Sanctuary (RiffRaff Records Book 5) Read online

  “No.” She sat up in bed, like she wanted to come to me, like she was scared for me to go. She’d been like that since the ambulance came, jumpy and clinging to me.

  “It’s okay, I’m right here.” I stayed in my spot leaning against the opposite wall. She needed to know that I wasn’t leaving. She didn’t have to sit in my lap to keep me with her. “I won’t move a muscle.”

  “You and Mr. Metcalf were dating, is that correct?” Salt and pepper started in, pen poised and ready.

  “We were, but I had ended things. He was mean. We were terrible together.” Evie looked down at her hands, picking at her nail polish.

  Detective Jinx picked up Evie’s water jug and handed it to her. “Tell us what you remember, in as much detail as you can.”

  “I told him things were over between us, and honestly he took it a lot better than I thought he would.” She took a small sip from the plastic crinkle straw. “I guess now I know why.” She cleared her throat, starting again. “He told me that he understood, that I was right. He asked me to stay until his speech was over, and then he’d have his driver take me home. I agreed. And for a little while everything was fine.”

  “Were you drinking tonight, Ms. James?” Detective Salter was writing in his notebook as he was asking questions. Someone should get that guy an iPhone and make his life a lot easier.

  “No, I wasn’t. I had a sip of champagne on the drive over, and I took my prescribed dosage of Adderall this morning after breakfast.” She was looking at me while she spoke, and I sent her another encouraging smile. “Collin offered me some water, he said I looked like I didn’t feel well. He’d been so accommodating that I didn’t think anything of it. I mean, it was water. After that my vision went blurry and I got dizzy. I barely made it to the bathroom in time. I felt like I threw up for an hour.”

  “And it was at that point that Mr. Metcalf walked in?”

  Evie closed her eyes, nodding. “He um, he was yelling at me, I think. He grabbed my hair and knocked my head against the toilet. He told me that I owed him one more thing, and he ripped my dress.” Tears were starting to stream down her cheeks, breaking my heart all over again. “I tried to get up, but I fell. And then his hand was around my throat. I could feel him behind me, um, trying to—he couldn’t—then he was gone, and I could breathe.”

  The police had already gotten my statement, as well as Bleu’s and Maykin’s. Everything checked out, all our stories matched up. Because we were all telling the truth. Well, except for the part where Maykin put Collin’s pill bottle back in his pocket. We all three kept that part to ourselves.

  “Ms. James, if you want him to face consequences, you’re going to have to press charges against him.” The older man finally closed his notebook, shoving it back into his pocket. When Evie nodded, the detectives told us they’d be in touch, and they left.

  I pushed off the wall, climbing on her bed and letting her snuggle down next to me. “He’s going to tell them about my addiction.”

  “Yeah, he will.” He’d do more than that. He’d drag her name through the mud. He’d blame her for all of it. Say that they were playing around, that she liked it rough. That all the stuff in her system, she put there herself. Evie was right. Collin was the worst type of guy. “But, he won’t win, and he won’t get away with it.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  I put my lips on her beautiful dark hair, inhaling her scent. “Now what on earth do you have to be sorry for, my little bird?”

  “I don’t want to press charges, Nicky. I want to forget any of this ever happened. If this goes to court, it’ll be a media circus and my parents will find out.” She was crying, wiping at her eyes with the rough hospital blanket. “I don’t think I can handle them knowing, which means he will win.”

  Evie could handle more than she thought she could. Fuck. She already had. “It’s the middle of the night. Why don’t we get some rest and we can call them back here in the morning.” In the morning, though, I hope we’d convince her otherwise.

  “How am I supposed to fall asleep? Did you bring your tattoo gun?” There was a smile in her voice. She was trying to make a joke, she was trying to lighten the mood. How could this amazing girl not see how strong she was, how resilient?

