Chapter26
Garrison
It’s been almost two months since I saw Zane Knox.And the relief I feel seeing him and Tessa walk into Anastasia’s coffee shop is strong enough that it beats back the guilt I feel since they cut their trip short and hopped on a plane home.
“Zane.”Anastasia rushes over to him and wraps her arms around her big brother.She’s been an absolute wreck since I told her that the blood is more than likely Sawyer’s.There’s no way they would have been able to grab them unless he was injured.
“Hey, sis,” he says as he squeezes her gently.Releasing her, he turns to me.“What’s the latest?”
At that exact moment, my cell rings.Reaching into my pocket, I withdraw it and check the readout.“Hey, Elijah,” I answer, placing it on speaker.
“I’ve got something.”
“Tell us.”
Zane and Ryker move in closer while Tessa wraps an arm around Anastasia.
“Victor Marks is Katelyn’s husband.But they never divorced.”
“They didn’t?”It’s news to me, but if she was on the run and he died before she got the chance, it’s not really a surprise.
“No.He died ten years ago.Heart attack.The file is rough, though.Looks like she was with him when he died—the only witness.”
“What do you mean?”
“Based on the witness reports, he barged onto the elevator with her and her son, then shoved an elderly man off before the doors closed.The elevator emergency stop was hit, trapping her and her son inside with him.”
I clench my free hand into a fist, the realization hitting home that this is why she’s not a fan of elevators.It’s not the small space but whatever trauma happened to her inside.
“They heard screams from her and the young child, but it was twenty minutes before firefighters arrived to get the doors open.When they did, she was bloodied up pretty bad—hers, not his—and doing chest compressions on him.”
She still tried to save him.
Even after he tried to kill her.
Oh, Katelyn, where are you?
“The brother—Earnest Marks—blamed her for it and tried to pursue criminal charges.None were filed for obvious reasons, especially when the security footage of the elevator was recovered.He didn’t have a leg to stand on, and Katelyn was cleared of any wrongdoing.”
“Earnest Marks,” Zane repeats.“Why do I know that name?”
“He’s the owner of the West Coast Wranglers football team.The same team Victor played for up until his death.”
“He was a football player?”I question.
“A popular one,” Elijah replies.“Had a bright future straight out of college.”
A future that was paid for by Katelyn’s.
“I’m guessing he didn’t let it go?”Ryker asks.
“Not even a little.I did some extra digging, got into some records I won’t mention, but it looks like he’s had a private investigator looking for her for quite some time.”
“Which explains all the moving around,” I say.“She was hiding from him.”
“So it would seem.”Elijah sighs.“As far as I can tell, though, the guy and his team are at training camp in Southern California.He hasn’t even been out of the state since last year when he went to Hawaii.”
“It has to be him,” I say with absolute certainty.“If it were random, they would have left Sawyer for dead.”