Dare Me, Part Two Dare Duet Sawyer and Billie: Unchained Attraction Series

by Shandwick, K. L.

  I took the phone out of her hand. “Breathe and put your shoes on,” I said, seeing Billie was desperately close to losing it with Colby. As I fed my arms into my own T-shirt I still didn’t know what was wrong, but knew if Billie had continued talking she would have broken down, and that wouldn’t have helped anyone. “Colby?” I asked taking the phone from her. “Can you tell me what’s happening, buddy?”

  “Dad brought me into town last night and we stayed in this hotel. I woke up a while ago, but when I got hungry I tried to wake him up, but I can’t,” he sobbed.

  “Now, buddy, this is where I need you to use your superpower okay?”

  “I don’t have a superpower,” he said, angrily and sobbed harder.

  “Sure you do, Colby, and it’s at times like these that we find them. Is someone there with you now?” I asked. “Colby?” I prompted again when he hadn’t responded.

  “Yes, a man and a woman, they have uniforms on.”

  “Are they helping your dad now? Tell me what they’re doing.”

  “Yes, they’re doing stuff. They’ve rolled him on his side and stuck something in his mouth, but he’s not waking up.” The poor kid sounded on the verge of hysteria and my chest tightened.

  “That’s okay buddy, they know what they’re doing. Meanwhile, can you ask them what hotel you are in and where?” I glanced at Billie who was pulling her hair, staring anxiously at me. I pulled her by the wrist and hugged her into my side, while I heard them tell him they were in The Hilton Hotel. However, I knew there were several in the city.

  “Well done dude, your superpower is getting information. Now that your mom and I know where you are, we’re coming to get you. Stay on the phone with us, don’t hang up. I’m going to give you back to your mom and we’re on our way. Stay inside the hotel, and don’t allow anyone to take you anywhere else. Can you put your dad’s cell to the ear of the man helping your dad for a second, but don’t hang up when he’s finished, I want to talk to you again.”

  “Hello,” the guy said sounding stressed. “The boy with you is called Colby. The guy you are working on is his dad, Logan Drummond. His mom and I are in Margate, New Jersey, but we’re on our way. I need the exact hotel address please.”

  The deep gruff voice told me he was a hotel first responder and the emergency services were three minutes out. I managed to ascertain that he thought Logan was drunk. As the guy used the word inebriated, I was confident Colby had no idea what that was. Once Danny, the guy helping Logan, had told me his name and the details of their location, I was handed back to Colby.

  “Good job, you’re a hero helping your dad. Now remember don’t hang up and don’t leave the hotel with anyone. I’m going to give you back to your mom and we’re leaving now. Ask to stay in the manager’s office until we get there. I’m not going to lie to you, it’s going to take us a while before we arrive, but now that we know how brave you are, we’re not worried because you have people there with you. You’re going to hear a lot of noise because I’m bringing your mom to you on my bike. We won’t be able to hear you but leave the phone line open.

  Handing the phone back to Billie, I pulled on the rest of my clothes; Billie already in hers, and we hurriedly made our way to the city.

  * * *

  “Oh, God, thank you,” Billie breathed as she wrapped a tear-stricken Colby in her arms. Poor little boy looked devastated and my heart ached for what he’d gone through alone. By the time we arrived at the Hilton, Logan had been taken to the hospital, and Colby thankfully had been kept amused by one of the female front desk staff who had reached the end of her shift.

  “Daddy wouldn’t wake up. It was really frightening, Mom,” he sobbed again. Torn, I left Billie to comfort Colby for a few minutes and went to talk to the staff. Once I knew which hospital he’d been taken to I whispered this information to her.

  Billie left us to call the Emergency Room out of earshot of Colby. I felt torn about who to give my attention to as I had needed to comfort them both, but as Colby was the child his needs came first, while we waited to learn the full circumstances of the situation and his father’s condition.

