“He’s not free. He’s not fine. He’s broken. He’s alone. How is that okay?” This was the real reason Zane hadn’t wanted to see Bruce. He was relieved the man was still around but at the same time wished for him to finally be at peace.
“I don’t understand this stuff, Tess. I know God is in control. I also know he is love. But then you have people like Bruce. I’ve never been able to find out what happened, but it was something bad enough that it literally broke his mind. His family doesn’t try to contact him. They’ve given up on him. But he’s still in there. Enough to know to toss out a random threat to get me to come see him. Enough to know that he didn’t need to mess around today because his threat wasn’t real, but the threat to you is. He should be with people who care for him. How is this okay?”
He shut his mouth. He was ranting, and he didn’t rant. He discussed, calmly and rationally. Tessa never moved from the position she’d taken beside the car, but he couldn’t stay still. He paced from one end of the car to the other.
No matter what condition he was in, visits to Bruce always made him think about his mother. The main difference between the two was that Bruce was the way he was because of a tragedy. His mother? He had no idea.
He understood addiction as an adult. Understood the power of it. But there would always be a part of him that was the terrified kid who couldn’t understand why his mother wouldn’t wake up when he needed to go to school or why she disappeared for hours, sometimes days, at a time. That kid wondered why God had given him the mother he had when other kids got mothers like Gil’s. That kid—okay, that adult—never understood why he’d had to fend for himself for so long.
And he knew that was a big part of the reason his heart was stillso fragile that he couldn’t give it to the woman who stood waiting for him. He stopped beside her and whispered, “Sorry about that.”
She cocked her head to one side and traced his jaw with her finger. “Never apologize for being the man you are, Zane.” She dropped her hand and walked to the driver’s side. “Let’s update the guys on the info we got from Bruce, then head to Carrington.”
Zane looked back toward the bench where Bruce now sat, face to the sun, eyes closed.Father, I want to fix him. I want to fix my mom. You have the power to fix both. I’ll never understand why you don’t.
He climbed into the car and slammed the door. “You drive. I’ll call Luke.”
TESSA DROVE IN SILENCEas Zane talked to Luke. He stuck to the facts, shared what Bruce had told them, and ended the call. When he spoke, he was back to his calm, collected self. “Have you called anyone in Carrington to let them know we’re coming?”
“Yes. Adam is going to meet us in a church parking lot that he says is a mile from the house.” Adam Campbell was a white-collar crimes investigator in Carrington County. “Jacob called their captain yesterday and cleared everything.”
“How’s the Carrington crowd doing?” The Raleigh RAIC and the Carrington Dive Team had developed a close bond over the past few years.
“All good as far as I know. Leigh just had a baby, and Sabrina is pregnant.”
That got Zane’s attention. “Sabrina? Pregnant?” Leigh was a nurse practitioner, married to homicide investigator Ryan Parker. It was no struggle to imagine Leigh as a mother. She mothered everybody. Dr. Sabrina Fleming-Campbell, however, was a cyberforensics expert who taught at UNC Carrington and assisted law enforcement all over the country. She didn’t have a mean bone in her body, but she could be blunt, and she didn’t come across as particularly maternal.
Tessa laughed at Zane’s shocked expression. “Pregnant and giddy about it. Adam is already showing off ultrasound pictures. It’s so cute. Sabrina sent us a video last week of the nursery, which is not decorated but is fully equipped with sound and video monitoring.”
“Of course it is.” Zane’s laughter sounded unforced, and Tessa relaxed. The rest of the drive was easy, the way it usually was between them. When they stopped in the church parking lot, Adam was waiting.
Zane bounded from the car, and he and Adam met in a bro hug.
“Have you heard our news?” Adam held out his phone, and Tessa didn’t need to be close to know it was an ultrasound picture.
“That’s amazing. Congratulations!”
Adam pulled Tessa into a quick hug when she approached. “Hey there. You good?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
They took a few minutes to catch up before turning to the reason that brought them to Carrington.
“I assume Craig Brown has been on your radar before now?” Tessa pointed to the file Adam had set on the trunk of his car.
“That man is a pain in the rear.”
Something about Adam’s tone set Tessa’s intuition pinging. “Other than about the death penalty case?”
“Oh yeah. He’s a crusader. If you can find an unworthy cause, he’s probably championing it.” Adam began ticking off examples on his fingers. He tapped his first finger. “A few years ago he opposed a historic preservation group that was attempting to purchase an old farmhouse. No one, including the owners ofthe property, was opposed. Everyone thought it was a great idea. Everyone except Brown. He protested it on the grounds of it being governmental overreach, but there was no government input at all. It was a private group, seeking private money. And the farmhouse is a beloved landmark in the community. Even some of our biggest land developers wanted it preserved.”
Adam tapped his middle finger. “We have him on video at protest rallies during the last election cycle. That wouldn’t be a big deal except that he protested both parties, the Electoral College, the Constitution, and was a loud voice at a tiny protest that declared the Supreme Court should be abolished. All within a two-week period.”
“Is he a protestor-for-hire?” Zane asked. “Or just angry at everything?”
“He’ll take payment when it’s offered, but we’ve come to the conclusion that he’s an attention seeker. If he thinks it will get someone to look at him, listen to him, or better yet, interview him on local TV? He’s all in. And the more scandalous or outlandish the better.”
“Anything else we need to know before we say hi?” Tessa asked.
