by Angela Foxxe
“My Addie would have loved you to pieces. She always wanted to be strong like some of the women she saw on television, but she never quite managed to find her calling.”
“Addie was stronger than she realized, and she put up one hell of a fight.”
“That’s good to know. Somehow, that makes things a little better.” Mabel grabbed a book off the couch and handed it to Senora. “This was hard to read, but I think this will help you put some of the pieces together and get all the answers you couldn’t get from that nasty Sheriff.”
Senora held it close and nodded.
“I’ll bring it back before I leave.”
Mabel was already shaking her head.
“You keep it. I have all the beautiful memories of my Addie and the happiness she found within these walls. The last thing I want to do is wallow in her misery. I have a lifetime of birthday cards and Mother’s Day gifts with her handwritten notes on them, and that’s how I want to remember our time together. I can’t change what happened to my sweet girl, but I can choose to hold onto the good times, and that’s what I’m doing.”
“I understand,” Senora said, and she did. “Thank you for this. Maybe Addie’s words can help others like her in the future.”
“I’m hoping her words can prevent others from being like her in the future.”
“Don’t we all?” Senora said. “I have to go check back into my hotel by noon so I can get some rest and maybe enjoy some of the sights before I check out and head to Dallas tomorrow. Take care of yourself, Mabel.”
Mabel’s smile was wicked as she stood in the doorway and let Senora out onto the porch.
“I wouldn’t waste my money on a hotel stay, but that’s just me. Take care, dear.”
Before Senora could answer, Mabel closed the door, and from where she stood, Senora could hear the woman’s footsteps in the hall, walking away.
Senora stood there for a long moment, clutching the journal to chest and staring at the closed door. This place was something else, and for the first time in all her travels, she realized that she really was going to miss Glen Rose and the people that called it home.
She got into her rental and drove to the hotel. She parked under a tree, but left the engine running with the air conditioner on blast. Today wasn’t nearly as hot as it had been a few days before, but it was still too hot to sit in the car with the air off and the windows rolled down.
The journal beckoned to her from the passenger’s seat. The thick book had writing on nearly every page, and Senora couldn’t wait to read what Addie had written and see how it matched up with what Senora knew and the information she had gleaned from Robin Harrison’s notes. She still didn’t know how the therapist had fit into this crazy scheme, but she had her suspicions. She hoped she was right.
“You should check in and read it in the room,” she said out loud, but she knew that wasn’t going to happen.
There was no way she could read the entire thing today, and she would probably take it on the plane to read, but right this minute, she couldn’t wait to skim it and see just how much Addie revealed.
Giving into the temptation, she grabbed the book and opened it, flipping through the pages until she found an entry dated just over a year before.
This. This was exactly what she was looking for. There was no name used, but Senora was sure that “RH” was meant to be “Robin Harrison”. Running her finger along each line, she read Addie’s words and could almost hear the woman’s voice as she did.
She believes me, the entry began. For the first time in a long time, someone believes me.
I was afraid to tell RH the truth, but she’s been so nice this past month that I just let it all out. Once I started, I couldn’t stop, and I was almost afraid she was going to call me a liar or worse. But when I looked up, she had tears streaming down her face, and before I knew what she was going to say, she said the words that would change everything.
“I believe you.”
Three little words, but I knew; I just knew that RH was the only one I could trust with everything I had been through, even the things I couldn’t force myself to remember.
So, I told her. I told her about D and K, and all the things they made me do. I feel horrible, but RH said it wasn’t my fault. That I was a victim and that D used that against me. It felt good to hear those words, because I hate myself for what he makes me do. I never wanted to do it, and RH said she believes me. D said no one would ever believe me, but he was wrong.
Senora furrowed her brow, trying to make sense of the entry, but she was sure that “D” was Dale, the Sheriff. She turned the page, skimmed through a few entries that had nothing to do with the case, then stopped again.
Today was hard. RH and I talked for more than an hour, and I don’t know how I feel about it. D has been pressuring me, but it’s been months since I did a job for him, and for the first time in a long time, I feel good about myself. RH says I don’t have to do it, that he can’t make me do it, but I’m afraid. D doesn’t care about anyone but himself, and he says that no one is going to believe me because I always fake my disappearance.
I wanted to hit him, but I didn’t dare. I didn’t fake anything, but I know he’s right. Every time I work for him, he makes me stay and when I get home, the whole town was looking for me. But I was just at D’s farm, wishing I could walk away from this life. It’s not fair.
So, I told her about the farm, too. And how D used me to trap girls to sell. When I was done, RH was shocked, but she still believed me. Hearing the words come out of my own mouth, I still sound think it sounds like a lie, but she says that’s because D tells me all the time that I lie about everything. Even when I’m bringing water and food to a woman who isn’t sold yet, he tells me I’m lying and that there’s no one in the barn. It makes me feel crazy, and RH says that’s how controls me.
