The Damaged Heroes Collection [Box Set #1: The Damaged Heroes Collection] (BookStrand Publishing Mainstream)

by James, Sandy

  “We already talked about this, Sarah. Hannah is an adult. She can take care of herself. She can’t keep exploiting your gift to keep a roof over her head.”

  “I know. You’re right. I just... She’s my sister. I can’t just abandon her.”

  “So you give her the house like we talked about. Let her and Doug live there. You’re moving in with me.”

  “With us,” Libby piped up. “At least I hope so.” The last words were so quiet, Sarah barely caught them.

  Something was obviously weighing on the girl’s mind. Sarah could still feel some of the connection between them, and she sensed Libby was troubled. “Libby, what’s wrong?”

  Libby simply shook her head.

  Josh gave Sarah’s hand another squeeze and then let it go. “I’m gonna stop at McDonald’s,” he said as they reached the car. He threw the luggage and his duffle in the trunk. Josh opened the passenger door for Sarah, and she got into the car. “I’m starving.”

  The fast food restaurant was only a few miles from the airport. Sarah soon found herself in line with Josh and Libby, waiting for their food. “Why don’t you find us a table?” Josh asked, glancing toward the crowded dining room.

  Sarah nodded and searched around for a vacant place for them to sit. She finally spotted a table and took several steps toward it when the newspaper rack caught her eye. Feeling like she was finally coming back to the living world after far too long, she grabbed several sections to read while they ate, making sure she got the sports page for Josh.

  Sitting at the table, Sarah watched Libby getting straws and napkins from the drink station. Josh joined his daughter, and they were filling the glasses when Sarah glanced down at the paper. A headline caught her attention. She blinked, not entirely sure of what she was seeing. When the words finally registered in her mind, she grabbed the local news section and opened it to read the story accompanying the sickening headline.

  Local “Faith Healer” Still Missing

  Authorities are still searching for Sarah Reid. Reid, a purported faith healer who has been known to take large payments in return for her services, disappeared over a week ago from the Indianapolis home she shared with her family. According to her sister, Hannah Fanning, Reid left in the company of Pulitzer Prize nominated reporter Joshua Miller ten days ago. While there were no signs of foul play, Fanning insisted Reid wasn’t capable of choosing to leave with the reporter, hinting Reid may have been taken against her will.

  Miller had recently been praised for writing the explosive story exposing Reid’s scheme to exploit her clients, triggering a nationwide flurry of investigative stories about faith healers. Reports are Reid is the mastermind behind one of the most profitable local scams in recent history, a scam that was thoroughly exposed by Miller. After circulation of the story, Miller and Reid were seen leaving the Rockport Airport in his private plane. Eyewitnesses state that Reid was lethargic and might have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

  Speculation about the nature of Reid and Miller’s relationship has been the grist for many talk shows, including Chicago’s “Queen of Gossip,” Tanya Brady. Brady is currently offering to donate $100,000 to the favorite charity of anyone who can provide Reid and Miller’s present location. Comparisons to the 1926 disappearance of the faith-healing evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson are being made as speculation is Reid’s disappearance might be a publicity ploy or an attempt to escape repaying her clients, although no one has come forward asking for reimbursement.

  Sarah couldn’t force herself to read the rest. A wave of nausea roiled through her, and she was amazed she didn’t vomit all over the table.

  It was all a lie. Every single bit of it. A damned lie. He had taken her to Montana to get publicity for the story he’d told her he never wrote. She knew reporters were sleazy, but Josh? Josh was supposed to be different. Sarah had trusted him. She had loved him. She’d handed him her heart.

  And he’d thrown it all right back in her face.

  How much fun he must have had, listening to her talk about her insipid plans for her future—for their future. How stupid he must have thought she was, believing him when he’d told her he loved her. How ridiculous she’d been thinking he really wanted to marry her. How trite he must have assumed she was when she talked about them making a family together, a real family. Her heart hammered so hard in her chest, she was sure everyone in the restaurant could hear it. Bile bubbled in the back of throat.

  Sarah glanced up to see Libby gaping at her. “Sarah? What’s wrong? Are you sick? You look a little green.”

