by Dana Mason
He sat there for what felt like hours. He could hear Ava and Shane both on the phone. It was hard to pay attention to them. His mind was too overcome with regret and fear.
He heard Brian’s voice but didn’t look up. “Mark, how is she?”
“She’s stable. They took her for some tests,” Shane said.
“Bennett is on his way here. I called him when you left. He had just landed in Arizona. Never even made it out of the airport.”
Mark nodded, not really paying attention.
“He should be here anytime now, it’s a short flight.”
The room grew silent, but Brian’s sharp tone forced Mark to look up. “Lewis is dead.”
“Good.”
“Two shots to the torso, one to the head.”
Shane snickered. “That was Mark’s.”
“You know it, brother.” Brian smiled. “He’s always gone for the head shots, never the chest. He got him right between the eyes as if his lady wasn’t under the bastard. You’d think it would have thrown his shot off a little.”
“It’ll never happen.” Shane’s chin jutted out. “At least he’s in Hell now.”
“I’ll have an officer take both your statements later,” Brian said.
The doctor entered and all heads turned in his direction.
“Mark, you can come in now.”
He nearly jumped out of his chair and headed for the door with Ava right behind him.
“I’m sorry, ma’am—”
“I need to see her, we’re family.” She grabbed Mark’s arm. “I won’t get in the way.”
The doctor looked at her concerned face and nodded.
“We’ll wait here, Mark,” Shane said.
Mark looked up at the sound of his name. “Jamie needs to be—”
“I already called your parents and Ali, don’t worry about it.”
“Thanks.”
When Mark entered the room, he carefully lifted Sarah’s small hand and kissed it. “I’m here, baby. I won’t leave your side again, I promise.”
He looked up when Ava sobbed. He couldn’t comfort her. It was all he could do to keep from sobbing himself. He laid his head down on Sarah’s hand and prayed.
Mark didn’t move again until he heard his name. He looked up, squinting at Brian.
“Mark...bro, how is she?”
Mark shook his head. The only response he had ready.
“This is Detective John Bennett from Nashville Metro.”
Mark put his hand out to shake Johnny’s. “Thanks for coming.”
“Call me Johnny, please.”
Mark wasn’t surprised to see that Johnny was tall and good-looking. As an ex-boyfriend of Sarah’s, he expected it. But he didn’t expect the scruffiness with a five o’clock shadow and longer hair. He certainly didn’t look like a cop and nothing like Mark.
“It’s good to meet you, Mr. Summors,” Johnny said in a drawling accent. Mark fought to suppress a smile and remembered Devon teasing Sarah about her sometimes reoccurring accent.
“You, too.”
They approached the bed and looked down at Sarah. “Mark, man...I’m sorry if I gave you guys a false sense of security.” Brian shook his head. “I should have parked a patrol outside your house. Damn, I’m sorry. She looks awful.”
“I shouldn’t have left her,” Mark said in a cracked voice. “I should have listened to her. She was scared and I...” Mark looked from Brian to Johnny’s pale face as Johnny stared at her.
“That motherfucker!” he raged.
It didn’t sound as scary with the accent, but Mark could relate to Johnny’s feelings anyway.
“How could he do this? Look at her, she’s so tiny.”
“Mark, how’s the baby?” Brian asked.
Mark looked over at the fetal monitor. “Hanging in there, she did a good job protecting her stomach.”
“She’s pregnant?” Johnny asked with a hint of a smile.
Mark nodded.
“I went over to Summors’ and had a look at the video. She didn’t go down without a fight. Did you teach her all those self-defense moves?” Brian asked.
“Yeah. A lot of damn good they did her.”
“Dude, she stabbed him with a butter knife. If only she would’ve gone for the throat. You need to teach her that.” Brian gestured a stab to the neck.
“I’ll try to remember that.”
“What’s her prognosis?” Johnny asked.
“She has a concussion and several lacerations. He beat the hell out of her...bruises all over her body and a couple of broken fingers.”
