Amy tore from her husband and ran after Ranger, ready to scream out his name. He yanked the front door open and turned back for one last look. His face glazed with pain. Her heart broke straight down the middle. She was the reason for his pain. And she was wrong. ”Ranger-”
A bright light flashed. Then another. And other. “Get in there girl, I told you. Told you she was a slut. We’re going to get this on the news.”
Ranger slammed to a stop and Amy rammed into his back. She peered around Ranger, knowing who stood there before she actually saw her. Mavis Carter stood beside her niece, the evil little witch Darla.
A white van with the logo, Channel 11 News sat parked in her drive. Darla was an intern at the local news station. Obviously, she hoped to get the position of news anchor with this stunt.
“Get in there closer, girl. He doesn’t have a shirt on. They’ve obviously been cavorting in sin. You got your headline. Army spouse cheats on veteran with his friend. Think of the headlines it’ll make.” Mavis practically salivated. Her whole countenance had turned from mean to maniacal. She lifted her chin, the double-roll beneath quivering from the movement. “See girl. I told you I’d make you regret this.”
“Mavis, I warned you.” Ranger’s fists clenched. His muscles pulled tight. Amy wanted to comfort him and tell him she didn’t care. They could take all the pictures they wanted. She loved him. She loved Ranger.
She didn’t care if the entire country knew.
“You get that, Darla? He threatened me. I think that’s a lawsuit right there”
A vehicle turned down her drive. Amy recognized the truck and groaned. Cord Carter. Great the entire Carter family here to punish her. Cord parked and jumped out of his truck. He approached, his red hair and green eyes so much like Shane’s it was eerie. He had the look of pure menace etched on his features. But his gaze was not locked on Amy. It was locked on Mavis Carter.
“Dammit, Mavis, what the hell are you doing? Have you lost your mind?” Cord bit out and then turned to Amy, his expression softened. “I overheard Rand talking to his brother about what she planned. I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. But don’t worry I’ll take care of this.”
A few shades of relief washed over Amy, but her reality stonewalled it. There was a much bigger shock waiting. Like life changer shock.
Then she felt him. Shane stood right behind her. She closed her eyes, heavy with dread.
“Mother?”
Mavis froze. Her eyes bulged and the blood drained from her face. For once Mavis was speechless.
“Jesus, Steve get your ass over here. Get the camera rolling.” An overweight man lugged a huge camera from the van and came running. Darla pulled a microphone from her purse and shoved it in their faces. “Shane Carter, back from the dead. An honored veteran, purple heart recipient, thought dead for this past year. Where have you been Shane? How did you get home?”
Mavis’s entire body wobbled. She took a hesitant step forward, but the now eager Darla blocked her path. “The world wants to know where you’ve been. Was this all some sort of hoax to garner sympathy?”
Amy gasped. “How dare you?”
Ranger took a menacing step and snatched the mic from her hand. He pulled back and threw it across the yard. “Leech.”
“Shane? Is it really you?” Mavis’s whisper thin voice broke through the chaos. She moved forward and again Darla blocked her path.
The next sound they heard was Darla’s squeal. Mavis grabbed a handful of the girl’s bun and yanked her backward, shoving her to the ground. A now red-faced Mavis turned her attention back to her son. She moved forward as if in a trance and Amy side stepped, bumping into Ranger. They were all crowded on her small front porch, except for Darla who now lay on the ground.
Shane stiffened as Mavis reached a hand towards him. “Is it really you?”
Shane grabbed her wrist and twisted “What are you doing here?”
“Honey, I…”
“You were trying to shame my wife on TV? How do you think that makes me look?”
“But, but, you saw. She’s a whore. She doesn’t deserve you or your name. I’ve been trying to tell you that all along.”
“My wife. My name. Mine. You do this and you ruin MY name.” Shane’s grip tightened and Mavis cried out.
“Honey, please. I’m your mother. You’re hurting me.”
Shane bared his teeth, lips pulled back. “Get off my property.”
