Page 35 of Behind the Cascades
“I told her yesterday that you'd be in town and she said she would think about talking to you next month. I know it sounds hard, but I'm respecting her wishes."
I nod my head despite knowing full and well that I will not be respecting her wishes. I'm finding her today. Hopping on a flight and bringingher back home. If it means not renewing my Navy contract and getting out, then so be it.
I will fix this mistake.
Drew and I both start texting under the table, formulating a plan. Now that we know she’s hiding, we can put all of our energy into finding her over the next few days. Considering the two of us have more skills and connections than most, we should be able to find her before Drew has to be back in California.
Three days later, Drew and I were in the same spot as the day we found out. We each spent hours breaking into her accounts, only to find each one had been inactive since her twenty-first birthday. I was able to get the name of the app that she’s been using to talk to my mom and Odessa, but beyond that, I have no idea how to add her or unscramble the data. Charlie completely vanished and turned into a ghost in the wind.
Drew and I finally decided it was time to call in reinforcements and head back to California. He has a big Team move coming up, and I need to put in my exit packet. Before we left, though, we both agreed we needed to meet with one person before we left.
Detective Paul. A portly man who looks like he’s close to retiring. The first time I called him, he laughed for nearly three minutes. His exact words were, “Your momma told me this would happen. You’d call and try to raise all sorts of hell to find your girl. Well, I got news for ya son; I don’t know where she’s at.” His southern accent was so thick that even I had a hard time understanding him. He did agree to meet with us, though, so on our way to the airport, we stopped by the Columbia Police Department to have a chat.
When we got there, he grinned from ear to ear at first. It wasn’t untilwe sat down in his office and he opened up the file that his smile disappeared. His entire demeanor flipped the second he looked at the first page.
“Here’s the deal. Carter Burch is a spoilt-rich, arrogant, son-of-a-bitch. He’s also smart, as all get out.”
Drew and I tensed simultaneously, our muscles locking tight as we listened to him. We’re both sitting in chairs, facing a man who is supposed to tell us we shouldn’t be worried; however, he’s doing the complete opposite.
“He was raised by his paternal grandparents from birth and they gave him whatever he wanted. When Charlie didn’t immediately fawn all over him, it fueled his obsession. We searched his apartment. It was worse than you could imagine—worse than we wanted Charlie to even know. After she gave her testimony, we asked her to step out of the courtroom. I don’t know if she would have ever recovered after seeing all the images he had of her. He broke into the front office of the complex, made a duplicate key to her apartment, and then hid at least fifteen cameras all over her apartment.”
“Fucking hell.” Drew groans from the seat next to me.
I can’t even respond right now; my jaw is clenched so hard that I’m going to need dental work. The haze of anger clouds my better judgment and all I can think about is how the hell I’m going to kill this guy. I don’t even care if I get away with it. No man who does that deserves to walk this earth, even if he is walking it behind bars.
“Leaving town was the best thing she could have done for her mental health. When I first met her, she was scared and broken. The woman who came back to testify was a woman with strength and resilience. She walked into the courtroom with her head held so high that I knew she could overcome anything life threw at her.” He let out a mirthless laugh and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “Well, that, and I saw theaftermath of what she did to him. He looked like he had gone ten rounds with a trained cage fighter when I interviewed him.”
I feel my body slightly begin to relax. My breathing and heart rate started to return to normal. I’m so damn glad she kicked his ass, even though I wish she had never had to.
“What do we do now? He has a few more years left?” I ask, trying to gauge what Detective Paul thinks will happen in the future.
A long sigh comes from him and then he shakes his head. “With good behavior, it could be less. I don’t have an answer to what you should do. If she were my wife…” He looks up at his closed door and then looks me dead in the eye. “Well, I wouldn’t hold this position any longer if she were my wife. He belongs back with the devil, where he came from.”
Drew and I exchange knowing glances. This guy is lucky he’s in prison.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Hayes
Monday, December 3.
Things have moved quickly since I got back to San Diego. I don’t know what I was expecting, but not for everything to happen as fast as it did. It’s official. I’m leaving the Navy. I'm finding my girl. Then I'm getting her ass back to South Carolina, where she belongs—where we both belong, together.
It took me two days to get all the information filled out and filed with my chain of command. They plan on expediting my paperwork so I can be out of here in under a month. It gives me a little bit of time to find Charlie, pack up my condo, and say "see ya later" to my best friend. Never goodbye. Again, something our dad’s started. Even on my dad’s death bed, Uncle Jesse just kept repeating that he’d “see ya later.”
Drew and I had the privilege to spend seven years on a team together. It was a miracle that we even stayed together this long and got to serve side by side, like our dads did. Alwayswondered if they had something to do with that, pulling strings from up above.
Now, Drew is moving to another team that needs help. They've lost some guys and are in desperate need of some experience to help rebuild. I feel for him that he's already heading back out again so soon, but he's built differently than I am. He keeps his emotions buried so deeply that even I have a hard time telling where his head is sometimes.
"You nervous about switching?" I ask while packing up the few things I have.
He scoffs and shakes his head. "Nah, same shit, different teammates. It'll be alright. I'm only worried about Charlie at this point."
"You and I, both. I can't believe she's been hiding for almost two fucking years." She's always been stubborn as hell and even more independent, but this is a new extreme.
"Always was the goddamn hide and seek champ. Remember when she hid in the laundry basket in the closet for like four hours?"
I chuckle at the memory. Our parents were so mad when we came to them and said we couldn't find her. Even they looked for an hour, almost calling the police at one point. I was the one who found her curled up in the bottom of my laundry basket, snoring softly. The physical relief I felt when I saw that strawberry blonde hair hiding beneath my dirty clothes is something I'll never forget. We were always watchful of her, but after that moment, a protective switch flipped. I was probably no older than ten, but even so, that little scare gave me a sense of responsibility and protectiveness that has stuck with me ever since. It was the first innocent seed planted right into my heart, eventually growing into a deep-rooted love. A love that I let down by not doing the one thing that I promised myself I'd always do. Protect her.
