Chapter 11
McCrae
I started to leave the room, but I paused and looked back to see her beautiful face at peace.
How did someone fall in love? Did it happen in years, in days, in hours?
I didn’t know, and I hated to think I might be falling in love.
Man, I had already formed some kind of emotional connection with this woman.
Was it because she was just fragile and I wanted to help her?
My sister would probably say it was part of my hero complex, but I didn’t know.
I tried to dismiss it. I couldn’t think like that.
This woman was in danger, clearly, or something must be happening, because who wouldn’t show up for her?
When she’d asked the question in such a small voice, it’d made something primal and protective rear up in my chest. Why hadn’t anyone been looking for her?
Why weren’t there a dozen messages at the police station?
This was now the third night she’d been missing from someone’s life.
And if she didn’t have a husband or a boyfriend, where was her family?
Her sisters, her brothers, her father, her parents?
I snorted as I walked down the hallway to my bedroom. The soft glow from the night lights along the baseboards guided my way through the darkened corridor. I hesitated at the top of the stairs and realized all the lights were out. I went over to Kayla’s room and knocked softly on the door.
“Come in,” she said, as if she’d been waiting. Well, of course she’d been waiting, because that’s what siblings did for each other. They waited, they worried, they wondered.
When I opened the door, she lifted a sleepy head from her pillow. “Is she asleep?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yep.”
Kayla plopped her head down. “Good. She deserves some good sleep.”
On impulse, I walked in, feeling rather fatherly, and gently put my hand on Kayla’s head. “You okay, sis?”
Instantly, she looked up at me and glared. “Don’t act like you need to pamper the cancer kid right now. You have more important things to worry about.” She shrugged away from me and turned her head the other way.
“All right, good night.” She was like a cat, that one. Sometimes she would just love on you and embrace you, and other times she was so prickly you could barely get a feel for her. “Thanks for all you’re doing.”
She snorted. “I don’t do anything I don’t want to do, bro.”
I let out a light chuckle as I closed the door. “Don’t we all know it.”
“I heard that,” she said through the door.
I had to laugh again. Though Kayla was prickly, she was loyal through and through, just like the rest of my siblings and our parents.
I thought about the years that Noah had been apart from the family.
Those had been hard years, watching our parents go through my brother’s radio silence.
I was happy that Noah was back. All of us belonged together.
I went to my room, got on my knees, and said a prayer, like I always do. “Thank you, God, for keeping Kayla and Sky …” I hesitated on the word in my mind. “… safe tonight. Thank you for my Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you for your love, God.”
I listed all of my siblings and their spouses, expressing my gratitude for each of them.
“God, please help me have insight into knowing what to do for Sky.” My heart softened.
“Please help her family, that if they are looking for her, they can know where to find her. She can’t be alone like this, God.
And help strengthen her so she can recover from her injuries. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”
With the prayer taken care of, I picked up my phone and saw a lot of text messages from my family. Kayla had started a text thread so we could all stay informed. I sent one final message for the night: She’s in bed. She’s safe, she’s asleep. Good night, everybody. Godspeed.
Then I lay down and closed my eyes. Too bad sleep didn’t come easy for me. I tried to take myself through breathing exercises, tried to listen to a meditation app, but my mind was stuck. Stuck on her.
Finally, I sat up. “T. Carter?” What would that mean?
What did Pete’s Trucking have to do with it?
I wanted to put on my clothes, drive up to Casper, and ask questions, but I didn’t want to leave Sky.
She wouldn’t be alone. Kayla would be with her, and my parents and Damon’s family were headed back tomorrow afternoon, but my selfish side felt like she needed me.
I thought of how she’d clung to me when I’d brought her back from the treehouse, how she’d cried. Once again, I was that boy with the bird, wanting to help her, wanting to save her. But was she past saving? Was something sinister going on under the surface?
Adrenaline spiked through my system, and I got up and put on my running clothes, even though it was two o’clock in the morning.
I padded down the stairs to the main area and then to the workout area on the far side of the house, which overlooked the lake.
It had big windows, and there was a bunch of gym machinery—weights, treadmills, ellipticals, and rowing machines.
I got on a rowing machine. The smooth, rhythmic motion reminded me of being on the lake itself. I wished I could just hop on my canoe back at the house, but I knew I wouldn’t leave. So I was grateful for the machine. I let myself row and row and row.
I kept going over everything we knew about Sky. She was probably my age. She’d been in the car wreck. She didn’t remember anything. She’d had that card—Pete’s Trucking. T. Carter was a false name. No one had checked in on her. What was going on?
I rowed harder for about an hour. I rowed till I was soaking with sweat. Now exhausted, I hopped into the bathroom next to the workout room to take a quick shower. Hopefully once I dried off and put on a T-shirt and shorts, I could lie down in bed and fall asleep.
“McCrae!” someone called out loudly. “Breakfast!”
