Lane (Made From Stone Book 1) (19 page)

Have you ever had a moment in your life where time stood still? Where absolute horror takes over and you can't do anything, much less speak. You operate on autopilot and let your instincts do the work?

Racing to the motel after a text from Gavin that said ‘911 motel’ is exactly that situation. I’ve tried calling no less than a hundred times to both his and Mallory’s phones, but no answer on either. Not knowing what is going on is the worst part. Hoping my brother Lucas is in the loop, I call him and he answers on the first ring.

“Lane, get here now.” Lucas is the one person I can count on to let me know how serious a situation is because he’s never serious. I know without asking that something terrible, devastating and otherwise life altering is awaiting my arrival at the motel. Instead of asking for details, I drop the phone because I refuse to hear it. I can’t hear him tell me Mallory is dead. If I don’t hear it, there’s still hope. Everything is okay. There’s still hope for a future with the only woman I have ever loved.  

This is the longest drive of my life. Even pushing my Jeep to the limit, it feels like I'm moving at a snail's pace. Just as I’m about to take the exit, I see blue flashing lights behind me. I momentarily think about pulling over but decide to just keep going because I’m only a few streets away. It only takes a second for the cops to pull up beside me but instead of them insisting I pull over, a line of blue lights pass me. I was wrong, they aren’t pulling me over, they’re headed to the same place I am, which is worse. I get behind the cop cars and pull onto a scene right out of an action movie. There are dozens of cop cars in front of the motel and I can count at least three ambulances positioned around the entrance to Amy’s room.

I slam the car in park and jump out. I’m racing for the door before I even have a chance to close the one to my car. I see Mallory’s car parked in front and Gavin’s cruiser parked right behind. That’s when the magnitude of this situation truly hits me. It seems every officer in Chicago is at this motel, which is something they only do in one situation. I quickly scan the sea of officers and try to find a familiar face anywhere. I’m sick to my stomach when I see a stretcher coming from the motel room. The kind that carries a body bag.

Not knowing what else to do, I scream for Lucas. I know I can’t be heard over the sirens but it’s all I can do in my search for answers. When I get no response, I rush toward the thin yellow tape the police have put up to mark the crime scene with every intention of breaking through it.

“Lane?” I hear my name being called meekly from behind. I know that voice. It’s my Aunt Kerrigan. I find her and run to her side.

“Do you know what’s going on?” I ask, choking back tears.

“No. Your uncle is in there now. Lucas came out with Mallory a few minutes ago,” she says as she wipes tears from her cheeks. Relief washes over me at the realization that Mallory is alive! I grab my aunt and ask where he took her. She points to the pool area and I rush away. My Mallory is alive! She's safe!

When I arrive, I’m immediately overcome with relief but it's short lived. My heart sinks when I see the condition she’s in. The woman I’m in love with is half naked with her legs wrapped around Lucas and her head lying on his shoulder while he tries to comfort her as she shakes and cries uncontrollably. She’s covered in dark splashes of blood but I don’t think they belong to her. Fear, confusion, and anger all take their turns as I move closer to their side.

“Mallory, baby. I’m here.” I try to whisper.

I see Lucas shake his head ‘No’ at me, as Mallory doesn’t acknowledge me. Why? Shame? Was she raped? Was she beaten? Is she scared? What happened? I wish someone would fucking tell me what’s going on.

“Please, baby. What’s wrong? Talk to me.” I start to run my fingers over her spine, hoping to give comfort.

“GO AWAY! I HATE YOU! GO!” she shouts through tears and sobs; those words rip my heart right out of my chest even if I don’t know why they’re coming from her.

“I’m not leaving. Someone tell me what’s going on.” I plead as I look at Lucas, who again shakes his head at me. The longer I stare at her naked chest pressed against my brother’s body the more on edge I get. I know it’s the last thing I should be worried about, but giving Mallory my shirt is the one thing I can do for her. I quickly remove it and try to hand it to her, but instead of putting it on, she chucks it over the fence into the pool without looking at me once.

I’m not getting the answers I need from either one of them. I don’t want to stress Mallory more than she already is regardless of how confused I am. I head back to Kerrigan and hope she can give me an update. I get closer to her with every intention of finding out what’s happening right now, but I’m distracted by the sounds of metal wheels hitting pavement and I stop walking. My head whips to the right and I find the paramedics coming out of the door. As they move the stretcher, they continue to do chest compressions on the victim, their patient’s arms jumping further off the side of the stretcher with every pump of his chest. I can’t tell right away who it is that chest belongs to, but the moment I look over to my Aunt, it all becomes perfectly clear. I take off in a dead sprint to grab onto her before she hits the ground. Kerrigan's bloodcurdling screams drown out the sound of all the sirens as she collapses in my arms and starts wailing.

