Cray

by Brynn Hale

  I give him the overview.

  “RoCap, it’s a call-up. Level Gold,” he yells out on the other side and I hear bikes lighting up, almost unable to hear anything else. It’s got to be a dozen or more bikes.

  “We’ll meet you out on Highway 76,” he says. I can tell he’s switched to his helmet speaker. “But if you know anything else, text me. I’ll get it through the home office.”

  “She’s Kildare PD.”

  “Your woman’s daughter?” he asks, confused.

  “No. My woman.”

  “We’ve got you and them. No worries.”

  But there are worries and I never thought I’d have them for a child. I’d thought that I’d missed some window in life. When really, it’s not a window that closes, but a door that can open. Daughter. Not that she called Naomi, “Mom,” but she almost called her that to me. I’d never expect to be called Dad, but to just be there for Naomi and Eve and Zoe and learn about them. Be a part of something more. Be trusted. Trust myself.

  We still had a ways to go, but I wasn’t leaving Naomi’s side.

  Two cruisers showed and Naomi talked to them indicating what route Zoe would’ve taken, normally.

  “Do you have a tracker on her phone?” one of the cops asks.

  She gasps. “Yes, I told her I turned it off when she turned eighteen, but I forgot.”

  The guy shakes his head. “Time’s ticking, Wade. Give us the access and we’ll take it from there.”

  “Here you go.” She opens her phone and they both watch as it pings. “Why the hell is she out there?”

  “Where, babe?” I ask, wrapping an arm around her waist.

  “She’s in the desert.”

  “Do you have the coordinates?” another officer asks.

  The police tap them into their system, and I look over the officer’s shoulder. I text Slater.

  Cray: Zoe’s around 36° 29′ 09.24″N 114° 31′ 58.43″W

  Slater: Got it. We’re fifteen from there.

  I hop on my bike as Naomi does the same to hers.

  She rocks her bike and starts it as she buckles her helmet. If my heart wasn’t beating fast for Zoe, I’d think it was the sexiest fucking sight ever. “Cray, you don’t have to come along.”

  My stomach balls, painfully. Does she not want me there or is she scared?

  “I’m coming.”

  “Okay.” She starts her bike as the cruisers take off with their sirens blazing.

  We follow behind. When we pull into the Valley of Fire State Park the Guardians have gathered off to the side.

  I see a car I recognize. It’s the same one that I put Naomi into last night. It’s both good and bad because Zoe’s nowhere in sight.

  Slater walks over. “No signs of her, but that couple over there thought they heard a woman’s voice calling out where the canyon trail narrows.”

  Two of the police officers head off to talk to the possible witnesses.

  Naomi pulls out her phone and calls Zoe’s number. “Answer. Answer. Dammit, answer!”

  “Hello there, Officer Wade.”

  I hear a man’s voice through the phone.

  Naomi pulls the phone away from her ear and puts the phone on speaker. “Who is this?”

  “I told you I’d see you again real soon. I guess it was your daughter that I would see. Wouldn’t you know it, she was driving your car when I saw her at Emily’s house. Lucky me.”

  “Give Zoe her phone. Now!”

  “You really need to tell her not to drink from water that a stranger gives to her, too. She’s a little mixed up right now. These new circles are really good.”

  Circles? Roofies. Fuck you, asshole.

  “Zoe?! Put her on the phone!” She screams into the phone and four officers come running.

  Slater stills his group with one look and then with two hand signals they quietly head off onto the trail.

  The cops start pulling out radios and equipment.

  The cop that seems to be in charge takes the phone. “Benny, hey, this is Detective Daniels. Listen to me. Let Zoe go and we’ll see what we can do on a deal.”

  I wrap my arms around Naomi and her head burrows into my neck.

  The laugh that he releases is creepy AF. And that’s the opinion of a guy who’s been told he’s actually creepy AF. I know what it takes to be like that.

  “Daniels? I remember you. Fuck, you’ve got bigger problems than me. Your woman’s selling Adderall and Oxy to the high school basketball team.”

  Naomi’s face pales and she grabs Daniels arm, turning out of mine and covering the phone. “Did you know about Emily?”

