A Safe Place To Fall (The Fall Book 1) (19 page)

“
I'm
going home,” she repeated walking out of the bedroom door.
“With or without you. It's your decision.”

***********************

Drew tapped on his breaks to avoid
hitting the deer crossing the path of the truck. He could not
believe he allowed Lana to talk him into this. It was four in the
morning and they were on their way back to Morgantown. His dad was,
more than likely, going to kill him. This was one of the most stupid
things he had ever done.

She was worried about her friend; he
understood that. If he was honest, he would have to admit that he
was also more than a little concerned for Ricky. That did not change
the fact that there was a stalker waiting for her to return home.
Having her out in the open, where anyone could find her, was just too
risky.

What if Shawn had known if Ricky were
injured she would come running? The guy had been watching her for
months. There was no way he would not know how much her friend meant
to her. They could be walking right into his hands, and they
wouldn't know it until it was too late.

*********************************

The constant beeping of the heart monitor
comforted Lana. Ricky, still unconscious, lay in a hospital bed. An
IV and wires ran from his body to different monitors. His face
looked as if it was swollen twice its' normal size. Bruises covered
his once flawless skin. An arm and a leg had also been broken. The
attacker had done a real number on him.

Lana pulled a chair up beside the
hospital bed and kept a silent vigil. Ricky's family took the
opportunity to get some dinner. Drew chose to stay outside the
hospital room.

How could this be the same vibrant
roommate who had helped pick her back up too many times to count?
She had known him less than a year; yet, he filled such a huge space
in her heart. Nobody would ever be able to make her laugh the way
Ricky could.

He had to survive this. He just had to!

There were still too many things left for
Ricky to achieve in life. He was in the middle of getting ready for
a photography exhibit. How could he just be taken away before he
could see that through? What about his goal of finding his own
prince charming?

Lana leaned forward and took his lifeless
hand in her's. “Ricky, I'm so sorry,” she whispered.
“If I had known that he would come after you if I took off, I
never would have left. I swear, I would have stayed.”

“
He wouldn't have wanted that,”
his mother said from the doorway. “He's been so worried about
you.”

Lana laid his hand back on the bed and
wiped the silent tears from her eyes. “How much did he tell
you?”

The older female version of Ricky walked
farther into the room stopping at the foot of her son's bed. “Enough
for me not to have any faith in the law enforcement around here.”

“
I tried to keep him away from all
of this,” she admitted, allowing her hands to fall back in her
lap. “I thought that if he was in the dark, then nothing could
happen to him.”

“
Sweetie, if there is one thing
I've learned about my son after all of these years, it's that he will
always find out what you want hidden.” The older woman let out
a sad laugh. “Never could hide a Christmas present from him.”

“
I just wish he hadn't been there,”
she said looking down at the floor. “I thought if I left that
there would be no threat.”

“
Look at me, child,” his
mother demanded. She waited until Lana obeyed before she continued.
“None of this is your fault! The only one responsible is the
man who took his anger out on my son.”

“
If I had been there none of this
would have happened,” Lana countered.

“
You're probably right,”
Cassandra agreed with a slow nod. “Instead it would be you in
this hospital bed, or even worse in the morgue.”

The older woman had a point. Shawn had
been willing to put her innocent roommate in the hospital. What
would he have done if she had been in the apartment?

The older woman moved behind Lana and
laid her hands on her shoulders. “I pray they get this guy
before he can do any more damage.”

But what if they didn't catch him? Would
she be Shawn's next victim?

****************************

Drew thought he just might snap his cell
phone into pieces as he listen to his dad's voice over the phone.
They finally located Shawn. “What do you mean he's in
Charleston?”

“
Something about his mom being
sick,” his dad said. “He hasn't been in the area for the
past couple of weeks.”

If Shawn could prove he had been out of
town that long that meant he couldn't have beat Ricky to an inch of
his life. It also meant he had already been gone when someone had
tampered with Lana's breaks.

The identity of Lana's stalker was
officially unknown.

**********************

He almost felt bad for putting his girl's
friend in the hospital, but his hands had been tied. She took off,
and he couldn't find her anywhere. How else could he have gotten her
to come back home?

Just as he had known, Lana had come
running the moment she found out about her friend. That's what true
friends did. Not that he actually knew what true friendship was
like. The only friend he had in life was his cousin. Could you even
call a cousin a friend? Even that was starting to grow stale. If
his cousin kept trying to get into his business it would have to end.

The woman, who had been keeping Lana's
place in his bed warm, was starting to get defiant. Always wanting
to know where he was all the time. Never wanting him to tie her up
anymore. Using the whip had proven to be a mistake. Who knew she
could bruise that easily?

He closed his eyes and pictured Lana all
tied up. She was strong. There would be no bruising as he smacked
her repeatedly with the leather strap he had saved just for her.

Only the best for his Lana.

He opened his eyes and looked at his
picture of Lana all spread out on a lounge in her parents back yard.

Yeah, only the best.

And he had special plans for his Lana.

********************

Chapter 20

Three weeks went by before Ricky came out
of his coma. Lana only left his side when forced to by either Drew
or Cassandra. She would hold his hand and remind him of the good
times. Apologies came upon every hour he remained locked in the
other world.

