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“Where? Where did you find the cloth?” Brandon snatched it from the man, and under his flashlight beam, it appeared to be Noelle’s. “We need a boat. We need to find her!”
The sheriff rubbed the back of his neck. “This isn’t a lake; it’s part of the bayou. I don’t need light to know there are gators around here. If she was dumped in there unconscious, the bayou would have swallowed her whole.”
Brandon shook his head, unable to process the words. “No, she’s out there, alone, afraid. We have to find her.”
“I won’t risk my men. It’s dangerous, and we won’t be able to see anything in the dark.”
Despair caught Brandon hard, blurring his mind as he grabbed the sheriff’s collar. “Nobody stops looking for her! Do you hear me!”
It was like an out-of-body experience when his fist connected with the man’s jaw. Shapes moved around, separating them before he could inflict serious damage, but still he fought back. “She’s alone, scared, possibly wounded out there. How dare you hesitate and only think about your men? How can you even call yourself a cop!”
Brandon felt Callan’s presence, trying to hold him back, but he was losing his grip, fighting his partner. As he yelled and cursed, the pain became overwhelming, soon replaced by bittersweet desperation.
Soon, the deputies came to help Callan and hold him back. His body strained, slowly draining every ounce of remaining energy until only emptiness engulfed him like a bottomless void.
When his muscles screaming in agony, his lungs burning, Brandon’s mind started to compute again. He wasn’t from the area, but he knew how treacherous marshlands could be, especially at night or without the proper equipment. He lacked experience with this terrain, and there weren’t enough men to do a proper search.
Breathing hard, Brandon stilled, plastered to the ground by Callan. It took some time, but his friend finally released him,helping him back to his feet. Sheriff Bennett waited to the side, looking at him like a predator ready to attack.
Back on his feet, Brandon looked hard at the line of water where the bayou started, hoping to see something improbable. With a sense of civility, and a cop’s logic too, he turned to the Sheriff who nodded.
“I’ve called for backup, dogs, and boats. We’ll be ready at sunrise. Son, if she’s in there, we’ll find her.”
Brandon recognized a softened blow when he heard one. The man didn’t believe Noelle was still alive and that possibility ate at him to the point of almost driving him insane.
Callan came closer, putting a hand on Brandon’s shoulder. “Come on. There’s nothing more we can do for Noelle right now. We’ll be back in the morning for her.”
Brandon could no longer breathe. “You’re talking as if she’s dead. She can’t be. It’s impossible.”
As he rambled and fought against reality, Brandon saw the truth on Callan’s face, one he couldn’t escape, and as he fell to his knees, he thought his world had ended.
He was in love with Noelle, and just as he’d found her, she may be lost to him forever.
CHAPTER 20
The pain was so great. It numbed Brandon to the bone. Noelle was gone, swallowed by the bayou, never to be found again. Her laughter, her beauty, her brilliant brain was now lost to the world and him.
As he felt nothing, everything blurred from the moment he left Port Sulphur, as he was driven back to the city by Callan. His friend remained silent by his side, apart from updating the commander by phone about what had happened and promising to start wrapping up the investigation. Callan tried to bring him into the conversation, but Brandon was too disconnected to carry out a coherent conversation. All he wanted was to be left alone and digest his new reality—one where he had found and lost his true love.
In this fog, he heard that Leanna had been brought to the hospital and was slowly awakening from her drug-induced sleep. Ryland had been freed the moment the entire situation was cleared up, the Commander first to make amends. Now they were safe, Nico and Jordyn joined their friends to be at theirside. On that front, Brandon couldn’t be more grateful; his friends were safe and well now.
Callan tried his best to support him, but Brandon found himself becoming annoyed. It was unfair, but he couldn’t help it, so he tried to soften his tone when he asked him to take him to his apartment. He needed to lock himself inside and... he didn’t know what to do next.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me to the station? You shouldn’t be alone, my friend.”
Brandon shook his head. “I’ll be all right. My system is fried, and all I want is to shut down for a few hours. I didn’t intend to dump everything on your shoulders, Callan. If I can sleep a couple of hours and clear my head, I’ll take back the reins and finish it. I owe it to myself. And to Noelle.”
Just saying her name out loud was like swallowing shards of glass, slicing him right down to his heart.
“I’ve got your six covered, Brandon. I know a team came to replace your door about an hour ago and installed a digital lock until you decide to replace it with a standard lock. Check your messages. You should have the code already. In the meantime, I’ll get things going. Don’t worry about a thing.”
As the vehicle turned into their building’s parking lot, Brandon sighed before getting out of the car. “I’ll text you in the morning. Thanks again for your help, Callan.”
Somber, the man nodded. “I just wish I could’ve done more.”
Unable to find anything else to say, Brandon got out and looked as his friend waved and drove away.
Alone in the cool night air of New Orleans, filled with humidity and the faint smell of flowers, Brandon hesitated to go inside. What was inside apart from utter loneliness? Defeated, he slid his hands in his pockets where his fingers touched a familiar shard, one he’d carried in his pocket since Dominique had given it to him.