  “She told me she was clean.” I can see the disappointment in his face. “Benny…” he shakes his head, but there’s silence.

  Sometimes the police have caution and when it’s warranted, I’m all for it. But we know Zoe’s in danger. It’s not fucking time to talk!

  Slater slips away from the group and I do the same.

  He lifts his phone and there are eight dots that move on the screen. “I have tracking on all my guys when they’re on the clock.”

  They split off into groups of two and the dots combine into sets.

  “You think the police are going to be pissed?” I ask.

  “I don’t care. Do you care?”

  “Kind of…she’s police.”

  He lets out a chuckle. “This is something new?”

  I run a hand over my buzzed hair. “Yeah, really new.”

  He grabs my shoulder. “Hey, if you can make it through this, you can make it through anything.”

  I realize what I need to do. The need to be there for Naomi and Zoe. I can’t just stand around.

  “I’ve gotta go find her.”

  “Do it. I’ll let my guys know. No one wears a gun. We don’t need it.”

  I start off on a run. I’ve hiked this canyon a hundred times, sitting in front the sandstone layers and just taking it all in how big the world really is and how small our part is. Plus, I love believing I’ll find a fossil and actually use my degree.

  I round a couple of rocks and Guardians hold up their hands, but when they see me, they drop them. I move faster, my riding boots clomping on the dry clay.

  I don’t call out for her because I don’t want to notify Benny that I’m near. I stop and listen. I close my eyes and I hear muffled sounds coming from my right.

  I slowly walk around the big boulder and I’m face to face with a Ruger LCP II. After being in the military, I know my guns, even if I don’t own one now. I don’t want one in my house. The past affects us in many ways that I never think about anymore. I also know that a felon with a handgun is never a good thing.

  But then I see two of Slater’s guys coming up behind him and I recognize one of them, Oz, a tattoo artist at Graffiti Street. I didn’t know he was a GSGMC. He goes for Zoe, lifting her into his arms like she’s a leaf. I know the other guy too. Vice. With a raised hood over his shaved head he slowly moves close to Benny.

  “Oh, it’s Mr. Big Dick.” Benny waves his gun my way. “Not such a big talker now.”

  “Benny, why do this?” I ask, taking a step closer, to keep his focus on me.

  “I wanted your bitch and I got her. She’s a sweet little thing. Sassy, too. Bit me. But the roofies did the job I needed them to.”

  “Did you touch her?”

  “I’ll never tell and she never will either. I doubt she even can remember her name after the amount of Forget-Me-Pill I gave her.”

  “You definitely have a tiny dick.”

  “It’ll still work on her. Just gotta get rid of you, to get in there.”

  He hasn’t touched her. I take a sigh of relief.Thank God. And he won’t.

  He starts to turn and I take my chance. I grab the gun. I hear is a sharp crack through the air and the only thing I remember is dirt in my mouth.

  Nine

  Naomi

  One of the Guardians takes over, he’s called Blade by everyone around me. He’s obviously medica
lly trained. He creates a tourniquet to Cray’s thigh. I squeeze his hand and he moans. The sound stabs me, and I stop my chest from rocking with the fear that what we’ve just begun is going to end.

  “It didn’t hit any arteries, but he’s gonna need surgery to clean it up and close it up,” he says to the man I now know as Slater.

  Next to her my coworkers are taking care of Zoe, the Guardian member turns to her.

  He assesses her and he nods up at them. “She’s gonna feel like real shit tomorrow, but she’ll be okay. I’ve seen this kind of Rohypnol, it’s fast acting, quick dissipating and long tail of nausea and headache after. I’d still suggest a ride to the hospital and some fluids and a night of observation. I can ride with both of them and treat her at the hospital. And I’ll get him the best surgeon on duty, too.”

  I stare at Blade and it finally hits me. Dr. Caleb Lyons. Dressed in leather and a Guardians handkerchief wrapping his head, he looks like a different person. “Thank you.”

  He leans close. “Anything for you Officer Wade.”

  Charlotte is his sister. I’d helped him talk to her. He pays for her apartment, but like me, he knows she won’t stay.

