Addiction (41 page)
“You what?” he demands.
“He asked Taylor to offer herself as a drug dealer in order to set him free. After she informed him our deal was off.” I fill him in as his eyes widen. “I felt he deserved it.”
“Son of a bitch!” he yells out.
“My thoughts exactly,” I say as I tilt back the gin and swallow a good size gulp of it.
“Can you guys keep it down in here?” Savannah asks walking into the kitchen as she rubs her eyes. I’m surprised Blane was even up. It’s almost eleven. Today has been a long ass day and the fact I spent six hours driving, three hours to and from Pekin, isn’t even the exhausting part of it.
“Sorry, baby, go back to bed,” Blane says as he bends over and grips the countertop.
“Blane.”
We all turn to see a very shaken up and sleepy looking Taylor standing in the hallway. She wraps her arms around herself and rubs her upper arms.
“I’m so sorry, sis …”
She lifts one hand to stop him and then goes back to rubbing her arms. “You can save it, Blane,” she mumbles as she looks up at him with puffy red eyes. “I just need to know one thing.”
“Anything.” He nods to her.
I take a deep breath and hold it because I know what is it she is about to ask and it’s gonna kill her.
“How did Mom die?” She sniffs.
His face falls, and he swallows nervously. “Taylor, you know …”
“No!” she shouts, and her small body shakes as she interrupts him. “Quit treating me like I’m twelve and tell me the truth.” She takes a deep breath. “How did Mom die?”
He reaches up and rubs his hand over the back of his neck. He takes a few deep breaths of his own before he lowers his head to look down at the floor. He can’t even look her in the eyes when he says it. “An overdose,” he whispers. “Mom died of an overdose.”
Her shoulders shake, and her eyes well up in tears. A sob comes out and she doesn’t even try to disguise it. My heart breaks for her. This beautiful woman has been filled with nothing but lies for as long as she can remember, and I hate that I was part of that.
She looks up at me with a tear-streaked face. “Did you know this?” Her voice shakes just as much as her body does.
“Yes,” I say straightening my back. “After I found out Blane had a sister, I pulled up every bit of information I could get on your family.” She sucks in a deep breath. “I didn’t know you weren’t informed of the cause of death until our first date that night at the restaurant. I didn’t feel like I should be the one to tell you.” I have lied to her and held information from her. But I’m laying it all out on the table now. Anything she wants to know, I will answer to my best ability.
TAYLOR
I feel so broken. So lonely! My mom was a druggie? Died of an overdose? How is that even possible? No memory I have of my mother involves drugs of any kind.
Blane takes a step toward me and I hold up my hand. “Don’t,” I cry out. I don’t want them to feel sorry for me. I don’t want them to baby me. I wanted the truth. Is that too much to ask? Is it that hard to be fucking honest?
I turn around giving them my back and make my way back to Case’s room on shaky legs. I come to the end of the bed and fall down onto it, sobbing into the comforter.
I feel the bed dip and then small arms wrap around me. I look up to see Savannah lying next to me. Tears slowly run down her face and she whispers, “I’m so sorry, Tay. I didn’t know …”
I wrap my arms around her cutting her off and squeezing her tightly as I cry into her shirt. I just wanna go back to sleep. I just wanna forget this day and move on with our lives.
It’s been a week since I saw my father. A full week since I learned about the true cause of my mother’s death. And it’s gotten a little easier. I still cry, but now, I only cry when I know I’m alone and no one can hear me. Like when I’m in the shower or bath. When everyone else leaves me alone. Case has been busy trying to find out who shot up Seven Deadly Sins, so he’s gone a lot. Blane and Savannah keep to themselves and I have been spending time alone with Brecken at the hospital. I think they know I prefer to be alone, and I welcome the silence. The numbing, deafening silence I allow myself to live in.
I know it’s my fault. I’m the one who needs to get over it and move on. But it’s hard to look my brother in the eyes. I understand why he didn’t tell me when I was twelve. I mean what kind of twelve-year-old would understand what an overdose meant? I remember watching my father do drugs after my mom passed, and I couldn’t comprehend his behavior. Or why he did them. But I’m twenty-one now and Blane has had plenty of chances to tell me since then.
I haven’t spoken much to Case either. Not because I’m mad at him, but because I don’t know what to say. I feel selfish. Immature. How can I be torn up about my mother’s death when I know what he went through when he lost his family? How he lost his parents? He hasn’t tried to touch me. He kisses me on the forehead in passing, but that’s all. Even when we’re in bed, he makes no move and I hate it. Maybe I need him to take away the hurt I feel.
I open my eyes as I hear the door to his bedroom open and shut quietly. It’s gotta be past midnight. I heard Blane and Savannah get home earlier when the sun was still up. I took a long bath and then crawled into his bed.
