Sawyer

by Kathi S. Barton

  After they left the restaurant, she went back to work and Molly and her GGMa went shopping. Raven did wish that she could go with them, but things were getting too heated up around her buying out this company, and she wanted to make sure that it went through for a great many people.

  Raven did miss male company. She’d not been on a date since before Molly had been born. And now that she could leave her daughter alone for a few hours, she didn’t remember how to find a date to go out with. She wasn’t into a long term or even a permanent relationship. In fact, she’d rather never have anything that was even semi long term.

  When seven o’clock rolled around, she was still at her desk going over paperwork. She wanted to go home, put her feet up, and enjoy a free night. It had been so long since she’d had one of those, Raven wasn’t sure that she remembered how it worked.

  At nine, she called it a day and gathered up her purse and her briefcase to go home. Of course she was the only one in the parking lot at that hour, and the lights were on half-light by then. It was to save money, she knew, but it was creepy in the garage when all the corners were dark.

  The flash of movement had her falling to the concrete flooring. Raven hit her head on the car door as she went down. Something hit her again, and Raven curled into a ball to try and keep from being hurt more. But whoever it was, they were determined to beat her to death, she thought.

  After what seemed like hours of someone hurting her with something hard, they began kicking her in the ribs and in the head. Raven was sick with pain—her body had to be broken. When it stopped, Raven laid there waiting for it to start again. Hoping that it was finished, Raven pulled her cell phone.

  She knew that she only had to press three buttons to get help, but for the life of her, she didn’t remember which buttons it was. Her hand that was holding the cell phone was covered in blood. The use of her fingers was difficult too. Finally remembering what she needed to do, she got a dispatcher on the phone.

  “My name is Raven Addington. I work at the Addington Building on Tenth. I’ve been attacked. I’m bleeding.” The dispatcher asked her if the assailant was gone. “I think so. I can’t see very well either. I’m by my car. My car is blue. I hurt so badly. Can you please send someone to help me?”

  “Help is on the way, Miss Addington. Just stay on the line with me, all right?” Raven started crying. “We’ll help you, honey. You just hang on for a little while. I have four cars in the area, and they’ll be able to help you. An ambulance is on its way. Do you need me to call anyone?”

  Did she? Raven couldn’t think beyond how hard it was for her to breathe, how her head hurt so badly that even blinking hurt. She must have said this aloud, because the dispatcher told her she was sorry, and that she would be in a hospital soon.

  “My grandmother. She has my daughter. I can’t remember the number.” She asked if it was in her phone. “Yes, but I can’t see anything. I have been hurt in my head.”

  “Raven, you should be able to hear the ambulance and police now. Can you?” She said she thought that she did. “Good girl. When they get there, ask one of the officers to call your grandma for you, all right? I’ll tell him as well, but you remind him when he gets there. His name is Sawyer. He’s one of the good guys.”

  “I hurt.” She said that she knew she did.

  Raven must have passed out for a bit, because when she woke up this time, she could hear the voices of three men talking over her. She could hear their different voices. Screaming and knocking out at them, she heard a calming voice from behind her saying they were there to help her. “I need someone to call my grandma. Please, will someone do— The dispatcher said that someone named Sawyer would do it.”

  “I’ve called her for you. She is going to meet you at the hospital. Mrs. Addington said to make sure that I told you that she’s not calling your mother until you’re there.” Thanking him, she heard someone ask her if she was allergic to anything. Almost the second that she said no, she felt the pinch of a needle, then nothing more.

  Chapter 2

  Sawyer had been called in to do another shift tonight, his last night on the job, and he was nearly to the end of it when the call had come in about Ms. Addington. As soon as he got out of the cruiser he knew that she was in bad shape. There was so much blood around her that he didn’t think she’d make it long enough to have the medics help her. But she not only surprised him with that, but also that she was clear enough to ask about her grandmother.

