“No.” She tucks my keys into her pocket like they belong there. “I’m driving you out to the lake. You are gonna call Jasper on the way. Emi can take care of Belle for the weekend while he comes with us.”
“Fuck no. My brother and I ain’t exactly on speaking terms. And there is no ‘us’ in this scenario. I’m goin’ to San José de Carranza alone. Give me the keys, Elmore. Now.”
“You’ve been here almost”— she checks her watch—“twelve hours now. You think you’re gonna be worth spit by nine a.m. tomorrow after driving all night? Get in the goddamn car. And since I’m about to break God knows how many laws keeping you from doing something supremely stupid, I think you can call me Parker.”
Parker Elmore is the best Ranger I’ve ever trained. She’s also stubborn as fuck and the closest thing I have to a friend. Unsure why I expected her to just…ignore the fact that Grace is alive. But goin’ all the way to Mexico? Riskin’ her career? That ain’t in her job description.
“Fine. You can come. But I ain’t callin’ my brother.”
I trudge around to the passenger side of the car while Parker slides behind the wheel and adjusts the seat. She’s a full eight inches shorter than I am.
“If you don’t call Jasper, I will,” she says as we pull out of the parking lot. “He’s probably about to leave to pick up Emi from Channel Five.”
“And you know this, how?” I lean against the door frame, exhausted and wired at the same time.
“Emi, Isabel, and I have drinks every couple of weeks.” She gives me a quick side-eye. “And if I have to call him, you’ll never hear the end of it. We need him, AJ. The Sandoval Cartel is serious shit.”
She’s right. Maybe he won’t pick up the phone. I’ve been enough of an ass to him since Grace disappeared I wouldn’t blame him.
So, of course the sombitch answers on the first ring.
“Let me guess. They’re givin’ you another award,” Jasper drawls. “Captain AJ Stone makes the news? Again?”
How the hell do I explain the past half hour? Spit it out like it’s some movie-of-the-week plot? I didn’t think this through.
“AJ?” My twin brother actually sounds concerned. “What’s goin’ on?”
Parker reaches across the center console and gives my forearm a quick squeeze. It’s enough to unstick my tongue from the roof of my mouth.
“It’s Grace…she’s alive, Jas. I got a call from a doctor in Mexico twenty minutes ago. She’s in a small medical clinic outside of Chihuahua.”
A rush of air carries over the line. “Holy shit. How?” he asks.
“I don’t know. She doesn’t…fuck. She can’t remember anything, Jas. Not her own name, not me, not what happened to her. Belle’s at doggie daycare and I need you to pick her up and leave her with Emi for the weekend. Then meet me at the house. But if you ain’t there in ninety minutes, we’re leaving without you.”
“We?” he asks. For all of two seconds, the radio in his truck blasts some sad country song as the engine turns over with a rumble. “Who the fuck?—”
“Jasper,” Parker says, exasperation roughening her tone. “Ain’t no way I was letting him go alone. And since he’s as stubborn as both of us put together, I had to steal his keys to do it.”
It doesn’t take me long to tell my brother everything I know—it ain’t much. “We might be down there for a couple of days.”
“I’m more concerned with how we get back,” Jasper says. “Especially if you don’t want the whole world to know she’s alive. We can’t just stroll up to the border, bat our eyes, and hope for the best.”
Fuck.
I didn’t think about that. Hell, I haven’t thought about a lot of things. What if Grace doesn’t want to leave with a stranger? What if she never gets her memory back? What if she does and she’s so thoroughly broken, she can’t ever trust me again?
“The two of you are ignoring the world’s most obvious solution.” Parker flips on the blinker and takes the exit for Lake Travis.
“What?” Jasper and I say at the same time.
“Connor.”
I shake my head. “Why would I call him?”
Parker shoots me a glance, then huffs. “It’s a damn good thing I’m here, AJ. You’re not playing with a full deck.”
“Connor’s a civilian. How the hell is he supposed to help us get Grace over the border?” I ask.
