Caffrey Disclosure

Chapter 12 - Miranda

Austin, TX. Friday afternoon. June 25, 2004.

After he left the bank, Neal caught a taxi to take him to Miranda's studio. This was a change from the late '90s, when she'd used her garage to record demos of the songs she wrote. She'd had a lot of success these last few years. Now she had a studio downtown, and recorded demos for other songwriters, too. And some of the singers who picked up her songs liked the sound of her demos so much that they came to her studio to replicate what they'd heard.

Miranda Hunter Garza, Lawson's sister, was a savvy businesswoman on top of her musical talents. She was smart, stubborn and compassionate – exactly what Henry and Neal had needed in their younger days to keep them on their toes. Her daughter, Yvette, was about a year younger than Neal, and had suffered from bronchitis and other respiratory ailments as a child. When Miranda had wanted to use her talents to give back to the community, that effort revolved around music therapy. She specialized in helping patients who needed to strengthen their lungs.

Neal recalled the story as Henry originally told it. Henry had been pushing to be released from the hospital, even though Lawson had concerns that he was moving too fast for someone with cracked ribs and who had been fighting off pneumonia after drowning. Lawson introduced Miranda as a therapist who would evaluate Henry's recovery. She took him on a trip away from the hospital to the University of Texas campus. She gave him a backpack of text books, and said if he could walk the route for his Monday class schedule, she'd tell the hospital that he was well enough to be released.

Henry had been shocked and distressed at how weak he was, realizing he couldn't keep up his usual level of activity. As they rested on the campus grounds before returning to the hospital, Miranda recommended that he go to school part time while his ribs healed, and also that he have physical therapy to regain normal lung capacity. She'd just about talked him into it, when a former roommate saw them and jogged over to say hello. He mentioned that someone had dropped by their old apartment looking for Henry, and described the guy. Henry tried to keep it together, but on the drive back to the hospital he started to panic. He was making plans to leave the hospital and get out of Austin, and Miranda realized something was wrong. She gathered he was about to bolt, even if she couldn't figure out why, and she made him a deal. He could work part time at her studio for the next semester in return for room, board and therapy. There would be no money involved, no rent, no utilities in his name as he would live in the apartment over the garage she'd converted into a recording studio. He'd withdraw from college for a semester and drop out of sight, hidden from whatever had him in such a panic.

He'd taken her up on the offer, and in the spring when he felt responsible for a cousin who was also slowly recovering from pneumonia, he'd brought Neal to Austin hoping to get him the same deal.

Now, entering Miranda's new studio, Neal looked around until he found her office. Before he could say anything, she noticed him and jumped up to hug him tightly. "I thought you were dead!" she accused, as she released him. "You let me believe those rumors for nearly two years before you called me last December."

He apologized again for assuming she'd known Shawn Legend had been lying about Neal Legend's death. And for the first time he admitted the fears he couldn't share with Noelle. "I'm not the one you have to worry about. Henry's disappeared. His father is out for blood and I'm pretty sure Henry's plan is to keep us all safe by sacrificing himself." He ran his hands through his hair. "Have you heard anything from him, Miranda? Anything at all? I'm seriously worried about him."

It had been months since Miranda had heard from his cousin. They sat down in her office and brainstormed places Henry might go, ways he might stay hidden. Miranda was the only person outside of Urban Legend – other than Mozzie, now – who knew who the members were. Neal explained his theory that Henry would hide in his Shawn Legend identity, bringing down Masterson and at the same time leaving clues to tantalize and infuriate Robert. And Miranda was willing to help get ahead of Henry, starting with providing copies of recordings she'd made of Henry, Neal and Angela singing in her studio.