Rachel drew back the hammer, and Shane caught her arm and looked at her as if she had lost her mind. Rachel was so angry Shane didn't think she could reason with the woman.
With all her might, Shane backhanded Rachel across the face, sending the office manager to the floor. The hammer fell out her hand and Shane raced for it and kicked it even further out of Rachel's reach.
Rachel slowly stood up looked crazed and half dazed. "You should have died a long time ago, bitch," she sneered.
"What are you talking about Rachel? Why are you trying to kill me?"
Rachel cackled. "I'm not trying to kill you. I'm just going to help you join your sorry excuse of a mother."
Shane knew then Rachel knew the whole truth. "You know? Who told you?"
"The only person I could trust. My brother!"
"And you plan to kill me for it?" Shane asked incredulously. "Are you jealous Rachel? Jealous because Paul and I are getting married?"
"Troy says you have to die anyway because you know too much and once Paul finds out about your suicide, I'll be there to comfort him and console him and he'll want me back," Rachel seethed. "I won't let you take him away. He was mine first."
"But you dumped him, Rachel, for his brother and then his father. You hurt him," Shane tried to reason.
"Shut up!" Rachel said and lunged for Shane, swinging her in the direction of the balcony. Shane lost her footing and fell on top of the glass. She could feel the glass digging in the back of her thigh and as she hurriedly got up before Rachel tackled her again, there were shards of glass in her palms.
Yet Rachel pinned her against the railing of the balcony and pressed Shane's back over where there was nothing holding her. Rachel kept forcing and pushing until Shane had no secure footing and she could feel herself going over the edge of the rail.
Shane was terrified. It seemed all of this was happening to someone else. She was about to die and all she could think about was how she had not told Andrew what she thought of him. Now he would think she had committed suicide in his room.
'You have too much to live for Shane,' she told herself.
Rachel was just about to pry Shane's hands off her clothes, when Shane released them on her own and Rachel smiled triumphantly as Shane began to fall backwards over the rail.
With quick reflexes, Shane grabbed the rail despite the blood on her hands and with her free hand; she reached up and grabbed a large handful of Rachel's hair yanking the strong blonde strands with her over the rail. Rachel had nothing to grab on and flipped over the rail. Both of them screamed - Shane in pain, Rachel in fear.
Shane knew if she continued to hold onto Rachel she wouldn't be able to hold onto the rail. She gave one last effort to swing Rachel to the footing just below the rail and actually accomplished this and was able to grab onto the rail with her other hand, pull herself up to safety. She needed to get up on the balcony, and then reach down and to help pull Rachel up to safety.
Yes, her sister had tried to kill her, but bottom line it was her sister and Shane had an annoying soft spot for family. Plus, with putting Rachel behind bars for attempted murder, Shane felt it was much better than allowing her to die.
Suddenly her efforts halted as she felt something pulling at the bottom of her dress and then grab hold to her ankle. Looking down, Shane saw Rachel trying to keep her balance on the thin footing and continue to try to pull Shane to her death!
With all her might, Shane kicked Rachel's hands away making the blonde lose her balance and Rachel screamed in fear as she fell to her death from the fifth floor landing.
Shane turned her head around to stare away from the horrific sight.
Someone was screaming her name from inside of the apartment.
She moaned out Andrew's name recognizing the voice. There was so much blood on her hands from the cuts with the glass, Shane was unable to pull herself up because it would be too slippery, but her grip on the railing was weakening. She wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.
Andrew saw the glass and started to head her way. Shane could see him, but then screamed, "Behind you, Andrew!"
It was too late as Andrew fell forward. She could see the blood coming from his right shoulder and looked past him to see Troy coming in the room with a gun in hand aimed in her direction. With the dawdling strength, she used the front of her calf to dig in the concrete ignoring the pain it shot through the bone as she was able to use the power in her legs to pull herself up more. She wrapped her arms around the railing and dug in with her other leg to hoist herself over the rail. By this time, Troy knelt down to check on Andrew who wasn't moving.
Shane couldn't tell if Andrew was alive or dead as she gained her footing. Her legs were gone as she collapsed on the balcony floor.
Troy noticed her and smiled wickedly as he stepped over Andrew to get to her. "You win again, Shane," he said coming onto the balcony. "That stupid girl couldn't accomplish much. I barely kept her job at the office, but I really did expect her to kill you off so I wouldn't have to."
"Why?" Shane asked weakly feeling every muscle in her body spasm in trauma.
He pointed the gun at Shane's head. She noticed that he wore leather gloves to cover his hand. She was too weak to fight him as he lifted her hands pressed them against the gun. "No questions, Shane. The police will be up here soon once they realized where she fell from."
Shane could hear the sirens in the distance closing in on them. She needed more time. She needed more strength. Out of her peripheral vision she saw Andrew move and prayed he could get up and come help her.
Troy continued to position her hands properly with the gun. Shane screamed as the shards of glass embedded in her skin tore deeper. She was too weak to fight what Troy was doing as her body was recovering from getting over the balcony.
When he aimed the gun in Andrew's direction, Shane sobbed her frustration, cursing her weakened body. "Please, Troy," she begged. "At least tell me why? H-He's your friend."
