Things Lost In The Fire (2 page)

He stripped off his coat, tossing it to the floor. She spotted the small handgun he carried tucked into his belt. When he lifted it out her heart sank with dread, but he set it aside on her dresser and slowly closed the door.

As he approached, she was able to get a good look at him. He was her mother’s new drummer, Lee Walker. He hadn’t been around for more than a month, but she knew he was dating Georgina, another ex-member of Albatross. Rumors had circulated about his drug use, and she’d noticed him watching her before.

His hand swiped through his untidy length of brown hair as he stared at her, madness widening his eerie dark eyes. His tongue slid along his teeth as if he contemplated what to do with her.

In desperation she tried to slide off the bed and run, only to crumple on the floor, reeling with dizzying pain. He tossed her back onto the bed and pinned her beneath his body, his right hand holding her wrists over her head, fingers digging into her skin. His other hand clamped over her mouth again when she attempted to cry out. She sucked in quick gasps of air through her nose, breathing in the scent of tobacco and sweat as sobs built and exploded in her throat.

“They won’t hear you.” His eyes bored into hers as a sick smile twisted his lips. “Just relax now. I know you want this.”

She closed her eyes and turned her face into the blankets. The more she tried to fight, the tighter his grip became. Pain shot through her as more tears fell.

When he released her mouth to glide his hand under her nightgown and over her inner thigh, she shuddered in disbelief. The weight of him on top of her was crushing, suffocating. She knew what sex was, she wasn’t ignorant. But she also knew this was very wrong.

“Please, don’t,” she begged, trembling as he forced her legs apart. She couldn’t look him in the eye, couldn’t bear it. There was something wrong with him, something manic and evil that seemed almost inhuman. She heard him fumble for the zipper on his jeans and the horror of what he was about to do set in.

She made another attempt to get free, only to have him backhand her across the face again. The blow sent sparks flying behind her eyes as she reeled from the hot, intense wave of pain. She knew then she had no chance of escaping. Her only option was to lay back, accept, and pray it would soon be over.

A dark haze swept in, her body’s instinctive defense numbing her to the horrors of what was happening. She felt herself slipping into a cocoon, retreating away from the monster as he tore aside her nightgown. In her head she sang one of her father’s songs, trying to picture his face. Instead all she could imagine was her mother, drunk and laughing like a hyena at someone else’s slaughter. Her mother had let this happen. It was all her fault.

Somewhere far away she heard her name. Someone shouted, followed by a release of pressure from her chest. She felt the monster rise away from her, a rush of cool air replacing the heat of his body. Still unable to open her eyes, she hovered in a daze, slipping in and out of the darkness.

An echoing pop thundered through the room. She felt it down to her very bones seconds before a mountain crashed beside her.

Her eyes flew open, dilated and confused, only to land upon the empty gaze of the monster. The bottomless pits of his evil stared back at her as crimson streams drained from a gaping hole in his chest.

It was the last thing she saw before the world upended and turned to black.

SHE REMEMBERED the voices. They swam just out of reach, vibrating hollowly in the distance. Then arms came around her and lifted her away, away from the darkness and coppery scent of blood. The pungent smell of death.

Tommy assessed her injuries. She thought he asked her if she’d done it. If she’d killed the monster. Had she? She didn’t think so.

Then her mother’s shrieking cries had filled the air, useless and obscene. They had blended with the roaring sound of music and the startled faces of strangers as Sadie was carried to the ambulance waiting outside.

She wasn’t hurt. At least not in the way everyone feared. The nurse had treated a cut above her right cheekbone and there’d be bruises on her wrists and legs, but nothing more. She’d been spared a horrific fate, though she had no idea how. Why couldn’t she remember?

Who killed Lee Walker? Who saved her?

Tommy insisted he heard the gunshot from downstairs but when he got to Sadie’s room, there was no one. The gun was on the floor, Walker was dead, and Sadie was out cold. The police were scrambling to find witnesses, to find an explanation. They’d found out little from her, convinced she’d remember in time.

But she hadn’t yet, and she knew she wouldn’t. Whoever had shot Lee Walker didn’t want to be found. Though she’d never believed in such things, part of her imagined a guardian angel sweeping in to save her. It made more sense than anything else.

As she sat on the edge of the hospital bed the following morning, she heard furious shouting beyond the closed door of the room. Her mother was arguing with the police in the hallway. Though Sadie couldn’t hear everything that was being said, the sound of it made her feel sick to her stomach. She hugged herself, staring down at the holes in the faded jeans Tommy had brought her. With it she wore an old Albatross T-shirt, the black fabric and white logo faded from years of use.

Moments later, her mother got quiet. Sadie’s eyes shot to the door, hearing footsteps just outside. Valerie called out the instant before Sadie’s father, Ben, swept into the room.

It had been nearly three months since Sadie had seen him. Three months since he’d bothered to notice her. She hadn’t expected him to make the trip from Boston for her now.

He went straight to her without speaking. No words of comfort, no relieved hugs, nothing. Ben McRae was notoriously cold as stone and impatient. And as always, Sadie felt like nothing but an inconvenience to him.

His hand clamped around her arm at the elbow and he lifted her to her feet, pulling her from the room. Sadie chanced a look at his face, saw it creased with anger as he squared off with his ex-wife. His crystal blue eyes frosted with livid fury.

“Yet again, I have to clean up your goddamn mess,” he snapped at Valerie, shaking his head with disgust.

