Blind Faith - Sharon Sala Page 0,26

you some. The kid was missing for four days in the Chisos Mountains. His family hired me to find him, and I did...in a cave. He was in bad shape when I found him, and I didn’t think he’d make it here alive. So the fact that he’s in surgery is good news to me. We’ll just be in the waiting room. Do you need the phone number of his parents?”

She pulled up Tony’s records. “No, we have it, but thank you for offering. The surgical team will give periodic updates. I’ll let them know he has people here. The waiting room is that way,” she said, pointing toward the elevator they’d just exited.

They went back down the hall and into the waiting area and sat down—Wyrick chose a chair in the corner, Charlie in a chair by the window, directly across the room from her.

The physical distance between them was telling. It was only when they were working that their connection went live.

Wyrick pulled out her phone.

Charlie shoved a hand through his hair and then rubbed the back of his neck. Between sleeping on the ground last night and crawling around in a cave this afternoon, he had a stiff neck. He was too damn tall for small tents and low ceilings.

And so they sat while the sun went down, and night came to West Texas.

About two hours into their wait, Baxter and Macie Dawson walked into the waiting room. When they saw Charlie and Wyrick, Macie burst into tears and hugged him.

“We’ll never be able to thank you enough,” she said.

“Thank Wyrick, too,” Charlie said. “If it hadn’t been for her, I would still be looking.”

“I thought you were in Dallas all this time,” Macie said.

“I was,” Wyrick said.

Macie frowned. “Then how—?”

“She flew herself down. Now that we have the waiting room to ourselves, we need to talk. Come sit down, both of you,” Charlie said.

“They said he’s still in surgery,” Baxter said. “Thank you so much for being here.”

“Yes, I did the job you asked me to do, but there are things you need to know about this case before I leave. I don’t know how it’s going to play out, but there’s a whole lot about Randall and Justin’s story that doesn’t match up to what I found.”

Macie gasped. “What do you mean?”

“It all started with Wyrick’s research. I thought the whole story Randall and Justin told didn’t sound right. So I had Wyrick do some research after I left, which included interviewing Tony’s girlfriend, Trish, and both Randall and Justin. I’m going to let her tell you what she found out and what they told her.”

“I’ll be brief,” Wyrick said. “What none of you knew, including Tony, is that Trish Caldwell dated Randall before you all ever moved to Dallas. They broke up months before your arrival, but that old history was there, and she never told Tony.”

Macie gasped. The implications were immediate.

“Also, all three of the boys were drunk that first night, and both boys admitted it. Randall said Tony kept talking about Trish and how great she was, and Randall popped off and told him she’d been his girl first, and then Justin added fuel to the fire by lying, insinuating that Trish slept around. They had a fight. And supposedly, they all finally went to bed and passed out.”

Baxter groaned.

Wyrick kept talking. “Neither boy has admitted it, but Randall and Justin made friends with Tony because he was dating Trish. Justin said Trish was the one who dumped Randall, and that Randall was jealous of Tony and Trish. It’s looking like the hiking trip was some kind of a setup, but I don’t think what happened was intentional.”

Macie was pale and shaking, and Baxter’s face was flushed in anger.

“Why did you want Tony’s cap?” Macie asked.

Wyrick wouldn’t look at Charlie, but she never hesitated.

“To see if I could tune in to where he was.”

Macie’s eyes widened. “You mean...like a psychic? Are you a psychic?”

Wyrick shrugged. “I am many things, Mrs. Dawson. I can’t take credit for any of it. It’s just how I am.”

Charlie picked up the story.

“When she was interviewing Randall, despite the answers he was giving her, she saw a different truth. She saw them on a trail, and they were arguing. It was daylight, not night, like they claimed.”

“Oh my God,” Baxter said. “And if it wasn’t for you two, their lies would have stood as truth.”

“Not for long,” Charlie said. “I found Tony’s backpack first,” he said, and