Page 75 of Forgiving Fate

Exiting out of the report, I pull up Lachlan’s profile and send him a message.

Landon: Report received. Is this the case you mentioned the other day?

Lachlan: Yes. But I no longer need your assistance up here. Addy agreed to go to a treatment facility in Seattle. I added you as her emergency contact so can you keep an eye on her and check in please?

Landon: Yes. Sorry for not getting up there quicker. This mission came in and we were delayed due to the snow storm.

Lachlan: No need to apologize. You had more important matters to handle. I trust you with Addy so keep an eye on her please.

This case is looking very complex and riddled with so many dead ends that I need to put my full focus into helping Aries.

Landon: Focus on the case. Let Aries know that he can tap Wes or me in if needed. I will take care of Addy and bring Mom in too since Addy loves her.

Lachlan: Thanks man. Stay safe.

Landon: Stay safe.

Picking up my phone, I see Allie patiently waiting. “Sorry. A case got bumped up in priority and I had to make sure the team leads were good to go.”

Allie stares at me with a confused expression and I want to explain everything to her, but I have overloaded her with information tonight already. But I also don’t want her questions to go unanswered and judging by her curious expression, I know she has a ton of questions.

“I can give you the cliff notes version of what Resilience is or I can wait until I see you in person. I have thrown a lot of heavy information at you tonight and really don’t want to pile on.”

“Respectfully, I will be pissed if you don’t tell me some version of what the hell any of this means. I know the why and now I want to know how. Because today is a good day and tomorrow may be back to barely surviving, so I want to take these good moments and learn about what incredible and life changing system you have created.”

My chest fills with an odd sense of pride. I know this system changes lives. I know what we are doing can be the difference between life and death. But I’ve felt nothing other than stressand hurt when I cannot get to someone in time. And right now, I can sit in that rare moment of sunshine and see the good side of what we do.

“It’s going to sound complicated, but it breaks down to a few simple things that trigger a chain of events. It starts with a missing persons report. That can be from a police station or social media outlets, anywhere. That information is given to us either directly from police stations who believe the report needs to be escalated. Or we reach out to the family member that reported on social media and offer to assist.

“Now sometimes, it is simply a matter of search, rescue, return to family. In these instances, it could be because the police didn’t take the report seriously, they didn’t have the resources, or the family didn’t know the full story behind why their loved one went missing. We have had tons of cases of the missing person just wanted separation from their family member and blocked them.

“So that is why we have a tier system put in place. Once that report is added, a small group assesses the case and categorizes it based on the findings. Five being the lowest priority and one being top priority. Cases can stay at priority levels for extended periods of time while more information is gathered.” I pause to make sure she is okay and understanding. And when she shakes her head yes, I take that as my sign to continue.

“We have teams all over. They are made up of ex police officers, ex and current military members, former victim’s family members, really anyone that has a passion, understanding, and drive to do what we do. We divide them into teams based on their region and each team has a team lead. I have appointed every team lead, and that is because I recruited these members and built them into the system. They know exactly how things need to be run. They are great leaders. And they know what it takes to make sure these people get backhome. From there, the system assigns cases, teams get activated, and if necessary, myself or Wesley will be activated to help due to our…umm…specialities if need be. But that is the premise of Resilience. I built it from the ground up and with the help of other like-minded people. It has changed the statistics on people coming and going off the missing persons report.”

I take a deep breath and relax into the chair and wait for Allie to respond. I feel like shit throwing so much information at her and probably scaring her or confusing her more than she already was, but like I’ve said a thousand times, I will tell her anything she wants to know.

I watch as Allie sits and stares beyond the phone, and my mind starts to run. What if I said too much? What if she thinks this isn’t the safe space she thought I was? What if she thinks she's just another victim and I am just doing my job? Because if that is the case, how do I tell her it is the opposite? She is the friend I didn’t know I needed. She is the person I can go to and know will not judge me for my mood swings and times where I just need silence.

Dammit.

My arms feel like fire is crawling up them and I grab my drink from the table and take a large sip. The cool whiskey coating my throat sends a wave of disgust through me and extinguishes the burn.

Allie turns her attention back to the phone. “Wow. I never knew it was that…complex. I truly thought you were a bunch of mercenaries that went where anonymous tips sent you. I never thought it would be this complex.” She pauses to gather her thoughts and when she’s ready, she shocks me and locks her bright blues on mine and says a few simple words that go straight to my heart.

“Landon. You should be proud of what you have created. I may not know what fully lies beyond that mask you have secured onso tightly and I know you carry the weight of so many, but I can tell you one thing for certain. If there are teams of people like you out there trying to bring people home, that means there was a team looking for me and my parents before I called Logan. And knowing that means I truly wasn’t alone. We had people coming, and it wasn’t just up to me to get us out. It just so happens that evil outsmarted the good and won this time. And that doesn’t make it okay, but it makes a world of difference knowing that if I didn’t get out, someone was on the other side waiting to come and help me. So never give up because even if you get there too late, know that they put up a hell of a fight and now you can use that anger and fight to fuel your revenge and take one more evil off the streets.”

Words and thoughts fail me. How do I respond to that? What do I do? I feel like I should hug her and thank her for saying everything I have been needing to hear since I started all of this, but she is on the other side of the screen hours away and all I can do is sit here and stare at her like a deer in headlights.

The urge to grab my drink is strong, but I push it away.

No.I need to be clear minded in this moment. I need to let her words sink in and try to find a way to believe them, even if every part of me is telling me they aren’t true.

I try to speak a few times but words fail me every time, so I take a deep breath and try one last time. “You know, for a woman of few words, you always seem to say the most honest and real things. Thank you is nowhere near the words that are good enough to explain how I feel, but they are all I have, so thank you.”

Allie flashes me a smile. “I may be broken, and my mind may be riddled with darkness so thick I can barely see. But it does have moments of clarity and that was one of them.”

Words fail me once more and my mind starts to spiral, but I don’t have to sit and figure out what to say too long because inthe distance the sounds of my brother’s voices getting close to the rental pull me out of the moment.

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