Just as the paramedics are about to load Gavin’s limp body into the ambulance, they stop chest compressions and shout “All CLEAR!”

I watch in disbelief as they fill Gavin with electricity. His whole body surges violently, rising from the stretcher and falling back hopelessly. “Charge again, dammit!” The paramedic demands and they try once again but only a loud steady tone comes from the monitor. Both paramedics take turns looking at the screen and doing chest compressions as they load my cousin into the ambulance. At that moment all I can think is, “my brother.” We are all close. We are all brothers and sisters.

I know people are around me. They're trying to talk but I can’t let go of Lucas. I can’t feel my feet, and I know without a doubt that I wouldn’t be able to stand. Worst of all, it feels like my life will fall apart if I let go. If I let go, Gavin will be dead. If I let go, Fred will be alive again. If I let go, Lane will hate me for letting his cousin die. If I let go, I’ll hate myself forever. For now, I have to hold on.

When Lane tried to comfort me earlier, I didn’t know how to respond and I lost it. On one hand, I blame him for my going to the motel in the first place, but on the other hand, I went without telling anyone. I was reckless. Their entire family will blame me, and why wouldn’t they? When shots were fired, I hid. I hid like a coward. I wasn’t afraid of death, but that I wouldn’t see my daughter again if I didn’t save myself. But in hiding, I killed the one person who was there for me. He’s dying and it’s all my fault. I know everyone has a run in with bad luck every now and then, but it follows me and makes itself at home wherever I’m happy. I'm not meant to be happy. I’m not sure if I ever believed in destiny or fate before, but I do now.

“Mallory?” Lucas whispers in my ear.

“What?” I reply, emotionless. The flat tone of my voice matches how I feel. Empty. Alone. How can this feeling ever go away? Fred wanted me. If I’d just talked to him all those months ago, maybe this would have been avoided. I could have found out he wanted money. Maybe Amy wouldn't have been attacked. The one thing I do know is that the people around me aren’t safe. Not Lane, not Amy, not my mother. The thought of the last one brings Fred’s confession back to the front of mind and it gives me one more reason not to let go. Poor Amy.

My thoughts are interrupted as Lucas whispers again. “Mallory….. Mallory? The police want to talk to you. Could you answer some questions?”

“I can’t, Lucas.” I whimper softly into the collar of his shirt, my outer appearance undoubtedly matches my inner right now as I sit here, curled up and stripped almost bare. I feel him running his fingers through my hair, trying to bring me some sort of comfort and I really do wish it were working. I take a few slow deep breaths, trying to help myself somehow.

“That’s ok. But could you tell me? I need to know. The police can listen to our conversation, but you pretend it's just you and me.” He quietly begs for answers as he keeps himself between the police and me. He is doing his best to make me comfortable as I sit nearly naked in front of hundreds of cops. It’s honestly working but I can’t bring myself to admit any of what happened in that motel room.

“Just don’t let go. Please Lucas. Stay with me!”

“I’m staying. It's just you and me, Mallory. Nobody else. Just keep looking at me and tell me what happened… I've got you…”

The irrational urge I have to beat the living shit out of Lucas has never been this strong. Between all of my brothers, we’re the most different. I know he’s just doing what he can to help, but the fact that she’s reaching out for him is torture. My Uncle Maddox and I are standing to the side, and I don’t think Mallory can see us from here. I know we both wish she’d just tell us the whole story, but getting all the details is most important right now. Both Maddox and I hold our breath as she finally starts to speak, afraid of what she’s about to say. This girl has been through hell and back tonight.

“I was mad at Lane for something stupid. I came here to see Amy. I had a lot on my mind. I just found out that my boyfriend is cheating on me so I didn’t think about the time; I just needed my sister.”

Mallory thinks I was cheating on her? I worried maybe she thought I ran after Jill because I might still have feelings for her, but she thinks I would do that? Unable to help myself, I start to walk toward them when my uncle pulls me back. He’s right; we need the rest of the story. We have to make sure that when that fucker died that his intentions died with him. Taking in a deep breath to clear my head, I listen to her finish her story, trying to keep an open mind.

“I was about to leave when I was hit in the back of the head. I heard his voice before I saw his face, but I knew without a doubt who he was. The pain made me fall to my knees, and it took a little bit to focus, but as soon as I saw him, I knew he was planning to kill me. I knew Fred had a gun, but he didn’t show me until he told me to undress. It was like he was playing a sick little game of cat and mouse with me. I tried to run for the door and he pressed the gun under my chin before he tore my shirt off.”

