a reason to live(28)

Yet, here he sat, staring at Gregor’s door while contemplating what would amount to emotional suicide. He couldn’t tolerate the thought of Sage on the river with little to no training, felt a responsibility to keep her safe. But to keep her from harm meant spending three days with her—in close quarters, no less—and therein lies the problem.

A sharp rap on his window caused Shane to turn his head. He found Chester peering into his passenger window, motioning for him to unlock the door. He punched the lock and waited silently as Chester climbed in and shut the door.

“You look like a man with a problem,” Chester said as he turned his body to face Shane.

“You would be correct.”

“You know, if you’d let people in, we might be able to help,” Chester replied, crossing his arms.

“A man’s any man at all, he can figure his own shit out,” Shane answered back.

“Not if that man is hangin’ on to the past.”

Shane closed his eyes and leaned his head back. The past was like a noose around his neck, and if he weren’t careful, it would tighten until he suffocated.

“I’ll let that simmer for a while,” Chester muttered. “I was actually headed to update Sage on the investigation when I saw you sittin’ here. Heard you spent the morning teachin’ her how to raft. How’d she do?”

Rolling his head on his shoulders, Shane sighed before he answered. “Not bad for a beginner, but she’s in over her head if she falls in. Devil’s Run is no place to lose your rafting virginity.”

“Maybe someone should keep an eye on her then,” Chester suggested.

Shane shot his friend a blank look and wondered if he read minds.

“Maybe,” he finally mumbled.

Shane’s phone began to ring, so he held up a finger and picked it up from his dash, answering.

“You got Shane.”

“You got Maxine.”

He sighed deep and long.

“I’m busy. You’ve got ten seconds to bust my chops then I’m hangin’ up.”

“Only need five. I need to talk to you about Sage. Come by the house tonight.”

“Just tell me now.”

“I don’t have time, just be here at seven. You can join us for poker night,” she rattled off then hung up without waiting for an answer.

Shane stared at his phone. That woman was a pain in the ass.

“Problems?” Chester asked.

“No, but I feel Max’s pain.” Shane grinned. “Tell me what you found out about Sage’s stalker.”

“FPD has more than one complaint. One from a circuit judge and one from an attorney. The MO is different from Sage’s, though. One had his tires slashed and the other is receiving phone calls.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s not the same person,” Shane offered.

“No, it doesn’t. They said they’d keep me advised if they catch the perp. Until then, we stay vigilant,” Chester said then took a deep breath and continued. “I found out something else I thought you should know.”

“What’s that?”

“Sage filed a police report a little over four years ago against her stepfather . . .”

“What the hell for?”

“Seems the late Richard Heller, Sage’s stepfather, liked to use his fists on Sage, her mother, and her sister. He almost killed her mother in an attack. She spent a week in the hospital recovering.”

Shane sucked in a sharp breath through his nose and his fists clenched. Sloan was five foot three and a hundred pounds wet. Sage wasn’t much bigger; their mother was even smaller, and though Sage had a backbone, all three women were soft-spoken and kind, further fueling his anger at the thought any man had laid a hand on them.

A dozen images shot through his mind as he remembered Sloan’s reaction to his men fighting in the ranks. How she would cower when punches were thrown, even Sage’s own reaction to his shouting at her the first night they met. She’d jerked in fear, stepping back and raising her hands as if to ward off a blow. Then he remembered what she’d said immediately after. Just as words have greater power than any blow a man can throw, this guilt you’re carrying over Emma’s death only has power because you allow it to.

Rage pooled in his gut and worked its way up his chest until it took up permanent residence. He wanted to dig the bastard up and kill him again for laying a hand on Sage and her family.

“He raised his hand to Sage?” he hissed.

“He did.”

“He put her mother in the hospital?”

“Almost killed her and then broke his restraining order two years later and went to jail. He died before he could stand trial.”