Page 56 of Found By You
More memories came. “I’d been working on a story.”
“What?”
I kept going, more memories coming. “I’m a journalist,” I said softly. “From Texas. I was investigating a national story on this company, Magneto. They were a paper company, but something was off. I flew to Casper, rented a car under a fake name and drove to Fremont Canyon to investigate. But when I got there, there were vans and a crowd of people with machine guns. When I came toward the group of people, there was a gunshot. Then I saw a woman laying on the ground. Suddenly, my brother was there. He’s a cop. He told me I needed to get as far away from these people as I could. He said to go to Colorado and fly out of Denver and back to Texas. It was raining and I ran back to the car, but dropped my phone. I couldn’t go back for it. So I drove and I was confused, I didn’t even know if I was going the right way. And then, when I took the turn toward the interstate, someone ran me off the road.”
“That’s why you were in the accident?”
I put a hand to my heaving chest. “I remember going on the side of the road and wrecking. I don’t know how long I was out. When I woke up, I didn’t remember anything. I got out and saw the card for Pete’s trucking.”
McCrae put his hand on my shoulders. “Hold up. You’re going too fast. Wait a second. What’s your name?”
“Azalea. Azalea Ryan. That’s my name. My brother’s Greg.” I couldn’t believe it, but there it was; all of the information I’d been looking for.
McCrae seemed confused, like he didn’t even know me. “Okay,” he said slowly.
I stood, panic pulsing through me. “McCrae, call your brother. My brother might still be in danger. We have to get back there. Maybe they’re gone. I don’t know how he was a part of this whole?—”
McCrae put his hands on my shoulders again. “You have to explain this. Sit down, please, and explain all of this.”
I forced myself to breathe. I sat. “Let me try to call my brother, please.” I held out my hand for his phone.
McCrae looked confused, then opened his phone and handed it over.
I stood. Quickly, I typed in my brother’s number. The phone immediately went to voicemail. “This is Greg. You know what to do.”
“Greg! Greg! Call me. I’m okay. Call this number!”
It beeped to signal that the message was over. My pulse raced, and I stared at the phone. Then I tried again, leaving another voicemail.
“Greg,” I said, tears running down my face. “Call this number. I can’t?—”
McCrae took the phone and hung up.
“What are you doing?”
“Let’s not give whoever has access to the phone too much information about you.”
I tried to digest that. Yes, he was right.
“Sit,” McCrae ordered. “Tell me more.”
I sat, feeling out of sorts. “Okay, like I told you, I’m a reporter. I’ve been reporting the news in Austin for over five years. And with news and broadcasting, with the internet, there’s not a lot to do.” The memories kept hitting me. “Oh my gosh, I have a podcast!A. Ryan on Conspiracies—that’s my podcast.” I let out a light laugh, unable to believe I could remember. “Anyway, I like uncovering conspiracies. I’ve been working for this local television company in Austin, reporting what they wanted me to report. I’ve tried to take them stories they wouldn’t accept, but I found my own stories.” I scoffed, then wiped tears from my face. “I can’t believe I remember who I am.”
McCrae looked … uncertain.
I cried softly. “And my brother Greg … I’ve talked to him about all these conspiracies, and I told him about this one withMagneto. Like I said, it was this paper company, but things didn’t make sense. The story had cropped up on the internet, and I’d seen it. This paper company that couldn’t possibly be making that much money. I was suspicious because—” I threw up my hand. “—who’s using paper, right? There was a story about how they were merging with an oil company right outside of Casper. I was confused by that. The more I dug in, the more I thought something about this felt like human trafficking.”
“What?”
I nodded. “I told my brother I told him I was going to Casper to investigate. But I don’t know why he went. I don’t know why he was there.” I was getting more upset just thinking about him.
McCrae put his hand over mine. “And your brother is a cop?”
A light laugh escaped me. “He’s a cop. Yes. He must have been worried about me. He must have—” With a sniff, I smacked the bed. “I bet he was trying to make sure I was okay. And then when I got there?—”
McCrae patted my hand. “I don’t understand how you got somewhere and everyone had guns.”
“I’m sorry. I’m confusing right now. I’m even confusing to myself. It appeared there was a paper trade show at the canyon. That’s what confused me. Why would they have a trade show in a canyon. Anyway, when I got there, there were a lot of people, and I started walking over to the group. I saw my brother, and then that lady got shot, and that’s when my brother saw me. That’s when he told me to leave, to run out of there. I didn’t want to, but he made me promise.”
