Chapter 15

Mac

Her spirit…

"I'M GOING TO GRAB another beer. Either of you want one?" I ask Jaxon and Nick while I prop my pool stick up against the wall. We're at Bounce waiting on the girls and Andrew to give us a call to pick them up. Jaxon asked us if we wanted to tag along. With nothing better to do on a Friday night, we both agreed. We brought two vehicles so there would be enough room for us all. We've been here for about an hour playing pool, and I'm getting antsy. I know that Lucki's has cleaned up a lot since the new owners took over, but I still don't like Mia being there. I've heard rumors that the place isn't as clean as the new owners think it is. I didn't say anything because Mia seemed excited about going out. That's part of the reason I'm here. I want to be close if there's a problem.

"Yeah, grab me another, would you?" Jaxon says. I look at Nick, who is lining up his shot. He glances up and nods.

I turn and walk to the bar. The place isn't too busy, something I'm happy about. The whole partying scene has never really been my thing. I enjoy going to Jaxon's only because there are family and friends that frequent there. Here in town, not so much.

When I reach the bar, I order three beers. I pay for the drinks and carry them back to the pool table. Jaxon is kicking our ass at pool. Probably stems from him learning to play from his grandfather as a kid.

"Heard your parents were coming to town soon," Jaxon says, then takes a swallow of his beer. "How's retirement for your dad?"

"He hates it. It's driving my mom crazy. She's figured out that he's purposely breaking shit around the house just so he has something to do."

Jaxon chuckles. "I can imagine he's going crazy. He was always so active. Can't be easy on him."

"It's not. He needs to find a hobby before my mom kills him."

It's my turn next. I put down my beer on the edge of the pool table and line up my shot. I hit the cue ball and then watch the five ball go into the corner pocket. I debate my next shot and then walk around the table. Right before I take the shot, Jaxon talks again.

"So, what's going on with you and my sister?" Not really surprised by his question, I hit the ball and watch the nine ball go into the side pocket. I stand back up and face Jaxon, who has his eyes glued to me.

"We're working through things," I tell him. I know Mia never told him what happened. I don't know why she didn't. The only reason I can think is she didn't want to ruin our friendship. I would have thought she hated me so much that she would have used what I did against me. I shouldn't have though. Mia may have a temper and portray an ice-cold heart, but she's not vindictive.

I can see Jaxon think about his next words before he replies to my statement. "She never told me what went down between the two of you, but I know you hurt her somehow. I have my suspicions, but I never confirmed them, not wanting to hurt her more than she already was. I want you to know that the only reason I never came after your ass is because I wasn't sure, and I know Mia would hate me if I ever did anything to you, whether you deserved it or not." He stops long enough for another swallow of his beer before continuing, his eyes hard. "But, I'm giving you a warning right now, Sheriff or not, friend or not, if you hurt her again, nothing will stop me from killing you."

I hold his eyes, not backing down or shying away from him, seeing the truth in his eyes. If I ever hurt Mia, I have no doubt Jaxon will keep his word. Jaxon has always been very passionate about protecting his family. I don't fault him for that. I'm glad Mia has someone willing to protect her at all costs, especially because I wasn't there to do it myself. As an officer of the law, it would be within my right and the law to arrest him for threatening me, but I won't. He's trying to protect the one he loves, and no one should be punished for that.

"You have nothing to worry about, Jax. Nothing would make me hurt Mia again," I tell him, being completely honest.

"Good, because she almost didn't recover last time. If there's a next time, I know she won't," he says. with a hard edge to his voice. I can also see the ghosts lurking there from watching his sister in so much pain.

I give him a curt nod. Jaxon's words and the slight insight at the pain I caused not only Mia, but Jaxon as well, solidify my resolve to do everything within my power to keep Mia from any pain again, especially from me.

I see Nick standing quietly in the corner watching the two of us talk, probably to make sure our conversation doesn't escalate. He doesn't need to worry.

Just then, Jaxon's phone starts ringing. He pulls it from his pocket and glances at the screen.

"It's Bailey," he says, before answering. "Hey, angel, y'all ready?"

It only takes a second before I see Jaxon go stiff. I perk up, not liking his reaction.

"Angel, calm down, baby. Tell me what happened."

He listens for a second and then his gaze swings my way, and I know something's happened to Mia.

He starts walking quickly across the bar, signaling for Nick and me to follow him. I want to rip the phone away from him and demand he tell me what happened. The thread of control I have is wavering. We're out the door in seconds, and I'm about to take his phone away when he talks again.

"Angel, listen to me, okay," a pause, then he continues, "we're getting in the truck. We'll be there in just a minute. You and the girls stay with Andrew, okay?" Silence, then, "We're coming, baby. Just stay with Andrew. Love you."

He hangs up at the same time we reach the truck. As soon as the doors are open and I see Jaxon on the other side of the truck, I ask, "What the fuck happened?"

He doesn't waste any time in cranking the truck and backing out of the parking space, talking as he does so. "Something's wrong with Mia. They found her in a back room, unconscious. She said there was a man in there with her."

