Chapter 29
McCrae
Azalea and I were quiet as we drove back to Cheyenne, then took the exit for Refuge Falls. I tried not to spiral about all the what-ifs that could happen. What would I say when I got there? What would we be facing in the future?
Suddenly, Damon called. “Hello?” I said, scrambling to answer.
“Hi, I’m tracking you guys. I see you’re about a half hour away. I talked to the FBI, and we put together everything with her brother, Greg, and this cartel and human trafficking ring. There’s some good news.”
Azalea perked up. “What?”
“They just caught a big group of the cartel heading into Arizona.”
“That’s great!”
“They’re going to send some people to Denver and Refuge Falls,” Damon continued. “They’ll probably be here tomorrow, and we’ll debrief with them. But I just wanted to update you.”
“Okay, thank you so much,” said Azalea. “I owe you guys so much, and I don’t mean to put your town or your family in this situation.” Tears misted into her eyes.
The odd thing about this woman was that I always wanted to save her.
Damon scoffed. “You don’t have to thank us. This is what we do.”
I was grateful for my brother, and I knew he was telling the truth, because I felt the same way.
“I know, but this is my fault,” she said through tears.
“No,” I said. “This is not your fault.”
“I agree,” said Damon. “It seems like you were about to crack this whole operation wide open, that’s a big deal.”
“But I didn’t,” Azalea said through tears. “My stupid brother followed me.”
“Protected you,” I said.
She nodded, more tears falling. “I just hate the fact that I put him in danger, too.” She winced. “He kept telling me to stay out of this, he had a bad feeling about it, but I just couldn’t stop. I had to find out the truth.”
I squeezed her hand. “It’s okay. And, your brother is going to be okay.”
She sucked in a long breath. “Sorry, Damon, for breaking down. And everything.”
Damon sighed. “Listen, this is how things go sometimes. The truth is important. We have to have the truth in a world where we swim in lies a lot. And, it seems no matter how much you prepare, it can all go to crap at times. It’s okay, Azalea.
I’m sorry you were led into this whole deal.
I am glad that you followed your hunch. The fact is that exposing human trafficking is very important. ”
“Thank you,” she said softly, and I looked over and saw tears streaming down her face.
“But, I do agree with your brother, you have to protect yourself, too.”
She sniffed. “True. I will be better about that. I promise.”
“Okay,” Damon said. “Why don’t you two grab dinner when you get to town and go to McCrae’s? McCrae, I’m going to take you off duty for the next couple days and put you as personal protection for Azalea. I think that’s important.”
I was relieved. “Sounds good to me. You can even take my vacation.” And I meant it.
“No,” Damon said quickly. “That won’t be needed. Goodbye. Love you, bro.”
“Love you too.” I hung up, I couldn’t stop the lump of emotion in the back of my throat.
Azalea wiped a tear and sniffed. “Your family is so amazing. I just feel bad about this whole situation.”
“You don’t have to feel bad. This is …” I hesitated. “Like my brother said, truth is important and I respect the fact you were searching for truth.”
She put her hand inside of mine. “Thank you.”
I couldn’t imagine all the things she’d gone through. We drove in silence for a bit, taking comfort in each other’s presence.
We were passing a gas station and a Subway. “Should we pull over and use the restroom and then grab a sandwich?” I knew I was starving. I’d been running on adrenaline this whole day.
She nodded. “Yeah, that would be great. Do you care if I use your phone to call the hospital?”
“Of course.” I handed it over to her.
She put it on speaker.
“Sis, are you okay?” he asked, sounding a tad drugged but wanting to hold on—the same way he’d spoken when we’d walked into the room.
“I’m okay,” she said, “and safe. How are you?”
“Good. Good. There’s an FBI person here that’s standing guard and another one outside the door, but they told me that they caught that big group in Arizona. Did you hear that?”
“Yeah, I heard that.”
He hesitated. “Are you being protected?”
She sniffed and looked over at me, squeezing my hand. “I am. I’m really lucky.”
“Okay, well, I love you, so stay safe, and I’m hoping this whole thing ends soon. Praying for you.”
“I’m praying for you too, bro. Love you.” She hung up.
I pulled into the gas station. “I’m going to fill up really quick.”
Both of us got out.
After filling up, we went over to the Subway.
