“Don’t be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry about. It’s going to take some time. Let’s get you inside.”
When the traffic clears, he leads me across the road and into the police station. I exhale the second we’re behind closed doors and gather myself. I saw a therapist yesterday for the first time, and she told me this was normal: A lot of people suffer post-traumatic stress after facing a horrifying ordeal. We’d work through it over time.
“Lara, Noah, welcome.”
I look up to see a man I’ve come to know as Sergeant Walters. He’s been leading the investigation and called us in here today.
We both move toward him. “Sergeant,” Noah says, shaking his hand. “What can we do for you?”
“Come, take a seat.”
We follow him into his office and sit down, taking a seat in front of his desk.
“Sorry to call you in here, but my team has found the body of Bryce after we determined his location from the details you provided.”
I shiver.
It’s a relief, sure, but it also makes things more real.
“Unfortunately, we’ve been unable to locate the cave you told us about and we were wondering if you would be able to help us. We can’t get choppers low enough to see anything so the men are going on foot. It’s very difficult.”
My body freezes. Help them. They want us to go back.
“You want us to go back?” Noah grates out.
“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t have to, believe me. I understand how horrific it must have been to be in there, but those teens have families who need answers, too.”
“No,” I cry, launching out of my seat. “No, I won’t do it.”
I turn and run out the door, hearing Noah calling my name. I round the corner into the reception area where I see Maggie, the woman who picked me up that night, on the floor, her head in her hands, sobbing hysterically. I come to an abrupt stop as I watch her body shake. Her husband, Peter, leans down, curling his arms around her, crying too. What are they doing here?
“Please,” she begs to no one in particular. “I need to find her. I need to put her to rest. My baby. I know she’s gone, I know it in my heart. But she deserves to be put to rest with God, somewhere beautiful. Please.”
My feet are frozen to the floor as she breaks. She just breaks.
One of those teenagers is Maggie and Peter’s child?
I can’t move.
I can’t.
“We’re doing everything we can to find their bodies, ma’am,” an officer says, kneeling down. “The woods are very dense, and there are miles of territory to cover.”
“You’re not doing everything you can,” she screams, her face streaked with tears. “You need to bring in more officers. You need to bring her back from that awful place.”
She wants her child home.
A child who didn’t get a second chance like me.
A child who barely lived.
I didn’t kill him for nothing. I didn’t escape only to fall into another pit of fear and horror. I escaped because I’m strong. I escaped because I wanted to live. Those kids didn’t escape. They never got the chance to discover who they were. They never got to live. Now I have the chance to reunite them with their families so that they can at least be put to rest properly.
Nan’s words repeat in my head, filling my heart with a strength I was allowing to slip again. “You’re all of those things and more, Lara. You’re the kindest girl I know. Look how often you come over here and look after me. You’re the bravest girl I know. I admit you’re a little too loud sometimes, but you go into the world fighting and that makes you something else. You are more than loyal, we both know that. Mostly you’re strong. The strongest girl I know. You could endure anything, anything at all. I believe it with all that I am. Be all those things, Lara, and the world will give you what you need.”
I’m moving before I can think about it, kneeling down in front of the broken couple who helped us in our time of need. She looks up and gasps. I reach for her hands and whisper, “I’m going to go back, and I’m going to find your baby for you. I’m going to make sure you get to bring her home.”
She sobs and clutches me. “You’ve been through enough, dear. I couldn’t…”
“I know what it was like out there,” I say, squeezing her hand. “And without you, we might have never made it to the hospital. Please, let me do this for you.”
Peter reaches out and closes his hand over mine. “Thank you,” he whispers. “You’re so incredibly brave. I don’t know if it was meant to be that we found you that night. We were just out looking for our daughter. Then you were there and the rest of the story fell into place…”
I stand, swallowing the thick lump in my throat. Maybe he’s right. Maybe they found us for a reason, and that reason is so I can return their baby home and they can have a proper good-bye. “I’ll do all I can. I’ll get her home.”
Maggie nods and sobs. “T-t-t-thank you.”
I turn and see Noah staring at me with such love and admiration. I smile shakily and walk over to him, taking his hand. “I’m going back in.”
He cups my face. “You never cease to amaze me, baby. You’re the strongest, most incredible, bravest person I’ve ever met. I love you.”
I lean forward, pressing my forehead against his. “I love you, too.”
He turns to the sergeant. “Let’s get those kids home to their families.”
THIRTY-THREE
My boots crunch over the slowly drying leaves as I take the first step into the forest where I spent over a week of my life living in pure torment. Something strange washes over my body as I walk; it’s not peace, but acceptance. I don’t look around. I don’t focus on anything but the path in front of me. I don’t look at the motorcycle marks embedded in the mud, or the broken trees and dangling cameras that have been pulled down.
I just walk.
I need to bring those kids home to their families.
Noah is behind me and I can feel his fear and anxiety radiating through my body. With each step we move into that forest, we remember more. I keep my shoulders squared and keep reminding myself that Bryce is gone, he can’t hurt us anymore. I can’t let those kids rot in that cave, I can’t let their families hurt. If I can bring one good thing out of this, I can make sure they get home for the burial they deserve.
“This path was created by him,” I say to Sergeant Walters. “He was quite clever, really.”
“Indeed, his plan must have taken years to figure out.”
“He put the coconut trees there. Enough to give us food, but food we had to work hard for.”
“You two are incredibly brave for surviving.”
I shrug, focusing straight ahead. “We did what we had to.”