“But, I love you. I was trying to show everyone who she really is. A slut.” Even frantic and in pain, Mavis managed to land another blow.
Amy tried to back away from them, but bumped into Ranger. He put his hand on her arm and steadied her. “Do you want me to take care of her?”
Shane’s attention ripped to Ranger. “This is my property. My wife. My fucking mother. I will take care of it.”
Mavis managed a smug look just before Shane flung her backwards to land on top of a still stunned Darla. Amy stared at her husband in shock. She’d never seen him this violent.
Cord stood right behind the two women on the ground, arms crossed, watching the drama. He looked relaxed enough, but Amy got the feeling he was ready to spring if necessary.
“You have shamed me. Get out of here. Now.” Shane strode to the edge of the porch, glaring down at the two women.
Darla pushed and pushed, but couldn’t budge Mavis. Amy didn’t make a move to help. She wanted both of them to suffer. And she couldn’t manage to tear herself from Ranger’s touch. He’d begun caressing her arm with his thumb, rubbing soothing strokes. She wanted to close her eyes and let the rest of the world disappear. Just she and Ranger. Just them. Alone.
She’d fought her feelings long and hard. Now that she’d let them out, she knew she would never be able to put them back in. She needed Ranger.
She loved him.
And she would find a way.
Cord grabbed the women, lifting each of them up by the arm. “I’ll take out the trash.”
Amy offered him a small smile, glad for his presence. Steve, the cameraman, snapped a few more shots and scrambled after them. Darla hopped into the driver side of her news van and Mavis in the passenger seat. Cord shut the door on her. She stared out the window, her gaze filled with longing.
Shane ignored his mother and faced Amy and Ranger. “You can say goodbye. I’ll wait inside. But Amy, I won’t wait long.”
Shane didn’t give her a chance to respond. He strode in through the front door and shut it behind him.
Ranger yanked her into his arms and she went to him, needing to feel him surrounding her. Amy buried her nose in his chest and inhaled deep and long, trying to memorize his scent. How his hard muscles felt beneath her cheek. So strong. Her support. Her love.
“I love you, Amy. Come with me. We can sort this out together.” Ranger’s fingers combed through her hair. She wanted to go with him so bad. More than anything. But Amy knew, if she wanted any hope of harmony with Shane in the future, she couldn’t leave now. Shane would never forgive her, despite his own infidelity. He was Chloe’s father. He had a right to know about her and be a part of her life. Even if they were divorced, Amy needed to maintain a peaceful relationship with Shane.
“I love you, too.” Amy buried her face against him. He had to go. Please don’t leave.
“Come with me. Please.” Ranger’s voice was ragged. And it was her fault. Can’t help it.
She took a breath and stepped back. Ranger followed, holding her. “I can’t. Not until I tell Shane about Chloe. He has a right to know.”
“You can. Give him some time to assimilate. Think of how much shock he has to be in. We can all sit down and work it out later. Together.” Ranger cupped her face between his hands.
Tears pricked her eyes. Ranger’s sincerity tugging forth her emotions with the ease of a small southern breeze. “I can’t leave him like this. Not now. You saw him.” Shane had appeared…broken. And she was still technically his wife.
“Yes, I saw him. He’s no
t the same man he used to be. I don’t want to, but I’m getting this bad feeling about him.”
She did too. “I have to talk to him. He doesn’t even know he’s a father. He doesn’t deserve to hear about Chloe from someone else.”
Ranger clenched his teeth, his jaw ticking and she could literally feel the tension rolling off him. But his hands remained gentle on her face. “Do you think it’s a good idea to tell him about her right now? If he’s been held prisoner for all this time and tortured, that might push him over the edge.”
Amy shook her head. Shane might never forgive her for Ranger, but he would love his daughter. He would. She knew it. “Or it may be what pulls him back home.”
Ranger closed his eyes and she couldn’t help but reach up and caress him. Trace his blond brows, skim his cheeks and square jaw. This man was hers. But she had to take care of her husband and family first. “Ranger, I’m not asking you to leave forever. I am asking you to leave for now. Give us some time.”
