Beyond Love Lies Deceit (22 page)

I had to head into the office for a little while. You looked so peaceful I couldn’t bear to wake you.

The alarm is armed so make sure not to open any doors or windows.

Help yourself to anything in the house. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.

-Luke

I smile at his thoughtfulness, knowing that it probably took everything in him to leave me here alone. Pushing into a stand, I sit the note back where I found it before heading towards the bathroom. As much as I hate that Luke isn’t here, I know he needs to maintain appearances for my sake.

He didn’t make it to the office at all on Tuesday, not showing a second day would likely raise some red flags, especially where Ryan is concerned. Though I am not entirely convinced that Ryan would even suspect his brother considering he has no idea what has actually transpired between me and Luke over the last few weeks, especially our time in New York.

After showering and helping myself to a glass of orange juice and a banana, I decide it’s time to start figuring out my next move. As much as I would love to just hide out here with Luke for the rest of my life, I know that is not a solution or even a real possibility.

It’s been less than two days since I managed to escape Ryan. It’s only a matter of time before it all catches back up with me and I need to be prepared when it does. Pushing open the French style doors to Luke’s office, the moment I see his computer sitting on the large mahogany desk along the back wall, I start towards it.

Sliding into the high back leather chair, I open the laptop, relieved that it is not password protected. If I had to guess I would say this is the computer Luke has for recreational use and that there is nothing private stored on it.

Double clicking the web browser, I type
Sarah Trammell drug overdose
into the search engine and click on the first link the search populates. I am hoping that knowing what I know now will somehow help me find something I may have missed before. I know it’s a long shot but at this point it’s all I have to go on.

If I want any hope of taking Ryan down I need proof, so proof is exactly what I am going to try to find.

****

I
am so lost in my research that when the door alarm chimes, I look up to find nearly three hours have passed. Unfortunately I am no closer to finding anything that will help me.

My heart kicks up speed for a brief moment when the door alarm continues to chime for several seconds but then I hear the keypad beep and the alarm disable, letting me know it’s Luke. Deciding I could use a break and maybe a second opinion, I push away from the desk and head out of the office.

Sliding my hand along the smooth rail, I make it about three quarters of the way down the slanted staircase before the main foyer comes into full view. The moment it does I freeze, fear paralyzing me on the spot.

“Well, well, well.” Ryan crosses his arms in front of himself, his suit jacket pulling tightly against his broad shoulders as he does.

“Look at what I found.” A pleased smile pulls up the corners of his mouth.

“Ryan.” The name barely escapes my lips.

“Did you really think that I wouldn’t find you?” His tone and demeanor is that of arrogance.

“I...” I start but the words stick in my throat and I can’t seem to make them come out.

“You didn’t call the police because you knew you couldn’t prove anything.” He continues without skipping a beat. “Choosing to keep who you are a secret over the few hours I may have spent in jail, while a ballsy move, will prove to be your fatal mistake” He tisks, slowly crossing the foyer towards the bottom of the staircase.

“You could have run, saved yourself. Instead you do nothing. You come to my brother and think that he’s going to what; hide you away forever?” He lets out a humorous laugh like he’s never heard something so funny before.

The sound echoes through the open space, bouncing off of the walls around me before dying off as quickly as it started. I hold his gaze, anticipating his next move. I know the moment the decision is made; I can feel the shift in the air and read the look in his eyes.

No more than seconds pass before I spin, knowing I need to run... Now!

“Where do you think you’re going?” I hear the laughter in his voice just moments before his footsteps sound against the staircase behind me.

I know he’s closing in on me, my speed no match for his. I can feel the fear mount with each second that passes but I refuse to turn around and look.

Five stairs from the top...

If I can just get to Luke’s room, I can lock myself inside.

Four... My cellphone is on the nightstand.

I feel a sudden tug on my left foot just as I reach the last step, the force pulling me off balance causing me to hit the landing on a hard thud. Pain shoots through my elbow, an involuntary cry sounding from my lips.

Within seconds I recover, attempting to get back up. I put my palms flat against the floor and try to push myself upwards but before I can make it even an inch I feel myself being pulled again, Ryan’s grip on my left foot never wavering.

I hit the first two steps down hard, my hip cracking painfully against the edge of the marble as Ryan pulls me. Trying to kick at him with my right foot in an effort to free his grip on my left, my fight only seems to fuel his anger. He manages to snag my right foot just as it connects with his upper thigh, the impact having next to no effect on him.

Pulling at me violently, my head whips backwards from the force. The moment it connects with the stair behind me a vicious ring sounds through my ears. The second hit is even worse, causing black spots to blur my vision.

Trying to keep my head from hitting again, I twist my body trying to take the impact of each step with my shoulder and hip rather than my back and head. This position proves harder to maintain with both of my legs restricted.

I manage to keep my head from hitting for at least a couple of steps before a twist in the staircase causes my body to hit at a different angle, the side of my face the next to connect to the hard surface below me.

I cry out from the impact, immediately feeling the blood flow down my cheek from just below my right eye. Ryan continues to drag me downward; the turn in the staircase making it hard for me to determine which part of my body will be take the brunt of the impact next.

Anticipating each step is almost as painful as the physical damage that follows. By the time we reach the large foyer below, I am convinced that not one part of my body made the trip down unharmed.

The moment I feel the flat surface beneath me I arch my back trying to give myself enough leverage to kick free but Ryan knows it’s coming and is able to maintain his grip on me. I have the will to fight, the courage to stand up to him, unfortunately my small frame is no match for his large muscular one and he easily overpowers me.

“You’re only making this harder on yourself.” He says, his grip on my ankles so tight that I can literally feel the flow of blood to my feet being cut off, a tingling sensation spreading through my toes.