A whimper escapes her as she stops talking and her whole body trembles as she reaches the part I'm certain she’s been avoiding.

“Gavin banged on the door and I told him to run. Lucas? Why didn’t he run?” Mallory cries out and Lucas pulls her tighter.

“It’s not in his nature. He’s an officer, a warrior of sorts. He would’ve done anything to get you out of there.”

After a few moments, she seems to accept his word and continues. “Gavin busted the door open and fired at Fred. He didn’t die right away, but he let go of me. Lucas, I hid after that. I didn’t do anything to help Gavin. I fell to the floor, I just fell.” She started to cry and hide her face in his collar once again.

“You’re supposed to hide, Mallory. That’s what Gavin would’ve wanted you to do. What any one of us would’ve wanted.” Lucas consoles her before pressing the larger issue, “So it was just Mr. Harvey, then?”

Mallory’s matted red hair bounces up and down as shakes her head yes without saying another word. Knowing that we got about all we’re gonna get for now, Maddox turns solemnly and takes off in a jog toward his cruiser and we all start to head back to our vehicles as well; taking his exit as the unspoken instruction we were all waiting on someone to give. Uncle Maddox is right; we all need to get to the hospital.

The drive to the hospital is silent. Mallory finally agreed to let go of Lucas, but she’s still practically on top of him. Thankfully, but not without some convincing, she took the extra shirt I have in my car. The caveman in me wanted to kick one of their asses. I wanted to yell at her for their sudden inseparability, but I know Lucas is giving Mallory what she needs and nothing more. Still, it hurts to know that she isn’t seeking me out for that comfort. As much as I want to hash out our problems right this second, it’s not the time and it’s most definitely not the place.

The last text I got from my sister let me know Gavin went to surgery and it’s still not very promising. I’m not sure if it’s denial or ego, but I feel like there’s no way some random punk like Fred Harvey could end Gavin’s life. There’s no way he’s going out like that, or at least that’s what I’m going with to convince myself. Every member of my family is an important piece of the puzzle, if one piece is removed, none of us will ever be the same.

After pulling into the hospital-parking garage, I find the first open spot and pull in. I open the back door where Mallory is sitting with Lucas. In an attempt to make peace, I reach for her hand and am relieved when she takes it. I hadn’t realized that Mallory wasn’t the only one seeking comfort. I know when we walk through those hospital doors; every one of us will have to be Aunt Kerrigan's support system. For the first time in my life, I feel helpless, scared, and completely alone.

When we get to the hospital doors, I wave Lucas on ahead of us and when the door closes, I pull her in close for a hug. I’m thankful that she responds just the way I’d prayed as she caves into me and lets go of the emotion that’s been building up in her. I run my fingers softly up and down her back and kiss the top of her head as the deep sobs flow from her. I breathe deeply and the scent of vanilla cinnamon coffee still fills my senses. For a moment, we just lean on each other.

“I’m sorry I said I hate you,” she whispers into my chest through tears.

“I know babe. I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” I reply.

She backs up and out of my hold before she asks the question I know she’s been pining for since earlier tonight, “Where were you Lane?”

“It’s a long story. Jill put two and two together at the game. She accused me of getting a student pregnant, and said she was going to the school board. I chased after her so I could explain, but it didn’t help. She’s still going, but I already have a meeting with the school board Monday.”

Mallory shakes her head and begins to cry. “Lane, I went crazy. I thought you still loved her. I worried you were cheating on me and because of that, Gavin is dying. He’s dying Lane.”

I close the gap between us and pull her in close as she continues to cry hysterically. “He isn’t going to die, and Mallory, you’re the only woman I’ve ever loved.”

“You love me? Even though my bad luck is clearly rubbing off on you and your family?” she asks, drying her eyes on my shirt as she looks up at me with hopeful eyes for the first time since the game.

“Bad luck and all. What can I say? You’re it for me.”

“Tonight, I thought I was dying. I was devastated that I didn’t get the chance to tell you I love you. I do love you,” Mallory confesses and my heart feels more full than ever. This girl loves me and that’s not bad luck at all.

I grab her hand and we walk into the hospital. As much as I want to relish this moment, we have bigger issues. Number one is Gavin, number two is I’m still pissed that Mallory would think I would cheat on her. I’m also pissed she went to that motel in the first place. Worst of all, if Gavin doesn’t make it, I do worry that I’ll blame her, as much as I don't want to….