  “I didn’t.” I grabbed the little red call button that was wound around her bed railing. “But, I’m sure there is someone around here who can help us out.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Nick

  They’d given her a sleeping pill, and she’d been down for the count no more than ten minutes later. I was in bed with her, her head resting on my chest, and I could feel her heart beating against my side.

  I’d done what I’d needed to do, and I knew that she might hate me for it. But that was okay, because I loved her enough to be the bad guy. I would take her wrath. I’d even let her throw things at me if it meant that she’d forgive me.

  “Hey, can we come in?” Maykin peeked her head around the door, still wearing her gown from earlier. “She asleep?”

  “Yeah, they gave her something about an hour ago to help her relax.”

  Bleu walked in behind Maykin, a large bouquet of colorful flowers in his hand. When I eyed them, he shrugged, silently asking me not to make a big deal of it. “How’s she doing? Did the police come talk to her?”

  “They did, and she did great. She answered all their questions, she told them everything that happened.” I looked down at the beautiful girl in my arms. “But when they left, she told me she didn’t want to press charges.”

  “What?” Maykin’s eyes were wide, and so were Bleu’s. Neither one of them could understand why she’d want Collin to get away with what he’d done to her. What he’d almost done to her. “Did she say why?”

  “She doesn’t want her parents to find out about any of this. Not her life here, not the pill problem…none of it.” I sat up slowly, gently untangling her from my body. “Which is why I need one of you to come lay with her for a bit while I step out.”

  Maykin looked down at her dress, wincing. “This fabric is rough—if one of her cuts or bruises brushes against it it’ll hurt.” She darted her eyes over to Bleu. “Which means you’re up, vintage tee.”

  Bleu scoffed. “I’m not spooning my best friend’s girl.”

  “Yeah you are.” Maykin dragged him by the arm, forcing him to gently climb up onto her bed.

  “I shouldn’t be too long.” I knew she’d be safe with Maykin and Bleu. I also knew that if she did happen to wake up, those were probably the only two other people on this planet she’d like to see right now.

  It was a little after five in the morning, and I’d gotten the text I’d been anticipating for almost three hours now. I stopped by the nurse’s desk, asking them in which room he was being held. I walked down the hall, opening the second door on the right, the waiting room empty and a bodyguard at the door.

  “Mr. James?”

  Evie’s father stood, his hands on his hips and his expression hard. “Where the hell is my daughter? Why am I being held in this goddamn room like a prisoner?”

  I didn’t blame him for being pissed, his anger reminding me a lot of my girl in that moment. “Evie isn’t ready to see you. In fact, she doesn’t know I called you.” And she’s probably going to flip shit when she finds out.

  “Why is she here? What happened? All you said was that there was an incident and that I needed to come alone. I had to lie to her mother; she thinks I’m at the fucking New York office right now.”

  Hindsight, maybe I could have given him a little more info. But I only had a few minutes to get him on the phone and get him down here before Evie started to freak out, wondering where I was. “Evie is safe, and she is down the hall, I promise.” I sat down and gestured for him to join me. “But before you see her, I need to tell you what happened. And for you to truly understand, I need to start at the beginning.”

  I wanted to tell him the whole truth, all of it. I wanted him to understand how much his daughter m
eant to me, and what she’d been going through. I needed all our cards on the table so he didn’t walk in that room blind and fuck up all our progress.

  I didn’t agree with Evie keeping her family in the dark, but her recovery was hers. This though? This was something else. This was something that her parents needed to know about, especially if they were what was holding her back from prosecuting Collin. He was a monster, and he didn’t deserve to go unpunished because Evie was scared to disappoint her parents.

  Mr. James sat, thankfully.

  “I met Evie two years ago, right before classes started her freshman year. She came into my tattoo shop on a whim. She said she was homesick and the signage reminded her of her family. I thought she was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, and I was hella impressed with the art she chose.” I swallowed past a lump in my throat. “While I was working on her, she told me how no one liked her. That they thought she was boring, shy, and a prude. I liked her, instantly, and I hated that she was having a bad day, so I took her to dinner after I closed up shop.” I wasn’t going into detail about the night we spent together, but I needed him to understand our connection. “I’m pretty sure I fell in love with your daughter that night, sir.”

