Page 76 of Found By You
“Diaz,” she said, approaching the handcuffed man now being led to a squad car. “You’re a long way from Mexico.”
His eyes, cold and dead, fixed on Azalea. “This isn’t over,” he spat.
“Actually,” Winters replied, “it is.” She nodded to Damon. “Let’s get him to the station.”
The interrogation roomat the Refuge Falls Police Station was stark; just a metal table, three chairs, and a one-way mirror reflecting Diaz’s sullen face back at him.
Damon and I stood watching from the observation room as Winters circled Diaz like a shark.
“We have the entire operation,” she was saying. “Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming—it’s all coming down. Your bosses are in custody. The network is finished.”
Diaz said nothing, his expression unchanged.
“Why come after Ms. Ryan?” Winters pressed. “Why not run?”
For a long moment, I thought he wouldn’t answer. Then his lips curled into something resembling a smile. “I was trying to punish her before I left the country.” His eyes flicked to themirror, as if he could see me through it. “But her boyfriend got in the way.”
I felt a chill run down my spine, remembering how close he’d come to succeeding.
Winters leaned forward. “There’s no one else? No other cell waiting to finish what you started?”
Diaz laughed, the sound hollow and empty. “You think I’d tell you if there was?”
The interrogation continued for hours, but Diaz revealed little else. Eventually, Winters emerged from the room, looking tired.
“We’ll transfer him to federal custody tomorrow,” she told Damon and me.
“So it’s over?” I asked.
Winters nodded. “For now. We’ll keep security measures in place for a while, but yes, I think it’s over.”
I found Azalea in the break room, wrapped in one of my mother’s quilts, a cup of untouched coffee growing cold in front of her. She looked up when I entered, her eyes questioning.
“It’s over,” I said simply.
The relief that washed over her face made my heart ache. I sat beside her, taking her hands in mine.
“You were so brave,” she whispered. “But if anything had happened to you—” Tears rushed down her cheeks.
“Nothing happened,” I assured her. “And nothing will.”
Chapter 34
McCrae
The fresh morning air drifted through the open windows of my parents’ house as my family gathered for our traditional Sunday dinner. I smoothed my hands over my dress shirt for the fifth time, trying to calm the wild beating of my heart.
The small velvet box in my pocket felt like it weighed a hundred pounds.
I’d spent hours at the jewelry store in Casper yesterday while Azalea was shopping with Kayla the day before, carefully selecting a ring that I hoped would be perfect; a solitaire with tiny diamonds encircling the band. I wanted something timeless that would make her think of me every time she looked at it.
“You’re jumpy,” Damon whispered, nudging me with his elbow as he passed with a stack of plates for the table. “Relax. She’s going to say yes.”
Easy for him to say. He’d already done this part. Twice.
The past week had been surprisingly calm. Diaz was in federal custody, and according to Agent Winters, the trafficking ring was completely dismantled. The FBI had even managed to rescue twelve victims who’d been held captive in a warehousein Arizona. Azalea was already working on a story about it, determined to bring attention to the issue in a way that might help others.
And me? I was planning the rest of my life with a woman I’d known for less than two weeks. Insanity. But the kind of insanity that felt exactly right.