"Son of a bitch," I hear Nick spit out behind us.

I grip the handle of the door so hard I'm surprised I don't crush it. My blood is on fire, and I want nothing more than to tear someone apart. Rage fills my system, and I start seeing red.

"What the hell do you mean she's unconscious? What's wrong with her?" I growl at him.

His knuckles are white on the steering wheel as he speeds the two blocks to Lucki's.

"I don't know, Mac. Bailey was hysterical. I could barely understand her."

We're pulling up to the curb of Lucki's, and I jump out before he comes to a full stop. There's a small line to get inside, but I bypass it and run toward the door and the bouncer guarding it. I yank out my badge and snarl, "Out of my fucking way."

He holds up his hands and steps out of the way, and I push my way in. I hear Jaxon and Nick run in behind me. "Move," I hear them yell.

My gaze zeroes in on the hallway just past the bar, and I quickly make my way in that direction, having to push and shove people out of my way. I hear some grumbling and complaints, but I ignore them.

When I reach the hallway, I see a small group of people outside a lit room. One is Bailey, who sees Jaxon behind me. "Oh my God, Jaxon," she screams and runs toward us. I pass her and barrel my way into the room.

I skid to a stop and my heart thumps in my chest and nearly stops when I see Mia lying on a counter with a towel over her. Her eyes are closed, like she's sleeping, but I see the track marks from her makeup running from her crying. Karyn and Chris are crying down at the end of the counter. Andrew is at Mia's side with a murderous expression on his face as he strokes her cheek. His knuckles are torn up, and I see blood on his shirt.

I quickly make my way to Mia, who isn't moving. My palms are sweating, and I'm having a hard time catching my breath.

"What the fuck happened?" I ask Andrew, who steps to the side when I reach them.

I feel pure rage radiating off Andrew when he answers, "She went to the bar to grab a drink. When she didn't come back, we went looking for her. I heard a noise come from this room and when I broke down the door, I saw this fucker," Andrew points to a guy curled into a ball, his face a mangled mess, "hovering over her with his pants undone."

"Has someone called an ambulance and police?" I hear Nick bark.

"They're on their way," an unknown voice says from the doorway.

I force my eyes away from the guy, and I bend down to get a better look at Mia. I'll take care of him in a minute. I need to see to Mia first. She has a sheen of sweat on her face, but she doesn't feel hot. Other than the flush and the makeup tracks, her face appears to be fine. I move the towel away and see that her top is undone. My jaw clenches and I grip the edge of the counter and take a deep breath, forcing myself to continue my inspection. I cover her top half back up and use my body to block Mia from the rest of the room while I check her lower half, afraid of what I might find. My suspicions are confirmed, and I lose my shit when I see the bruises on her inner thighs. With a roar, I spin around and launch myself at the guy lying on the floor crying.

I grab him by his hair and yank him to his feet. As soon as he's standing, I throw my fist into his already battered face. Fresh blood starts spilling from his mouth and I see a tooth barely hanging on by a thread of skin. It doesn't satisfy me. I know I'll probably get in trouble for beating a defenseless man, but I'm beyond caring. I punch him in the gut with every bit of strength I have and watch as he doubles over in pain. I go to grab him again, but am pulled back. Jaxon passes me and grabs the guy by the throat and throws him against the wall. I try to fight the arms holding me, not nearly done with him myself, but a weak voice stops me.

"Mac."

I spin around and see Mia has her eyes barely open. I rush to her and bend down so we're eye level.

"Shh… I'm here, Pix. You're okay now." I gather her in my arms and look around the room until I find who I think is the owner.

"Where's the office?"

My guess must have been right because he replies in a worried voice, "This way," and turns around to walk out of the room. I follow him with Bailey, Chris, and Karyn hot on my tail, worried about their friend.

We stop at a door, and the guy pulls out a set of keys and unlocks it. When we enter, he points to a couch off to the side. I sit down with Mia in my lap. She hasn't spoken or moved since she called my name. I look down at her and see she's out again. The uncontrollable fury I felt a few minutes ago returns, and I almost get back up to finish what Andrew and I started with the guy. The only thing holding me back is my need to be here for Mia if she wakes up.

The owner comes to me and hands me a wet rag. The girls sit on either side of me, their sorrow evident on their faces. I take the rag and run it gently along Mia's face.

A few minutes later, Jaxon walks into the room with Nick behind him. He has bloody knuckles as well, and the expression on his face would scare any sensible person. He walks over to us and kneels down in front of me. One of his hands goes to Bailey, who grabs on to it as if her life depends on it. His other hand goes to Mia's cheek.

"How is she?" he asks in a rough voice.

"She hasn't woken up yet. Her breathing seems to be fine though," I reply, without taking my eyes off Mia.

Just then, we hear a commotion in the hallway right before a couple of paramedics enter the room with a stretcher, two uniformed officers behind them. I get up off the couch and set Mia down on the stretcher. I take a step back, letting them do their work, but I don't move too far away. They immediately check her vitals, which are thankfully good.

