Chapter 24
Sky
The drive to Fremont Canyon took longer than I expected. I spent most of it with my eyes closed, trying to manage the throbbing pain in my head while also reaching for the fleeting memories that seemed just beyond my grasp. Each time I got close, they slipped away.
McCrae was quiet beside me.
“Almost there,” he said softly, breaking the silence as the road began to wind upward.
I opened my eyes to a landscape that took my breath away. Massive red rock formations rose from the earth. Deep canyons cut through the land.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered, sitting up straighter despite the pain.
McCrae nodded. “It’s one of Wyoming’s hidden treasures. Deep canyons, good climbing spots. During the summer, people come here to swim in the reservoir too.”
As we curved around a bend, the canyon opened up before us, a vast expanse of red rock and blue sky.
“This is it,” McCrae said, pulling off onto a small gravel area.
My heart began to race as we stepped out of the cruiser.
“Anything feel familiar?” McCrae asked, coming to stand beside me.
I let the sensations wash over me; the gentle breeze against my skin, the warmth of the sun, the distant rush of water somewhere. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
McCrae pulled out his phone. “Noah sent me coordinates to a second location that they discovered people had been that night.” He looked up and pointed. “This way.”
There was a narrow trail that wound between rock formations.
McCrae walked slightly ahead, occasionally reaching back to offer me his hand at steeper sections.
The trail led us to a small cave entrance partially hidden by scrub brush.
McCrae paused, studying it before looking back at me. “Here it is.”
I stepped closer, peering into the shadows. The mouth of the cave was large enough to walk through without stooping, opening into darkness beyond.
“Does anything about this place trigger memories?” McCrae asked, his voice gentle.
I shook my head, disappointment settling heavily on my shoulders. “Nothing specific. Just a feeling of … unease.”
We spent the next hour exploring the area around the cave, following the climbing routes up the rock face, examining the ground for anything unusual.
Nothing. No sudden memories, no flashes of recognition.
Just the persistent ache in my head and a growing frustration that threatened to overwhelm me.
Eventually, we found ourselves in a small meadow-like clearing a short distance from the cave.
Exhausted and discouraged, I sank down onto the soft ground and lay back, staring up at the endless blue sky above.
After a moment, McCrae lowered himself beside me, our shoulders almost touching as we both gazed upward in silence.
“I’m sorry,” I said finally. “I really thought coming might help me remember.”
“Don’t apologize,” he replied, his voice a comforting rumble beside me. “Memory doesn’t work on command. We’ll figure this out.”
I turned my head to look at him, his profile outlined against the blue sky. “What if we never do? What if I never remember who I am?”
He considered this, his expression thoughtful. “Then you build a new life. One day at a time.”
“With you?” The question slipped out before I could stop it.
His eyes met mine, intense and unreadable. “If that’s what you want.”
I rolled onto my side to face him fully, propping my head on my hand. “What about Rose? Will you get back with her?”
His expression immediately hardened, irritation flashing across his features. “No. I told you, I’m over her.”
“But if she stays in Refuge Falls, you won’t give her a second chance?”
McCrae mirrored my position, turning on his side so we were face to face, only inches apart. His blue eyes captured mine, fierce with conviction. “Absolutely not.”
“Why not?” I pressed. “Don’t you believe in second chances?”
He sighed and rolled onto his back again, one arm flung across his forehead. “All I know is that I was about to ask her to marry me, and she … ghosted me. Completely.”
I lay back too, bumping against his shoulder. “That’s true.”
“I’m done with her. The other night, I kept thinking how I finally saw her as the fake she is.”
I could feel the pain radiating from him; not fresh and raw, but a dull ache, like an old injury that still flares up in cold weather.
“My siblings always told me they didn’t really like her.
” His voice grew harder. “Kayla told me time and again that she was a fake, but I defended her.” He sighed.
“Now I see it. Yesterday, she kissed me and then tried to act like … like everything was fine and now we would just pick up where we left off. She disgusts me. She is fake.”
I processed his words, feeling a strange mix of sympathy for his pain and selfish relief that he was truly done with Rose.
Then a troubling thought occurred to me.
“Aren’t I fake?” I asked quietly. “I don’t even know who I am.
I’m calling myself Sky, but that’s probably not my real name. I could be anybody.”
McCrae rolled his eyes, turning his head to look at me. “No. There’s a difference between actually faking versus not knowing at all.”
I was about to respond when a sharp crack echoed through the canyon.
A gunshot.
McCrae was on his feet in seconds, pulling me up with him. His body shifted, positioning himself between me and the direction of the sound. “Get behind me.” His hand was on his weapon as he scanned the surrounding area.
We stood frozen, listening intently.
The birds had gone silent.
After several tense minutes with no further sounds, McCrae relaxed slightly, though I could still feel the alertness humming through him. “Probably just hunters.”
I wasn’t convinced.
He turned to me. “You okay?”
Another gunshot.
This time McCrae grabbed me and pulled us both down.
The sound of the gunshot had triggered something—a flash of memory so vivid it made me gasp. I clutched at McCrae’s arm, my fingernails digging into his skin.
“Sky? What is it?” His voice seemed to come from far away.
“I remember,” I whispered, my body beginning to tremble. “I remember hearing a gunshot. Just like that. And then …” I looked up at him, horror washing through me as the memory crystallized. “I saw someone killed. Right in front of me.”
McCrae looked around, scanning for anyone. His arms tightened around me.
My knees threatened to give way.
He began walking toward the trail. “We have to get out of here.”
I walked with him, but he dragged me along.
“Who did you see killed?”
I shook my head, tears burning my eyes as frustration and fear tangled inside me. “I don’t know. I can’t see their face. Just … blood. So much blood.” My voice broke. “And someone telling me to run.”
Memories continued to flash through my mind, but they were disconnected, terrifying glimpses of a nightmare I had lived. Running through trees, falling, a man’s voice shouting behind me, the glint of a silver bracelet with blue stones catching the sunlight as I scrambled up a rock face.
“They were coming after me next,” I choked out, clinging to McCrae as the world seemed to tilt beneath my feet. “I was running for my life.”
McCrae held me, but continued to walk quickly. “It’s okay.”
I walked as best I could, while being assaulted with more flashes of information.
We got back to the police cruiser and he opened the door.
I climbed inside.
He got in, then helped me buckle.
Tears poured down my cheeks as more pain burned through me. “I need to remember all of it.”
McCrae started the cruiser, then peeled out. “We have to get out of here first.”