Johnny raised an eyebrow. “Broken fingers?”
“She punched him a couple of times,” Brian said smugly. “She has a hell of a punch. She broke Maylyn’s nose with that punch.”
“Yeah, she hurt Carl pretty bad too.” Mark lifted her hand and kissed it. “Kevin’s the person who taught her how to throw a punch. He was an amateur boxer.”
“Motherfucker,” Johnny muttered.
“He cut her clothes off with that damned hunting knife. That’s where the cuts came from,” Brian explained. “Too bad she didn’t break his nose, the bastard.”
When Brian said this, Sarah started to move around and tried to open her eyes. Mark leaned in. He wanted to make sure he was the first thing she saw when she woke up.
“Listen, we’ll get out of here and check on you guys later,” Brian said, backing out of the room.
Mark could hear her murmuring as she tried to open her eyes. “Baby, can you look at me. Sarah, open your eyes.” When he said her name, she stopped struggling and batted her eyes open. When they met Mark’s, they filled with tears.
“You’re safe, baby, he can’t hurt you again,” he whispered.
She let out a heartbreaking sob as she squeezed his hand.
“Sarah, relax or they’re going to medicate you again and make you sleep.” Her eyes calmed and her mouth started moving. He felt her hand flutter toward her stomach.
“The baby is fine. She’s fine...I promise. You kept her safe.”
She took a deep, ragged breath of relief and nodded.
“I love you. I’m so sorry I left you alone.”
She shook her head, looked at him with concerned eyes, and murmured a faint, “I love you.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
It was nearly nine o’clock at night when Mark wandered into the waiting room to find Ava, Ali, and, his parents still waiting. He took the seat between Ava and Ali.
“How’s Jamie? Did you tell him what happened?” he asked Ali after a few minutes.
“I told him she was hurt and in the hospital, but no details. He’s worried, but Mom is keeping him busy.”
They all turned at the same time when Johnny Rhay walked into the waiting room. Mark stood up to greet him. “Hi, Johnny.”
“Hey, Mark. How is she?” he asked. Johnny was moving slower than earlier, clearly exhausted.
“She’s awake but the doctor is in with her now. You can see her if you don’t mind waiting.” Mark looked around the room and then introduced everyone. “Johnny, this is Sarah’s best friend, Ava. These are my parents, Beth and Phillip, and Ali.” When he finished, Johnny gave them all a very charming, southern greeting stopping at Ali.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Miss Ali.”
“Johnny is a detective from Nashville and an old friend of Sarah’s.”
“Yes, she was my very first girlfriend,” he said with a charming smile that irritated Mark.
“Oh, are you Johnny something?” Ava asked, wagging a finger at him.
“Yes, ma’am, Johnny Rhay Bennett,” he said, shaking her hand.
“I’ve heard about you. I bet I still have the letters Sarah wrote me when she was in Nashville.”
“Oh, Sarah Jean wrote you letters, huh? That’s a hell of a lot more than anyone else got.”
Mark turned when he heard rushing footsteps coming up behind him.
“Mark, what’s going on? How is she?” Devon s
aid.
“I can’t believe you got here so fast.”
“I left as soon as Ava called. Is Sarah okay?”
“She’s better. When the doctor is finished, you can go in.”
“Devon?” Johnny drawled from behind Mark. Devon’s eyes squinted, and he turned to peer around Mark.
“Son of a...Johnny Rhay, holy shit.” Devon smiled big and jumped into Johnny, doing a body slam that almost shook the room. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I was investigatin’ Kevin Lewis, but he snuck away from me.”
“Investigatin’,” Devon said, mocking his accent. “What are you talking about?”
Mark smiled. “I guess you better get your radar fixed, Dev. Don’t you recognize a cop when you see one?”
Devon’s eyes widened. “I don’t believe it.”
Mark left the room so they could catch up. He didn’t like being away from her, but he wanted to stay out of the doctor’s way. He stood in the hall and waited alone until Ali came out of the waiting room.
