Safe at Last (Slow Burn #3) (18 page)

“Zack.”

Eliza called softly from the door and he lifted his head, turning his attention away from Gracie and Sterling.

“The police are here,” she said in a low voice. “It’s the second time they’ve been here and they aren’t going to be put off this time. They want to question Gracie.”

Zack sighed. He didn’t want to upset Gracie, but the police did need to question her if anything was going to be done. Though he seriously doubted the cops would find one damn thing on the men who’d done this. It really didn’t matter, and in fact, Zack almost hoped the police
wouldn’t
find the bastards. He’d much rather exact his own brand of justice and personally take down every single person involved with Ari’s and Gracie’s abuse. It would sure as hell save taxpayers time and money.

“Show them in,” Zack said quietly. “Sterling is here so maybe that will put Gracie more at ease. It would appear she trusts him, if no one else.”

Eliza winced in sympathy. “This is six ways of fucked-up.”

“Tell me about it.”

Eliza ducked out and a moment later returned with detectives Briggs and Ramirez. They quietly greeted Zack and introduced themselves to Sterling when he stepped away from Gracie’s bed to meet them.

“It would be better if you woke her up,” Zack said, nearly choking on the words. “And stay with her while they question her. I’ll be here, but she’ll likely be more comfortable with you in her direct line of sight.”

Sterling nodded and then led the detectives to the bed. He glanced up at Zack in question and Zack nodded to indicate Sterling should wake her now.

Eliza moved closer to where Zack stood just inside the doorway. He was leaning against the wall where he had a clear sight path to Gracie. Eliza put her arm around his waist and gave him a fierce hug.

“I know this has to be so hard for you, Zack,” she murmured.

He hugged her to him and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. For a moment he simply held her. He needed this personal contact. The fact that he wasn’t alone was the only reason he hadn’t already lost his shit completely. As it was, he was hanging on to his sanity by the thinnest of threads.

He had to be strong for Gracie. He did her no good if he were an irrational, pissed-off ball of fury. Not to mention he’d scare the shit out of her when she was already frightened out of her mind by him.

His chest ached. His heart
hurt
. He wanted to be alone so he could grieve over all he’d discovered—and lost—in the last twenty-four hours. But he could do none of those things because time was of the essence and he didn’t dare give Gracie the chance to slip away or else he may
never
see her again. It was obvious enough that she’d planned to never cross paths with him. He would have spent the rest of his life never knowing her fate, if not for the happenstance of him recognizing the scenery in her painting.

“What if she hates me forever?” Zack whispered, confiding his deepest, most devastating fear.

Eliza squeezed him in a comforting hug. “Shhh, don’t do that to yourself. There’s no sense torturing yourself with the worst-case scenario. You’re going to have to be patient and take it one minute, one hour, one day at a time. She’s fragile. Not only are the events of the past alive and well in her mind, but now she has to contend with what happened to her now. Once is enough to break a woman. But two instances of her being attacked, being completely helpless?” She broke off, shaking her head.

“Yeah, I know,” he said in a low voice. “Damn it, Lizzie. I don’t know what to do! How am I going to convince her that I had nothing to do with her being raped?” He dragged a hand through his hair in agitation. “I don’t even know which so called friends did this to her and why.
Why,
for God’s sake? She never did anything to anyone. She was nothing but sweet and caring and gentle. God, it makes me sick to think of what happened to her. And I wasn’t
there
,” he said brokenly. “I wasn’t there to protect her. I swore I’d never let anything hurt her. And I
failed
her, goddamn it!”

“You couldn’t have known, Zack. Especially if they were your friends. How
could
you have known? You don’t think people, much less people who were your friends, have the capacity for such evil. You can’t blame yourself for what happened.”

Zack went still and straightened, homing in on Gracie’s bed as Sterling leaned over and gently began shaking her awake. The two policemen stood on Gracie’s other side, their expressions grim as they surveyed her bruised and battered face.