  “You wait here for the grandmother and mother, and I’ll do the paperwork for this. You really saved my ass tonight, Bishop. Thanks for coming in.” Sawyer said that he could use the overtime. “You bet. I guess you’ll be leaving soon too.”

  “Yeah, I’m driving home tonight. Which reminds me, I left my clothes in the car. Can you bring them back in to me? After tonight I’m going to go home and live with my parents for a little while until I can get something closer to home.” He asked how far home was now. “Only about forty minutes, but it’s a bitch with highway traffic. I’m not getting any younger, you know.” Paul was still laughing when he left him there.

  Raven had arrived about twenty minutes ago, and Sawyer was still waiting for the grandmother. Sawyer knew who she was the moment that she walked in the door. The little girl surprised him, but he made his way to her when he heard the older woman ask about Raven.

  “I’m the responding officer. I was told to give you whatever information you needed.” She asked where Raven was. “She’s in surgery, and will be for a bit longer. They have two surgeons working on her. She was beaten up badly.”

  Sawyer glanced at the little girl, and knew that she was stressed out with worry. Looking at Deb, who ran the emergency room desk, he asked if she could take the child—Molly, he found out—to the nurses’ station to let her rest up.

  “Only for you, Sawyer, you know that.” He smiled at her and looked at the older woman again. “She’s gonna be awhile, Mrs. Addington, so I’ll just keep an eye on little Molly here for you.”

  “Thank you.” Mrs. Addington looked at him. “I’m not a spring chicken, young man, so you tell me what happened to Raven and don’t be going around the bushes about it. I’m sick with worry, and I have to call her momma yet. A woman that will make it sound as if all this is Raven’s fault, and that she should have been more careful or some shit. It’s always about Merriam.”

  “I was told that you’d want it straight. The best we can tell is that Raven was hit multiple times with a ball bat first, then kicked repeatedly afterwards. The reason that I could tell that is because the footprints spread out the blood when she was kicked. Robbery wasn’t the motive, as her car wasn’t taken even though the keys were right there. Her purse and her briefcase were lying next to her as well.” She—Holly, he was told to call her—asked what it could have been. “I don’t know as yet. The police are working on the details now. The ball bat was left behind, so hopefully they can get some prints off it. And there were security cameras around the place as well.”

  “She’s had some trouble with a couple of employees of late. I don’t have their names on me now, but I’ll call our attorney to have him get them. Raven keeps very detailed notes on such things.” He said that would help. “What are you not telling me, Sawyer? I can take it.”

  “She coded twice when she was being brought in. The first time, I was told they didn’t think she was going to come out of it. The second was minor, but no less important to note. May I ask you a question? You don’t have to answer it, but I was just curious.” She said that he shouldn’t be surprised by the answer. “I’m assuming that Raven is a great deal like you—strong and stubborn, outspoken, and a little on the tense side. Is she married?”

  “No. She’s never been married. Molly is her daughter, eleven years old, but the man she was having a fling with had traded out her birth control pills for fake ones so that she’d carry his child. The moron.
He thought that if Raven would have his child then he could get a nice big divorce from his current wife, marry Raven, then get all her money. My granddaughter is very rich. Then about a week after she found out she was going to have a baby, sperm donor was killed in a bank robbery. Not him doing the robbery, but he was killed all the same. He never knew about Molly.” She looked at him with a squint in her eyes. “Why do you ask?”

  “I’m a shifter. A white Bengal tiger. You know of shifters.” Holly said that she had several working for her. “I’m her mate. Raven, she’s my mate. To be honest, Holly, I haven’t the slightest clue what I’m to do now. I am not even on the same class level as she is.”

  “I don’t understand that, but please don’t tell her mother.” He said that he wasn’t going to tell anyone else, but that he had needed to tell someone. “You picked the right person, young man. I have to call her mother about Raven being hurt. I’d very much like it if you hung around here for a while. I don’t know who it is that hurt Raven, but they might be back to finish the job. Can you do that?”

