Dare Me, Part Two Dare Duet Sawyer and Billie: Unchained Attraction Series

by Shandwick, K. L.

  “Is that right? Well, when you catch up with him, tell him he has one more week to collect his shit or I’m putting it out with the trash,” she called after me, as I headed back toward the elevator. Pulling out my cell phone I saw Billie had sent me a couple of texts while I’d been talking upstairs.

  Billie: Where are you? Dinner is getting cold.

  Billie: Answer me when you see this, are you okay?

  Me: Sorry, darlin’ I remembered something I had to do, but coming home now. Twenty minutes. xx

  My mind worked overtime as I climbed back on my motorcycle, thinking it made more sense how Logan had come to be in a hotel with Colby, and why he’d been drunk. However, armed with the truth about Logan’s situation, instead of being able to offer reassurance to Billie and Colby, I’d been left with the task of explaining what Poppy had said, and that Logan could well have been missing.

  My hope was my girl would know of friends he could possibly have been with, but I had already decided not to mention what Poppy had said about Logan losing his job, that was Logan’s story to tell. The last thing I had wanted to do was worry Billie and Colby more but, not being in his circle of friends, I’d had no other way of knowing where to look for him.

  When I arrived home, Billie rushed toward me and hugged me. “Thank goodness, you gave me the fright of my life. I thought something had happened to you on that death trap you ride. I was ten minutes away from calling the nearest trauma center.”

  “Sorry, I do have a reason for going MIA, but let’s eat first and I’ll tell you all about it afterward.”

  Colby had already eaten, had his evening shower or whatever, and was ready for bed. It was 7:30 and Billie settled him in bed with a book then came back downstairs.

  “Are you going to tell me where you went?” she asked before I had the chance to sit her down.

  “Of course, but I wanted Colby to be settled before we spoke about this.”

  “Okayyy,” she said dragging the word out, her eyes narrowing and her expression solemn.

  “I went to find Logan,” I said in a rush.

  “Is he okay?” Her concern hurt my heart because I knew she was going to be even more worried than she had been when he hadn’t turned up to the visitation.

  “I’m not sure, I hope so,” I said, quickly. Taking her hands in mine, I took a deep breath and exhaled.

  “I went to his condo … only to talk to him,” I added when I saw how anxious my confession had made her. “He wasn’t there, but him being in that hotel with Colby makes more sense now. Logan and Poppy haven’t lived together for a while. I think she said a couple of weeks into the new year, so I’m thinking right after they came home from Florida.”

  “That would make sense as to why he brought Colby here instead of taking him to their place,” Billie supposed.

  “Thing is, I spoke to Poppy.” Billie’s back immediately stiffened knowing I had been in contact with her. “And she doesn’t know where Logan is.” I omitted telling her what a hardnosed bitch she was during our conversation. I figured Logan might have gained more sympathy from Billie, and she looked as if she was barely managing as it was. Knowing my woman, it may have made her feel guilty about us, too. “Any ideas of where he could have gone?”

  At first Billie looked anxious, her eyes wide with worry as she shook her head, but as the minutes passed her anguish turned to fear, and I could see she was trying to rein in her feelings and prevent herself from panicking.

  “He only has one single friend, a guy in his seventies who worked in his department when he was younger. I doubt he’d go to any of his married friends.”

  “Good, can you call him? Do you have his number?”

  “No, why would I have it? He had nothing to do with me. Logan went to visit him sometimes, he retired to a place in Lakewood, I think.”

  “Good that’s a start, what’s his name.”

  “Jeremy Diamond,” she replied, taking her hands from mine and wringing them in her lap. I immediately covered them with mine to calm her, grabbed the back of her head to keep her attention, and kissed her forehead.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll find him,” I promise.

  “Thank you,” she replied, her voice small and shaky like she may cry at any minute.

  Pulling out my tablet, I immediately began a background search, and thanks to his unusual last name, I had an address for him in minutes, but no phone number. Who the fuck doesn’t have a phone these days?

