Crossroads of revival, p.1
Crossroads of Revival, page 1
Copyright © 2022 Danielle M Haas All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously , and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locals is entirely coincidental.
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A Danielle M Haas Publishing Book Crossroads of Revival - Injured Pride Series Prequel
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A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Dear Reader,
I’m so glad you decided to take a trip to the Smoky Mountains and found out a little more about Crossroads Mountain Retreat. I wanted to create a little story to introduce the small-town of Pine Valley, Tennessee as well as give you the first glimpse of the retreat and the amazing people who you’ll find there.
If you enjoy this Injured Pride prequel, I hope you’ll grab a copy of Crossroads of Revenge and find out more about Brooke and Lincoln and the danger that throws them together.
Hope to see more of you soon!
Danielle M Haas
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
About the Author
1
The bright, afternoon sun flooded Izzy Sterling’s car. The warm rays couldn’t chase away the chill racing down her spine as she stared at the construction site, the towering equipment and crates of supplies stealing her attention away from the majestic peaks of the Smoky Mountains beyond. The spring weather had done nothing to beat back the gloom and fear that had clung to her since before Christmas—since she’d barely escaped being tortured and sold into a life she couldn’t imagine.
A life she couldn’t stop envisioning, no matter how hard she’d tried.
And now she sat in her beat-up sedan, willing her body to move and climb out of the car. She’d dreaded this day as soon as she’d agreed to help the woman who owned the place—Brooke Mather—restore some of the old cabins behind the half-built log building that currently dominated her view. A suggestion made by her therapist. Dr. Kirkton recommended facing her fears in an attempt to handle the anxiety that had swept in and stalled her life for months.
Not knowing what else to do, Izzy accepted the challenge. She’d called Brooke and asked if she could lend a hand at Crossroads Mountain Retreat. A place Brooke hoped to make a destination for injured law enforcement and veterans, but for Izzy, it was where she’d been taken. Held captive as she waited for rescue, trapped in a nightmare. Brooke was thrilled for the extra help, and Izzy was now committed to spending time in the place where her life had changed forever.
A petite woman with her long brown hair piled on top of her head rounded the corner of the building with a large man in a yellow hard hat and bearded chin. Izzy watched them, the woman’s hands moving in sweeping gestures as she spoke, like she could convey whatever she needed.
As if she could feel Izzy’s eyes on her, the woman faced the car and smiled before waving her arm in the air.
Izzy sighed and secured her long, blond locks in a low ponytail. Great, she’d been spotted. No way she could change her mind and leave now. Shutting off the engine, she stepped onto the gravel that covered the wide parking lot and made her way to the woman’s side.
“Hi! Are you Izzy?” The woman extended a hand. “I’m Brooke. We spoke on the phone.”
Izzy forced a tight smile and shook Brooke’s hand before draping her arms across her middle. “Nice to meet you. Thanks for letting me do this.”
Brooke beamed but understanding lit her brown eyes. “Are you kidding me? Anyone who volunteers to help me get the old cabins back into shape is my new best friend. Scrubbing all the crud out of them won’t be easy, but a little hard work can be good for the soul.”
Relief loosened the knots tying up Izzy’s insides. Brooke might know exactly why Izzy was here, but not mentioning it put her more at ease. If only her mom and sister could be the same way.
Pulling in a deep breath of fresh mountain air, she pushed aside her real reasons for being here. She just wanted to get this over with. “I can scrub with the best of them. Where do we start?”
Brooke hooked her arm through Izzy’s and steered her around the building. “Why don’t I give you a little tour first? There’s not too much to show yet, but hopefully you can see my vision.”
“Sounds good,” Izzy said, falling into step beside her. She might be a good cleaner, but she didn’t relish the thought of scouring through dilapidated cabins. She cast a quick glance at the side of the building, spotting the interior walls and blocks of large spaces inside. “What’s this building for?” She asked, nodding toward the construction site.
“This will be the main lodge,” Brooke said, halting to turn them toward it. “Therapy sessions, dining hall, gym. The whole works. When I was at my lowest, I needed a variety of outlets to lift me back up. I want to make sure I have those same outlets, and more, for everyone who comes here.”
Questions burned the tip of Izzy’s tongue, but she kept them to herself. If she didn’t want to jump into her own issues, she had no right to ask Brooke about hers. Instead, she rounded the building, keeping a wide berth around a giant bulldozer, and the scene before her squeezed her breath from her lungs.
“Beautiful isn’t,” Brooke said, nudging her shoulder.
Unexpected tears filled her eyes, and she sniffed them back. The view of the large lake surrounded by miles of evergreens and looming maples transported her back to a simpler time. “I have so many memories of this place. I didn’t expect being here again to hit me like this.”
Brooke took a step closer, as though wanting to comfort her but also respect her personal space. “Did you come here as a kid? Back when it was a summer camp?”