Gracie’s world was a haze of confusion and unease. She’d retreated into a drug-induced fog where pain and fear faded away, replaced by a false sense of security. Here she was able to block out her reality and avoid it. Things she’d sworn she’d put behind her had come storming to life the moment she’d seen
him
again.

She hadn’t thought she could feel such pain ever again. That she’d become immune to anything regarding Zack Covington. She’d thought she’d put his betrayal behind her, that he couldn’t possibly hurt her anymore. But some wounds simply didn’t heal. Some wounds continued to bleed, no matter how much time had passed. Worst of all, she now realized she’d merely been in denial all these years. Now it was as if the bandage had been ripped from a wound, causing it to bleed fresh all over again.

She’d been wrong. She hadn’t been remotely prepared for the wave of anguish that had consumed her when coming face-to-face with the man she’d loved with every part of her heart and soul. The man who’d betrayed her so horribly that she still couldn’t fathom it.

It had been crippling, robbing her of breath. It had shamed her, that she was so weak. That the day he’d shown up in her studio she had been completely helpless, unable to say or do anything in her fear-induced paralysis. If Wade hadn’t appeared when he had she didn’t know what she would have done. What
Zack
would have done. A man she would have never dreamed she needed to fear. A man she’d never imagined being capable of such . . . evil.

And now? The past had repeated itself. What did the two events have in common?

Zack.

Why did he hate her so much? What had she done to make him despise her? What kind of person went to the lengths he did just to get his message across? And what message? If he hadn’t wanted her any longer, if he hadn’t loved her anymore, then why not just break things off with her? Why punish her for sins she knew nothing about? That she hadn’t committed!

Please, please God, let him be gone when she awakened again. She couldn’t do this again. She couldn’t face him, not after twelve years. She’d worked so hard to put the past behind her, to recover from something she hadn’t been sure she would survive. But she
had
survived. It had taken her
years,
but she’d put the pieces back together. She had a life now. And the moment her past caught up to her, she was thrown into a world of pain and violence and . . . heartbreak. Again.

“Anna-Grace. Come on, honey. I need you to wake up for me. There are people who need to talk to you.”

Her brow furrowed in confusion. She didn’t want to leave the warm cocoon formed by the pain medication. It was safe here. She felt nothing here. Just a blank, empty void filled with warmth and soothing light.

She drifted away once more, shutting out the voice that had infiltrated the fog surrounding her.

But it was persistent. Someone called her name again. Louder this time. She frowned and shook her head, wincing when the motion sent shards of pain through her skull. Why wouldn’t they just leave her alone? That’s all she wanted. Just to be left alone. She’d been alone for so very long. It was the only way she knew. The only life she knew. She didn’t dare trust anyone. Not after Zack’s betrayal.

Zack had been her entire world. Her love, hope and trust had been solidly wrapped up in him. If she couldn’t trust him, then whom else could she trust? No one. And that’s a policy she’d adhered strictly to for the last decade. Except . . .

Wade had befriended her despite her best attempts at holding him at arm’s length. He’d been persistent, not allowing her to remain indifferent to him. But the sad part was she was just waiting for
him
to betray her as well. Even in their easy friendship, she was wary, convinced—having been taught the hard way—that betrayal was inevitable.

“Anna-Grace, you have to wake up. You’ve been sleeping long enough.”

Wade?

A surge of relief overwhelmed her. Oh thank God. Wade was here. He wouldn’t hurt her, would he? Was she a fool for putting her trust in any man?

It had taken a long time for Anna-Grace to relax around him. She’d been understandably wary of him. But he’d patiently outwaited her, slowly and carefully wearing down her defenses until she’d finally let him in.

But even so, she hadn’t confided her past until recently. Some hurts were too private. Too painful. Telling him hadn’t been a relief, like ripping a bandage away quickly. It had been the most difficult, most heartrending thing she’d ever done. And afterward, she hadn’t been able to face him for days. She’d hidden, embarrassed and mortified at what she’d confided in him.

Only when he’d forced a confrontation and been firm with her that nothing had changed between them, that he was still her friend, had she finally acted rationally and accepted his offer of . . . friendship.

