Flaming Hearts (Beyond Reality Book 2) (16 page)

He then stood up and left the enclosure, heading back to where his family was standing. He saw that his brother was talking on the phone and listening intently to whomever was on the other side. Finally, he hung up.

“I had a hunch and called around to a few taxi companies. If she did leave the hotel she had to have gotten a ride from someone. She doesn’t have a car here, so I figured she’d take a taxi somewhere.”

The others nodded and Dean impatiently gestured for him to continue. He wasn’t usually so brusque, but this was his woman and he was beyond worried about her.

Jonathan continued, “I got lucky and the second company I called had a record of picking up a woman from a restaurant near the hotel around the general time I figured she’d left. I got even luckier and got to talk to the driver himself.” He paused and looked at his brother. “You’re not going to like what he said, Dean.”

Dean nodded. “I don’t like any of this. Go on.”

“He said she looked like she’d been beaten up,” Jonathan said bluntly, knowing now wasn’t the time to sugarcoat anything. They had to get to the bottom of what happened to Becky and find her. “She did come to the refuge. The driver said she asked to come here and he stopped outside the gates. She asked for him to wait and she went around the corner where he couldn’t see her and was gone about ten minutes. When she came back she was crying. He tried again to get her to let him take her to a doctor, but she refused.”

“Where did he finally drop her off?” Dean asked impatiently, trying to come to terms with all he’d learned in the last few minutes.

“He brought her to another hotel on the other side of the city,” Jonathan said.

“Why didn’t she come to us?” Bethany asked.

No one said anything for a moment until Dean finally answered the question he figured everyone was thinking. “I think she was embarrassed. She didn’t want to be a burden. I’ve talked to her on the phone almost every night she’s been in that house and on the show and gotten to know her pretty well. She wanted to let her little coyote know she didn’t abandon her, but whatever happened must have humiliated and embarrassed her and she wasn’t ready to see anyone.”

“But Dean,” his mom said haltingly. “She’s your
One
, doesn’t she know you’d protect her and she’d never have any reason to be embarrassed with you?”

“For starters,” Dean tried to explain something he wasn’t sure he completely understood. “She doesn’t really know you guys. She only knows you’re my family. Sure, she knows me pretty well after all our conversations, but remember, I wasn’t here. She’d have to deal with you guys. She had no idea when I’d be back.” His voice broke on the last word. He hadn’t been here for her. On one hand he knew it wasn’t his fault. He was working, it wasn’t like he was away on a pleasure cruise, but on the other hand, irrationally, it felt like he’d let down the most important person in his life.

Dean cleared his throat and tried to ignore the compassionate looks his family was giving him. They knew how much this was hurting him. “The first instinct anyone has, be that a person or an animal, when they’re hurt is to hide. We want to get away from what’s scaring or hurting us. I’ve seen it over and over again with the women I help set up personal security for. I’m hoping I can find Becky and let her know that this is
her
refuge as much as it is an animal’s. She can always come here to hide if I can’t be around to let her hide in my arms.”

He looked at his family standing around him, supporting him. “I’ll find her,” he said resolutely. “Jonathan, give me the address of the hotel she was dropped off at. I’ll start there.”

“I’ll go with you,” Jonathan said without hesitation.

God, Dean loved his family. They’d do anything for him without asking for anything in return. That loyalty was one reason why he still lived near his folks. He was so grateful Jonathan was making his way back to Arizona as well. He loved having him back in his life.

Steve’s phone rang shrilly, startling everyone. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw it was an unknown number.

“Hello?”

“Hi. Uh, Steve?”

Steve frantically motioned to Dean as he answered. “Yes, Becky, it’s me. Where are you? Are you okay? We’ve been worried sick about you.” There was so much more he wanted to say, but first things first. They had to find her. Dean had to find her.

Becky answered softly, “I’m going to be fine. I’m so sorry I didn’t call you right away. I know you said I could, I just…” Her voice faded off.

Dean was reaching for the phone at the same time Steve was holding it out toward him. Steve knew Dean had to talk to her.

“Sweetheart?” he said softly but urgently. “Tell me where you are and I’ll come and get you. Whatever happened we’ll get through together, okay?”

He heard her sniff and it about killed him.

Becky had to get the tough apology out of the way first. She knew with Dean’s sense of family loyalty she was going to have to answer to that first of all. She repeated what she’d said to his dad. “I’m sorry I didn’t call your dad or brother before.”

“You’re calling now, sweetheart, it’s all that matters. Where are you?” Dean asked again. He didn’t want to break the connection until he found that out.

He heard her take a deep breath. “I’m in town, I’m at the hospital.” At his sharp inhalation she continued on quickly, “But I’m all right, Dean, I promise.”

“We’re on our way,” he said to her, already walking toward his truck. His family immediately mobilized as well. There was no way they were letting Dean go without them. They figured both he and Becky would need their unwavering support to get through whatever happened.

“No, wait, don’t hang up,” Becky pleaded frantically, not wanting him to hang up. Now that she’d made the decision to call and now that she was actually talking to Dean, she didn’t want to let him go.

“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart,” Dean said soothingly. “I’m not hanging up.”

Becky sniffed again, frantically trying to hold her tears back. God, she couldn’t lose it now. “I know you want to know what happened,” she started hesitantly.

“Actually, no,” Dean said surprisingly. “I want to wait for you to tell me where you’ve been and what happened while I have you safe in my arms.”

There was dead silence on the other end of the line for a moment, then Dean heard her sobbing.