She nodded and rubbed a hand back and forth over her collarbone—a nervous habit she’d picked up recently. “My sister and I always came to camp. We looked forward to it every year. I even had my first kiss here. We were heartbroken when the camp closed down.”
“Me, too. My grandpa owned it. I spent a lot of time here. Helping out any way I could. When my grandpa left me the land, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it. Then it hit me. This land—this place—was always my refuge. I want this place to be a refuge for others who experienced setbacks like I did. Give members of law enforcement and veterans a place to heal. A place to rebuild their lives.”
Emotion clogged Izzy’s throat, and she coughed to clear it out. Nostalgia and cherished memories battled against the constant fear churning in her gut. “That’s nice. So you mentioned cabins needing scrubbed?”
Brooke clapped her hands and rubbed her palms together. “Yes. I’m salvaging the old bunk houses around the lake. Turning them into individual cabins for the guests. The ones deeper in the woods will be used for storage or torn down.”
The reminder of the cabins tucked deep in the forest made Izzy wince. The memories of huddling in the corner of a run-down cabin, her body shaking from cold and terror, made her muscles rigid.
A gentle hand on her shoulder helped her release a shaky breath. “I’m sorry I brought up those cabins,” Brooke said. “No need to think about what happened. Let’s just lose ourselves in a little work. Maybe crank up some music. I promise I won’t force you to listen to my horrible singing voice.”
Izzy choked out a laugh and nodded. “Sounds good.”
“Brooke! Come quick!” A man emerged from the edge of the trees. His pronounced frown and wide eyes clear from yards away.
Brooke broke into a jog toward him, Izzy following close behind.
“What’s going on, Cruz?” Brooke asked, stopping in front of a clean-shaven police officer she recognized from town.
Cruz, dressed in worn jeans and a ratty t-shirt, wiped the back of his wrist across his forehead, smudging dirt on his sweaty skin. “I found something you’ll want to see.”
“What is it?”
Cruz cast Izzy a quick glance, recognition clear in his blue eyes, then focused back on Brooke. “Chains. Just like the ones we found a few months ago.”
Izzy’s legs weakened and she reached out to lean against Brooke as her world tilted on its axis. She’d seen the chains the police had uncovered before—had barely escaped them being slapped on her wrists and ankles.
And if those chains were back, so were the people who’d put them there.
* * *
The mosquito buzzing around Beau Davis’ head refused to leave no matter how many times he swatted it away. But he couldn’t let it bother him as he trekked through the overgrown weeds toward the cabin where Cruz waited.
Anticipation zipped through him, humming as loud as the annoying insect that refused to leave him alone. Only two weeks out of the police academy and an exciting new case awaited him.
Okay, so not just him. Officer Cruz Sawyer had requested help at the crime scene, and he’d been the only one available when the call came. An opportunity he would use to his full advantage. Not only because he longed to prove himself on the Pine Valley, Tennessee Police Force, but because this case was personal.
&nbs
Jogging up the busted porch steps, he pushed past the door that had been left ajar and approached the small group of people clustered together in the corner of the cabin. Cruz and Brooke stared at a set of metal chains bolted to the wooden floor, and Izzy slouched against the wall with arms folded over her chest and giant blue eyes fixed on her tennis shoes.
Nervous energy churned inside him. He cleared his throat, unsure how to announce himself and hating how self-conscious he felt. Especially in front of Izzy. He hadn’t expected her to be here, and all he wanted was to show her how he’d changed since the last time they’d seen each other. How he’d matured and grown into a good man that she could lean on.
Izzy’s gaze snapped up and met his, and the tiniest flicker of a smile lifted one side of her mouth. “Beau,” she said, her voice soft and wispy as if relieved to see him.
He nodded. “Izzy.”
Cruz straightened and faced him. “Officer Davis. Time to get your feet wet. Come over and take a look at this.”
He crossed the time-wrapped wooden floors and stopped when he was shoulder to shoulder with the officer he respected so much. He flashed a tight smile to Ms. Mather, then dropped into a crouch to study the chains. “These look like new chains. No rust. Even some flecks from the metal are scattered along the floor from when they were bolted down.”
“Exactly,” Cruz said. “Do you have any security back here?”
Brooke shook her head. “There’s nothing here to take, and after we caught those sonsofbitches using the cabins further in the woods before, I didn’t think they’d have the balls to come back. Especially since we started construction on the lodge last week.”
“You think it’s the same group of people?” Izzy’s voice cracked, a shudder shaking each word.
Beau rose to his full height and wished he could offer her a comforting hand, but no way that’d be appropriate.
“Might be the same traffickers,” Cruz said. “Your abductors never gave us other names or pointed a finger at a larger group or trafficking ring. That doesn’t mean one isn’t out there. To be honest, these operations usually have multiple enforcers, not to mention contacts who help in placing the victims.”
Izzy slouched further down on the wall as if to make herself as small as possible. “So what now?”