  Certain it was the guy and he was only ten minutes away from Billie’s address, I set off again to find out if Logan’s friend had seen him.

  Feelings of anger and frustration that Logan hadn’t turned up to the visitation were mixed with a sense of dread that something bad had happened to him. Having mixed feelings kept my anxiety under control. Although Logan had brought the situation upon himself with Poppy, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the guy. He’d thrown his life with Billie away for someone who hadn’t cared for him as much as he had thought Poppy did.

  It was past 8:30 p.m. by the time I knocked on Jim’s first floor apartment door, and I suddenly wondered if he’d even answer it. Many lone residents, in their seventies, seeing a young guy like me at their door perhaps wouldn’t. As I heard him approach the door I decided to introduce myself to help.

  “Mr. Diamond, I’m sorry to call unannounced at this hour, but I’m a friend of Billie Collier’s, Logan Drummond’s ex-wife. May I speak with you for a minute or two?”

  I felt relieved when I heard him unlock the door and when he cracked open his door, I noticed it had a security chain across it.

  “Thank you,” I said, taking a step back so as not to make him feel anxious. I smiled. “Logan was due to see his son, Colby, today, but he didn’t turn up. We’re obviously concerned about this and I took the liberty of driving out to the condo where he and Poppy lived, but she told me they’d split up some time ago. The reason why I’m here is because an incident last month has given us cause for concern for his welfare.”

  Jim closed his door, took the chain off, and opened it again. “Better come inside,” he told me and wandered back along his hallway. Following him to his sitting room, he offered me a seat and I sat, mainly because he was a small man of about five four and I was over six foot, the last thing I wanted him to feel was intimidated by this tall strange hairy biker he’d let into his home.

  “He’s a mess,” Jim told me. “He was here for four days, and I thought at first he was binge drinking because of the breakup. I figured a few days and he’d get it out of his system and move on. What happened, however, was he became insulting when I told him enough was enough, and I wanted him to clean up his act.”

  “Poppy said he lost his job?” I interjected.

  “That he did, refused my advice to stay home and sober up, went to work drunk, and lost his temper with a couple of students who didn’t hand in their assignments. Department tried to offer him a leave of absence on personal grounds, but he got obnoxious and they ended up escorting him off the premises.

  “Damn.” My heart was racing with concern because I knew if anything were to happen to him Billie and Colby would be devastated. “Do you know where he’s staying?”

  “Yeah he’s staying in some cheap motel.”

  “Can you tell me which one?”

  After obtaining the name of the place where he’d gone, I promised Jim I’d let him know Logan was okay. I headed a mile up the road to the motel he had told me about.

  Approaching the desk, I asked for information about Logan, but the male front desk guy wouldn’t give anything away.

  “Okay, I understand, but I know that he’s here because his car is out there in your parking lot, so if I wait here can you go and ask him to see me, please? This is a matter of life and death, or I wouldn’t be here,” I said, dramatically.

  Eventually he called Logan’s room and there was no reply.

  I tried to tamp my frustration. “Look, I believe this man is in a vulnerable state, hi
s mental health can’t be good. Without going into his personal circumstances, I’m afraid for him.”

  “Sorry, motel policy states…”

  “I don’t care what your rules are, I understand clients have the right to privacy, but you also have a duty to care for your guests. If you don’t physically check on him after what I’ve told you,” I made a big deal of checking out his name badge. “Spencer Dixon, I will be sure to take legal action against the motel and a separate law suit against you for obstruction and negligence if anything were to happen to him after my warning.”

  Immediately Spencer grabbed the keys and led me five doors down from the main entrance. After knocking twice on the door, he took a deep breath and unlocked the door. Pushing past him I entered the small stuffy room which reeked of alcohol and sweat. The heating was on full and the room was stifling.

