He stares at me. “What does that have to do with me?”
“Nothing, but I was hoping you had a few contacts, maybe heard something about why Diego Hernandez’s daughter would be a target.
“I have no idea why you thought I could help, but I think you’ve overstayed your welcome, Braxton.”
“What if it was Ro?” I ask, hoping to plead to his fatherly nature.
“It isn’t Ro, Ro is dead, and you had a hand in that, whether you believe that or not. I had to bury my only child, Braxton. I watched my wife crumble before me with no way to help her, and here you are, asking me to help you find another man’s child.”
I knew coming here was a long shot. How could I expect a man who hates me to help me in any way?
“But that’s not the only reason I won’t help,” he stands and starts pacing the room.
I frown.
“Do you think I don’t know who killed Aurora, with my contacts in the CIA?”
“You do?” I stand to my feet, shocked at this new information. “And you kept that from me?”
“It wouldn’t bring her back, Braxton. And these things have a way of working themselves out. The fact that Diego Hernandez’s daughter is missing is karma enough.”
“It was him? Hernandez? He was the other driver?” My face twists in anger, nostrils flaring.
Willard lets out a sigh and stands at the living room window. “He also left his lover for dead in the car. When the paramedics reached her, her pulse was faint, but she didn’t even make it out of that car. CCTV footage shows he tried to make his little problem go away, shows him dragging her into that driver’s seat. He made it all go away of course, before I could do anything about it.”
I take a seat, my mind racing to make sense of everything I’ve just heard. I took a job for the man who killed Ro. But would I change that, knowing how I feel about Eliana? I realize that’s something I will never know.
“I have to go, Willard. I have to find Eliana. Ro would want that whether you believe it or not.” He doesn’t turn toward me, so I stand and let myself out.
* * *
My phone rings while I’m in the car, so I turn on the Bluetooth. “Hey, Dad, tell me you have some news.”
“Gregory will meet you at the hotel in an hour to go through the security tapes.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Dad. I cannot tell you how much this means to me.”
“Good luck, son, and if you need me, just let me know.” The last thing I want is for someone else I care about to get in the middle of whatever this is. I have one more stop to make before I go to the hotel.
I drive through the wrought iron gates and down the narrow road that leads to my destination, the towering oak trees swaying in the gentle breeze. I park on the side of the road and climb out, reaching over to the passenger seat for the flowers I just bought. White daisies were her favorite.
I walk between the tombstones until I find the one I’m looking for. Five years ago, there was no granite stone covering her grave, just fresh earth. Earth I’d laid on until the caretakers came to drag me off each night. I wasn’t allowed to be at her funeral so sleeping in the cemetery became the next best thing.
Aurora took something with her when she died, a piece of me I never thought I’d ever get back again. I lay the flowers on the stone, leaning down and running my hands over her name. Ro was twenty-eight years old when she died. Just a few years older than Eliana. She’d had her whole life ahead of her. She’d wanted to do so many things she never got to.
I’ve never believed in talking to the dead. When you’re surrounded by it all the time, like I was during deployment, you build a sort of resistance to it.
“I wish I’d been there when you needed me, Ro.” I whisper, not because I believe she can hear me, but because it is time to let her go. I’ve held on to her for too long. I let myself break, which is the last thing she’d ever want. Ro wouldn’t be proud of the man I’ve become, she’d be frustrated, telling me to get a grip.
“See ya, Ro.” I stand and walk to my car, taking one final look back, hoping my heart will lead me to where it belongs.
* * *
“Braxton. It has been years, son.” Gregory White pulls me in for a hug.
“It’s great to see you, Captain. You haven’t aged a bit,” I tell the older man because he hasn’t. His hair might have thinned and grayed a tad, but he is still a mountain of a man.
“I never will, boy,” He chuckles, slapping me on the shoulder. “Your pops told me what happened, let’s see if we can get some answers.”