“We track the chains. See if we can figure out where they were purchased. Go through the woods and look for signs of how they approached the cabin. Find clues that lead us to them.” Confidence leaked into each new idea, but Beau chanced a glance to Cruz to make sure his logic was well received.
“All good ideas,” Cruz said. “Brooke, I can try and pull in more officers, but the force is small and stretched pretty thin. Or you can question your construction crew. Ask if they’ve seen anything—”
Brooke raised a palm. “Say no more. This is my land and I want in on this case. I may not be a police officer anymore, but I won’t sit by and let people use this place to hurt innocent girls. Izzy, you don’t need to be here for this. Do you want me to give you a ride home?”
Beau kicked himself for not thinking of offering her a lift. “I can give her a ride. I mean, if she wants it.”
Izzy set her jaw, and a fire he hadn’t seen in her since they spent the night together after graduation lit her eyes. “I want to help.”
“I understand wanting to help, but just coming here today was a huge step in facing your fears,” Brooke said, crossing the room to wrap an arm across Izzy’s shoulders. “But you don’t have to put yourself back in that place again. We’ve got this. We’ve got you. I promise.”
Izzy leaned against Brooke and a tear plopped over her cheek, twisting Beau’s heart. “The two people who grabbed me that night in December might be in jail, but they took more from me than just a couple hours of my life. They took my peace of mind. They took my courage. I need to find a way to get that back, and I need to make sure I do all I can to stop any other person from losing those things as well. Let me do this. Please.”
Anger at what Izzy had been forced to endure fisted Beau’s hands at his sides. He wanted to sweep in and accept her offer of help, to promise to work by her side until these assholes were caught. But that wasn’t his place and putting Izzy in a bad position could be detrimental to the case as well as her mental state.
Cruz rubbed the back of his neck, his lips swished to the side. “If you’re up for it, we could go over your statement with you again. Talk about that night and see if anything comes to light that could be helpful.”
Izzy bobbed her head up and down. “Yes. I can do that.”
Beau took a step forward, gaze latched on Izzy. “I can handle that. If that’s all right with you.”
“Okay.”
“Perfect,” Cruz said. “Brooke, is there a place they can talk?”
“How about my trailer? I have an office set up in there, but it’s cozy and quiet.”
Beau blew out a long breath, praying no one noticed his nerves. The last time he’d been alone with Izzy had been the best night of his life. Discussing the horrible event that had brought them back together wasn’t the ideal way to be thrust back into her life, but he’d be there for her. He’d help throw the people who hurt her behind bars and then finally tell her everything he’d bottled up for so damn long.
2
Adrenaline rushed through Izzy’s veins, refusing to let her sink into one of the two plush chairs in Brooke’s trailer. She paced the perimeter of the rectangular room, sidestepping the potted Ficus shoved in the corner and not venturing behind the desk on the far end.
The heat of Beau’s gaze followed her every move, making tiny bursts of excitement erupt in the pit of her stomach despite the fear gnawing at every fiber of her being. As much as having someone with her she’d known and trusted for years set her a little more at ease, it also put her more on edge.
She didn’t want Beau to see her as a victim. She wanted him to see her as…what? The girl he spent a whole night kissing and holding, confiding all his hopes and dreams to before she took off in the morning and dodged his calls?
She winced, hating the way things had played out between them and having no idea how to make them right. And at this moment, she had bigger issues to focus on.
“Are you all right?” Beau shifted in the seat he’d taken directly across from the metal desk, bracing his forearms on his knees.
Forcing her feet to stop moving, she faced him and nibbled on her thumbnail. “I guess.”
He frowned, squaring off his strong jaw. The stubble he’d grown since the last time she saw him had a weird way of darkening the green of his eyes. “We can talk about what happened the night you were taken later. You were just dealt a huge shock. Give yourself some time.”
She sucked in a deep breath and finally lowered herself on the soft, brown chair. “No. I can do this now. My mind is just racing a million miles a minute.” She tapped her toe against the floor, her body needing to move as quickly as her brain whirled.
Beau leaned back in his seat and flipped open a notebook. “Okay. I don’t have your statement with me, but I went over the case file. I remember most of it. So it’s up to you how much you want to tell me. How much you want to relive.”
“I relive it every minute of the day.” She blinked the moisture away from her eyes. Emotion lodged in her throat, and she raked her nails up the thighs of her old jeans. “I can still feel his hands on me. Grabbing me. Forcing me into that cabin in the woods. The cold and wind biting into my skin. None of it every leaves.”
As if to drive home the point, a rush of wind flowed through the lone half-open window, carrying with it the sounds of hammers and saws and the chugging of machinery. She rubbed her hands up and down the long sleeves that covered her biceps, but like always, the motion did nothing to warm her.
Jumping to his feet, Beau hurried to shut the window. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that. Is there anything that you’ve remembered since then? Something you didn’t think to tell the police at the time?”