  Logan’s skin looked gray as he lay on the floor on his back, one leg up on the single queen bed, his arms spread wide, his head fortunately rolled over to one side.

  “Fuck,” I said rushing to kneel by his side, my fingers on one hand over his wrist as the ones on my other searched for a pulse in his throat. “Call 911,” I ordered, my heart pounding so hard I wasn’t sure whether the pulse I felt in my fingers was Logan’s or mine.

  A groan left his throat when I flicked his leg off the bed and onto the floor and began to roll him onto his side, and when I heard this I decided to try for a better response by throwing him into the shower. Picking him up with the help of the front desk clerk, I tossed him over my shoulder before making my way into the small bathroom.

  Lying him into the tub fully dressed, I turned on the shower faucet and spun the dial to cold. I’ll admit I was worried when after a minute he had remained unresponsive, then he suddenly took a deep breath and began to cough up his guts.

  “Logan,” I shouted, slapping his face and rubbing his chest with my fist through his wet T-shirt. When he told me to “Get the fuck off me,” I knew he was going to be all right. Minutes later the responders arrived and dragged him out of the shower. After speaking to him for a few minutes, the paramedic decided an admission was necessary and after attaching an intravenous line and a large bag of fluids they transported him to the nearest ER.

  After throwing the last few hundred dollars in my wallet at the front desk attendant, I asked him to pack up Logan’s shit and told him if he took care of it until tomorrow, I’d pay him more when I collected it. Then I got back on my bike and headed to the emergency room for an update on Logan.

  It was almost 10:30 p.m. by the time I arrived there and before I went inside, I sent off a text to Billie.

  Me: Found Logan, he’s fine. I’ll be home shortly.

  Billie: Thank God. Are you sure he’s okay?”

  Me: Yes, home soon. X

  There was no way I could get into it with Billie over the phone and I wanted to speak to Logan. Actually, I wanted to beat the shit out of him for being so selfish and putting his ex-wife and son through all this anguish, but I knew it wouldn’t have solved anything.

  Chapter Nine

  Logan was conscious, miserable, and feeling sorry for himself when he finally agreed to see me. Apart from a severe case of the shakes he had recovered after being rehydrated, but when I stepped behind the flimsy screen in the emergency room cubicle, what I saw was a mixture of pure hate for me, and humiliation in his eyes at being confronted by his ex-wife’s boyfriend.

  “Did you remember it was visitation day today?” I ground out, unable to hide my anger. His eyes suddenly flared wide and I could see he had no idea what day it was. “Did you even know what day it was?” I barked again.

  “So I fucked up,” was all he replied with a condescending shrug, his head cocked to one side. I wanted to knock it the fuck off his shoulders for the worry he’d caused.

  “Yeah, and that explanation is probably a candidate for understatement of the year. Your kid bore the brunt of your lack of awareness. He’s frightened and hurting, and it’s the second time you’ve let him down. You remember the last time, right? Oh, wait, no you don’t, because you were unconscious, fucking drunk and missed it.”

  A male nurse pulled the screen back and stared me down with a warning glare in his eyes. “If you don’t moderate your tone, sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

  “Sorry,” I replied sheepishly, and drew in a breath. I stood with every muscle in my body locked tight, my fists clenched, and took another deep breath while I tried not to throttle anyone. After staring me down for a moment, I must have convinced him I had better control of myself because he stepped back and pulled the cubicle screen closed again.

  “Didn’t that affect you? That your nine-year-old petrified kid was left alone in a hotel room, miles from home when he couldn’t wake you up, when he didn’t even know where the fuck he was?” I shook my head in frustration.

  “It’s none of your goddamned business,” he threw back.

  “Are you trying to make me lose my shit with you? Are you goading me, Logan?”

  “I’m saying your interference isn’t welcome.” The guy’s arrogance knew no bounds.