“How are you holding up?”
“Barely,” he said as she hugged him. “This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have left her alone.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. She’s going to be okay.”
Mark leaned against the wall trying to avoid her eyes. She was right but that didn’t lessen his guilt.
“You really love her, don’t you?”
He tilted his head and glared at her. “Why do you sound surprised?”
“I’m not surprised. She’s beautiful, smart, sexy, and rich.”
“Ali—”
She held her hand up. “She loves Jamie...and she loves you, too.” She smiled at him. “She’s timorous—I imagine that has a lot to do with Maylyn—but even as timid as she is, it’s obvious she loves you.”
“Ali, why are you here?”
“I came to show my support. It’s the least I can do after what Carl did to her.”
Mark looked up at her sharply. “He told you?”
“Two black eyes and a bloody nose left him with little choice.” She let out a humorless chuckle. “I wanted to believe the I walked into a wall story, but I’m not stupid.”
“Sorry,” Mark said.
“No, you’re not, and neither am I. Did you give him the black eyes?”
“Nope, I didn’t have the pleasure. Sarah did it when he cornered her.”
This time her laugh was full of humor. “Good for her. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“I threw him out. I don’t want a man like that around my sons. Carl and I assumed Maylyn raped her. We didn’t know the details...at least not until today. How he could so easily victimize her again...it’s disgusting. I can’t imagine what she’s going through.”
“I’ll take care of her.”
“I hope she lets you. If anyone can help her heal, it’s you.” Ali hesitated for a long time, staring at the floor. “I owe you an apology, Mark.”
“Don’t, Ali.” He waved her off. “We’re beyond—”
“I’m sorry for what I put you through. I’m sorry I let him into my life.”
“You can’t regret him when he gave you Micah.”
She smiled again and it lit her face up. “Micah is a gift.”
“It doesn’t matter anyway. I know now that my feelings for you were only a shadow of what they should have been. It would’ve ended eventually.”
“Your feelings for her are that strong?” she asked.
“Stronger—” He thought about the way Sarah looked in her hospital bed and it turned his stomach. “I’ve never felt like this. If something happens to her...” He made a fist and slightly pounded his forehead to push the dark images away. “She’s pregnant, I left her alone, and let a maniac have her.”
“Walking around with all this guilt will not help her recovery. Don’t do this, it’s a vicious cycle, you feel guilt and that’ll make her feel guilty, just stop.”
Mark nodded, she was right. “What are you going to do now? Will you be okay with the baby on your own?”
“I’ve been on my own for the last nine months. Carl never wanted a baby. He hardly spoke ten words to me since I told him about the pregnancy. He would have eventually left anyway.”
Mark shook his head. “Why didn’t you talk to me?”
“I couldn’t. Hell, Mark, with everything that happened between you, Carl, and me, I couldn’t come crying to you.”
“You can always come to me. I’ll always be here.”
“But I couldn’t ask you this time. I couldn’t...”
“If you need anything, especially now, call me.”
“I will. Thank you.” She gestured to the waiting room. “Who’s the cowboy?” she asked.
He smiled and thought about Sarah again.
“He’s a cop from Nashville. He’s investigating the murder of Sarah’s stepfather, Charlie. We suspect Kevin Lewis murdered him trying to get to her—”
Mark stopped when Sarah’s doctor came out of her room.
“Hey, Ali, will you go tell Devon he can come back now. I’ll meet him in there.” She nodded and went back into the waiting room.
He walked into Sarah’s room and found her propped up on pillows trying to sit up.
“Hi, babe.” he smiled at her. “Are you ready to see Devon?”
Her eyes grew wide. “He’s here?”
“He raced down here as soon as he got the call.”
“Hey, Baby Sis,” Devon said from behind Mark.
Devon propped himself on the edge of her bed before carefully leaning over to hug her.