His eyes opened and Amy’s stomach clenched at the hardness there. A hardness that had never been there before today. His hands dropped from her and her heart followed them down. “I can’t ask you to choose between us.”
He stepped back. She followed. “I’m not choosing. I’ve made my choice. I chose you.”
“Amy.” Shane spoke from the door, his tone not asking. Amy looked back.
She was between her husband and her lover. The magic carpet ride to happily ever after slipped from beneath her feet. “Just a minute.”
Amy turned back to Ranger, intending to finish her sentence, but he wasn’t looking at her any more. He was staring at Shane, or through him. She couldn’t tell. All she could see was his misery.
“You’ve had long enough,” Shane said.
“Ranger, I love you.”
“You damn well better call me in one hour. If I don’t hear from you, I’m coming back and I’m taking you with me. Whether you want to go or not.”
41
Chapter 41
Amy stared at the door in shock, not knowing what to do. What to say. Unsure of herself without Ranger by her side. Alone with her husband. Shouldn’t she be elated?
She wrapped her arms around her middle and turned back to Shane. He looked terrible. His cheeks carved in sharply beneath his cheekbones, leaving his face gaunt. Almost skeletal. Dark purple shadows smudged beneath sunken eyes. His normally clean-cut hair and smooth face a menagerie of long uneven hanks.
The house suddenly felt cavernous and empty.
Shane was home. After all this time of wondering and worrying about him. The self-condemnation over their fight and his death. She’d moved past her guilt and allowed herself to love, really love, and like a scythe Shane appeared from the grave, severing her tender new feelings.
She should be happy, crying tears of joy after his return, but all she felt was a malignant knot of despair. Amy forced her mind from those thoughts, knowing she needed time to sort it all out. Think about him. About Chloe. Oh Christ, if he’d been shocked about Ranger, she was about to blow his freaking shoes off.
“Shane-“
“You filthy whore. I’m out risking my life. Held hostage, tortured, starved, and what are you doing?” Shane’s upper lip curled, a bulldog ready to bite. “Did you even wait for them to put the coffin in the ground before you started fucking him?”
Her heart tha-thunked at his deadly accurate bombs of guilt. Targeting her conscious with precision. The effect was like a percussion grenade had gone off in her body. Amy jerked. Unable to contain the physical reaction of his accusations. “Whore? You were screwing Hayden, a damn teenager, while you were home! At least I never cheated on you. I didn’t get with Ranger until long after I saw the DNA evidence that you were dead.”
Shane emitted a wild and animalistic snarl that sent her pulse skittering. He looked at her like a starved rabid wolf who’d spotted a wounded doe. And just like a predator, he advanced, pushing her bodily against the wall and pinning her there with an arm at her throat.
She choked, barely able to breathe beneath the painful pressure. Shane lifted his free hand, his spit splattered on her face when he spoke. “You mean this DNA evidence? The evidence they sent using a pair of dull wire cutters?”
Amy stared at the missing pinky and ring fingers on Shane’s left hand and in their place a jagged scar. Nausea erupted on the tail of horror at his torture. “Oh, my God. What did they do to you?”
Shane leaned in, his face not even an inch from hers. “I don’t think you really care what they did. Not since you’ve been so busy spreading your legs. I won’t be able to walk through the streets of my own home town now that you have defiled my name.”
Shane threw her across the room and she landed in the middle of the living room on our hands and knees. Her shoulder slammed into the overturned coffee table. Pain shot up her legs and arms. She lay there, stunned at his violence.
Who was this man?
He advanced and she scrambled away on all fours, unable to get her feet under her. The couch could provide an obstacle between them. It wouldn’t keep her safe, but it would give her precious seconds. The foreboding she’d felt, the intuition something was wrong, came rolling in fast. Shane wasn’t just mad. He was unstable.
She’d hoped to talk to him, explain her feelings. Introduce him to his daughter. But this wasn’t Shane resurrected like he was before. He’d come back…wrong.