"Adversary, Shane," Troy said simply. "The bastard has taken the love away from the only man who could have made me a better person."
"B-but why me? I haven’t done anything to you."
He chuckled as if she should have known. "Just understand that I don’t like to share.” He smirked. “I’m actually glad you got rid of Rachel - Less work for me and a better way to cover it up. It’s my money and I don’t share well with others.” He stopped what he was doing and looked deeply at her with this crazed look. “I knew then it would be my life's mission to see you dead."
Despite the pain, she resisted the pressure he was forcing on her fingers to pull the trigger.
"When Tyrex approached me with the opportunity of taking you out because you knew too much, I immediately jumped on this. I was their spy for my father because I hated him. After I finish you off, I'm going over to find that Hispanic lover of yours and kill him off too, just like I killed the scientist at the other lab," he said as if it were all so obvious. "I thought I could use my sister's jealous heart to get rid of you, but she failed at that just like she failed to do everything else in her life."
Snatching her hand out of his grip, she reached to the side of her as she allowed him to press her other finger over the trigger. Just as she knew the gun was about to go off, she grabbed a shard of glass and stabbed it into his face.
Troy screamed as the glass seared into his eye and Shane held on tight to the gun in one hand and the glass shard with the other. She felt sharp heat blister down her thigh, but assumed it was the glass piercing in her skin again as she raised up on her knees using Troy's own motions to assist her. She continued to dig the glass into his face with her other hand as she felt the gun go off once more.
When Shane could take no more pain, she released her grip on the gun and the shard of glass collapsing to the ground, praying she had done enough damage to hurt him so he wouldn't hurt Andrew.
Someone was screaming her name, but the pain was too much to bear as she allowed darkness to enve
lope her.
Chapter 35
A beeping noise awoke her, but she couldn't see. It wasn't that she was in a dark room. Her eyes just didn't want to open. She heard lots of voices. Mainly Andrew and Paul when she came awake and that calmed her fear. Especially hearing Andrew speaking, even if their voices were muffled.
She heard her father speaking too, but she couldn't understand a word he was saying. When the pain was too much for her she would fade away and pray it went away before she awoke again.
When she returned back to reality, she heard a deep Hispanic voice speaking to her in Spanish. She forced her eyes open to look into Jeremiah's creamy brown eyes that reminded her of double fudge chocolate chips.
He stopped speaking in Spanish instantly when he met her eyes and smiled brightly. "The gringos will certainly kick my ass knowing I brought you to consciousness with my mother's pray."
She rasped out, "I couldn't resist your sexy voice."
He chuckled deeply and kissed her cheek. "They left to get some coffee. I don't think the two of them has had a wink of sleep in about a month. Do you know who I am, Shane?"
Shane frowned not understanding what he meant. "Why wouldn't I, Jeremiah?" she questioned weakly. Her throat felt like fire so she didn't want to speak again.
Jeremiah brought her some water as Shane looked around her surroundings. She was in a hospital and there were monitors all around her.
"They just took that damn tube out of her throat two day ago so you might have trouble speaking," he said concerned as he lifted the straw to her dry lips.
Eagerly she took sips and winced only slightly as the cool liquid burned her throat. She was famished, but the water sufficed for now.
Jeremiah reached over to a table and used the petroleum jelly over her lips. "Want to sit up?" he asked.
She shook her head not wanting to risk the position she was in by moving and making the pain come back.
He pressed the button for the nurse and someone immediately appeared and began to check her vital signs. She watched Jeremiah go over to the phone in her room and quietly make a phone call. This small feeling of distrust entered her mind, but she pushed it away knowing it only came because of the trauma she had suffered.
Her own brother had devised a plan with a ruthless company to kill her. How was she supposed to trust anyone after that?
When the nurse was finished, Jeremiah returned to her and took her hand gently brushing his lips against her knuckles.
"Are they okay?" she asked deeply concerned. “Andrew and Paul.”
"Yes, they are fine. Andrew didn't stay in the hospital more than twelve hours before he was demanding to get out. He hates being confined anywhere, doesn't he?"
"He just likes to be in control," she defended quickly.
"Too bad he's going to be your brother in law," Jeremiah said resolutely. "Although your father even looks like he would like it differently."
"How'd you know he was my father?"
"The senator? Why wouldn't I when he announced it to the media the day after all this happened? A lot has happened since you've been out. It also seems like you have your memory back as well."
"I lost my memory? Jeremiah! How long have I been out?" she demanded to know.
"It's been three months since you almost died, Shane. Troy shot you through the thigh and the shoulder. The third bullet nicked your skull, but obviously enough to cause you to have memory loss. You woke up after the operation, but you couldn't remember a thing. You were like this nine year old and you were asking about your mother. When we told you she was dead you cried as if you had just lost her."
"I don't remember," she said in disbelief shaking her head.
"You tried to leave a lot of times and Andrew had to restrain you several times. I can't even count the number of times you told him how much you hated him. You even bit him a couple of times," Jeremiah said chuckling more to himself. "The only person you really attached yourself to was your father. He brought you anything you wanted and spoiled you rotten."
