Chapter 12
TWELVE
N aya’s stomach sat in knots when Zack parked the car. Had she really agreed to come back up here? Each mile brought them closer to the pinnacle, and her breathing grew shallow. She could ask him to turn back.
“I didn’t realize this road came up so far.” Naya stared out the window.
“It saves on walking time. How’s your ankle?”
“Manageable.”
“And the rest of you?”
Okay, she was doing a bad job of hiding how she really felt. She turned in her seat to face him. “I’ll be okay.”
Zack gave her a raised eyebrow.
Well, she could hope it would be true.
The sun glistened off the trees, a few of which already had their pink blossoms. Birds chirped and flew around, gathering twigs and other objects to build their nests. It was a perfect, serene day.
Just like the previous one, where she’d nearly died.
The blue skies and vibrant scenery painted a picture that didn’t share the whole story.
Lord, I need Your peace. I’m tempted to let anxiety take over. I know You’ve been with me before. And you promise You’re near me now.
Naya walked up the short hill and froze halfway. She stood close enough to the pinnacle that she had a full view of the shrubs and brush to her right and the overlook on her left.
Her breath came in short pants, and when she tried to suck in air, her ribcage tightened, refusing to let oxygen into her lungs. Sometimes, revisiting a traumatic situation was good for processing emotions and moving on from the experience. There was no use letting fear hold her captive. But Naya’s body protested her decision to come back up here.
“You okay?” Zack stopped in front of her, blocking her view up ahead.
She wanted to scream. Of course she wasn’t okay. How could she be after someone had tried to kill her? Naya wished she could shake the memories off and forget anything had ever happened.
Or realize she was reliving someone else’s story and the details had become too vivid in her own mind. Better yet, she wished it was a nightmare that someone needed to wake her up from.
“I’m going to be sick.” Naya brushed past Zack and walked as fast as her sore ankle would allow and made it to the edge of the burnt grass. A second later she threw up.
She stayed hunched over, her stomach cramping. With her good hand propped on her knee, Naya let the tears come.
There was so much hardship in life, and her job was to seek it out and write about it. But when it came to her own life, she’d rather hide from the story.
In her thirty years, Naya had witnessed more trials than anyone should have to endure. Was it going to end?
Every time, it begged the same question. Where was the hope?
Fix your gaze on Me. I’m your living hope.
The reminder from her time memorizing 1 Peter 1 filled her soul, and a sense of peace came with it.
The Lord was her hope. She didn’t have to despair or lose sight of that truth. Yet it didn’t change the current situation, did it? It never did, but it was still as real as anything she could see or feel.
“Here.” Zack’s frame came into view, and he handed her a white cloth.
She lifted her teary gaze to his and wiped her mouth. “Thanks.”
“There’s a bench over there you can sit on. I can take care of investigating.”
“I’ll be fine.” Naya didn’t want to be left alone. Not like last time. Because there might be someone hiding. Waiting. Her eyes scanned the perimeter, searching. “Can you stay with me for now?”
Zack must have understood what she was referring to, because he placed his hand over top of hers and stretched out his other arm.
Beckoning her into his embrace. Like he knew how much asking him not to go had cost her.
Naya wrapped her arm around him and leaned her head against his chest.
He didn’t say a word. Simply held her close.
She’d forgotten what it meant to be safe with someone. Not having a family growing up, and needing to protect herself, it almost felt wrong to find solace here with Zack.
Almost .
Zack might be a safe haven for her. A familiar place that was comfortable. But no matter how good it seemed, Naya couldn’t risk her heart.
There was too much at stake to put aside logic and let feelings take over. He needed to earn her trust again. And even then, he would only be a big brother to her. After all, he didn’t seem interested in anything else.
Naya pulled back from Zack’s embrace and created enough physical distance to tell her mind to do the same.
No matter how much her heart whispered otherwise.
“You don’t have to write this story if it puts you in harm’s way.” Zack’s husky tone made Naya inch away more so she wouldn’t send mixed signals—even if it was only for her sake.
“I don’t have a choice, Zack. I need to.”
“You don’t have to put that much pressure on yourself.” His features softened.
“I need to follow through on it.” Naya wrapped her arms together. “Otherwise, everything I’ve worked for slips out of reach, and Tucker wins.”
“Why are you writing it?” He lowered his voice. Like he wasn’t trying to argue, but rather he wanted to help her think through her decision. “Who are you writing it for? If it’s for that Tucker guy, you don’t need to prove anything to him.” Zack slipped his hands in his hoodie pocket and his jaw flexed.
It was interesting to see his demeanor change. Naya had half expected him to be jealous, but he hadn’t reacted that way. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what he was actually feeling.
Given the way she’d unraveled in front of him, she understood his concern. Which meant she needed to come clean about what drove her to write stories. Stories that exposed the truth.
“It’s not that.” Naya swallowed. “I write for Dominic.”
Zack scrunched his forehead. “Who?”
“My brother.” Ingram was the only other person she’d shared this story with. Time had a way of dimming circumstances until they were hazy, like a figment of her imagination that only showed up in dreams.
She cleared her throat. “He died when I was nine.”
Speaking the words aloud knocked the breath from her lungs. Reality tackled her faster and harder than the person who’d pushed her over the cliff.
“Naya. I—” Zack grimaced. “I knew your dad left and your mom was out of the picture, but I didn’t realize you’d lost your brother.”
“You wouldn’t have known, because I never told you.” Naya winced at how harsh those words sounded. Choosing to refrain from sharing the story about Dominic hadn’t had anything to do with Zack, but it had been a way to protect her young heart all those years ago.