She wasn’t a fool. She knew Wade’s interest had been more personal when they’d first met. But after she’d finally confided in him her terrifying past, he’d never again suggested there be anything more between them than close friendship.

Going forward he’d been her rock. Her best friend. Even as she chided herself for allowing anyone close to her, for trusting someone again, she’d been unable to help herself. She needed human contact. Twelve years of isolation had worn on her, beating her down and dragging her further and further away from humanity. Wade refused to let her continue to hide. He’d pushed her, encouraged her and refused to let her shut him out.

He called her name again.

Her eyelids flickered open and she frowned at the effort it took. The entire room was fuzzy and for a moment she forgot where she was. She turned her head to the side, seeking out Wade, and the pain that splintered through her head reminded her of just where she was. And why.

Tears welled, stinging her eyes. Weakly she lifted her hand, flailing outward in an attempt to grab Wade’s arm. Then his warm hand curled around hers and she was imbued with his strength and support.

“Thank God,” she whispered hoarsely.

She frowned harder when she heard her raspy voice. Her free hand flew to her throat to massage absently at the sore muscles. It felt as though her throat was nearly swollen shut. Remembering the huge hands wrapped around it, squeezing, nearly choking her time and time again, she understood why it hurt so badly now.

Her attacker had wanted her to believe she was dying. He’d closed off her airway until she nearly passed out, only to relax his grip so she could gulp in more air. Then he’d done it all over again until she’d lost count and had prayed to lose consciousness so she could escape her current hell.

“Wade?” she croaked.

He bent and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Yes, Anna-Grace, it’s me. You’re safe now. I swear it on my life.”

Tears streaked hotly down her cheeks and she gulped back a betraying sob.

“The police are here, sweetheart. They need to talk to you. Ask you some questions. I know you hurt. I know you’re tired. But it’s important that we catch the bastards who did this to you. If I help you sit up some, can you try to answer a few questions at least?”

Her heart pounded violently and her entire mouth went dry. Police? Questions?

She cast her fearful gaze to the side only to collide with two tall, somber looking men. Both wore short, clipped hair that made them look more military than plainclothes detectives.

“Miss Hill,” one of the detectives said politely. “My name is Detective Briggs and this is my partner, Detective Ramirez. We’d like to talk to you about the attack on you. Are you up to answering a few questions for us?”

She almost said no and took the coward’s way out. But determination gleamed in the policemen’s eyes and she got the impression that even had she said no they wouldn’t have simply given up and walked away.

So she nodded hesitantly.

“I’m not certain I’ll be of any help,” she said in a low voice. “It all happened so fast. I mean on one hand it seemed to last forever. I thought they were going to kill me. I thought I was going to
die
. I wanted to die,” she said painfully, closing her eyes in shame.

Beside her Wade cursed, and she could swear she heard it echoed from across the room.

“When I try to remember, it’s all one big blur. I don’t know who they are or what they wanted.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to accuse Zack. To tell them they should be questioning
him
. But she was too afraid of retaliation. She had to leave this city. She wasn’t safe here. He knew where she was. God, he’d said he’d looked for her. Why? Hadn’t he been determined to get rid of her? Or maybe the men who’d raped her were supposed to have killed her. Silence her for good. And for what? For loving him? What had she done so wrong that he would have such a terrible thing done to her?

She closed her eyes and more tears spilled over the swollen, scratchy rims of her eyes. Wade curled his hand around hers and squeezed reassuringly. Then he slid his arm behind her and eased her upward while telling one of the detectives to elevate the back of her bed.

A low whirring noise sounded and soon the bed was elevated enough that she could sit up without too much pain or discomfort.

But then she got a good look at her hospital room. Her gaze homed in on the two people who stood in the background, beyond the foot of the bed close to the door, and she froze, fear paralyzing every muscle in her body.

Completely stricken, she stared helplessly at the monster who’d haunted so many of her dreams. Standing beside a woman who was vaguely familiar to Anna-Grace. She let out a low whimper of terror and desperately clung to Wade’s hand, her only anchor in a sea of madness.