I keep my eyes closed as I hear him get undressed and then I feel the bed dip as he gets in behind me. He leans over and kisses my bare shoulder and then I feel him roll over giving me his back. I open my eyes and stare at the darkness for several minutes before I hear him softly snore. I sigh heavily as I close my eyes. Maybe tomorrow will be the day I crawl out of my hole.
***
I wake to a smell of something burning. I cough as I place my hand over my mouth. I open my eyes, but they sting and all I see is a cloud-like substance. “Case,” I say, coughing again.
I open my eyes again, and this time as I look around, I see that it was not clouds I was seeing, it was smoke. And the thing that is on fire is Case’s house.
“Case!” I scream out as I turn and start hitting his body. I can’t see much, but I can feel him. “Case, wake up!” I scream out.
His body moves under my hand, and then I no longer feel him. “Taylor!” he responds, his voice filled with panic.
“The house is on fire,” I say trying to look around, but all I see is smoke. I place my hand over my mouth and cough into it.
“Get down on the floor,” he orders in a rush.
I roll off the bed and lie flat on my stomach. I try to take calming breaths, but my chest is tight and my body shakes nervously. “Case?” I call out frantically.
When he doesn’t answer, I start to crawl on my hands and knees toward the end of the bed. I close my eyes and fall flat down onto my stomach when the smoke enters my lungs. It burns. The smoke takes my breath away and my chest tightens. I close my eyes as tears run down my cheeks.
I hear glass shatter in the distance, and I figure it’s the fire breaking things in the house. My chest heaves as I try to take in another breath. But seconds later, my arm is grabbed and I’m dragged to my feet. I try to speak, but all that comes out is coughing. I’m lifted into the air and then the next thing I know, my side hurts as I hit the ground.
I roll around as my lungs inhale fresh air sharply. “Case?” I call out as I position myself up on my knees. “Case?” I yell as my vision starts to clear, and I see that he had broken his bedroom window and threw me out of it. Moments later, he jumps through it, carrying his sheets from his bed. “Wrap this around you,” he rasps.
I look at him confused and still sucking in fresh air. When I don’t do as he says, he wraps it around me himself. And I finally realize that I’m naked. I had been sleeping naked last night. I thought that I was gonna be able to get over my mother and have sex. Now, I wish I would have worn clothes to bed.
“I have to go back in.” He places his hand over his mouth and coughs.
I shake my head frantically and let the sheet fall to the grass as I grab a hold of him. “No!” I shout, panic gripping me.
“I don’t have time to argue with you,” he growls. “Blane and Savannah are in there.”
“Oh, my God.” I inhale sharply and a pain shoots up my chest.
He doesn’t bother saying anything else. He lets go of me, spins around, and jumps back into his window. I reach down, grab the sheet, and cry out placing a hand over my mouth. He lives out in the middle of nowhere. He doesn’t have any neighbors. I need to call 9-1-1, but my phone is inside the house.
“Case?” I call out as I go over to the window. I place my hand up and step back as the fire burns my skin. The room is now up in flames.
I turn and run to the front of the house on shaky legs and heart hammering in my chest. Just as I come around the front of the house, the front door is kicked out. “Oh, thank God.” I breathe as I see Case dragging Blane behind him as he holds onto Savannah. I run to them, and she falls into my arms. I wrap the sheet around her, shielding us both as much as I can. She has panties on, but no top.
Blane falls to his knees as he coughs. “Blane,” she cries out, and he lifts one hand to signal he’s okay.
I go to speak to Case, but he turns and runs back into the house. I go to run after him, but Savannah stops me. “You can’t go back in there.”
“Case is in there,” I declare.
I can hear sirens in the distance. And my heart beats wildly in my chest as I hear them coming to help us. Why did he go back in there? “He’ll be okay,” she says roughly as she rubs my back.
My eyes dart back and forth between the front door and the front windows. Smoke pours out of the house and I can feel the heat from here. I know we should move away from the house, but I find myself moving closer and closer one small step at a time.
“Case?” A strangled cry comes out. “Where is he?” I cry. What could he have needed so bad to go back in and get?
I’m just about to throw the sheet and Savannah to the ground and run in when I see him come out of the house. I drop the sheet and run to him as tears run down my face. I wrap my arms around him, and he grips me tightly. His body burns mine from how hot he is from inside the house. His legs give out on him and he falls to the grass. I fall down with him. He sucks in breath after breath and he leans over coughing out loud. I rub his back as I look at the house now completely engulfed in flames.
