Shane's Fall (The Escort Series Book 2) (18 page)

She shook her head. The words seemed to be stuck in her throat so she fast forwarded. “I haven’t been able to let anyone touch me since. I asked Shane to help me…” Her words dropped off and he saw Logan’s turmoil-filled eyes flash briefly to him. She called her brother’s name again and when he looked back at her she said, “Afterwards I started hurting myself.”

Agony visibly went through Logan and a guttural sob escaped the man’s throat. Savannah cried at her brother’s expression so Shane grabbed her hand. “It’s okay. Keep going,” he said quietly.

“I started cutting myself with knives, then razor blades. I didn’t know how else to deal with the pain. I was too ashamed to tell you.”

Logan dropped to his knees in front of her and took her face into his hands. “Nothing you do could ever make me ashamed of you,” he said firmly. “Tell me who it was.” He was pleading with her and she finally dropped her head.

“It was Sam.” Her voice was so quiet that Shane barely heard her. Logan was able to keep his hands from tightening on her face at her admission, but the rest of his body went taut with rage. Sam Reynolds, his business partner and friend.

“He came to the house one night looking for you. He said you guys were supposed to meet to talk about the bar he was helping you buy. I thought it was weird because you told me you were going to work that night, but he was your friend so I let him in.”

Shane saw tears fall down Logan’s face as his hands drifted down his sister’s arms. The guilt and pain were a raw thing for his friend. His own gut churned at what Savannah was saying and he couldn’t wait until he found the man and killed him.

“It happened by the door.” She motioned with her head to the cold, hardwood entryway by the front door. “He was on me so fast. I begged him to stop but he just covered my mouth with his hand. I couldn’t stop him,” she sobbed.

“Shhhh, it’s okay,” Logan whispered as he pulled her against his chest. Her sobs turned to choking gasps and Logan stroked her back until she calmed.

“He told me that if I told you, he wouldn’t help you buy the bar. He said he’d fire you and without a job we couldn’t stay together. He said I was still a minor and they could take me away. I believed him.” Logan held her for a long time and she finally settled, her body appearing drained.

“Honey, why don’t you go upstairs and get cleaned up?” She drew back from her brother and then looked at Shane. Her eyes went back to Logan and Shane could tell by the stubborn tilt of her chin that she wasn’t about to leave them alone again. “Shane and I are good,” Logan said roughly but Shane knew that was far from the truth. Logan looked up at him and then said, “Can you take her upstairs and help her get cleaned up?”

Shane was surprised at the request since Logan had to know what helping Savannah meant. He eyed Logan suspiciously and then struggled to his feet. Savannah tried to help him and he winced as pain spread through his body. He wondered if his friend had managed to crack one of his ribs.

“Sweetheart, can you get me some ice?” Shane asked her and she nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.

Logan shot him a hard look and then tried to step past him, but Shane put out his hand. “Don’t.” His friend looked at him murderously and he wondered how much of that was for him and how much was directed at Sam. “I know what you want to do, but if you leave her now it will mess her up even more. Telling you was the hardest thing she’s ever had to do and she needs you now.” Logan stepped back from him, his need for revenge clearly warring with his need to protect his sister. “I’ll go find him as soon as you and she are settled at Gabe’s.” Logan must have been surprised by the deadly conviction in his voice because he looked up and then finally nodded.

“I’ll call Gabe and let him know what happened,” Logan said, his voice hoarse.

Savannah returned and handed him an ice pack. He took it from her and then grabbed her hand and led her up the stairs.

“You’ll be here when I come back down, right Logan?” she said worriedly.

“I’m not going anywhere,” her brother said firmly and smiled at her. She hesitated and then finally allowed Shane to pull her the rest of the way up the stairs.