  “Are you sitting here, telling me you slept with my eighteen-year-old daughter after only knowing her for a few hours?”

  Oh. He was quick on the uptake, wasn’t he? “Yes. I am.” I held my hands up when he opened his mouth to no doubt scream at me. “The next morning, when I woke up, she was gone. And I didn’t see her again for almost two years.” Huh. That didn’t come out like I thought it would.

  “You had a one-night stand? Are you seriously saying these words to me right now?”

  “I promise you, it’s important to the story.” I waited for him to nod, silently telling me to keep going. “When she walked into my shop, the second time, she looked different. Don’t get me wrong, she was still beautiful, but she was also too thin. And her eyes had dark circles under them, and her hands were shaking. I had to bribe her to get her to tell me what was going on, what was wrong.” Mr. James’s eyes narrowed, like he was starting to catch on. “Evie changed herself to become who people wanted her to be. She changed her hair, she bought new clothes, and she took on this rock and roll princess persona. And to keep up with it all, she started taking Adderall. Which led to her abusing Adderall. After that it was only a matter of time before she started the—”

  “Downers.” He shook his head, sadly. “She needed help coming down from the speed, so she started pain pills. Valium? Vicodin?”

  “Both, I think.” Not at the same time, but I didn’t think that was relevant right now.

  “Is she here from an overdose?”

  I shook my head. “No sir.” He sat back in his chair, his hands covering his face as I continued. “I kind of kidnapped her when I realized how bad off she was, took her to my apartment and helped her detox.” He was quiet, so I kept going. “She saw a doctor, she mapped out a plan to detox from the Adderall. She’s seeing a therapist, someone to help her learn to cope without the pills.”

  “What happened to my girl, Nick?”

  “Before we reconnected, she was dating this guy. He was her dealer, and he treated her like shit.” This next part was what I’d been dreading from the moment I’d decided to get Smith James to Dallas. “Last night she had this dinner thing she had to go to for her sorority. He was there, and she told him it was over. He drugged her, waited until she was sick in the bathroom, and then he attacked her.”

  Mr. James got to his feet, his eyes wild. “Where is he? What did he do to her?”

  “I hated the thought of her being away from me, so I was already on my way to the hotel when her friend called to tell me something was wrong.” I stood, knowing that Mr. James was seconds away from knocking on every door until he found Evie. “When I walked into the bathroom, she was bleeding. And he was trying to rape her.”

  Evie’s dad fell to his knees, tears instantly started to roll down his face.

  “I tried to kill him, I swear I did, but my friend pulled me off.” I looked at my hands, half expecting them to still be covered in blood. “Evie doesn’t want to press chargers, sir. She said she didn’t want you guys to find out about her pill problem.”

  He looked up, his eyes red. “Where is she?”

  “She’s sleeping. Room three-twenty-two.” Before he could make it to the door, I grabbed his arm. “I am in love with your daughter sir, so fucking in love with her.”

  He nodded. “Then she’s a lucky girl, son.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Evie

  My head hurt, and my knee was throbbing. Those were the thoughts I had before I even opened my eyes. The steady beat of the machines above my head proved that I’d lived. I stretched one arm, reaching for Nicky, only to hit nothing but mattress.

  “Nicky?” I sat up suddenly, the motion causing my head to swim.

  “He’s out, getting both of you a change of clothes.”

  I froze. “Dad?”

  He stood from a chair that was pulled up next to my bed. “Hey, baby girl.” He took my hand in his, squeezing it tightly. “How’re you feeling?” He had tears in his eyes and his voice sounded a little shaky.

  “Dad, what are you doing here?” I took my hands back, pushing myself into a sitting position and turning on the small light overhead.

  “Your boyfriend called me.” He wiped at his face with a Kleenex that looked like it’d seen better days. Nicky had called my dad? Behind my back? “I can see you getting angry, Evie, but don’t.” He sat on the edge of my bed, reaching once again for my hand. “He was right to call. He loves you so much, and he wants what is best for you.”