  Folding the newspaper, Sarah turned it to show Libby the headline, and simply sat there, waiting for Josh to join them. She had no idea how she kept calm because her insides churned with a fury that threatened to drive her to her knees. No, she wouldn’t give Joshua Miller any more satisfaction by letting him know he’d gotten to her, that she’d believed all his lies. Nor would she show him the depth of her despair over his betrayal.

  Libby dropped her chin, her eyes focused on the paper. They tracked the lines of print before she gasped and looked back at Sarah with a gaze full of pity. The fact she didn’t even pick the newspaper up to read the story told Sarah that Libby already knew about her father’s betrayal. The girl might have been dismayed, but she clearly wasn’t surprised. Everyone must have known about the story. Josh. Laurie. Libby.

  Everyone except Sarah.

  Josh couldn’t keep from smiling as he set the brown tray full of food on the table and sat next to Sarah. He was happy enough, he almost started to whistle a merry little tune. Things were good now. His life had a clear purpose. He’d learned to never think of a story as cut-and-dry. There were always two sides to every issue, and from now on, his job would be to explore both. And his writing would be better than ever before. Thanks to Sarah Reid. The love he felt for her in his heart nearly overflowed.

  Putting the burgers in front of each of them, he was oblivious to the tension between Libby and Sarah until he glanced up and saw them staring at each other with an intensity that should have created sparks between them. “Sarah? Libby? What’s up?”

  A tear slipped down Libby’s cheek, but she didn’t say a thing. Sarah finally turned to face Josh. The hurt in her eyes was enough to force the air right out of his lungs. “What’s wrong?” He shifted his gaze between Sarah and Libby before settling it on his fiancée. “Do you see someone with an aura?”

  Sarah put her trembling hand on the folded newspaper and pushed it toward Josh, almost knocking the tray off the table.

  “What?” he asked, not understanding what had caused the abrupt change in her. Her index finger landed on a small story in the local section with a headline just above the fold. His first thought was that only stupid personal interest stories ended up in that Godforsaken location. Then the headline caught his eye.

  Josh grabbed the paper and unfolded it so he could read the story. Scanning the words quickly, his mind flew in a thousand different directions. Someone had obviously gotten a hold of the ridiculous cathartic story he’d written before he rescued Sarah. That was the only explanation.

  But how?

  He sure as hell hadn’t sent the story to Mack Stewart—or to anyone for that matter. He couldn’t honestly remember whether he’d even saved the damn thing. At the time he’d been bursting with too many strong feelings to think straight. But it was clear someone had found the story and that it had appeared in print right about the time he took Sarah to the Circle M. Remembering his written words, the sarcastic and accusatory tone of the story, he winced. God, what a nightmare. How could he ever explain this to Sarah? He dropped the paper on the table. “Honey, I—”

  “Did you write a story about me, Joshua? A story that called me a liar and a thief? A phony?”

  “Yes. I mean, no. I mean, yes.” Sounding like a blathering idiot, he struggled to explain what couldn’t be explained. “But Sarah I wrote it before we... And it wasn’t supposed to...” He was making a damned muddled me
ss of it, but he couldn’t think about anything except the horrified look on her face.

  With a strangled cry, Sarah stood up, turned her back to him, and marched toward the exit. Jumping up to follow her, Josh had to grab her arm to get her to stop. Tears streamed down her cheeks. He reached up to brush them away. Sarah slapped his hand as her gaze hardened. Narrowing her eyes, she glared at the fingers he had wrapped around her upper arm.

  Not about to take the hint and let her go, Josh said, “It’s not what you think.”

  “You used me. For a story. That’s all I was to you, a goddamn story. And after we... You used me!” Jerking her arm, trying to get him to release her, Sarah looked on the verge of screaming. Josh held onto her anyway. “You never believed me. You never loved...” The last words drowned into a choked sob.

  He knew he was gripping her too tightly, but he was desperate to get her to hear him out, to listen to his reasonable explanation. If he only had one. He tried to pull her back into the restaurant. “Please, honey. Let’s go sit down. We need to talk about this.”