She was stiff as a board by the time he got her into the bathroom. Her eyes had glazed over and he could tell she was barely hanging on physically and emotionally. He turned the shower on and as steam filled the room, he gently worked the ruined dress off her. The blood had dried and the dress was stiff as he stuffed it into the garbage can. He removed her undergarments and tossed them in the garbage too. Her skin was cold against his hands as he worked and he began to wonder if she might be going into some kind of shock. Worry sifted through him and then he began stripping off his own clothes. She didn’t seem to notice or care and that had him more concerned because he didn’t want her retreating to that dark place that had held her prisoner for so long.

He lifted her over the lip of the tub and pulled her under the spray with him. The impact of the water didn’t seem to have any effect on her. He grabbed the shower gel and dumped a liberal amount in his hand. He cleaned and massaged every inch of her, his fingers gentle but firm as he tried to soothe her tense muscles. Blood ran off her in waves and when he was satisfied it was all gone, he reached for the shampoo.

He felt her relax marginally as he began working her hair into a lather and by the time he was ready to rinse it, she was leaning back against him. Her back brushed his chest over and over as he maneuvered her hair to get it rinsed out completely. When he was satisfied that she was clean, he just held her like that and let the water soothe them both. He wrapped his forearm around her upper chest and used his other hand on her abdomen to pull her back against him so they touched everywhere. His tension eased when she let out a big sigh and her body relaxed completely against his.

It was only when the water started to run cold that he forced himself to move and get her dried off. There was a bathrobe hanging on the back of the bathroom door so he wrapped that around her, then helped her wrap a towel around her head. Within minutes, he had her dressed in the clothes Logan had left for her. She had yet to speak, but he guessed she was saving her energy so she could keep moving for a just a few more minutes. As they headed back downstairs and into the kitchen, he could see that Logan had been busy packing her and himself a bag and Mr. Pickles sat unhappily in a pet carrier, his tail twitching angrily as he let out some creepy mewling sounds that only cats knew how to make.

Shane drove the short distance to Gabe’s apartment and Logan sat in the back with Savannah who had fallen asleep within two minutes. Shane’s phone rang and he looked at the caller ID, then swiped the screen to answer.

“I have a name for you,” Dom said. Shane could hear the distinct clicking of a keyboard in the background.

“Sam Reynolds,” Shane said softly. Logan perked up when he said the name, but Savannah thankfully slept on.

Dom was silent, obviously caught off guard, but he recovered quickly. “Yeah. She gave you his name?”

“Yeah.” Shane quickly told Dom what had happened that night.

He heard Dom curse and then sigh heavily. “He’s a ghost Shane.”

“What do you mean?” Shane asked.

“Sam Reynolds doesn’t exist. His social security number’s fake and the address he uses is an abandoned building on the south side that the city is tearing down in a few weeks.”

“His business-” Shane began, remembering the sports bar Sam owned and that Logan once worked at.

“Smoke and mirrors – elaborate ones. Whoever he is, he’s good at hiding.”

“Shit.”

“What is it?” Logan asked softly. Shane shook his head and Logan tensed.

“Thanks Dom, if you find anything else-” Shane began.

“Don’t bother looking for him at your friend’s bar,” Dom said.

“Why?”

“I stopped by the place an hour ago when his name came up. The place was packed with people, but he was gone. Some drunk moron was behind the bar serving drinks for free. I kicked everyone out and closed the place down, but your friend lost a lot of inventory and the place is trashed. His cash register was emptied too, but that could have been Reynolds.”

“Thanks Dom, I’ll let him know.”

“I’ll keep looking.” With that, Dom disconnected.

“What is it?” Logan asked.

“Let’s talk at Gabe’s. I don’t want her to hear,” he said softly as he looked in the rearview mirror at Savannah who was still out cold, her head leaning on her brother’s shoulder. Logan nodded, tightened his arm around his sister and then stared out the window.