She heard his heavy footsteps and practically stumbled behind the couch, jumped to her feet and held on to the piece of furniture for support and armor. Shane’s shoulders heaved, his shirt hanging loose on his body.
“You’re going to pay for betraying me. And then when I’m done with you, I’ll finish him.” Shane dove over the couch and Amy screamed. She ran blind, trying to get away. She should have listened to Ranger.
Shane grabbed her hair and ripped her back. She clutched her scalp, the burning pain, but he just pulled harder. Winding her hair around his fist until she was forced next to him, her head yanked backwards. “Shane, you’re hurting me.”
“You have no idea what pain is.” He jerked her down to her knees. “You have no idea what it feels like to watch someone cut your fingers off while you beg for them to stop.”
His slap caught her unprepared. Stinging pain radiated across her face and the taste of blood filled her mouth.
“You have no idea what it’s like to go with no food for so long you forget what things taste like. Locked in a hole. You forget your own name.”
Amy braced for another blow, but it didn’t come. Shane seemed to shake himself. “No one survives that.” He looked down at her again, this time his eyes weren’t full of hate. They were empty.
“Shane. Please stop.” Amy trembled, knowing deep down the blank look was far worse than the anger.
“Don’t call me that. Never again. Shane is dead.”
“What? I thought you were dead, but you’re not. You’re right here.” He was crazy. Ranger had been right. She had to escape. Now. If she could distract him, maybe, somehow, she could run. Get to her truck.
Shane started walking, dragging her by the hair across the floor. She tried to get up from her knees but he kept going. Her scalp was on fire. “Shane, stop!”
Amy did her best to catch up with him, but she was no match for his speed or power. His smaller size had done nothing to diminish his strength. “I am no longer Shane. I am Abdullah Asad Nassar. And you are an adulterer who must be punished.”
He wasn’t wrong. He wasn’t broken. He was insane.
Amy screamed again but it didn’t affect him in the least. He continued dragging her through the living room and when she realized his destination, their bedroom, dread filled her stomach. What kind of punishment did he intend? “Please, you can’t do this. I’m your wife.”
She kicked, scrambled, anything to get a foothold and rise, but he already crossed the threshold into their bedroom. He threw her near the foot of the bed. Her shoulder hit the h
ardwood floor, her skull cracked against the bedpost. Agony exploded through her head. Dazed, she lay there, unable to make her body work. The room seemed to flicker dark then light. Amy groaned and rolled onto her back.
Not her husband.
Shane squatted beside her and gently brushed her hair from her face. She longed to turn away from him, but her head hurt too much.
“You are my wife. But you are a sinner who must be punished and when I’m sure you have been cleansed, then we can start anew. In my new home.” Shane spoke to her calm and collected, as if he hadn’t just thrown her around like a rag doll.
“This is my home.” Amy managed to croak out.
Shane smiled, for the first time, and she cringed. “No. Your home is with your husband. You will return with me to my true country.”
“You’re insane.” There would be no reasoning with him. No anything.
His crazed smile disappeared and was quickly replaced with an impenetrable mask. “You will not speak to me thus.”
He slapped her again. “You will realize that as a woman you must bow to your husband. You cannot help but do so. I know it is different than you are used to, but I will teach you.”
She licked the trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth. “Screw you.”
“You will, wife. You will.”
Shane stood and she had the brief thought that maybe she was the insane one. She watched, transfixed as he pulled a booted foot back. Time seemed to slow. Her heart pounded hard and she clenched her muscles tight. His foot flew forward and buried in her side. Agony unlike any she’d felt before exploded through her ribs.
She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t do anything but ball up on the floor and fight for breath.
Shane knelt at her side again, sweeping the backs of his fingers across her cheek. “This is Allah’s will. We must obey Him. My master taught me the true path to righteousness is through pain, and so, as your master, I shall teach you.”
42
Chapter 42
“Goddammit!” Ranger slammed into his brother’s house, ready to destroy anything in sight.
Resurrection River: Men of Mercy, Book 2 Page 24