“He’s dead, Devon, Kevin is dead. Mark killed him.”
Devon stayed until Mark reminded them about the other people outside waiting to see her. When Devon left, Mark walked out with him.
“Johnny, do you want to come back now?” Mark asked, breaking up his and Ali’s conversation.
“Yes, thank you.” He stood up and followed Mark out of the waiting room.
“Does it bother you if I make conversation with your ex-wife?” Johnny asked as they walked toward Sarah’s room.
“Not at all, converse with her all you want. I’m not her keeper.”
When they entered Sarah’s room, she gasped and tried to hide her face. “I didn’t know you were coming,” she shrieked. “Johnny Rhay, how the hell are you?” she asked, reaching her arms out to him.
“Well, I’m better ’n you darlin’,” he said, drawling out his accent a little too deeply in Mark’s opinion.
He hugged her and then pulled back, pouring his long body into the chair next to her bed. “You seem to be feeling a bit better now.”
“Yeah, I might survive.”
“Sarah Jean, why didn’t you call me when all this trouble started?” He leaned forward in his chair to look into her swollen eyes. “I could have helped instead of you spending eight years hiding from the bastard. You should have called me.”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t call you. I took off to freaking Flagstaff and got into this trouble on my own.”
“Don’t be foolish, you moved cause your mama moved. I know the story. And don’t forget, I know you, girl...and where you come from.”
“Yeah, but I was never going back, Johnny. That’s why I couldn’t stay in touch. It was too hard.” She frowned, unable to finish her sentence.
“You don’t have to tell me,” he muttered. “There’s no reason for you to miss a place like that, it wasn’t meant to be your home. Things were hard for you there, I remember.”
He smiled his charming smile back at her. “Sarah Jean, you were always a lady even at thirteen. Too classy for The Park, that’s for sure...and you still are. Some things never change.”
“I wasn’t the only one, you didn’t belong there either. A detective now, huh?”
“Yeah, well, back then we were both just a couple of lost orphans trying to find a home and a place to be.” He smiled halfhearted
ly at the memory.
She’d found what she was looking for. She belonged with Mark.
“I’ve finally found my place,” she whispered.
“You sure did, darlin’. Your home is wherever that man is.” He gestured toward Mark when he said it. “I see it in your eyes and I see it in his when he looks at you.”
She smiled and followed it up with a little yawn.
“That’s my hint to leave.” He stood up slowly and leaned in to kiss her cheek.
“Is it alright if I come back tomorrow?” he asked, looking from Sarah to Mark.
“Of course, she’ll still be here. Hey, do you have a place to stay tonight?”
“Yeah, I’m in a motel up the street.” He walked toward Mark and handed him a business card. “Will you call me if there are any changes? I’ll be working with Detective Hammel tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I’ll keep you updated. Thanks for coming out and checking into Kevin Lewis for us.” Mark reached out, shook Johnny’s hand, and then followed it up by handing him his business card. “Our home number and Sarah’s cell number is on the back.”
When Johnny Rhay was gone, Mark yawned too, resting his forehead on hers.
“Sorry I ruined our date,” she said.
“It’s not ruined, just postponed.” He lifted his head and gave her a seductive smile.
“Are you going home?”
“Not without you.”
“That’s not necessary...you need some rest.”
“No, I’m not leaving you alone.”
She nodded, and he could see her eyes water.
“Baby, you never have to be alone ever again. I promise.”
“Will you lie down with me?”
“Of course, scoot over—carefully.” He helped her as she slowly inched over to make room for him. He slipped out of his shoes and crawled into the bed next to her, spooning her hips with his.
“I love you.” Mark rested his hand on her belly when he said it. “More than my own life, I love you, baby.” He squeezed her softly and inhaled, taking in the scent of blood and dirt. The smell reminded him of how close he came to losing her.
“I’m so sorry. I should have listened to you. I broke my promise and I let that monster get to you. I’ll never forgive myself.” His chest heaved when he said it.