  “Not welcome? You understand I had to take Billie to New York City to pick up your son, who was left in a huge hotel in a massive city full of potentially dangerous people, while he got you the help that you needed?” Averting his gaze, he stared above my head and the screen rail. “Hmm, I guess you forgot about that.”

  “Why are you here? I’d have thought you’d have been glad if I died and faded away.”

  “No, that’s the last thing I want to happen. You know why? Because unfortunately you are important to Colby and Billie, therefore you’re important to me.”

  “Is that so?”

  “It is, and you’re right if it was up to me, I’d have left you to rot in that room, but you’re Colby’s dad and unlike you, Billie wants to protect him from the devastation of not having a father around.”

  For the first time I saw the light bulb go on, Billie didn’t have a father growing up while Logan had the benefit of his, it was the main driver for Billie keeping Logan in Colby’s life, no matter what he’d done to her. I stood for several seconds and watched him think on whatever my comment had prompted within him.

  “Logan?” I asked when he looked as if he had nothing to offer in response.

  “What do you want me to say?” he muttered, quietly.

  “I’m not going to tell you what to say, that’s for you to decide.”

  “Okay, I’m ashamed of the mess I’ve made of my life.”

  “Wow, it’s an insular view of your state of affairs, but honest, I suppose. However, the first thing you really need to grasp is this isn’t just your life, the way you’ve behaved, the way you behave in the future, affects all those around you. Colby, your parents, and ultimately Billie, which now affects me and my family. Take today, for example. You have a son worried out of his mind, you have a woman who is concerned about you, even if you don’t deserve it, and I’m here at …” I pulled out my cell, “11:45 p.m. in the evening, why? Because you mean something to the people I love.”

  “My family, you are here because of my family.”

  “No, Logan, Colby is your family, and you stopped being related to Billie when you walked away, but I’ll tell you what, I’ll help you out here and say they are our family. I’m here because I’m being responsible … acting responsibly for their happiness. What have you done to contribute to this lately?”

  “Nothing, I guess,” he spat, a note of sarcasm in his tone.

  “Logan, I know you’re not stupid, far from it, you’re well-educated man, but in my opinion whether you want it or not, a poorly emotionally connected one. You need to learn the world doesn’t start and stop with you. You need to consider the needs of others before your own. I’m not saying all of the time, but look at you, look where you are right now.”

  “I bet you’re getting a kick out of this.”

  “You think? In case you forgot, I
’m the guy who just saved your ass. You could have choked lying on that floor back there. While you’re lying there feeling sorry for yourself, Billie and I are the ones who felt the effect of your behavior on your boy. I’m telling you if you don’t adjust your thinking, you can kiss Colby goodbye, because as he grows, he’ll take more notice of your actions and he’s going to walk away. There are only so many times kids can accept disappointments like that.”

  “Gotcha, it won’t happen again.”

  “Damn straight it won’t, because when Billie hears what’s happened she’s going to apply for sole custody of Colby. You’re too much of a risk to look after a child.”

  The change in his attitude was nothing short of miraculous, and I saw the fear in his eyes at the threat of losing his parental rights over Colby.

  “I … you’re right. I just need a few weeks to sort myself out, get a new place, new job,” he informed me, counting the barriers to seeing his son on his fingers.

  “No, first, you need to stop drinking.”

  Glaring at me through narrowed eyes he shook his head. “I do not have a drinking problem.”

  “Liar. Try again.”

  “Things have gotten on top of me but I’m not alcohol dependent.”

  “Liar,” I stated again.

  “I don’t need it, I drink to forget.”

  “Can you hear yourself? You’ve told me in that last sentence you’re alcohol dependent.” I sighed. “How are you going to get a house with no job?”

  “I have money from the divorce,” he snapped.

  “And how long is that going to last?” What Logan didn’t know was I’d been here several times before, with Hammer and Wiggy. An idea came to mind, and although I still had to put it to Billie, I felt confident enough to extend this thought to Logan. “I can help you, but you’d have to be willing to do it my way,” I stated without feeling.