  I climb on my bike, but as I move toward the starter button my hand shakes.

  “Naomi, you can’t ride.” Slater’s hand lands on mine. “I’ve called a ride for you and we’ll get your’s and Cray’s bikes back to Kildare.”

  A familiar lifted truck pulls up. Hemi. Cray’s best friend.

  He jumps out and in five steps is holding me up. “Come on, let’s get you to the hospital.”

  Inside his truck, I don’t know what to say. Cray put himself in danger to save Zoe. He did the legwork. He went the extra mile…about half a mile, actually.

  “He’ll be okay.”

  But will I?

  Before he has the truck in park, I jump out and run inside. First to Zoe and Dr. Lyons has her awake now and she’s flirting with him. Incredible. Relief floods me.

  “Any report on Cray?” I ask as Zoe looks to me.

  “Mom…” She reaches out to me.

  I can’t hold it in. I rush to her and pull her head to my chest. “Baby girl, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault. I wasn’t looking around. I was so excited that I actually convinced you to go that I didn’t see him.”

  “I know. I know. We’ll talk about it later, he’s in custody and he’ll be put away for years, if not forever.” And so will his accomplice and Michaela’s mother, sadly. But she didn’t need to hear that.

  Two hours later, she’s asking for pain meds for the headache. Dr. Lyons was right, it’s fast and maybe fortunately, effective. She doesn’t remember much of the day after getting to the state park.

  “Ms. Wade?” a doctor comes to the door. “Can I speak to you about Theodore Creager?”

  “It just Cray,” I say in his defense.

  The doctor nods. “My apologies. May I speak to you about Cray?”

  Part of me wonders why his family hasn’t been called and then I realize that he’s never said anything about family. I didn’t see a picture. Granted two days isn’t a long time, but I look over at Hemi and motion him over.

  “Cray have any family?” I ask.

  “No. Doctor how’s he doing?” His abruptness tells me there’s a bigger story.

  Hemi let me just stare out the window while we raced behind a cruiser back to Kildare. It wasn’t typical, but Hemi was known in Kildare for being anything but typical. He had the pull. And Cray had put art on half of the force. They knew him probably as well as Hemi, if not better.

  The doctor winds his stethoscope in his hands and shoves it in his pocket. “He’s going to recover. Really lucky. That bullet had a perfect line through his leg. If it had to happen, he hit the trifecta of perfect timing, size of bullet, and position.”

  Hemi’s arm wraps around me. “That’s good to hear.”

  “He’ll be in recovery for a while and then in ICU for a few days, but you’ll be able to see him when he goes in there. He won’t be awake for a few days though.” He turns to me and I feel the pressure of his stare. “Ms. Wade, he’ll need help for a while after he gets out.”

  Hemi’s shoulder rocks into mine. “I think we’ve got plenty of people for that.”

  People file in and out of the ER waiting room. Zane and his wife bring food in for everyone. That damn pizza. I’m going to need to put in extra time on the treadmill.

  Visiting hours end and I’m sitting in the waiting room.

  “Naomi, let me take you home.” Hemi steps into the room.

  “I don’t think I can go.”

  He sits next to me. “He’s one of a kind, isn’t he?”

  “I’d take odds that there’s no one like Cray.”

  Hemi chuckles and leans back. “I think that comes from his youth.”

  “How’s that?”

  “He’s never told me the story, but I searched his real name when I found out what it was. I saw the headline. Cray grew up in Westbend, Texas. When he was eighteen, his mother was killed by his father. He walked in after it had happened, and then his father turned the gun on Cray. Cray struggled with him and his father was shot.”

  “Oh, God.”

  “He’s been on his own since then. Joined the military after college to serve and then when he came back, he got his doctorate but decided that wasn’t what he wanted to do. He came to Kildare because he had an aunt here. She ended up with Parkinson’s and passed the year after he moved here. He took care of her until the last day. She left him some money and he opened Graffiti Street Tattoo.”

  I remembered how the girls acted for years after Joanie was gone. Like they were in a haze. He hadn’t dealt with his loss. He’d moved on without saying goodbye and his trust in love crushed.