  “As of midnight, I’m finished being a cop. I gave my notice two weeks ago. So you know, I cannot help you in a police situation. All right?” Holly said she was all right with that, so long as he could use a gun if it came to that. “Yes, ma’am, I can do that part. My buddy, he left me my clothing. I was driving home tonight instead of tomorrow. But I’ll stay here with you. Just give me a few minutes to change out of these and into my civilian clothing.”

  While Sawyer was in the bathroom, he reached out to his mom. She was disappointed that he might be a couple of more days, but he told her that he’d be home forever after that. He didn’t mention that he’d found his mate. Honestly, he wasn’t sure what to say to anyone about having her. Instead, he told his mom how much he loved her.

  I love you too, Sawyer. Your brothers arrived about an hour ago. It’s so nice that I’ll be having all of you so close again. You just do what you have to do, and drive carefully on your way home. She laughed a little. You are going to be surprised by how much better your dad looks even since last weekend. I’m so glad that he can get out into the sun. It makes him feel less confined, too.

  I’ll let you know what I’m doing here. As I said, there has been a beating, and the grandmother to the girl asked me to hang around for a couple of days until the police make some progress on her being hurt. Mom wished them luck, and said to hurry the police along. Yes, I want them to as well.

  When he found Holly, she was up on the second floor where the operating rooms were. It would take a while, he’d been told, so he asked if either of them wanted anything to eat or drink. Molly said she’d like a drink, and Holly declined.

  “Sawyer, Merriam is on her way in. Why don’t you take Molly down to the cafeteria with you so that she doesn’t have to witness her?” He asked if she trusted him. “If I didn’t, you’d not be here at all. She’ll be just fine with you. You can get to know her a little too.”

  He wasn’t so sure about that, but Molly followed him to the elevator. When they stepped on, there were other people on the lift, so Molly put her hand into his bigger one and leaned closer to him. Sawyer didn’t know what to do—he’d never held a little kid’s hand before—but she seemed okay so he didn’t say anything.

  The kitchen was open now, so he asked her if she wanted something to eat. Sawyer told her that he’d not eaten in a while, and was going to have something. Molly ordered a kids’ meal and a chocolate milk. He, however, ordered a large breakfast with white milk.

  “You don’t have to impress me. I don’t care.” Sawyer asked her why she thought he was trying to impress her. “My mom is rich, and people are always being nice to me because they think I can get them to date her. I don’t do that. Mom says that she has her own mind, and that I should too. So you don’t have to impress me.”

  “Believe it or not, I don’t care how much money your mom has. I was there after she was hurt, and your grandma asked me to stick around in case the people who did this to her return.” He drank down his milk and got up to get him another one. When he returned, she was still sitting there doing nothing. “Aren’t you hungry anymore? Does being nasty make you ill?”

  “I wasn’t nasty to you.” He just stared at her. “I wasn’t. You’re rude, and I don’t like you one bit. And when you ask my mom out, I’m going to tell her not to do it. She’ll listen to me. We’re very close.”

  “Again, I don’t care. I’m here for your grandma. If you’ll remember, I didn’t make the plans for us to have breakfast together. I’m a former cop, and she thought that you all would be safer with me around. However, I’ve just come to realize that if anyone came around, you could just be rude and nasty to them and they’d just leave you alone.” He ate two bites of his eggs before he continued. “You must be a great deal like your grandma Merriam. Holly said that she was a rude person who thought that everything was all about her.”

  Molly didn’t say anything while he finished his breakfast. When he got up to take his tray back, he asked her if she was finished. When she shook her head no, that she wasn’t, he got himself a bagel and cream cheese to eat while she decided what she was going to do with her breakfast. She was eating when he returned.

  “My mom is all I have besides my grandmas. I don’t like spending time with Grandma Merriam. She fusses at me a lot, like about my hair and my clothing. Mom said that I have my own style, and she didn’t care if I wore what I wanted at home, but when we go out, I have to dress nicely.” He said that his mom said that too. “Why are you a former policeman?”

