “You go first.”
He started doing some uppercuts.
“So what else is going on?”
“It’s my class reunion tomorrow night. They did it on a Friday because so many people had commitments for the football game in Denver this Saturday.”
“Oh, so that’s why Eliza is in town?”
Dylan grinned. “I don’t know why you all keep talking about Eliza.”
I laughed.
Dylan started into a combination routine.
I focused on holding the bag tighter.
“I forgot about the class reunion,” Damon commented, doing his own punch routine next to us on a different bag. “I guess we need some security at the high school tomorrow.” He looked at me.
I shrugged, the smell of leather from the gloves filling my nostrils. “Not my problem. Today is my day off.” I punched the bag again.
“But not tomorrow.”
“Then deal with me tomorrow. Because today, I’m off.” I needed to be off today. I so needed this day off.
“Fine,” Damon said, “Maybe tomorrow you won’t have attitude.”
I grunted. “Don’t plan on it.”
Dylan laughed.
Damon scowled at both of us.
I hesitated, then nodded to Dylan. “My turn, hold it tight, I need to get some aggression out.”
Later that afternoon, I went to my parents’ and helped my mother in the garden.
It was something my siblings and I all took turns with.
My mother was a ferocious gardener, if that was even the right way to put it, and she was intense enough about it that we had to divvy up the time to help her. Her meticulous attention to every plant was evident in the perfectly spaced rows and weed-free beds.
Luckily, since Dylan was home, he was helping right alongside me.
The steady rhythm of our weeding was interrupted when my father came out of the house, holding a newspaper. He plunked down on a weathered cedar chair next to the garden.
Since his heart attack a few years ago, all of us had gotten on his case for overdoing it, so he would always gleefully comment that gardening was overdoing it for him, which we knew wasn’t true. He was just tired of gardening, and I sort of didn’t blame the man.
My father didn’t glance up from reading the paper. “Have you heard anything about the girl from last night?”
“Nope.” I kept pulling weeds and putting them in a trash can next to me; the sound of roots giving way was satisfying.
My mother came out from the house, balancing a tray of water glasses.
“I heard about all of the crazy things that happened yesterday. Gosh. But, that is such a shame the girl has lost her memory. I mean, where could she have come from? Do you think it’s related to the Casper death or the kidnapping? ”
I met my parents’ gazes and stood carefully, taking off my work gloves. There was no use in trying to pretend that anything was confidential from my parents. “I don’t know. I will tell you that she handed me a card that said ‘Pete’s Trucking’ on one side and ‘T. Carter’ on the other side.”
My mom’s brows drew together, her fingers absently plucking a dead leaf from a nearby tomato plant. “T. Carter?”
My father tapped his head, the newspaper now folded under his arm. “Have you chased down any leads?”
Even though it had all been gnawing at me since it happened, I tried to play it off like I didn’t care. “It’s my day off.”
My father scowled. “Sure.”
I put my work gloves on. “I looked up Pete’s Trucking and it’s in Casper. As for T. Carter, I have no idea. I’m hoping that when I go back on shift tomorrow, people have answers. But, the plates were gone.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, there were no plates on the vehicle.”
“Strange.”
Dylan got up and took a drink of water. “So maybe she was in Casper, maybe not.”
“Right.”
“And she remembers nothing.”
I nodded, sweat beading on my forehead. “That’s about all we know.”
My father pulled his chair closer to us. “Yeah, Pete’s Trucking, I’ve been there before. If I remember correct, Pete is the guy who owns it.”
“I’m sure they are chasing down those leads.”
“T. Carter … Theresa Carter, Tanya Carter, Tara Carter, Thelyssa …” My mother kept running through T names. “Tammy.”
Suddenly, my phone buzzed. I pulled it out and glanced at the text.
“Who is it?” my mother asked.
I figured I might as well tell them. “It’s Ella. She’s working today. She says that the woman woke up.” Another buzz sounded. “She says that the woman wants to see me.” This made me happy. “I have to go.”I took off the gloves and turned to Dylan. “I guess you’re finishing this by yourself.”
“No worries. I hope the woman is okay.”
“Me too.” I walked toward the house. “See you guys later.”
My mother followed me into the house, the screen door closing behind us with a soft thump. The cool interior provided instant relief from the summer heat.
She lightly touched my shoulder. “If she needs something or if we can provide anything. Please let us know. You know we have that women’s shelter in town. I can bring her clothes or whatever she needs. If she does need someone to talk to, I’d be happy to do that.”
I picked up my keys and my wallet, then turned back and gave my mother a quick hug. “You’re a good woman, Mom. I’ll call you later.”