"Strawberries," she said faintly.
Jeremiah smiled. "You remember?"
She shook her head, "I think it was just some residue left over from what happened."
He lightly pushed her hair out of her face. "You craved them like crazy." There was a quite an amused light in his eyes for a brief second as if he knew something else also. "After about a month or so, you started to sleep more and more, but your memory never came back. You would talk in your sleep a lot, but I was barely around to hear what you were saying. Paul stayed by your side the majority of the time while Andrew ran the office for the both of them. Although, it seemed to me that whenever Andrew wasn't at the office, he was here with his brother and you."
"What are you trying to point out to me?" she asked, wondering if Jeremiah had figured out their secret.
Jeremiah shrugged. "They just care about you a lot. You don't find a brother in law who cares so much."
She narrowed her eyes fully knowing where Jeremiah was going on this subject and decided to change it. "What about my brother and sister?"
"She died. The autopsy said she died instantly upon impact with the ground. He is in a prison hospital and once he heals he'll be sentenced for attempted murder. The judge was not very lenient in the matter considering your sparkling future."
In a way she felt guilty, but justified, yet she didn't know if she should feel good about knowing her siblings wanted her dead and that she had ended the life of another person.
"They ruled Rachel's death on you self defense," Jeremiah assured her.
"I still feel bad." The drugs were kicking in for the pain, and she instantly felt drowsy, but she desperately wanted to see Paul and Andrew before she passed out again. "Tell them I'm fine," she said feeling herself fading away. "Tell them I love them."
***
Paul entered the room behind Andrew. He had barely been able to keep up with Andrew's hurried pace to get back up to Shane's room.
Jeremiah was leaning over the bed and the doctor had just arrived checking her vitals and stats.
"Is she fine?" Andrew demanded from the young man, who had the weirdest expression on his face.
"Yes," Jeremiah said quietly.
When the doctor updated them on her condition and left, Paul asked Jeremiah, "What did she say?"
"Not much, but she remembers." Jeremiah grabbed his jacket and stepped away from the bed. "Her throat hurt like hell to speak, but she did say some things." He looked from one brother to the other. "I told her about what happened and she asked about her brother and sister. Before she drifted off... she said to tell the two of you... that she loved you."
The brothers looked at each other and Paul said explained, “Shane had grown to care about us-“
The young man cut him off. “You don’t have to explain a thing to me. The only thing I care about is Shane. She’s a sweet girl and I just want to know you’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”
“She’ll be,” Andrew assured him gruffly. “We’ve always kept Shane’s best interest in mind. So she knows about the baby?"
Jeremiah shook his head. "No, I didn't tell her about the baby," he answered.
Paul thanked the young man, while Andrew turned away clearly upset at missing the moment she awoke.
"We shouldn't have left her side," Andrew growled when he knew Jeremiah was out the room.
"We needed the rest, Andrew," Paul said, but he was slightly disappointed as well. "The doctor said she is feeling fine and it seems like everything is almost back to normal."
Andrew looked at his brother anxiously. "We're running out of time, Paul. We aren't even sure if she's going to make it."
Paul only nodded and touched her warm cheek. "I know, Andrew, but I know all of this has happened for a reason. We'll wait."
His brother wanted to protest. Without looking at Andrew, Paul could feel the distress his brother felt and how helpless this entire situation was for them. "She'll awake, we'll talk
and we'll see."
Chapter 36
She had to force her eyes open once the haze of blackness disappeared from her mind. Her eyes came to focus on Paul's face leaned over to the side in sleep near her shoulder. She smiled, but was afraid to move in order to wake him.
Shane knew the pain was there in certain parts of her body, but this was not an ordinary pain. It was different and she couldn't explain it. As if her body was being stretched.
The light over her bed was on low and she looked over on the other side to see Andrew sitting beside her engrossed in paperwork all over his lap, but as soon as she had moved her head, he looked her way in shock.
"All work and no play make Andrew a very dull boy," she whispered so she wouldn't wake up Paul.
He stood and her heart soared as she took in his ruffled appearance and rough good looks. Leaning over her, he brushed his lips lightly against hers. She could almost read his thoughts of concern in his eyes, yet she knew he wouldn't ask. It wasn't in his nature to ask the questions.
"You were missed," he said softly.
He wasn't whispering on purpose though. There was so much intensity behind his words; she could tell somehow she had come to mean something powerful to him.
Paul stirred with a small stretch from the awkward position he had slept in, and when he saw her awoke; he stood up and paged the nurse. "How long has she been awake?" he demanded of Andrew.
Andrew moved away as the nurse came in. "She just awoke," he assured his brother.
Paul kissed her hard. "You scared the life out of us, girl."
She smiled slightly amused at how each brother took everything. Her throat was still a bit sore, so she didn't want to wear herself out too much.
The doctor soon arrived and checked her vision and reflexes. She was able to sit up and the first thing she noticed was her stomach. Immediately she frowned and looked at the doctor.
"Did something happen while I was in a coma?" she asked.
Drawing The Line (Mistaken Identity Series) Page 29