  When Billie walked out the door, Colby’s frightened expression made my heart clench as he stared after her looking lost. “Come here,” I told him, and he didn’t hesitate when he climbed on my lap and buried his face in my chest.

  “You did great. Your mom and I are very proud of how well you coped,” I told him, and he hugged me tighter.

  “Did he die?” he asked, lifting his head to look me square in the eye and I swear my heart tore open. I had no idea what Logan’s status was, and I knew no matter what I couldn’t lie to him.

  “They took your dad to the best hospital here in the city. Your mom is finding out what’s going on and she’ll be back with an update for the both of us, okay?” I asked, trying to sound calm and hoped this helped him feel more in control.

  Minutes later, Billie was back, mascara slightly smudged and I could see she’d been crying. “He’s awake,” she blurted, the harrowed look she wore crushed me, and I felt Colby’s body sag as he began to cry again.

  “Excellent,” I stated, even though I knew this word wasn’t the main sentiment on the tip of my tongue, I knew it was important to try to focus on the fact Logan was alive for Colby and Billie’s sake, at least until I knew the full circumstances of what had gone on.

  Leaving the bike parked in the hotel underground car garage, I ordered a car and driver to take us to the hospital and once again, I stayed with Colby while Billie went off to see Logan. Fortunately, Billie was still listed as his next of kin, so was able to go into the ICU. When she was told that’s where he’d been taken, we knew whatever had happened was serious.

  Billie was in the room less than two minutes before she came back, her face ashen and she’d been crying again. “Come on, Colby, come and see your father, he’s fine. They’re going to watch him today and then he’ll move rooms tomorrow. According to his nurse he may be home again by Tuesday.”

  “Home with us?” Colby asked as she led him away. “No he doesn’t live with us anymore,” I heard Billie reply before the doors at the end of the corridor closed. Fuck.

  Hammer called as I was sitting waiting. “Good news, Wiggy is doing better, attending the self-help therapy sessions and the rehab group ones. He’s really upbeat for the first time in about a year, and he’s the cleanest and most committed as I’ve ever seen him.”

  “Great news,” I replied, pleased to hear our bass player was on the mend. “I’ve told Harry, our tour manager not to book anything else until we know he’s completely functioning without Charlie’s help.” Charlie being the lines of cocaine he snorted like it was strips of candy.

  “How’s it going with Billie?”

  “Life with Billie and Colby has a few kinks I still need to work out, the Logan situation is a car crash right now.” I went on to tell him where I was, and he offered to look after Colby for us. I could only begin to imagine Billie’s comment if I asked a recovered addict to take care of her son while Logan was currently in hospital with likely alcohol poisoning.

  Thanking him for the update, I concluded the call and felt glad I had put my faith in him with Wiggy. It had been a different story when I’d found Hammer overdosed with a needle and syringe hanging from a vein in his groin in a venue restroom, in Maine four years earlier. He almost died and it was touch and go for a while afterward with his mental health, but since then he’s been living proof recovering addicts can make it given their attitude and will to succeed.

  It was almost 5:00 p.m. by the time we left the hospital, and instead of going home I collected the keys to my father’s penthouse from security and decided we’d all sleep there instead of traveling all the way home.

  During a take-out dinner, Billie talked Colby through what had happened and it transpired Logan had drank a whole bottle of Jack Daniels, which his system hadn’t been used to, and the binge drinking had caused alcohol poisoning. Billie told him his d
ad hadn’t meant to drink so much but he’d felt sad and hadn’t noticed how much he had drank.

  Both Billie and I knew the value of talking through Colby’s ordeal with him and when he’d disclosed how scared he was for his dad, I suggested just for that night he sleep close to his mom. It meant me sleeping in the master suite alone, but it was a small price to pay for Colby to feel secure after all he had been through.

  Around 4 a.m. Billie slid under the covers beside me and snuggled into my side. When my hand slid into her hair and immediately massaged her scalp, she let out a long sigh. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “No problem,” I remarked, because it wasn’t her fault our weekend had been ruined. “Did you call Poppy?” I asked, wondering if she’d been informed.