  What was best for me was to get well, to heal. To move on. “What happened tonight, I don’t want it all over the news. I don’t want everyone to have to go through a trial. Our family. The media. Dad, it’s going to be a disaster.” A disaster that will tell the world about my addictions. Which means everyone will compare me to my father, dragging his past out to haunt him.

  “Stop.” He shook his head. “That guy will be punished, and we will press charges. He will not get away with what he did to you. Fuck the media.”

  He didn’t get it. He didn’t understand what was going to come to light. I closed my eyes, hating what I was going to admit. “But, I uh, I have a problem with—”

  “Pills? Yeah, Nicky told me.”

  My eyes flew open. “He did what?” That wasn’t his secret to tell. That was mine. It was up to me whether or not to tell my father what was going on in my life. “He had no right to tell you any of this.”

  “You wanted to let this asshole walk away without any repercussion so that your mom and I didn’t find out about your pill problem. I think Nick was justified in what he did, baby girl.”

  “Dad, I—”

  “Should have called me yourself? Should have told me what’s been going on? Should have asked for my help?” He had one eyebrow raised in question. “Any of those close to what you were going to say?”

  “No. I wasn’t going to say, I’m finnnnneeee…” I dragged the word out and he said it the same time I did.

  “Yeah, I’ve been there.” His face was sad, his eyes filling back up with tears. “Why didn’t you come to me? It’s us against the world, baby girl, you know that.”

  I started to sob in his arms. I let it all go and cried until I could barely breathe. Us against the world. That was what we all said; that was how we all lived. But, somewhere along the way, we stopped including our parents in the us part. And they didn’t even realize it. “Daddy, I’m so sorry.” I was heaving, trying to push out my words through my tears. “I’m sorry, I’m so, so…”

  “Shhh.” He held me, rocking me back and forth like he had when I was a little girl. “The only thing that matters now is that you’re okay. That you’re safe, and you’re getting help.”

  “I am.” I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. “I
swear, I am.”

  “And. We’ll be pressing charges against the guy who did this to you.” He pushed my hair off my face, his thumb brushing lightly over the bandage on my forehead. “It’s my job to protect you, Evie. Not the other way around.” He dipped down, staring directly into my eyes. “I love you, and there is absolutely nothing that you could ever do to make me stop loving you. Understand?” I nodded. “Good.”

  “You’re awake.” Nicky walked in, a large duffel bag in his hand. “How are you feeling?” His gazed moved from my dad, then back to me. His eyes were wary, like he was waiting to see if he should duck to avoid my wrath.

  “I feel really, really well actually.” I held my hand out, smiling when he was instantly at my side. “When I’m all the way better, we’re going to get into an argument about boundaries and communication. But, for now, I’m good.”

  He kissed the inside of my wrist, putting my palm on his face. “I love you, little bird, so damn much.”

  “He calls you little bird?” My dad was standing, his arms crossed over his chest and looking intimidating as hell. “Seriously?”

  I nodded. “He does.”

  My dad’s hard expression softened into a grin. “He’ll fit in fine with our group then, won’t he?”

  “He will.”

  ***

  I’d been discharged after lunch, the only stipulation being that I have someone with me at all times for the next three days. I had a concussion and another fall would put me right back into the hospital.

  I was curled up on Nicky’s couch. Ollie was basically lying in my lap and so was Nick. My dad was sitting one of the two chairs opposite us. He was on his phone, his thumbs flying, when there was a knock on the door.

  “I’ll get it, it’s probably Mayk or Bleu.” I smiled as Nicky hopped up, loving this new little unit we’d seemed to form. I’d woken up at one point in the hospital snuggled against Bleu’s vintage Nine Inch Nails shirt. I’d looked at him and he’d looked at me, he’d shrugged and I’d simply gone back to sleep. “Uh, Evie? Your mom is here?”