“And I’ll remember you said that the day you meet the one!” I shout back. “I’ll meet you out front in ten,” I tell Caleb.
Walking away from this office because I’m getting ready to go back to Shay should be a good feeling, but something is niggling at me about the whole situation. Why did this happen? Where did it happen? What was the point in it all? How the hell did Shay get back to Chicago? Why did they let her go?
I don’t want to believe it has anything to do with someone in the army, but nothing is making sense. Why all the secrecy? I would have thought the army would be shouting her return home from the rooftops. Any praise and publicity is good for them, but it’s all hush hush.
We have too many unanswered questions and I’m not going to rest until we have answers to them all. This puzzle might be missing a lot of fucking pieces, but by the time I’m finished, it will be complete, and every asshole associated with this organization will be locked up.
Chapter 20
Shay
Where is Clay? I’ve clock watched for about two hours now, and every minute that passes is sending my anxiety through the roof. I’ve never been an anxious person before. I always needed to keep a level head with the work, but even in my personal time, anxiety and stress weren’t feelings I faced. I never knew how they felt… until now.
My brother has been trying to keep me entertained, but between him and my parents, they’re just making me feel worse. I understand that they’re happy to see me, and they’re eager to share everything I’ve missed, but that just reminds me how long I was MIA for, and all the memories flood back into my mind. I wish I could forget it all. I really wish I didn’t remember anything. I don’t want to be tortured every time something sends me into a spin.
“When you come home, we’ll have to decorate your room. It hasn’t seen a fresh coat of paint in a long time,” says my mom.
I smile weakly and look over at the closed door. I don’t want to tell my mom just yet that I might not be going back to our family home. I need a fresh start. A new beginning. I need to wash out every dark memory and replace it with happy ones.
At that moment, the hospital door opens and in walks Clay with his two brothers. The somber look on Clay’s face makes me sit up a little more. I can read him better than anyone, and I know that look well. It’s one that tells me I’m not going to like what I hear.
“Hi.” Caleb lifts his hand to the room.
“What’s going on?” I ask first.
“We need to talk to you all, and I’m not sure you’re going to like it.” Clay looks down at his feet sheepishly.
Clay takes up my side of the bed beside my mom, but he doesn’t reach out for me. He folds his arms over his chest and makes a stance that tells me his stubborn ass is in the building. He might have changed his career, but his alpha male act is still as strong.
I look over at Chris and Caleb, and they mirror Clay’s stance. No one is getting in or out of my room with the way they’re standing in front of my door.
“I know by the look on your face that I’m not going to like it, so just tell me. Rip the band aid off, Clay.”
“We know someone has threatened you to keep you quiet…” I try to speak, but Clay holds his hands up to stop me in my tracks. “Let me finish. In order to let you tell us what you know, we want to put your mom and dad, and Carrick, into our protective custody until we take care of whatever, or whoever, did this to you.”
The room remains silent. I’ve come to hate silence. I’d rather hear noise. Loud and obnoxious in your face noise.
“I won’t do it, Clay. You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
“Well, tell me.” He looks exasperated. “Let us save Josh and any other American soldier stuck in that hell hole.”
I take in a deep breath and throw my head back on the pillows.
“The army has no recollection of you getting home.
Clay’s words ramble around in my brain, but I don’t know what to make of it. No, that’s a lie. Nothing would surprise me now.
“They have no idea where you came from.”
“They’re not telling the truth.” I sit forward again and stare Clay down.
“Why is that, Shay?” He raises his eyebrows to get a rise out of me.
“Because someone in that army runs the camp I was in. I don’t know who. He gets called the boss. I think I heard his voice when I was removed from the room I was taken to at the end, but I never saw him, and I’ve never heard the voice before.”
“How do you know it was down to the U.S Army?” asks Caleb.
I look past Clay toward his brother. “I was told by Keir. He doesn’t know who it is either.” I sigh.
I’ve already said too much. I hate how Clay has ways of making me spill my guts without me really realizing it. He would make a good interrogator.
“I’ll repeat this again because Clay doesn’t seem to be listening. I. Will. Not. Talk. About. It.” I glare at the man I love more than life itself.
Clay throws his hands up in the air and walks over to the window.
“Sweetheart, I probably shouldn’t tell you all of this, but it looks like someone needs to.” My mom squeezes my hand. “Finding out that you were missing, possibly hurt, was like a knife being struck through my heart. I wanted to reach out to you, feel you, heal you, protect you… but the longer you were missing, the darker the hole I fell into. Then…” My mom shakes her head and squeezes her eyes closed. “Then finding out that the search was over, my whole body felt like it was closing down. I struggled to breathe. I struggled to eat without feeling sick. Nothing numbed the pain. I kept seeing your lifeless body in the middle of nowhere being eaten by wild animals. I was tortured, sweetheart. No parent should have to go through that.”
Tears drip down onto my chest. I didn’t realize I had shed any tears, but hearing my mom’s story is heart breaking.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” I choke out.
“It isn’t your fault, honey, but if you know anything that could help other parents find peace then you need to speak up. Let Clay protect everyone.”
“I know you, Shay, and this must be killing you. You don’t walk away from anyone in need of help,” says Clay. “I’ve followed your ass into combat to save the enemy, babe. I know you.”
I take in a deep breath. Everyone is right. This goes against everything I believe in. I’ve never walked away from anyone in need, no matter what race, gender, or religion.
“It’s like a concentration camp. I don’t know where, or how far I travelled to get there. Josh and I walked on foot for possibly days. Then we walked for a while with Keir and the soldiers that found Josh and me. This is bigger than just three of you.” I point to Clay and his brothers.
“We have a team of people at Shawland Security, and they’re all willing to help,” Clay reassures me. “We’re not alone.”
I nod several times. Reliving everything I saw or heard is soul destroying. “It’s a big part of a human trafficking ring.”
Clay and his brothers close in the gap at the bottom of my bed. Caleb hits record on his cell and places it on my table.