  “Logan did from my cell and left the hospital number on her voicemail.” I nodded. “Why were they in the hotel in the first place?”

  “According to Logan they came to town to see the sights, but Colby said they checked into the hotel and never made it outside again.”

  “What the fuck’s going on in his head?” I muttered.

  “Do you think it could be because I told him about us.” I shifted my position, feeling annoyed to think it was.

  “I fucking hope not. If he’s made our engagement about him and upset Colby, I’ll be having words.”

  Billie didn’t respond, letting out another exaggerated sigh. “Why is life so hard sometimes?”

  “That’s easy. It’s so you recognize the awesome moments when they come along. Like the first time we met,” I said, with a little chuckle to lighten her mood.

  “I love how upbeat and calm you always are,” she said, as she wrapped her legs and arms around me, snuggling closer to my body like she wanted to climb inside. “Thank you for today. I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t been there for us.”

  I took a deep breath and blew it out. “You know Logan isn’t in a good place. At first, I thought he was quiet when he picked Colby up because he had nothing left to say. It feels as if he took that target off your chest when you agreed to marry me.”

  “What do you mean?” she stiffened as she leaned back to look up at me in the dark. I could barely make out her face but I knew by the tension in her voice and her body language my comment had alarmed her.

  “I think there’s more to this than we know. I see the signs he’s hit a low. Let’s face it, did you expect him not to explode when you told him about us?”

  “Not at all. I thought he’d belittle me as usual and at the very least, make some jibe about you living with Colby.”

  “Exactly.”

  Billie thought for a few moments, heaved and sighed heavily this time. “Will you take care of Colby tomorrow morning? I want to go back and see him on my own.”

  “Not if it’s going to upset you,” I warned.

  “I’m going to be more upset if I can’t get to the bottom of why this happened. I can’t believe he’d be that irresponsible with Colby. He said he took him there to prevent him being subjected to arguments like I asked him. I can’t fault him if that is the truth of the matter, I mean, after all, I did threaten to stop Colby’s visits.”

  “Then how do you explain him going to all that trouble, only to get drunk off of his ass when he’s the only adult in charge of him?” She shrugged.

  “Will you look after Colby?” she asked again.

  “You still feel it necessary to ask? Of course, but then I’ll bring him to see his dad and afterward we’re all going home. I want him to see Logan awake and coherent to ease his worries.”

  Brushing my hair back from my forehead, Billie pulled my head toward her and kissed it. “I have no idea what you find so attractive about me. Are you sure you want to do this? Haven’t you seen enough to make you run away yet?”

  “I definitely want to do this. I love you, Billie. What’s going on is just another bump in the road, and it’ll work out okay in the end.”

  “Ever the optimist,” she goaded.

  “Ah, but I’m your optimist,” I said, snuggling down until we were face-to-face. “Now shut up and give me a kiss before I throw your ass out of this bed and make you head back to Colby.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Where the hell can he be? There’s something fishy going on here,” Billie said, as she threw her cell on the Formica table of the diner we were in.

  “What now?” I asked with a furrowed brow. Logan had agreed to allow Billie sole custody overnight for the following three months and to control the contact as she saw fit. If Logan hadn’t agreed to these terms, she was going to take him to court. Naturally, these terms were more favorable to him than the alternative.

  After talking to me, she agreed it was in Colby’s best interest for him to still see his dad, as long as he was sober, but that any contact had to be with supervision. No one could blame her after what he’d done. I helped set up a private arrangement for contact to be supervised by a family friend of my mother’s, who had been a private school principal. Naturally Logan went along with the bone Billie threw him, because he knew if he fucked up again his ass would be in court faster than he could blink.

  The last thing Billie had wanted was for Colby’s contact with his father to be disrupted, however, she had told Logan in no uncertain terms that their son’s welfare came above everything else. Supervision was hurriedly put in place and visitation agreed for Logan to have two hourly visits, twice a week with his son. This arrangement was to remain in place until Billie felt comfortable to agree to more. Logan had met his commitments for the first four visits and complied with every rule she had put in place.

