Page 28 of Control

“So, she really got involved with the children here, then?” I pressed.

He nodded. “Oh yeah.”

Carl went on and gave us more details about the work Annie had done at the Steel Ridge Rec, and afterward, took us on a tour of the place. We were even shown a piece of artwork Annie had done when she’d jumped in and done a painting class with a group of the kids.

It had been such a heartwarming experience, and if nothing else, I felt like I had a much better understanding of the kind of woman Annie was. I gave Carl a card with my name and number on it, asking him to give me a call should anything else pop up that he believed would be beneficial or inspiring to the story. I wasn’t expecting him to call, but I figured if there was a chance that something came up, it would be worth hearing about it.

As insightful as the visit had been, it was also upsetting. I wondered if Ty recognized that was the case when we finally made it out to his vehicle, and he asked, “What are your thoughts?”

I sighed, dropping my head back against the headrest. “This woman was the closest thing to a modern-day saint.”

“I think most people had that impression of her before she died, and now, it’s even more apparent,” Ty said, clearly in agreement with me.

“I’m not sure anything Carl shared could be considered a lead.”

“I can’t say I disagree with you.”

A wave of sadness washed over me, making me question what I was really doing here, and if this was wise.

“It’s early, Alana,” Ty said, his voice soft and reassuring.

“What?”

He jerked his chin forward. “You seem so disheartened. I think this was fantastic. It went really well, and you did a phenomenal job in there.”

I sent a small smile his way. “I appreciate that, Ty. I’m not upset about how this went today. I guess I’m just feeling a bit bad about what I’m doing. I feel like a total liar and fraud.”

Confusion marred his features, his head tipping slightly to the side. “What do you mean?”

“You heard everything Carl said,” I started. “Annie was such a good woman. I made up this whole lie about doing a story on the legacy she left.”

“Who says you can’t?”

“What?”

“I don’t see any reason why you can’t do both,” Ty reasoned. “Given the amount of people you plan to talk to, I think you’ll have enough material to make that happen. Just because your main motivation for doing this is uncovering the truth about what happened to her, it doesn’t mean you can’t put together something to honor her at the same time. I’d be happy to help you with it.”

I stared at him, feeling utterly dumbfounded. I’d been feeling lucky days ago when I realized Ty was not only going to be a capable bodyguard, but that he’d also be able to providesuch great advice. He had excellent thoughts—this was no less spectacular.

“Yeah, but Dale wouldn’t let me run with this story. What’s the likelihood he’s going to allow me to do this? I mean, unless I’m going to become my own distributor of news, I might be doing all of this for nothing.”

“So, do that.”

“Do what? Go off on my own?”

He shrugged. “Lots of people do it. Podcast news is a big deal these days. I’m willing to bet, in some cases, it’s far more popular than legacy media. It’ll give you full control over what you report on, too. You won’t need to have someone else telling you what you can and can’t be passionate about.”

“That’s a great idea, Ty,” I declared. “I’m not sure I’d know where to start.”

“It was your idea, Alana. I’m simply confident in your ability to do it. And I’ll help you, if you want.”

I could practically feel the light in my eyes as the possibilities moved through me. Ty had given me such a strong sense of hope. “Yeah, but until you said it, particularly the way you did, I didn’t consider actually doing it. I’d love your help.”

He kept his gaze pinned on me. “I don’t think I did anything that great, but I won’t lie and say I don’t like that it’s making you look at me like that.”

Heat hit my cheeks. I hadn’t realized I’d been looking at him in any particular way. Worse, I was too embarrassed to ask him to describe it. Instead, I enlisted the help of another tactic.

Teasing and flirting.

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