She stared at the town, spread out below them. “Our drinking water in Haiti wasn’t the best. Sanitation processes were basically a joke. Dominic got cholera. His little body couldn’t fight it, and without access to meds, he didn’t make it.” Naya sucked in her cheeks to ward off the tears that threatened to overtake her once more. She whispered, “He was only seven.”
“I can’t imagine.” Zack stood there with his arms tucked by his side, like he wanted to do something, anything, but couldn’t.
Nothing anyone could do would bring her brother back.
Just like Zack’s parents. Even solving their case wouldn’t give him peace.
Zack stared at the expanse in front of them.
Naya sniffed. “After that, my dad brought me to the U.S. with the promise of a better life. But his work hours got later and later. One day, he never showed to pick me up from school. I sat there in the school office until CPS came, and I was eventually placed in a foster home.” Naya stared off into the distance. She’d hugged her dad that morning. One hand wrapped in his black curly hair. “He promised we’d go for ice cream that night. Except he never came back.” Naya shivered. The life she’d known with her family had disappeared, and she’d landed in foster care. Right here in Last Chance County.
Now here she was, standing outside, baring her heart years later. The raw honesty left her as exposed as the day she’d sat in the principal’s office.
Waiting to be found.
Like the truth of every story she wrote.
She’d been unwanted then. Her dad hadn’t seen his daughter as valuable.
Which was exactly why she needed to write this story.
Everyone deserved to be seen. Each life was valuable.
And everyone deserved clean water.
“I’m doing this for Dom.” Naya lifted her chin. “For those who don’t have a voice. Who’ve been tossed aside. To show others their story matters. To show people what I can do.” She patted a hand on her chest.
Zack smiled. “You have something to give people that extends far beyond the words you write.”
“I do?”
“Empathy. The Lord has given you a gift to care for others in their distress. It’s why you tell their stories, and that’s why what you do is so impactful. Because it means something to people.”
Naya couldn’t help the wide smile that spread across her face. “Thanks.”
The words he spoke were a balm to her heart like she hadn’t experienced since her father used to pull her and her brother onto his lap and read to them.
“I get it.” Zack studied her with a soft expression. “I know why you do what you do.”
Could she say the same about him?
Zack snapped on a pair of gloves. He gave her a glove for her good hand, then extended his hand to the open land in front of them. “Shall we?”
Naya took his hand and stood.
They spent the next hour combing the landscape in search of anything that would tip them off as to who had been at the site when Naya was attacked.
They’d covered at least a quarter of a mile. Naya waded deeper into the shrubs, where several of the leaves were now brown. Branches fell to the ground with a gentle brush of her hand thanks to the fire that had swept across the area. Officials were still trying to figure out how the fire had started.
She wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for right now. She focused on what was around her but never strayed far from Zack. Still, she didn’t want to completely lean on the comfort of his presence.
It wasn’t like it would turn into a relationship when every single one she’d had turned bad.
“Check this out.” Zack waved his hand, bent down and pointed to a brown rectangular bag similar to burlap.
“What is it?”
“A sandbag.”
“Don’t you use those for stopping a fire from spreading?” Naya recalled something about the tactic from a TV show. “Or protecting against flood water.”
“Yeah, but not this kind.” Zack hefted the bag in the air. “It doesn’t have the same feel as sand. Much lighter.”
“Interesting.” Naya snapped a few shots of the bag.
Something glinted in the reflection from her phone screen. “What’s this?”
She picked up the silver circle and turned it over in her hand. The front was shaped like a globe of the earth with a heart in the corner.
“Looks like someone’s keychain.” She held it in the air for Zack.
“That’s quite the design.” Zack squinted.
“I feel like I should recognize this, but I don’t know why.”
“Do you think someone from the Green Warriors group has one?” Zack lifted his brow. “Maybe the heart and the earth are an eco thing.”
“I think you’re on to something. But would they set fire to this area when it could harm the wildlife and destroy the trees?” Naya shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“They certainly have motive to keep you from writing the story,” Zack said. “Especially if there’s something else happening behind the scenes with this group. Maybe they aren’t who they say they are.”
She’d be doing more research when she got to her computer.
They bagged the keychain as evidence they’d be able to show the police, even if it wasn’t an official search—or an official case. That wouldn’t stop her from writing up her findings later and publishing the story one day.
Zack carried the weighted brown bag back to the car. “I’ll drop you back at Bridgewater, then swing by the station to hand in our findings.”
“Sounds good.” Naya rolled down the car window to let the fresh air in and leaned her head back.
Zack weaved his way down the service road.
A strange smell wafted past Naya. It grew stronger with each second that passed on the drive down the mountain.
“Is that gas?” She stuck her head out the window and sniffed.
“I smell something too. Hang on.” Zack put the car in Park and walked around to the back of the vehicle.
In the side mirror’s reflection, Zack ducked behind the right rear tire.
A second later he called out, “Something’s leaking.”
Naya got out of the car, walked over to the fuel tank, and popped open the compartment. “What’s that?” She stared at a metal pipe with a cap on each end.
“It’s a bomb.” He backed up a step and grabbed her hand, tugging her away from the vehicle.
His pull sent her stumbling into him.
“We’ve got to move,” he gasped. “It’s going to explode.”
Naya wrapped her arm around his and ran. Her breath caught in her throat, but she followed Zack’s lead down the gravel path. An explosion rocked the air in the same moment the force reverberated in her chest.
A boom resounded in her ears.
A wave of heat propelled her forward and sent her tumbling to the ground. Shrapnel rained down around her and several nails bounced off the ground.
And all she knew was Zack, holding her, shielding her with his body.