  “I got tired of arresting the same people over and over. Not always the same people, really, but the same type of people. My partner was shot a couple of weeks ago, and I had enough.” He pulled out his phone and showed her the picture of his family. “I have five brothers and my parents. My dad has been ill, but he’s getting better now. I miss them.”

  “I don’t have any brothers or sisters. I think I like that. I get Mom all to myself when she’s not working too much.” He said that he was working too much as well. “You and my mom—you can date her if you want.”

  “I don’t want to. I’m just a poor cop that has no money at all. I’d not even know of a place to take her even if I did ask her out.” Molly told him that her mom loved the zoo. “That’s not really a date, is it? I mean, I don’t know. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a date anyway. Are you finished? If so, what do you think I can take back for your grandmas? I don’t want them to be hungry when there is no reason for it.”

  “GGMa would love a Danish. Grandma Merriam won’t eat anything here, because she’ll say that it has too many germs for her to ingest. She’s very picky too. Even pizza isn’t something that she’ll eat unless the cook makes it for us.” Molly just rolled her eyes, and Sawyer laughed. “It’s not the same thing. Having a hot pizza brought to you is so cool. Mom said it’s the thrill of waiting for it.”

  “I agree on that one. I love a meat pizza when I can afford it. Or maybe a big meatball sub. My mom, she can make the best meatballs. She always makes a lot of them so we can have subs the next time we get together.” Molly said that was nice. Grandma Merriam didn’t eat red meat. “Really? Red meat is the best for people like me.”

  “You’re not human, are you?” He said that he was a tiger, a white one. “I’ve never seen a white tiger except at the zoo. They look so sad there.”

  “They more than likely are. I knew a shifter once who was in one of those traveling zoos that has tricks and rides. He said that he loved being there. He could rest when he wanted, and so long as he didn’t hurt anyone, they kept him fed and well cared for. That was all he wanted after his mate passed away.” She asked if mates were like boyfriends. “More like a husband and wife. Our kind, we only have one chance at happiness, and we love hard and fast. I think because we’re cats. I don’t know.”

  “Slippery, our cat, was always ha
ving kittens. They must not mate for life, I don’t think.” Sawyer laughed, and said that was a different kind of cat. “I guess you’re much bigger. Than a cat.”

  “By a great deal. Are you ready to get GGMa some food and take it back to her?” Molly asked if she could have a Danish too, for later. “Sure. Want some milk to go with it?”

  He had to count out his change to finish paying for the meals. Sawyer had a few bucks in the bank. He was going home soon, and would need to find himself a job.

  Getting off the elevator, he heard the women. They were not having a good conversation.

  “Molly, honey, I want you to stay behind me, all right? I don’t want you hurt in case GGMa throws something.”

  Molly laughed and said that she’d go to the nurses’ station. As soon as she was safe, he walked to the two women and whistled as loudly as he could. That got their attention. The younger woman, he knew by her looks, was Merriam. Holly turned and smiled at him, but it was tight, like she was very pissed off.

  “Did you have a nice meal, Sawyer?” He told Holly yes, and that the company wasn’t too bad either. “Good. Oh, is that for me? I love Danish. I know that it’s not the best for—”

  “It’s not the best for anyone. Why do you continue to eat that sort of thing when you know that it’s fattening?” Holly didn’t answer her, but sat down. Molly came to sit with her GGMa and ate her Danish as well. “What do you think you’re doing? You will not eat that in front of me. Give it to me right now.”

  “No.” He didn’t know why he was intruding, but when Holly and Molly both looked at him with their mouths open, he did the only thing he could think of—try and make the woman see reason. “Her mom is hurt, and her grandmother has been taking care of her since they arrived. She deserves a treat. I think you should just sit down and not worry about a few calories at the moment. Everyone is stressed out.”