  “Did you write that story?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Let me go.” Her words were clipped. Harsh and cold. She tried to yank her arm away again. “I mean it. Let me go.”

  “Mister,” a man the size of a small barn said as he approached them. “You best let the lady go.” When Josh ignored him, the guy narrowed his eyes and took a threatening step toward them. “Now.”

  The man outweighed Josh by a good fifty pounds and had an advantage at least four inches in height. Dressed in a red flannel shirt with the sleeves ripped off, jeans full of holes, and a backward dirty ball cap, the guy looked determined to be Sarah’s redneck knight in shining armor. Josh figured he was about to get his ass kicked. He didn’t care. “Sarah, come on. Come sit down and talk to me.”

  “Let me go.”

  “Mister, you better...”

  Before the man could finish the threat, Josh reluctantly released the hold he had on Sarah. Not because he was afraid of the man masquerading as a Mack truck, but because Sarah had begged.

  “Fine,” Josh said, throwing the interloper a glare. “You can back the hell off now.” Not that he wanted to let her go, but getting in a fistfight with this pest wasn’t going to make this situation any better. Sarah was going to have to calm down before she’d even listen to his explanation. What explanation?

  Let’s see you get your way out of this one, idiot.

  Shit, she had to be thinking he took her to Montana because he wanted to keep her away from civilization while the paper ran her story. Worse, she might think he arranged this whole thing as a publicity stunt. “Come on. I love you, Sarah. Can’t we—?”

  A scoffing laugh stopped him mid-sentence. “Liar! You don’t love me. You used me.”

  “C’mon, Sarah. Let’s go talk. Can’t we just—?”

  Sarah didn’t even let him finish his sentence. Slamming the exit door open with both hands, she marched out of the restaurant.

  Josh moved to follow before the same interfering man suddenly blocked his path. “Let her go.”

  “Stay the hell out of my business.”

  “Can’t let a man abuse a defenseless woman,” the guy said in a thick Midwestern twang, narrowing his eyes. “Don’t make me go and call a cop.”

  “Go ahead,” Josh said, settling his hands on his hips to keep from throwing a punch. Looking around the man’s beefy frame, Josh saw Sarah dodge cars as she crossed the road, heading toward the enormous truck stop across the highway. He had to follow her or he’d lose her in the crowd. “Call whoever you want. Just get the hell out of my way.”

  Glancing over his shoulder, the meddlesome man waited a few very long moments before he said, “She’s safe now. You best let her be.” Then he stepped aside, opened the doors, and walked out, heading toward the parking lot of the same truck stop.

  It took all of Josh’s self control not to stop the guy and slug him. Had he not been so desperate to catch Sarah, Josh would have done just that. Running out the door, he narrowly missed being plowed over by a red convertible as he crossed the four-lane road. Josh ran inside the truck stop.

  “Sarah?” He scanned the place as his eyes adjusted from the bright sunlight to the dimmer inside lighting. A few people stared at him, but there wasn’t a sign of her anywhere.

  “Damn it!” He stomped around the convenience store area, couldn’t find her, and then headed to the greasy spoon of a restaurant. After a quick look around, he realized Sarah was gone.

  Josh sighed in resignation and headed back to the McDonald’s. Libby stood waiting just outside the door, tears rolling down her cheeks.

  “It’ll be okay, Miss Elizabeth. We’ll meet her at her house. I’ll fix this.” At least he hoped he would. He didn’t even want to speculate what was flying through Sarah’s mind, what horrible things she thought about him now.

  “Pop... I... This is all—” Libby couldn’t even finish her thought as she cried harder. She finally buried her face in her hands and fell against his chest.

  Wrapping his arms around his daughter, he waited a few moments for her to calm down. Josh patted her back. “It’ll be alright. I’ll make this better. I know how close you are to Sarah, but it’s not that bad. I just don’t know how in the hell someone got their hands on that—” With a shocked gasp, Josh suddenly understood why his daughter was falling to pieces right in front of him. “Oh, Libby. You didn’t send that story to—?”

  Her ragged wail interrupted his sentence.