***

Shane stepped carefully over a pile of broken glass as he continued to survey the damage to the bar. It wasn’t as bad as he expected, but he knew the loss of inventory alone would be devastating for Logan. His friend had worked himself to the bone to build this place up from nothing because he saw the potential that no one else did. Shane knew nothing about running a business, but even he could see that the location alone had been a smart move. Tourists littered the street and it was close enough to the stadium that football fans would come in droves celebrating before and after the games.

After reluctantly leaving Savannah with her brother at Gabe’s apartment last night, he’d gone home to try and get some sleep. He had literally run the gamut of emotions yesterday and had been physically and emotionally drained, but the second his head hit the pillow, all he could see was Savannah covered in blood. He knew she was in good hands, but they weren’t his and it made him crazy. When they’d arrived at Gabe and Riley’s, Logan had carried her up to the apartment and into the guest room Riley had readied. Savannah never even stirred, not even when Shane released her cat from the carrier and he immediately scrambled up onto the bed to curl against his mistress. Logan had been hovering behind him so he couldn’t even touch Savannah to reassure himself with her warmth.

Riley had stayed with Savannah in the room in case she woke while he and Logan had filled Gabe in on what had happened at the house. Shane shared Dom’s information with both men and he saw what was left of Logan’s composure shatter. When the man disappeared out onto the balcony to grieve for what had been done to his sister, Gabe followed and Shane took the opportunity to escape.

Less than twenty-four hours ago, he’d realized he was in love with Savannah. And in one day it was gone – he’d lost her as well as his parents and one of his best friends. And then he’d been tormented with visions of Savannah’s lifeless body all night. His body was begging him to seek the relief that he needed, but only the idea of knowing Savannah was still in danger held him back from making that phone call to his dealer. Whoever Sam Reynolds really was, he had Savannah in his sights. There was no doubt that he was the one that had put the blood on her bed. In his conversation with Logan last night, Sam hadn’t seemed to realize Savannah was back in town until the day he’d seen her bringing Logan’s forgotten phone to the bar. It made sense now, why she’d avoided the place all these years.

More guilt had been piled on poor Logan when he remembered his conversation with Sam that day and realized he’d inadvertently told Savannah’s rapist that she was dating someone. They’d contacted the police to let them know about Sam, but all three men knew there was little the cops could do if Sam had decided to disappear. But if he was as obsessed with Savannah as he appeared to be, she was and would be in danger until he was caught. And Shane was helpless to do anything. He couldn’t even be there to keep her safe since he’d destroyed what remaining fragment was left of their relationship yesterday by not telling her the truth about how he felt about her. And if that wasn’t enough, her brother was definitely going to have something to say about any future he may have wanted with her if he could ever manage to get his shit straightened out.

Shane searched the bar until he found the cleaning supplies he was looking for. He began sweeping up the remnants of bottles and glasses and dumped them into a garbage can.

“What are you doing here?”

Shane turned to see Logan standing in the doorframe that led to the back of the space where he had a small office and a closet with supplies and inventory.

“Couldn’t sleep,” was all Shane said.

“How’d you get in?”

“The friend I told you about found a spare key when he locked up last night. I got it from him this morning.”

Logan looked around the bar, pain flashing briefly across his features as he saw what remained of all his hard work.

“I think once we get the glass and trash cleaned up, it’ll look better,” Shane offered as he worked. He waited for Logan to dismiss him but the man said nothing. He finally stepped carefully over the debris and made his way to the bar so he could see what was left. Only a few bottles on the top shelf remained intact.

“Five years,” Logan whispered. “She kept this from me for five years.” He turned and ran his hand over the old wood of the bar. “She thought this place meant more to me than she did.” He slammed his fist down on the top of the bar and then scattered the few remaining glasses that were sitting there. Glass shattered around him, but he didn’t seem to care and then he was turning his attention to the last bottles that had managed to remain untouched. He grabbed one and hurled it across the room. Glass and brown liquid sprayed all over the wall. “I trusted him!” he yelled as he flung the next bottle. “I trusted you!” More glass shattering. “I trusted everyone and you all lied to me!”