  “He’s like a lost boy.”

  Hemi shakes his head. “No. I think you found him and he found you. He texted me this morning that he was nervous about something and he needed to meet up at Graffiti tonight to talk to me. I think he knew that you’d be the one to change his life.”

  I roll my eyes, hearing him, but still worried. “Yeah, by getting him shot.”

  “Cray would have taken any bullet to save Zoe. He saved hundreds of his soldiers’ lives from what Slater has found out through his contacts. He thought maybe Cray might be a good Sergeant in Arms for the GSGMC, but he realized that Cray was better on the outside of the group as a committed community member.”

  “He couldn’t save his mom, so he saved Zoe.”

  “But you saved him.”

  Cray

  I try to open my eyes. I can hear her voice. She’s here. A hand squeezes mine and I squeeze back.

  “Eve, go get Dr. Lyons. He’s waking up.”

  I keep trying to open my eyes, but they’re so heavy, like someone sewed them shut.

  “It’s okay, Cray. Take your time, don’t fight it. You’re going to be okay.” The dudes voice is familiar and then again, it seems different. Blade?

  I try to remember what happened and my memories stop at getting to the state park. Zoe? How is she?

  “Zoe?” I ask on a moan.

  “What, Cray?”

  I inhale deep and Naomi’s perfume fills my lungs. Definitely lavender.

  “Zoe!” I say more forcefully.

  “Hey, Cray, I’m right here.” A small hand slips into mine and I give a squeeze. “Jeez, Cray, you’re gonna break my hand!”

  Everyone in the room responds with giggles and chuckles.

  “Sorry,” I say on a breath. “Where am I?”

  “In the ICU of Kildare Central Hospital.” Naomi’s rumbling voice coats me.

  “I’m alive?” I don’t feel it and I need confirmation.

  Lips press to mine and every part of me wakes up. I slip a hand in to her hair. It’s down and so soft. She breaks the kiss.

  “Welcome back, Cray,” she whispers into my ear and lightly bites my earlobe.

  My eyes finally open and the
re she is. She’s here. And two girls stand on the other side of my bed.

  “Eve?” I ask.

  “Yeah, nice to meet you Cray.”

  “How is everyone?”

  Eve smiles. “Everyone’s fine. You’re going to be okay, too.”

  “Did I lose my leg?”

  “No, sweetheart. You’re all intact down there.” Naomi sighs.

  I would have sacrificed everything and anything for her. Still would.

  “Girls, can you give us some time alone?”

  “Sure, Mom.”

  Eve nods. “I’ll take Zoe for some food.”

  Zoe’s blonde hair shines in the fluorescent lighting. “Not hospital food. How about pizza at Graffiti Street?”

  Naomi’s hand tightens on mine and I know there’s a story there, but there’s time.

  I blink some more and the doctor…Wait, is that Blade?...takes my blood pressure and listens to my heart. I might still be dead.

  Blade, as I know him, marks in the chart. “You’re doing well. Still need to be here a few days to watch for infection and any complications, but I’d say you’ll be released in a couple weeks, maybe earlier if you have good behavior. I’ll clear you to eat some soft foods, but no pizza, if the girls bring it back, please.” He leaves the room.

  Naomi smiles and I never would’ve lived in Heaven without her. I would’ve found a way to come back.

  I yawn and the move helps me to wake up. “Can I have a drink of water?”

  She hands me a cup and straw. I toss the straw onto my lap and down the water. “Hey, you’re supposed to sip!”

  I lean back.

  Naomi grabs my hand. “I know why you don’t go by your name. And Cray, I’m so sorry.”

  “Did Hemi fucking tell you?” He’d tried to get me to go to therapy or talk it out with him. He really missed his calling, but I refused at every turn.

  “Don’t be mad at him.” She kisses my forehead and it takes me back to my childhood. “He loves you…like I love you, Cray.”

  “Well, I certainly hope he doesn’t love me like you do.”

  She shakes her head and her gloss eyes connect to mine. “Will you stop joking?”

  I reach up and wind that hair in my hand, using it to pull her a little closer. “I love you, too.”