Valerie cocked her chin defiantly and matched his frost with molten fire. “Maybe if you hadn’t moved to Boston she could’ve been with you last night.”

“Maybe if you hadn’t hired a fucking rapist to be your drummer none of this would’ve happened,” Ben fired back. “What the hell is wrong with you, Val?”

Sadie winced, finding herself trapped between the two of them. It was always the same. Accusations, bitterness, rage. Her mother shed some tears for dramatic effect, and her father balled his free hand into a fist, as though wishing he could use it.

For years they’d used their aggressive passion for each other in their music. They fed on it as much as the audience did while watching them. It had been electrifying, dramatic, and the stuff of legend. Albatross had long been known for its explosive lead singers and their volatile relationship. And when they’d split up at last, unable to survive the heat any longer, Sadie had been left to wither away in their oppressive shadows.

A police officer approached. “Ms. Ryan, we’ll need you to come with us down to the station.”

Valerie whirled around, indignation darkening her voice. “Excuse me?”

“I’m afraid you’re under arrest,” the officer continued, reaching instinctively for the handcuffs on his belt. “We can keep this civil and not give the press anything to gawk at, but that’s up to you.”

“What the hell am I being arrested for? I didn’t do anything!” Valerie threw up her hands dramatically. “My baby is in the hospital and you people want me to just
leave
her?”

“You don’t have a choice, ma’am. We found drugs at your residence and have witnesses who claim you were using. We have to take you in for child endangerment.” The officer nodded to his partner, who reached for Valerie’s arms.

She struggled against his grip, shrieking at the top of her lungs. “
No!
You can’t take me! Don’t you know who I am?”

Sadie watched with wide eyes as the police arrested her mother. So they
were
making her pay for what she’d let happen. She was going away. A sliver of hope glittered through her at the prospect, mingling with the childish satisfaction of revenge.

A vindictive smile twisted her father’s lips. His gaze was set on his ex-wife as the cops dragged her out of the room, kicking and screaming. He didn’t bother to hide the pleasure he got from seeing it.

“Come on. Let’s go.” He nudged Sadie and led her in the opposite direction, keeping his hand locked tight around her elbow. She stumbled along as they came up to the glass entrance doors of the hospital. Outside, she could see dozens of people gathering and the black town car that would take her away.

Ben grimaced at the sight of the crowd but said nothing. Instead he slipped on a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses and kept Sadie close. His bodyguard waited by the door for them.

As they emerged into the morning sun, the mob of people swarmed in like buzzing hornets. Cameras flashed all around them. Voices clamored all at once—questioning, shouting, salivating. Sadie instinctively burrowed into her father’s chest as he led the way through the chaos.

“Sadie, what happened?”

“Ben, can you tell us if Valerie has been arrested?”

“Were you raped, Sadie?”

“What was his name?”

“Did you kill him?”

Ben ignored the paparazzi and guided Sadie into the backseat of the town car. He slipped in after her, closing them in while reporters continued to snap off pictures and shout questions from outside. Once the bodyguard settled into the passenger seat, the driver pulled out and took them to freedom.

Sadie watched the hordes of nosy passersby and reporters as they drove off, hating them all. Soon everyone would know what had happened to her. Her friends at school, her teachers, her piano instructor. The maids would gossip behind closed doors and her mother’s friends would pity her.

And Georgina…she’d completely forgotten about her. How would she take the news that her new boyfriend was not only dead, but that he’d attempted to rape Sadie?

Because the thought made her uncomfortable, she forced it from her mind and turned to her father. He was staring out the window, seemingly lost in thought. Her eyes swept over his russet curls of hair, cropped neatly around his head. The style accentuated the sharpness of his cheekbones, refining a face that was infamously handsome. Women had always thrown themselves at him. Even at forty-six, he was in his prime.

“Am I going to Boston with you?”

“No. I’m sending you to my parents.”

“In Lake Tahoe?” Sadie shook her head. “But I want to go with you.”

He sighed, then cast an impatient look at her. “I’m leaving this weekend to go on the road for a few weeks. I’m not going to be around to take care of you.”

“That’s okay. I can hang out with Isaac.” She brightened at the idea, missing her younger step-brother.

“It isn’t going to work,” Ben insisted, looking out the window again. “Paulette is very busy. She doesn’t need the added stress of you staying under our roof.”

Sadie bristled at the mention of her step-mother. Paulette had never made it a secret that she wished Ben just forget Sadie altogether.

She stared at her hands bundled tightly in her lap. Bruises were forming on her wrists, marks made by the man who’d tried to hurt her. She could still see his face, contorted with evil, and the image made her shudder.

Ben slowly turned back to her. He watched her silently for a few moments, as though wondering if he should try and comfort her or leave her alone. When he spoke, his voice had softened with a regret he rarely showed.

“I’m sorry this happened, Sadie.” He kept his hands on his knees, though she wanted nothing more than to be held by him. “You won’t be seeing your mother for awhile. I’m going to see to it that she loses custody. After this fiasco, I can’t imagine any judge will take her side.”

Sadie chewed on her lower lip, unable to meet his eyes, unable to speak. This was what she wanted, wasn’t it?

He continued. “You’ll be safe in Tahoe. That’s the best thing I can offer you right now.”

“Safe,” she whispered, tears stinging her eyes again. She clung to the word like a life vest, soothed by it despite everything.