Page 57 of Found By You
I reached for my wrist, looking for the bracelet that was now missing. “Oh no. My brother and I were survivors of a fire.” The tears came faster. I couldn’t stop myself from telling McCrae about this. “He was twelve, and I was nine. We woke up in the night, and my dad was getting us out of the house. We got out,but my dad went back in for my mom, and then the whole thing just burned down.”
McCrae scowled.
I sniffed, feeling so many feelings in this moment. “My brother is all I have, and I don’t know where he is.” My crying intensified. “If he could be here, he would be. They must have done something to him.” I stood up, feeling adrenaline and rage surge through me. “I have to find my brother.”
“Hold on.” McCrae pulled out his phone and called Damon, putting him on speaker.
“Hello. Are you headed out of town?”
“No, Damon, we’re going to be to the station in about fifteen minutes. She remembers everything.” He turned to look at me. “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to have Damon gather my family. I think they can help, and they’re people we can trust.”
I nodded quickly, trying to keep my cool and sucking in a deep breath to hold back the panic and fear. “Yes. Get your family together. We have to find my brother.”
Chapter 27
McCrae
I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Azalea. Not Sky. The woman who had fallen into my life was Azalea Ryan, a reporter from Texas with a brother who might be fighting for his life.
“We need to go,” she said, grabbing her hastily packed bag. Her hands trembled, but determination hardened her features.
“Damon’s gathering everyone at the station,” I reminded her. “My family can help us figure this out.”
She nodded, but I could see her mind was already racing ahead, planning how to find her brother. I understood that feeling; the desperate need to protect family. It was in my blood too.
As we drove into town, Azalea clutched her suitcase on her lap like it was a shield, her knuckles white with tension.
“What if he’s dead?” she whispered, not looking at me. “What if they killed him after I escaped?”
“We don’t know anything yet,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady despite the fear crawling into my heart. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
The truth was, I was terrified too. Not just for her brother, but for her.
Someone had been at my house last night. Someone was hunting us.
The police station came into view and I parked quickly.
When we pushed through the door, I was relieved to see my entire family had shown up and were waiting in the conference room.
Noah and Ella sat together near the window, their heads bent in quiet conversation. Isla stood next to Damon, with their sweet baby in her arms sleeping. Canyon leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, his face unreadable. Dylan had taken off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves; he was ready for action. Kayla sat perched on the edge of the table, swinging her legs nervously. My parents stood near Damon, my father’s hand on my mother’s shoulder.
They all looked up when we entered, their eyes moving from me to Azalea with varying degrees of curiosity and concern.
“This is Azalea Ryan,” I said, placing my hand on the small of her back. “She remembers everything.”
“I’m a reporter from Austin,” she said, her voice stronger than I expected. “I was investigating a company called Magneto, who said they were a paper company. The more I dug into the research, I felt like they were hiding human trafficking.”
My mother gasped. “Human trafficking?”
Azalea nodded.
Damon scowled. “Continue.”
“I went to Casper to investigate a so called ‘trade show’ the company was having in Fremont canyon. When I got there, I witnessed a murder. Then, my brother was there. He’s a police officer in Austin, but he must have been following me, trying to protect me. I don’t know why he was in the canyon. Anyway, all I know was that he helped me escape.”
“Wow,” Canyon said.
“This is crazy,” Kayla commented.