Senora stopped, a chill running down her back that had nothing to with the air blasting in her face. She had at least a hundred more pages to go, but she could already guess what had happened. Even knowing what she knew about the Sheriff and what he’d been doing all these years, she was still shocked by what Addie was saying. He’d used her to kidnap teens and young women, and then he’d convinced her that she was lying.
She knew without a doubt that the Sheriff had chosen Addie because of her past, and she wished she could tell Addie that the poor girl hadn’t had a chance. Looking back at the dates of Addie’s fake disappearances, the Sheriff had swooped in not long after Addie had appeared out of nowhere with no memory and no idea who she was. He’d taken a broken person and molded her into the accomplice he needed, then convinced her that she was insane.
But the plan had backfired, and Addie had sought help to stop lying to herself and to quit disappearing and pretending that she’d been taken. When Robin saw the truth in Addie’s eyes, it had opened the floodgates, and all the careful manipulation she’d been subjected to over the years had slowly been peeled away to reveal the person beneath the mess that the Sheriff had created. With Robin’s help, Addie had discovered memories that her delicate psyche had pushed away and buried. And from there, Addie had found the strength to resist.
Addie’s journal wouldn’t have the particulars of the night she died, but Senora had a feeling she knew exactly what had happened.
Curious, she flipped to the last few pages and began to read.
We have a plan. I can tell RH is scared, but I am, too. We can’t let this keep happening, and another tourist went missing. The papers say her car was found in a ditch on a road heading back to DFW, but I know the truth. I’ve given RH everything I know, and she’s written it all down. Every day, D calls me, or he pulls my car over and gives me a bogus ticket for speeding just so he can make me miserable. But I’m not going to do it, and I’m going to make sure that D isn’t able to hurt another person ever again. He’s going to pay for what he did, and so is everyone else that helped him.
Senora closed the book and leaned back, taking it all in and k
nowing that this was going to be a hard read. But her hunch had been right, and it looked like Addie paid for her strength with her life. The journal shed a lot of light on Robin’s notes, and she knew she’d been right about Robin. Robin was a good person, and she had ended her life out of fear and not because she was harboring the secret of her own involvement. Robin was one of the good guys, and Ty would be relieved to know that his friend hadn’t been involved in everything that had been going on. She couldn’t wait to tell Ty what she had discovered.
She looked at the hotel and grimaced. She didn’t want to spend the night there, and she wasn’t entirely convinced that everyone in town who had been part of the Sheriff’s operation had been caught. Senora would be willing to bet that there were a few low-level players that were still running loose and would never be tied to the crimes. She wouldn’t know who those people were, and she knew from experience that hotel managers often turned a blind eye in exchange for a little cash. She didn’t want to spend the night here, and she knew that there was only one place in this town that she would feel safe.
You’re making excuses, she chided herself, but she didn’t care. She left the engine on and got out of the car, jogging into the hotel’s lobby and coming out a few minutes later with the carryon bag she’d left in the room when they’d fled. The clerk hadn’t even asked her for ID, but she didn’t care. She was done with this place, and she wasn’t looking to come back. She knew where she wanted to be, and for the next twenty-four hours, she was going to pretend that she didn’t have a life halfway across the country or that she was never going to see Ty again. She was going to follow Mabel’s advice and make sure she didn’t regret walking away.
THE FINAL CHAPTER
Senora drove down the highway, slowing down and watching the shoulder of the road for the almost unnoticeable dirt road that would lead her straight to Ty’s house. When she found it, she smiled, though her stomach was in knots.
Was she really doing this?
She pushed her uncertainty away and let go of her doubts. What she was doing was sharing information with a colleague and asking for a safe place to stay for the night. He could say no, and if he did, she would just drive to the airport and stay in a hotel onsite. Even if he said yes, there was no guarantee that anything would happen, and being open to it wasn’t the same as scheming.
Liar, she thought, but she didn’t care. She wanted to see him, and she wasn’t going to turn around now. She couldn’t. The trees on either side of the road were so close that the leaves brushed the car every now and then, and there was nowhere to execute a turn. She was stuck going forward no matter what.
The rental car bounced and shimmied over rough road, and she made a mental note to always rent a truck from now on if she ever found her way back to Texas for a case. A car just didn’t cut it.
When the village came into view, her heart started racing. She was really doing this. It had been just a few hours since she’d seen him, but it felt like forever. As she parked next to his cabin and released her seatbelt, the weight of her exhaustion and the fight from the night before hit her. These days in Texas had changed her, and she knew things now that she had never imagined were true. She wasn’t going home the same person she was before.
She shouldn’t have been surprised when Ty walked out of his house to greet her, clad in jeans and boots, his chest bare and his expression one of concern.
“Is everything alright?” he said.
“I have to show you something,” she said as she got out of the car.
“That sounds promising,” he teased, then tilted his head in the direction of the front door. “Come on inside.”
She followed him in and set the journal on the table along with the file from Robin’s office. Ty gathered up the papers he’d had spread across one side of the table, but not before she saw Hannah’s name on one of them.
She reached out and snagged it before he could get to it, then regretted it.