It was nearly empty, the dinner rush not having started yet. The aroma of fresh bread mingled with the scent of various sandwich fillings.
We each ordered a sandwich, and I found it interesting that she ordered only vegetarian. Soon we had our food in hand, and we sat down at a small table by the window where the evening light filtered through.
I asked, “Is that all you eat? Vegetarian?”
She shrugged. “No, I just felt like it.”
We dug into our sandwiches, and she smiled after a bite. “Isn’t it weird for you to not know anything about me, except the past couple of days when I didn’t remember anything?”
I nodded, not wanting to pressure her. “It is,” I said after a bite of food.
She leaned back. Even though she didn’t have makeup on and we’d both been through a long day, she was still gorgeous with those pale green eyes, that beautiful skin, and the huge, frizzy mop of red curls coming around her shoulders.
She smiled at me. “What do you want to know?”
I hesitated, wondering if it was time or not, but I figured that since she was asking, I could tell her the truth. “Everything.”
“Okay.” She looked relieved.
I put the sandwich down and crossed my arms. Luckily, we weren’t in a hurry to get back, and no criminal was chasing us right now. It felt like we had some downtime. “Start at the beginning.”
“Well, I grew up in Texas, a little town outside of Austin. I told you about the fire. Our childhood was not easy, but we were lucky and went into the system together.” She paused, taking a sip of her drink.
I nodded, hating that for her. Outside, a family pulled up in a minivan, kids climbing out with summer energy despite the hour.
“And then we met an older lady. Hazel Flemington. She adopted my brother and me, and I was grateful, because she just had a very safe environment for us.” She sat back and laughed a bit, a glow coming to her eyes.
“She was always telling me to follow my instinct, to dig into the truth. My father had been a reporter, and I love being a reporter. I’m grateful that Hazel encouraged me. ”
“Nice. Where did you go to school?”
“I got my journalism degree from University of Texas, and Hazel helped me through school. She got really sick, so I moved back in with her, and that’s when I got hired at the local news station.
” She took a deep breath, shadows crossing her face.
“Not an amazing job, but it was available and I could help out with Hazel. But she passed away last year of cancer, and I don’t know …
” She shrugged and picked up a napkin, tapping at the edges of her mouth.
“I guess that’s when I really got into my podcast. A.
Ryan on Conspiracies. And that was probably my downfall, right there. ”
I was surprised. “What do you mean?”
She threw her hands up. “I wouldn’t be in this situation if I hadn’t been digging so deep into that human trafficking ring.
I mean, Hazel always cautioned me about being careful, and since she passed away, I just …
I don’t know, I didn’t feel like I had to be careful.
I mean, my brother and I are close. He’s not married either, so we would get together and have dinners together.
We got really close after Hazel passed away, and like I said, he’s a cop in the same town, so it worked out, but he always told me to be careful too.
But, clearly he didn’t trust me.” She sniffed.
“And he shouldn’t have. I mean, I walked into that canyon with nothing.
Nothing to protect me. I thought, what? I was going to stop human trafficking by myself?
” Her eyes blinked rapidly. “And I guess I let him down too. I mean—” Her hand clenched into a fist. “I’m so mad at him for flying to Casper and trying to protect me. I mean, he should have just stayed.”
I let out a laugh. “If my sister did that, I wouldn’t have stayed.” And I meant it. I thought about Kayla and how protective we were of her. “None of my brothers would have stayed.”
She sucked in a deep breath and wiped her tears. “That’s true. I can see that. I love that about your family. You guys are so close, and I love your parents. They’re just amazing people.”
I nodded, trying to digest everything she’d told me.
She shifted in her seat. “I got lucky ending up in your town with your family. I mean, if I was doing a report on your town, that would be it—Refuge Falls is a refuge.”
Warmth filled me, and for some stupid reason, I wanted to ask her if she was willing to move to Refuge Falls. I could make another joke about how we needed more cops and her brother could move here too, but maybe that was too early. I just nodded. “Yeah, that would be a good article.”
Our eyes held, and that sizzling attraction came back, even more so now I knew that this woman wasn’t taken. She didn’t have a boyfriend or a husband, and I wanted to be in her life. I wasn’t sure what that would look like, but I wanted it.
“Let’s get on the road,” I told her, “and if you don’t mind, we have to stop by my parents’ house first. They’ve all been texting like crazy.”