  One to these weekends fell on our birthdays, and the best I could offer my woman was a quick lunch for this and a family dinner the following evening as Colby stayed with us every night. It had felt frustrating but I reminded myself I had the rest of my life to make this up to her.

  * * *

  “He didn’t turn up,” she huffed in frustration, as she read the text she’d received. She stood worrying her lip between her thumb and forefinger.

  “Okay, let’s go back. Just stay calm and remember how you react is how Colby will too. Seeing the strain on her face with the worry he’d cause her, made me feel fucking mad.

  During the walk to collect Colby, Billie tried calling Logan’s phone, but kept getting his voicemail. “I’m so fucking angry right now,” she muttered between gritted teeth.

  “Look something may have happened,” I offered, trying to take her fury down a notch before she got to her son.

  “Logan happened,” Billie shot back unperturbed. Where I’d always been a glass half full kind of guy it was hard to maintain this view with her ex, given his past track record, but there was always a first time for a genuine excuse, so I kept my mouth shut and let this one play out by itself.

  Poor little Colby looked devastated and neither Billie nor I had any excuse why his father had stood him up.

  After we had taken Colby home, I tried to distract Billie from making more calls by talking to them both about the wedding. She had already begun to make plans with my mother and sisters, and I thought this was something that would take their minds off Logan. Several attempts to engage them fell on deaf ears when I saw they couldn’t concentrate on anything else except him. I knew they would rest until they knew he was okay.

  The mood in the house was like someone had died. When Billie began to make dinner, I grabbed the keys to my bike and told her I had needed to fill up on gas. This was a half-truth in that I had needed gas but instead of returning home, I rode the twenty minutes to Logan’s address. By the time I arrived at his condo and saw his lights were on, my reaction was one of pure frustration and I was almost spoiling for a fight.

  It took me several deep breaths to feel in control before I knocked on the door, and even as I heard the lock turn, I wasn’t sure what would come out of my mouth or even if I’d let him explain. The fight was knocked out of me when it was Poppy who answered the door.
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  “Where is he?”

  “Logan?” she asked, a hint of surprise in her tone.

  “Who the fuck else would I be looking for?” I barked, my palm flat against the condo door, holding it open.

  “Logan doesn’t live here anymore.”

  “He what?” I bellowed so loud her body jumped in response.

  “He doesn’t live here,” she repeated a lot less cocky than she had the first time.

  “What do you mean, he doesn’t live here? Where is he?”

  “I have no idea. Logan and I haven’t lived together since a few weeks into the year.”

  “You haven’t had Colby here since then?”

  “Look, we didn’t work out and the lease is mine,” she shrugged. “I have no idea where he went, but I do know he doesn’t have a job either. Apparently, he was drunk and abusive on campus, and that doesn’t fly with the board.”

  “I don’t believe you,” I said, staring at the woman who was pretty on the outside, and it gave me no pleasure to know I had assessed her right when I figured she was more callous in her selfishness than the man she stole from Billie. “Have you no conscience? You broke up his marriage then tossed him to the curb?”

  “Having lived with Logan, I’d say I did her a favor. What does it have to do with you, anyway? Why are you so keen to find him? Newsflash, that guy would take your place again in a heartbeat, with his ‘Billie always did this for me, Billie didn’t complain about that.’ I was tired of competing with St. Fucking Billie, how’s that for a revelation?”

  “Whoa, lady. Look at you, running off at the mouth. I thought you were supposed to be an academic, one of those elite few we trust to ensure our citizens of tomorrow are balanced and knowledgeable. You need an acute attitude adjustment. Tell me, did you lose your humility when you became a professor or have you always behaved this way? It terrifies me you are leading the scientists of our future. I don’t have a lot of time for Logan but fuck, I feel sorry for him because the guy must have had some weirdly skewed midlife crisis to have taken up with you.”