The doctors had sworn Ricky could hear
his visitors' voices and that it would help speed up his recovery.
Lana locked on to those promises and prayed the doctors actually knew
what they were talking about. They were doctors; it was some
unwritten rule they were always right. Right?

Day in and day out Lana would talk to
Ricky. When she ran out of things to talk about she would read aloud
from one of the books Drew found on Ricky's bedside stand. She had
never been into all of the futuristic stuff, but she read it anyway.

The day he finally decided to open those
eyes of his she had broken into song out of desperation. She figured
he would have to wake-up even if it were just to tell her to shut up.
By that point in time she would've killed to hear those words, or
any words come out of Ricky's mouth.

It only took three verses of
Dude
Look Like a Lady
before a groan came from the bed. One eye came open slightly. “No,”
came out in a rough whisper.

No. It was only one simple word but that
one word brought Lana more happiness than a million from anyone else
could have. For the first time in weeks the tears escaping her eyes
were happy ones. Unwilling to move from his side she sent Drew after
the nurse.

To test him further, also because she
couldn't resist it, she sang the chorus.

Ricky tapped his finger lightly on her
hand resting beside his on the bed. “Stop.”

Lana laughed through the tears. Never
before had she been so happy to hear that she had a horrible singing
voice. She grasped his hand and thanked God and whoever else, who
had a hand in bringing him back to her.

The nurse checked all of his vitals and
said he looked good. She also had a good laugh when she found out
what Lana had been doing when he came out of his deep sleep.

All of the teasing did not dampen Lana's
good mood. Her friend was on the uphill climb now.

***********************

Drew let out a sigh of relief when they
walked through the apartment door later that night. Now that Ricky
was out of the coma they could start getting back to normal. Well,
as normal as they could get with her stalker still out there
somewhere.

Shawn's alibi had checked out. There was
documentation to prove he had been in Charleston at the time of
Lana's wreck and when Ricky had been beaten. It was possible to fake
signatures on a visitation log; however, it would have been hard to
give an officer a fake name and driver's license during the traffic
stop.

Turns out Shawn's mom wasn't just sick.
She had mentally checked out and had gone to LA-LA-Land. She was in
the psych ward at an institution. Shawn had been with her almost
every day, trying to get her released. He had only returned to
Morgantown after the doctors had refused her release.

There was no way Shawn could have done
those acts of violence. Knowing this should have made Drew feel
better, but it only made him feel more on edge. The real stalker was
out there watching.

Lana had gotten a couple text messages
from the stalker since they had been back in town. The messages had
been graphic, describing in detail what he would do when he had her.
She had never seen the messages because Drew had taken the cell phone
as soon as the picture of Ricky had been sent.

Drew wanted nothing more than to go back
to the cabin and hide her away. Keeping her all to himself sounded
really good right about now and not just because she had a crazed
stalker.

She had changed into one of his shirts
and a pair of short shorts as soon as they walked through the door.
The view had him thinking all kinds of x-rated thoughts as she stood
at the kitchen counter chopping up veggies for a salad to go with the
spaghetti she had boiling on the stove.

Lana had taken up cooking after they
returned from the cabin. The first couple of meals had been a
struggle for him to force down, but he had done so with a smile. Now
he looked forward to the meals she sat in front of him at dinner
time.

Walking up behind her he circled his arms
around her waist and nuzzled her neck. Her fruity perfume invaded
his senses.

“
It'll be done soon,” she
promised.

He pulled her back against him pressing
the evidence of his arousal against her backside. “I'm not
thinking about dinner right now.”

“
Stop trying to distract me,”
she protested, continuing to chop the green peppers.

Drew left a trail of kisses down the side
of her neck as his hand slid up the front of the shirt she was
wearing. If his guess was right they still had ten minutes before
the pasta would be fully cooked. He intended to make good use of
those ten minutes.

*******************************

The knife Lana was holding fell out of
her hand as she turned in Drew's arms. Her arms found their way
around his neck as her mouth met his in a kiss. When her back hit
the counter he lifted her by her waist and sat her on the counter
beside the vegetables, his mouth never leaving hers.

A knock at the door made Drew sigh.
“This better be important.”

Lana giggled as she wiggled off of the
counter to go answer the door.

Tracie was standing in the hallway with
tears running down her face. There was a bruise the shape of a rope
around her neck.

What had Devin done to her?

The other girl launched herself into
Lana's arms sobbing. “He's crazy.”

“
What happened?” Lana asked,
backing her way through the living room to the couch. The door was
left for Drew to shut.

“
I thought he was going to kill
me,” Tracie cried. “We were fooling around and he wanted
to blindfold me. I thought he was just trying to spice things up,
but then I felt him wrap something around my neck.”

“
He tried to strangle you?”
Lana asked in horror, looking at Drew over the other girl's shoulder.

“
He said he had read about it in a
magazine and that it was supposed to make the experience better,”
Tracie informed her. “When I tried to fight him off he pulled
the rope tighter around my neck.” She sobbed louder. “I
swear I thought he was going to kill me.”

Lana rocked her friend in her arms and
rubbed her back.

“
I didn't know where else to go,”
Tracie said.

“
I'm going to kill him,” Drew
stated simply.