  “Shh.” Rubbing her back, Josh let Libby cry, knowing she needed to get the hurt out of her system before she’d ever be able to calm down enough to explain how she had gotten her hands on the article Josh wrote about Sarah before he’d accepted the truth of her healing abilities.

  “I’m sorry,” Libby said, sniffling and hiccoughing. “I’m so sorry. I thought... The editor called and...and I was afraid you’d miss your deadline.”

  “How did you find the story?”

  “I searched your laptop. He called when you went to get Sarah, and I thought... You were writing again, and I thought you’d miss the deadline. He sounded really pissed. I thought I’d help you. I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen. Then I was afraid to tell you. Oh, Pop. I’m so sorry.”

  Josh tried to hold his temper, but things were blowing up all around him. The future he’d planned with Sarah was burning to ashes right in front of his eyes. He wanted to scream at Libby, wanted her to know how much he hurt right now. But she was just a kid, and she’d only been trying to help. It couldn’t have been easy for her watching her father grieve and abandon his career for over a year.

  With a forgiving sigh, he kissed the top of Libby’s head. “It’s alright, Libby. I know you meant well.” Giving her a quick squeeze, he turned her loose. “C’mon. We need to go to Sarah’s house. And I need you to tell her what you told me. Hopefully, she’s heading there.”

  * * * *

  “Thanks again for the ride,” Sarah said, slipping out of the truck cab and lowering herself to the ground.

  The trucker who had helped her get away from Josh gave her a nod. “He bothers you again, you give the cops a call, you hear? My sister’s boyfriend knocks her around all the time.” He shook his head. “You need to make better choices than her. Don’t you let no man hit you.”

  Sarah couldn’t hurt anymore if Josh had beaten her. Her battered and bruised heart felt as if he’d worked her over like a heavyweight prizefighter. With a quick nod, Sarah shut the door.

  She’d had the trucker drop her off at the park, hoping for a few moments to think before she faced Hannah and Doug. How was she going to straighten out this mess?

  Tears came to her eyes when she saw the swing set Josh had pushed her on the time he’d walked with her. The day she’d been brave enough to save the injured bird, to show him what she could do, hoping he’d believe her. Now it was clear he’d never believed her. Montana had been a lie. Nothing but a
big, fat, freakin’ lie. She wiped away the tears with the back her hand and headed toward her house.

  Josh wasn’t the man she thought he was. He was just some reporter after another stupid story. He’d probably laughed at how easily Sarah had fallen for his deception. And she’d played right into his hands. She’d fallen for his game. She’d fallen for him.

  Why, Joshua? Why?

  God, what a naïve fool she’d been. Sarah had given him the only gifts that were truly hers to give. She’d given him her love and her body. And what did Josh Miller do with those gifts? He spat on them.

  Lost in her hurt and drowning in feelings of betrayal, Sarah didn’t see the people until they started shouting her name. Shit. The squirrels had come out of the trees—just like she’d expected when she first learned Josh wanted to write a story about her.

  “Sarah! It’s Sarah Reid! She’s back!” A woman ran to her, clutching at Sarah’s hand. Sarah pulled back, rubbing where the lady’s nails had dug into her palm.

  Suddenly surrounded by a small crowd, Sarah’s heart slammed in her ribcage. None of those people had auras. None of them really needed her. Fanatics were always the worst. “Please,” she said, trying to dodge the hands groping to touch her as if she could heal them with something that simple. God, wouldn’t her life be easy if she could. “I need to go inside.”

  She’d almost made it past them and to the safety of the front porch when the first insult reached her. “You’re a fake!” a man’s voice shouted. “You’ll burn in Hell for claiming to be holy! You’re nothing but a phony!”

  She wanted to turn around and shout right back at him. He’d probably be standing there, Bible in hand, ready to condemn her for something he knew nothing about.

  I never claimed to be anything but what I am! I never said I was holy!

  But she’d tried fighting back last time and that had done nothing to change any of their minds. No, these people wouldn’t listen to her. They either wanted her to heal whatever they thought was wrong with them, or they wanted to drag her through the mud. Or better yet, tar and feather her like the days of old. Maybe even burn her at the stake?