I look away, not able to watch his memories go up in smoke. As I look down at the grass, I see the reason for his last trip in his left hand. And I feel the tears start to sting my eyes again for a different reason. It’s the picture from his mantel. The one of him and his family.
I let out a sob as I place my head on his shoulder thankful we all made it out alive. “I’m so sorry, Case,” I whisper.
He repositions himself, wraps his arms around me, and pulls me into his lap. I feel his heart pound against my chest, and he hugs me tightly. He buries his head in my hair, and I can hear his ragged breathing in my ear. “I’m so sorry,” I repeat because I don’t know what else to say.
He coughs, and it causes his entire body to shake mine as well. “We’re gonna be okay,” he rasps, gripping me tighter to the point of pain. “You’re okay.”
I wiggle myself loose and look up at him. “What about you? Are you okay?” I reach up and place my hand on his face, and my heart stops. It’s the first good look I get at him since he ran back into the house. His face is covered in black ash and sweat drips from his body. His eyes are sad, but his jaw is tight.
“I’m fine.” He pulls me back into him. “I have you. I’ll be fine.” I don’t point out the obvious. That he ran back into a burning house in order to get a picture. But I know how important that picture is to him. It’s all he had left of a family who left him.
***
“Who could have done it?” Brecken asks as he sits up in his hospital bed.
He’s been in the hospital for nine days now and is gonna be released soon. We’re all hoping tomorrow. The doctors say he has made a remarkable recovery.
Case shrugs as he stares out the window that looks over Chicago. “No one knows where I live,” he replies flatly. My heart hurts so much for him. He lost everything he had in the fire yesterday other than that one picture he was willing to risk his life in order to save.
“I don’t understand why this is all of a sudden happening,” Miller wonders. “We’ve been doing undercover cases for over four years now, and we’ve never been this close to death this many times on one case before.” He chuckles at his own words, and my chest tightens for them; Case hasn’t gone into detail about his job, but is this what he goes through on a day-to-day basis? I didn’t know being an undercover cop was so hazardous to their health.
Case sighs heavily. “I don’t know. It all started that night those guys attacked Taylor in the alleyway. The guy said he had gotten a call earlier that evening about Taylor but didn’t know who it was from.”
“How did you get him to tell you that?” Miller asks.
He continues to keep his back to us. “I just started breaking bones,” he replies with no emotion, and I cringe. “I broke one for every question he didn’t answer. A broken nose. Broken arm and some broken ribs …” He shrugs. “He started talking. And then I broke them just because.”
Miller looks at me. “Did they say anything to you? Like what they wanted or who had sent them?”
I shake my head but then remember. “Uh, yeah … one of them said that they wanted to know if I was worth the risk.”
“What risk?” Miller asks, and I shrug. How am I supposed to know what they were talking about?
Then Brecken looks at me. “What had you done that day? Where had you gone that someone could have seen you?”
“Nowhere,” I say thinking back to that day. “I had slept most of that day. I was just lying around the house when Jenna had called me to ask her to cover her shift. Then while I was getting ready, I saw where Rox’s club had been raided. I got to the club as quick as I could to tell Case.” I roll my eyes at how stupid that sounded. “He obviously already knew.” I sigh. “We got into a fight … then I started my shift. My brother came by to check on me …”
“Maybe he was the one being followed,” Brecken offers.
Case shakes his head still giving us his back. “They would have attacked him first, not days later,” he muses.
“Did anyone come with him?” Miller asks.
I shake my head. “Not that I know of.”
“Who all had he talked to while he was there?” Brecken questions.
“I don’t know.” I sigh. I just wanna go to sleep, and I want people to stop trying to kill us. “The place was packed, and he wouldn’t have stayed long because Savannah wasn’t with him.”
Brecken goes to open his mouth, but the door to his room flies open. I jump and Case spins around when it bangs against the wall.
“Oh, my God.”
We all stand and watch with surprise on our faces as Rachel runs in and jumps onto Brecken’s bed. He lets out a growl as if her pouncing has caused him pain. She straddles him, and my eyes widen in shock. Is she gonna fuck him right here?
“Baby!” she cries out as she places her hands on either side of his face. “Are you okay?”
He goes to speak, but she crashes her lips to his. She lets out a moan as she rocks her hips.
“Oookkkaaayyyy,” I mumble as I place my hand up to shield her affection toward him.
“What are you doing here, Rachel?” I hear Case snap.
I lower my hand, and she pulls away from Brecken’s face. He licks his lips and grabs her hands, pushing her body away from his, but she remains straddling his hips. She looks over her shoulder at Case and gives him a fuck you look that I know all too well from her. “I came to check on Brecken. I heard he got shot.”
“Yeah. Nine days ago,” I snap. I don’t know Rachel all that well, but I do know she is all about herself.