I bolted upright in bed, getting my bearings. I looked at the clock on the side table—it was eight in the morning. My mother still kept neon bedside clocks, even though all of us had phones.
Again, I heard my name. “McCrae, get up!”
I shoved myself out of bed and stalked out into the hallway. “What?” I called out harshly. Was someone in trouble? Did someone need anything?
“Breakfast is ready!” Kayla said, calling up from the kitchen.
And then I smelled it—pancakes, bacon, and eggs. The rich aroma wafted up the stairs, making my stomach growl.
With a grumble, I went back into the room and made the bed. I lived and died by habits. It was something that kept me sane and would get me to where I wanted to go in life.
I padded down the stairs. I wanted to check on her.
Then I heard a laugh, and as I walked into the kitchen, I was met with the most beautiful sight.
Sky was still wearing the gray nightgown that Kayla had put her in, but her hair was loose, hanging messily over her shoulders.
Her pale skin glowed in the morning light streaming through the kitchen windows, and her green eyes sparkled with amusement.
Kayla was standing at the skillet, and they must have been joking about something. She was laughing too. She still wore her pajamas.
Warmth spread through me, seeing the normal scene with these two women I was fond of. I decided not to dwell on how I’d put Sky into that category. “Good morning, ladies.”
Kayla nodded to a plate on the counter. “I’m just pulling this bacon off. You should grab it. It’s nice and hot.”
I proceeded to load up my plate with bacon and pancakes. Then I took a seat next to Sky and poured syrup all over the pancakes. The sweet liquid pooled around the fluffy stack.
Kayla grinned at me. “We already said a prayer, so go ahead and eat.”
I cut up the food and devoured it one forkful at a time. I hadn’t had anything to eat since the pizza last night. After all the early-morning exercise, I was starving. The pancakes tasted so good. “You outdid yourself, sis,” I said through a mouthful of food.
Sky grinned at me, an unguarded smile that I’d never seen before. “She did. Man, your sister’s a good cook.”
That made me laugh, and I inhaled food and coughed.
Kayla filled a cup of water and handed it to me, rolling her eyes.
“The big lug is laughing because this is about the only thing I know how to make. In fact, my brothers are all better cooks than me. Mom and Dad are too, of course. That’s probably why I don’t cook much, because I come over here and mooch off them all the time, but I can do a good breakfast when I have to.
” She shook her head and looked at me curiously. “What time do you go into work?”
I shot to my feet, stuffing one more slice of bacon into my mouth. “Shoot. I need to call and let them know I’m going to be a little bit late.”
“You do have to go to work today?” Sky asked.
“I do.” I slipped my plate into the sink and took a gulp of water. “Damon’s not in town, and we’re short-staffed.” I was internally chastising myself. How could I have forgotten that?
I paused and stared at her. She looked disappointed, and I realized I didn’t want to leave her.
Kayla looked back and forth between us, then grunted.
“Hey, it’s Saturday. I don’t have to work unless I want to, and I don’t want to today.
” She turned to Sky. “So I’ll show you around town, and I’ll make it fun.
” Winking at me, she added, “Don’t worry, officer, she’s taken care of.
We’re going to have fun today, and then we can all grab dinner later together, if that works. ”
I nodded. “Thanks.” She must have known that I instinctively didn’t want to leave. “You okay today?” I asked Sky.
Sky looked embarrassed. Her face turned red, but she shrugged. “Yeah, I’m great.” She smiled at Kayla. “We’ll have a good day together.”
I rushed upstairs and put on an extra uniform that I kept at my parents’ house. I was about to leave the house when I realized something had changed. Sky was doing dishes. Kayla was gone. Feeling uncertain, I moved into the kitchen.
She turned to look at me. “Hey, are you going?”
I hesitated. “Are you really okay?” She still had the bandage on her head, and the bruises on her face seemed a little worse, especially without makeup.
She shrugged. “I’m okay. It’s just, you know, the same stupid stuff. I can’t remember anything, and no one’s come for me. So if anyone calls, or if you get any leads, you’ll call me, right? Or Kayla, I guess.”
I nodded. “Of course.”
“Thank you for everything. I’m glad you’re here for me.”
Man, this woman had no idea what she was doing to my heart. “I’ll check in at lunch.”
At the police station, I was still mulling over a million questions when Bill Hanks intercepted me in the hallway. “So I just got a phone call from Casper, a guy named Pete,” he told me. “He was out fishing for a few days, now he’s back.”
That got my attention. “What did he say?”
Bill shrugged. “He says he doesn’t know who the woman was. He didn’t know it was a fake name, but he did say something that matches up; whoever rented the car was a redhead.”
“So we know that she was in Casper. It wasn’t like she got into the car somewhere else. Okay, great.”
Bill nodded. “I took the liberty of calling around to other police stations throughout the state, making sure no one has inquired, and I haven’t gotten anything back.”
“Thanks. Let me know if that changes.” Maybe we were starting to get somewhere.