“I’m sorry; I thought it was related to the case and- I’m sorry, that was none of my business.”
“It’s fine,” Ty said. “I’m not ashamed, I just don’t like to brag.”
“I’m glad that you’re taking care of her. I was worried about her. It’s not bragging to share information with a colleague.”
“We’re colleagues now?” he asked with one eyebrow raised. “I hope that’s not a demotion.”
Senora couldn’t help but laugh. She knew what he was getting at, but she was enjoying the chase and she needed to talk to him about Addie and Robin before she got too distracted.
“So, what exactly did you do for her?”
“I’m paying for round the clock healthcare for her father in their home, and I paid off their mortgage.”
“I thought their house was in foreclosure.”
He shrugged.
“A small-town bank has small town values. Hannah was paying what she could on it every month, and the bank manager was letting it go. When I talked to him, it sounded like he was hoping the father had life insurance that would eventually catch Hannah’s payments up and pay the house since it was in Mister Wise’s name.”
“That’s a little morbid.”
“It makes sense, though. Now, he doesn’t have to worry about it.”
“Does Hannah know yet?”
“She knows about moving her father back into their house. She started crying when I told her, and she wanted to go get him so she could get him out of that place, and I didn’t think she could handle any more good news. I figure when she gets the deed in the mail and it’s paid in full, she’ll figure it out.”
They stood there in silence, and Ty’s smile widened.
“You’re not going to ask me where I got the money from?”
“It’s none of my business,” Senora said, though she was curious.
“Fair enough,” he said, then nodded toward the journal. “What’s that?”
“It’s Addie’s journal. We were right about Robin; she wasn’t a bad guy. We can’t ask her, but it looks like she took her life because she knew what the Sheriff was up to and she knew that she was in danger if he found out what she knew. Once she found out that Addie had been violently murdered, I’m not surprised she thought taking her own life was the only way out.”
“We could have protected her.”
“She had no way of knowing that. Once you realize you can’t trust everyone with a badge, you start to wonder if you can trust anyone with a badge. I wish she would have given us a chance, but I can understand her fear that anyone could be in on it. We still don’t know how many people were involved.”
“I know you’re right, I just hate that she couldn’t tell us the truth.”
“Well, between her records and Addie’s journal, the truth is here. I’ll be recommending that this case get moved to Federal Court in Dallas, and hopefully, both of these will be admissible in court.”
“You’d better hold onto those so they don’t disappear.”
“I plan on making a copy for you and for the lead investigator, as well as one for the Prosecutor and an extra just in case. I’ll hang onto the originals just in case.”
“Are they going to let you do that?”
“It’s my case, and now that I know the Gate Keeper is involved, this is just a small piece of a huge puzzle I’ve been trying to put together for a few years. I’ll need this when I catch up with the Gate Keeper, and because of that, I’ll get to pull rank and keep all the originals.”
“So, what’s next? Are you flying out tonight?”
“Tomorrow, late in the afternoon.”
“Are you staying at the hotel?”
“No. I can’t stay in that hotel. Between the missing accomplice from the nursing home and not knowing how many people were involved throughout the town, I just can’t. I wouldn’t be able to sleep.”
“Would you like to stay here?”
“I would appreciate it.”
“I can see if someone has an empty bed you can
sleep in if you want.”
She shook her head.
“I don’t.”
His eyes widened a bit, but he recovered quickly. He sat down at the table beside her, picking up the journal and the file and spreading it in front of them. He handed her a notepad and a pen.
“I’m sure you have better handwriting than me. Let’s get what we can between the two of these so I have something to go on while I’m waiting for my copies.”
Senora sighed, and Ty laughed.
“Dinner is in a few hours. I want to go through these and get as much as we can written down so we can enjoy the rest of the night together.”
“Oh,” Senora said.
His hand went to her thigh, and he gave a soft squeeze that set her body aflame.
“That is, if you can keep your hands off me until then.”
Senora laughed, elbowing him playfully.
“You’re something else,” she said, grabbing the first page of Robin’s file and flipping through the journal until she found the correlating date. “Enough flirting; we’ve got work to do.”
“There’s no such thing as enough flirting with you,” Ty said.
Senora shook her head and dove into the files. Ty chuckled, but Senora knew if they didn’t get to work now, they would end up in bed long before dinner.
They spent some time going over the documents together, and Senora took copious notes until her hand cramped. She stopped, massaging her sore muscles.
“Let me,” Ty said, taking her hand in his before she could protest.
His skin was so warm, and electricity shot up her arm and caused her entire body to tighten in response. She held her breath for a moment, then let it out slowly, trying not to let her attraction overtake her.
Trying to keep her mind on other things while he expertly massaged her hand and fingers, she talked to him about Addie’s role in the case, and how she thought Addie’s final moments went down.
“She was obviously going against him, and maybe even threatening him. I’m sure he realized that she was about to blow his entire operation, and he couldn’t let that happen. It makes sense. She had dozens of tickets in her glove box from him, so he’d obviously been harassing her for a while.”