When they start wheeling the stretcher out of the room, I go to follow. One of the officers puts his hand on my chest, blocking my way. I glance down at his hand and then back up at his face and give him a deadly look. No one is going to stop me from going with Mia.

"Who are you?" he asks.

"Mia's boyfriend and Sheriff Weston of Jaded Hollow. Remove your hand or I'll break it," I say, not caring that I'm threatening an officer of the law.

He sees the truth in my words and drops his hand, but doesn't move out of the way. "We need to ask you some questions, Sheriff Weston."

Nick steps up beside us and speaks to the dumb ass officer. He has no clue how close I am to decking him. The paramedics have moved out of the room, and they'll be loading Mia up soon and taking off.

"Officer," he stops and looks at the nameplate on the officer's uniform, "Brant, why don't you let the sheriff go be with Mia. Mac wasn't here when this happened. I'm sure he'd been more than willing to go down to the station tomorrow to answer any questions you have."

I'm about to lay the guy out for keeping me from Mia when he finally moves to the side with an understanding nod. I rush past him when I hear him say, "I expect to see you at the station first thing in the morning."

I ignore him and run over to the ambulance. Neither of the paramedics say anything when I climb inside. I take a seat closest to Mia's head and take her limp hand into my own. I nearly fall to my knees beside her at her frail and vulnerable look. The door is closed, and we take off for the hospital.

I look up to see Mia's eyes slit open. I pull her wrist to my lips and kiss it several times. I have to clear my clogged throat before speaking.

"It's okay, baby. We're on our way to the hospital. You're going to be fine."

She licks her lips and tries to talk. "I'm sorry…"

I rear back. Why in the fuck is she apologizing to me? I was the one who wasn't there when she needed me. The rational part of me knows there is nothing I could have done. If I had known this would happen then of course I wouldn't have let her go, but I didn't know. There's no way I could have known. The irrational part of me doesn't care about that. I should have protected her, somehow.

I put my finger over her lips to silence her. "Shh… don't talk. Just rest, okay? We'll talk later."

Her eyes close, and she drifts off again. The ride to the hospital doesn't take long. They rush her inside and to the back. When I try to follow, a nurse stops me.

"Sir, I can't allow you to go back. We've been made aware of her condition and there are some tests we need to perform. We'll let you know when you can go back." She looks at me with sympathy.

I know what tests she's talking about. It's obvious that Mia was given Rohypnol. I know the signs and symptoms intimately. She'll need a rape kit done.

I give the nurse a jerky nod, and she walks away. I walk over to a chair and sit down. I drop my head into my hands and grip the strands of my hair. The chance of both of us being given a roofie is too low to ignore. Obviously, someone slipped her the drug knowing exactly who she was. I just don't understand why. Why is someone harassing and trying to hurt Mia? This is the second incident. First, her tire was sliced and now the roofie. It just doesn't make any sense.

Again, an image of the rage on Tessa's face at seeing Mia at my house the other day plays through my mind. She's obviously capable of drugging someone to get something she wants, but it still makes no sense for her to do it to Mia. Tessa knows there is no chance of us getting back together. I made damn sure of that. What would her motive be? Does she hate Mia so much that she would have Mia raped, knowing I would suspect her after the way she acted toward Mia and what she's done in the past? Tessa knows I know about the drug. It was a big reason why we didn't stay married. She tried one other time to slip me something, but I caught her. She was so desperate for me to sleep with her again that the crazy bitch thought she could pull the same shit twice. What she never figured out was that I always watched myself around her. She was one I never trusted. After that second time, I couldn't take watching over my shoulder anymore around her, and I told her so. Two days later, I filed for divorce. I told her if she ever tried anything like that again I would take T away from her. That scared her because T was her only tie to me. She never tried anything again. Until now? I don't know, but I plan on finding out. She better hope and pray she is not involved in this.

I feel a hand on my shoulder, look up, and see Bailey. She takes a seat beside me and grabs my hand. Chris takes the other seat with Karyn on her other side. I blow out a breath and try to gather my dark thoughts.

"How is she?" Nick asks, walking up to us.

"I don't know. They took her to the back to do some tests. Said they'll let me know once I can go back."

A look passes between Nick and me. He knows what kind of tests they need to do as well.

"Where are Jaxon and Andrew?"

"Still at Lucki's. Andrew obviously beat the shit out of the guy. They wouldn't let him leave without questioning him. Jaxon stayed behind to make sure they don't take him in. They should be here soon."

I nod and glance down. The fucker got off easy. He's lucky to be breathing right now. I'll forever be in Andrew's debt for coming to Mia's rescue when I couldn't myself. I'll use whatever resources I have if they try to charge Andrew, but I don't think they will. The drug tests will confirm it, but it's apparent Mia was drugged and couldn't make her own coherent decisions. No lawyer would press charges against a guy who was trying to save a woman from being raped.