Twisting my legs, Ryan flips me to my stomach. I immediately try to pull myself up but I no more than get my weight up on my arms before Ryan gives my legs a violent tug and my body crashes to the hard floor below me.

“You want to know what I think is the saddest thing of this whole situation?” Ryan taunts, straddling my waist as he settles his weight down on my lower back, the pressure making it difficult to breathe normally.

“That you thought Luke would actually protect you.” He laughs. “Did you really think he would choose you over his family?” He pulls my arms behind me, clearly planning to tie my hands together.

“He wouldn’t do this to me.” I spit, continuing to fight against Ryan’s hold on me even though he barely budges.

“Oh but he did do this to you. How do you think I found out you were here?” I can see a large smile stretching across his face out of the corner of my eye.

“How do you think I got the security code for the alarm?” He continues. “Luke was just playing you Samantha. He was breaking down your guard. I’d say he did a pretty good job.”

“Fuck you.” I seethe, arching my back in an effort to push him off of me. “Luke would never do that.” I scream, flailing violently beneath him.

“But he did.” He lets out a spine chilling laugh, leaning forward so close that his lips graze my ear as he does.

The anger and desperation that floods through me over the thought that his words might just be true is overwhelming and before I even realize what I am doing the back of my head cracks loudly against Ryan’s face, knocking him backwards.

His grip goes limp as the shock and pain shoots through him, the impact catching him enough off guard that I am able to use the momentum of the force to free my hands. I try to pull myself away using the strength of my arms, my legs still somewhat restrained under Ryan’s weight, but he recovers too quickly for me to really get anywhere.

Ryan is easily able to reclaim his grip on me within seconds, securing both of my hands behind my back using only one of his.

“You really shouldn’t have done that.” He spits, his free hand wrapping tightly into my hair.

He lifts my head and then with one hard push cracks it against the marble floor, the impact causing the whole room to lose focus. I have no time to recover from the first blow before the second comes.

The pain radiates through my head, spreading down my neck and back, the darkness taking me under within seconds. Ryan’s taunting laughter the last thing I hear before everything fades to black.

––––––––

L
uke

The moment I realize the security alarm has been disabled, fear floods my body. Samantha didn’t have the code so she would have set the alarm off had she tried to leave, which tells me everything I need to know...

She didn’t go out, someone else came in.

“Sam.” I immediately yell through the space. “Sam.” I repeat, louder this time.

Nothing...

I am met by a haunting silence, one that causes my pulse to thud so rapidly my own heart beat is the only sound in the room.

“Sam.” I yell again, crossing the foyer towards the staircase, knowing if she’s upstairs she may not be able to hear me.

Taking the stairs two at a time, the moment I reach the second floor I head directly towards the master bedroom. Spotting her cellphone lying on the bedside table, my mind instantly jumps to worst case scenario. Trying to shake off the thought, I search the other four bedrooms before heading into the study, calling her name the entire time.

I know she’s not here. I can feel it in my bones but I refuse to accept it. The moment I reach the top of the staircase I freeze. There’s something there, something I can’t believe I didn’t see before.

Going down three stairs, I stop. Leaning down, I wipe my hand along the step, realizing the moment I look at the liquid on my fingers that it’s blood. I nearly choke on my fear, panic making it impossible to react.

I follow the blood trail down, finding at least one spot on nearly every step. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I scan my eyes along the foyer instantly spotting several more small droplets of blood starting from where I am standing and leading towards the back entrance.

Following the trail, it stops just a few feet from the private driveway that sits at the back of the house. Turning, I sprint back inside, knowing with almost complete certainty that Ryan must have found her but praying at the same time that I am wrong and that there is another reasonable explanation for this.

Pulling my cell from my jacket pocket, I punch in Travis’ number and hit call, his voice sounding on the other end just as I push my way back inside the house.

“I need to know when the alarm system at the beach house was disabled this morning.” I ramble, not bothering with pleasantries.

“Everything okay?” He asks curiously.

“Just tell me when the fucking code was entered.” I demand.

“Give me a second.” His response is immediate.

I can hear his hands working against the keyboard as his accesses the system.

“Eleven twenty-eight.” He finally answers.

“Twenty minutes ago?” I ask in disbelief, realizing had I gotten here just a little earlier I could have prevented all of this.

“Looks like Nicholas’s code was used to access the house.” He adds.

“My father?” I question, realizing almost instantly that I when I changed my code to the house I never even considered changing his.

“I need you to track Ryan.” I speak again before Travis can respond. “Find out where he is right now.”

“It will take me a few minutes to pinpoint his location.” Travis seems confused by my request but doesn’t question it.

“Call me the moment you do.” I end the call.

Pulling up my contacts, I press my father’s name, impatiently waiting through ring after ring only to have his voicemail pick up. Disconnecting the call, I hit his name again. It only rings twice this time before his voices comes on the line.

“Luke, I’m in the middle of an important call.” He immediately speaks.

“Were you at the beach house this morning?” I ask, ignoring his statement.

I know it’s a long shot and that I am grasping but I need to make one hundred percent sure my father had nothing to do with this.

“Jack I’m going to need to call you back.” I hear my father speak, the call he’s on clearly taking place from his office phone. “What it is Luke?” He sighs into the phone just moments later.

“Were you at the beach house this morning?” I repeat, my tone reflecting my frustration.

“No, I’ve been at the office all morning, you know that.” He adds, reminding me that I saw him shortly after I arrived at ScoTech this morning. “What’s this about?”

“Ryan has her.” I let the statement hang there as the realization hits me.

That’s how Ryan got in. If he knew Sam was here then he also knew I would take extra precautions to keep her safe which would include changing the alarm code. And of course he knows Dad’s code. How could I have been so careless?