“It’s all right,” she said softly, trying to soothe him without waking him.
His eyes opened, but for a moment he did not seem to see her.
“It’s all right,” she repeated, setting the book aside.
“Amanda?” He seemed surprised to see her, then looked around the room, puzzled.
She kept her voice low and gentle. “You’re at Tyler’s house. Remember? I imagine you must feel really stiff and sore today-in fact, you probably feel worse today than yesterday, but I can call someone to help you take a hot shower-that might loosen you up a bit-”
But before she could say more, he had recalled his situation. To her dismay, he burst into tears. “Oh my God…oh my God…Amanda, I’m so sorry-”
“Don’t start that again,” she said sharply.
It brought the sobs to an abrupt halt. He looked up at her in surprise.
“I mean it, Brad. Quit it. I had all the remorse I needed from you yesterday. More than enough.”
She handed him a tissue, and he wiped his face with it. She studied him for a moment as he calmed down. She was glad to see that his pupils looked normal, that the glazed look was gone. And other than the problems caused by his lips being cut and swollen, his speech was clear-all good signs.
“That’s better,” she said. “Listen to me. What’s most important is that you recover, and you aren’t going to do that by getting upset. I’m fine. Better than fine, in fact, and I probably owe some of that to you.”
“Amanda, listen to me-I’ve put you in terrible danger.”
“If you’re talking about holding that knife to my throat-I guess I didn’t believe you really wanted to hurt me. Where were you supposed to take us?”
“Somewhere in the Valley. I was supposed to call to get instructions after we drove over the pass. Evan and Daniel were going to meet me. I-I’m so ashamed, Amanda. I don’t know how you can forgive me.”
“You were scared. You’d been hurt. You weren’t yourself. That’s how.”
“But, Amanda, about the knife-that’s not what I meant about putting you in danger.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“Well, yes, that was putting you in danger, but that’s not the worst of it. They asked me why Tyler had left the party, and I told them it was because of you.”
“What? That’s so not true.”
“Yes, it is!” he protested. “When you took off, he started to follow you out the door. Called out to you. Rebecca tried everything she could think of-including practically wrestling him into staying. But he wasn’t there for more than a few minutes.”
She thought this over. “He didn’t follow me. He rode ahead of me on his motorcycle.”
“Maybe he didn’t want you to feel nervous. It’s not as if there’s anyplace to go off that road other than the freeway.”
She decided not to tell him about Tyler’s desert retreat.
“He had to know you were headed back home,” Brad said.
“Hmm. I’ll ask him about it.”
“Whatever! The thing is, Amanda, now they know about you.”
“Don’t blame yourself, Brad. If they’re after Tyler, they would have connected me to him sooner or later.”
“What’s going on between you two?”
“We’re friends. Maybe more than that. I don’t know.”
“I knew he liked you, but you didn’t seem that interested in him. Tyler said you were staying here for your safety, but it sounds as if-”
Before he finished his sentence, the bedroom door opened. Rebecca stood in the doorway, a look of shock on her face. She hurried to Brad’s bedside. “God almighty, Brad! Did Tyler do this to you? I swear I’m going to call the cops!”
“No!” Brad said. “Don’t you dare call the police! It wasn’t Tyler!”
“Rebecca, calm down,” Amanda said quickly. “Brad needs peace and quiet, not drama.”
Rebecca turned on her. “Oh? And who died and made you Nurse Ratched?”
Before Amanda could answer her, Alex came into the room and said quietly, “Leave this patient’s room immediately or I will personally throw your bony ass over the front gate.”
Rebecca seemed utterly dismayed. Amanda wondered if it was because Rebecca was, for once, the second most beautiful woman in the room, or if it was the fact that Alex clearly was relishing the possibility of the gate toss. Rebecca turned toward the bed and said, “Brad?”
“It’s okay, Alex,” he said. “Just a misunderstanding.”
“All right,” Alex said, “but Tyler left very clear instructions that if your sister arrived here and her visit was upsetting to you, we should escort her off the premises.”
“Maybe you should come back later,” Brad said to his sister.
Rebecca’s expression changed. “No, please-okay, look, I’m sorry. I’m just worried and upset! Which I think would be totally understandable! Please don’t make me leave, Brad.”
“Okay, but get a grip, all right?”
She looked ready to object, forced herself not to speak, and nodded.
He said to Alex, “We’ll be okay now.”
“Yes, I’d like to be alone with my brother,” Rebecca said.
“No way in hell,” Alex said with a smile.
“I’ll stay with them,” Amanda offered. “It will be all right.”
Alex hesitated, then nodded. “All right. If you need me, call. I mean that. Tyler won’t be happy with me if Brad suffers some kind of setback.”
“I’m his sister!” Rebecca said.
“Right,” Alex said, “the one who was too drunk to notice he was missing for a couple of days.” With that parting shot, she walked off.
Rebecca did have that puffy, day-after-the-party look. Not at her best. She was probably massively hungover.
“So what happened to you?” Rebecca asked when the three of them were alone.
Brad looked down at the bedding and began to fidget with the comforter. Without looking up, he said, “Some people I know turned out not to be so nice.”
“Who?”
“You don’t know them.”
“Who?” she persisted.
“These people aren’t playing around, Rebecca! I don’t want you to go after them!”
“It won’t be necessary for Rebecca to go after them,” a low voice said. Amanda turned to see Tyler standing in the doorway.
35
Tyler!” Amanda said with relief. But as she looked at his face, she sensed that something was troubling him. She wanted nothing more than to take him aside and ask him what was on his mind.
“Tyler!” Rebecca said, and launched herself toward him, pulling him into an embrace.
He managed to evade a kiss. He gave Amanda a look of such helplessness, she couldn’t stifle a laugh.
He disengaged himself from Rebecca-not without a little difficulty-and came to Amanda’s side. “You all right?” he murmured, and put an arm around her waist. He held her close.
Now what does this mean? she wondered. Was he just trying to get Rebecca to back off? But he seemed anxious about something, and she doubted it was Rebecca. So she smiled up at him and said, “Absolutely fine. But I’m worried about Brad.”
“How are you doing, Brad?” he said.
“I’m feeling a lot better,” Brad said. “I-maybe everyone could give me a minute to shower and get dressed, and we could talk in another room?”
“Certainly,” Tyler said. “But are you feeling up to that? It would probably be better for you to move around a little if you’re feeling strong enough, but don’t push yourself. We still haven’t learned what substances you were given-the doctor said that may take some time.”
“Substances?” Rebecca said.
“Yes,” Brad said. “I was drugged. Actually, while I didn’t enjoy it, that was the best part of what they did to me. It eased the pain a little.”
“Brad-”
“I know you have a lot of questions, Rebecca. Everyone else does, too. But why don’t all of you get out and let me dress, and we’ll talk more in a few minutes.”
The wait for Brad was tense but did not result in violence, Amanda was pleased to note. Ron and Alex sat close to each other on one sofa. Tyler and Amanda sat next to each other, if not quite so close, on the sofa directly across from it. Shade lay at their feet. Amanda still sensed some uneasiness in Tyler, but this was not the time to ask about it.