Page 63 of Cold Case Murder Mystery

She didn’t know what had changed. No, that was a lie. She knew it was Zeke calling her out on not wanting to be a burden. It was Zeke, period. It shouldn’t be about him. No matter what he’d done or said, he didn’t love her. Not really.

But he’d jumped in to help after all this time. He’d claimed he’d changed, that his roots could be hers, and she didn’t feel so afraid with him that she was... well, what Granger had said. Some kind ofburden.

Something on Granger’s phone beeped and he frowned at it. But he smoothed out that frown quickly. He pointed to a trail outside the cave.

“Follow that path and you’ll find the rescue team. They’ve been focused on the west entrance. You can tell them I helped, or say you handled it yourself. I’ll back up the story either way.”

He even gave her a little nudge in that direction while he moved in the other.

Brooke stared at him in confusion. “Where are you going?”

He paused a second, looked in the opposite direction of the trail then at his watch. Gauging something, though she couldn’t tell what. When he looked at her, his expression was the stern kind of North Star taskmaster she hadn’t seen in a while. Because they weren’t North Star anymore. “I started looking into Royal, your father, the lawyer, after your and Zeke’s call. I don’t like what I’ve found out about your father, Brooke. The ties he might have, and what he might have people doing for him. I’m just going to go make sure everything is good on some of those loose ends.”

“That doesn’t explainwhereyou’re going.”

“I think I’ve got a lead on who put that explosive in your car, the tracker in Royal’s. I was working on that when we got word of the cave-in. Go find the rescue team, Brooke. Your head’s bleeding. I’ll handle this.”

“Handlewhat?”

He sighed. “Look. There’s a little group of guys that have a prison connection to your father. I think they were after you but got... sidetracked when the cave-in happened and they couldn’t easily get to you.”

“Sidetracked bywhat?”

He looked up at the sky and shook his head. “Fine. Sidetracked by Royal himself. And Zeke. And a woman, I’m assuming that’s Zeke’s sister.”

Brooke immediately turned away from the trail. “I’m going with you.”

“Brooke. You’ve got a rescue squad looking for you, and this is dangerous. You’ve got a gash on your head. Go get checked out and—”

“You trained me yourself, Granger. Self-defense. How to shoot. If I can help, I should.”

“When was the last time you practiced any kind of shooting? I’ve got a few people coming. No worries, Brooke. I can handle it.”

He could. Probably. But she was always letting someone elsehandle it.Hiding in caves with remains that couldn’t do anything to her.“I’m not going to leave Royal on his own again. I can’t abandon him.”

“You never did, Brooke. You were a kid.”

She hated that he knew her this well. That, aside from Zeke, Granger and his wife and a few other North Star people were the only ones who did. Because she could fool anyone else.

But not family.

“Maybe you’re right, but I’m not doing it now. I can’t... always be saved. At some point, I have to be part of the saving.”

“He’s not alone. We’ve got this handled.”

“He’s my brother, Granger.”

He sighed heavily. “Why’d I recruit all these stubborn mules?” he muttered. He glanced at his watch. “Gabriel should be here any minute. Reece not far behind. Shay had to stay with the kids, and that was a fight and a half. But I’ve got Betty on standby at her insistence just in case anything gets hairy. She can patch you up. Come on.”

Brooke followed him carefully through the trees, the gun from Leon still in her hand. Gabriel and Reece were former North Star operatives like Zeke. Reece had gotten out himself almost before she’d joined up, so she didn’t know him that well. Gabriel had been around a lot during her time and had been there at the end. He’d even married Zeke’s cousin, Mallory, who’d gotten Zeke into North Star. Brookehadbeen close to Betty, who was North Star’s resident doctor. Since the support staff people had spent a lot of time together, and as Betty and Brooke had both been interested in medical science, it had been a quick and easy friendship.

Though, like with most North Star people, Brooke hadn’t kept in good touch, not wanting to bother anyone. Always feeling a little “other” once North Star had disbanded and so many had gone on to start lives and families.

But that was the thing. All these people were married, many with kids. Granger had a wife and a ton of foster kids at home. Reece had a wife and a stepson and, if Brooke recalled correctly, a few more kids since. She didn’t know if Gabriel and Mallory had a family, butstill. Betty had married a sheriff and moved to Montana to help raise his twins, last Brooke knew.

They’d all gotten away from the danger of North Star because of those families, those choices.

“Granger. You don’t have to be doing this. I can... I’ll handle the stuff with Royal. You all should go home.”

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