“Oh, Becky, God, please don’t. Please don’t cry when I’m not there with you. Hang on, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Becky tried to get it together. God, he never stopped surprising her with the sweet things he said. She figured most people would be clamoring to get the entire story immediately. She didn’t want to tell him about the whole humiliating experience, but she didn’t have a choice. One part of her wanted to tell him on the phone so she wouldn’t have to face him, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen. She had to warn him, though.

“Uh, Dean,” she said, knowing he wasn’t going to like what she said next.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

Becky could hear the truck start up and hear Jonathan in the background talking to someone. It looked like Dean’s entire family was on their way as well. Lovely.

“I, uh, my face…” Hell, she had no idea how to tell him what she looked like.

“I know, Becky. We talked to the cab driver and he said you’d been beaten up. It’s okay. It’ll all be okay.”

Becky nodded, knowing Dean couldn’t see her. Thank goodness he already knew about her face. She figured he knew on one hand, but seeing it would be another story. Oh, well. Nothing she could do about that now.

Becky and Dean continued to talk about nothing in particular until Dean finally told her they were pulling up into the hospital parking lot and he’d be with her soon. They finally hung up. Becky sat on the edge of the bed nervously. They hadn’t admitted her. She was beaten up, but as she’d told Steve, she was essentially all right. They’d put her right arm into a sling to keep her immobile so her collarbone could heal.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing the stupid hospital gown that was way too short when Dean, his parents and Jonathan came through the curtain. She looked up nervously. She had no time to say anything before Dean had caught her up in his arms and was holding her tightly.

Becky’s face was nestled up against his throat. Her one good arm went around his waist without thought, while the other was smushed again his chest, secure in its sling. She felt one of his hands at the back of her head, holding her head to him gently, and the other was against her back, holding her close. She lost it. She couldn’t stop the tears to save her life. Dean was here. He’d make everything better.

Dean turned them around and sat on the edge of the bed, holding Becky to him. God. He’d only gotten a glimpse of her face but that one glimpse was bad enough. He’d seen women who’d been beaten up before, but not someone who belonged to him. Not someone in
his
family. Not someone he loved. He suddenly knew how the relatives of the women he’d helped felt. Helpless. Like riding in a train car with no breaks. There was nothing you could do to make the hurt go away. The only thing he could do was hold her and let her cry. He was shaking. Him. The rock. Shaking. His
One
was hurt and he’d never let her go again.

Dean didn’t know how long he’d been sitting on the bed holding Becky, but when he finally lifted his head and looked around he saw that his family was no longer in the room. They’d given him the privacy he needed with his woman.

Becky had stopped crying a bit ago and was now just sniffling. He could feel the wetness on his neck from her tears. He looked down at Becky and said, trying to lighten the moment, “You aren’t wiping your snot on me, are you?”

Becky laughed lightly as he wanted her to. He took the hand that had been on her head and put a finger under her chin, raising her head until he could see her face fully for the first time. He held back his gasp and tried to look at her objectively.

She had two black eyes, and dark circles under them. Her lip was cut and had obviously been stitched, probably just that morning. He ran his thumb lightly over her lips while continuing to run his gaze over her face. God, what had she been through? And by who? He needed to hear the story, but he’d wait until she was ready. It was enough, for now, she was here in his arms and in one piece.

“Can you tell me what happened now, sweetheart? If not, that’s okay, I’ll wait, but please know you can trust me. I’m here for you. Nothing you say will change the feelings I have for you.”

He watched as Becky nodded and quietly gathered her thoughts.

“I’ve watched TV, I’ve seen movies, I’ve read stories…” she began softly, “but I never thought I’d be in the position to be scared for my life and wonder if I’d live to see the next day.”

Dean’s arms tightened, and he consciously had to tell himself to loosen his hold. This was going to be torture for him, but he knew Becky had to get it out. Hell, he had to hear it. He wanted to know everything she went through so he could best figure out how to help her.

Becky continued, understanding that Dean had himself under control and he’d let her tell the story her way.

“I never figured anyone would hate me enough to want to hurt me. I couldn’t understand that kind of hate. But I get it now. It’s irrational. I tried to stop it, but eventually I figured out that they weren’t going to stop no matter what I said.”

“They?” Dean interrupted, barely holding on to his anger.

Becky nodded, and ignoring Dean’s interruption continued. She told Dean everything that had happened after he’d left for the mountains. How she’d had enough after Derek had tried to attack her after their date.

Afraid Dean would lose control she was surprised when he simply said, “Good for you, Becky. You knew it was time to get out and you did.”

“I wasn’t scared at all when I left the house. All I could think of was you, and how I’d finally get to be with you out in public. It was such a relief.” She sighed. She told Dean about seeing Derek and David getting out of the limo and having a bad feeling about it. She told him about how stupid she’d been by deciding to eat in the restaurant when she should’ve been staying in her room avoiding all the former contestants. She explained how the twins intercepted her while she was eating and about how drunk they were. She even told him about the attempted rapes and when they couldn’t get hard how they’d started taunting her and hitting her. It wasn’t until she started telling him about them writing on her that she broke down again.

“You know, as I lay on the floor of that hotel room I convinced myself it was better for them to hit me than to rape me. They hadn’t broken me. I could take that. It wasn’t until they got out the markers and started writing on me that I lost it.”

Becky started to shake uncontrollably and Dean had to lean down so his ear was right next to her mouth to hear her next words. “I couldn’t stand it that others would see what they did. It was one thing for them to try to rape me, no one could see that, no one would know, but to write all over me was different. Everyone would see. I couldn’t go to your dad, Dean,” she said miserably, “he’d
see
what they did.”

“Ah Jesus, sweetheart,” Dean crooned to the devastated woman in his arms. How did he make her understand what Derek and David did to her wasn’t what people would see?