Meant For Her

  Burke’s refusal to admit that he’d issued the other threats didn’t sit right with Evan, but the security detail arrived and he had to focus on answering their questions. They moved to the office used by the security officers during games so they could take Evan’s statement and download the pictures from his phone. When he said he’d be pressing charges for vandalism, the security team contacted the Atlanta Police Department. It took long enough to get through everything that the parking lot had emptied by the time he returned.

  That left Evan without a ride. Deciding to pull the friend card, he dialed Cole’s cell. It rolled to voicemail.

  Clicking off without leaving a message, Evan scrolled through his list of contacts. After a brief hesitation, he clicked on Sierra’s number.

  It also went to voicemail.

  Another feeling of unease struck him. He thought again of the bloody doll, which Burke had adamantly denied leaving in Evan’s dressing area. In fact, the left fielder continued to deny any sabotage or damage to Evan’s property outside of the bike’s gas tank.

  Once again, Evan considered the fact that Jensen knew where he and Sierra lived and had been away from the stadium that afternoon. Had he been leaving the threats that Burke denied?

  Fighting his rising anxiety, he considered asking the security team to call him a cab. His gaze fell on one other number in his contact list, right above Sierra’s name.

  It wouldn’t be the first time she’d helped him out, he thought, dialing the number. His tension eased when she picked up after two rings.

  “Hi, Evan,” she greeted him. She sounded awake, he was relieved to notice.

  “Hi, Regina. I’m sorry to bother you, but I need help and I can’t reach Sierra.”

  “Sure thing, hon. What can I do for you?”

  Warmth spread through him over her easy agreement. His mind went back to the dream he’d had of his mother after his bout with food poisoning.

  Family comes in many forms, she’d said.

  He shook his head at himself. “I need a ride.”

  “Okay. You need bail money, too?”

  She surprised a laugh out of him. “Not this time. I’m stranded at the stadium. It’s a long story.”

  “You can tell me about it on the drive home. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  “Thanks.”

  He clicked off after telling her where to meet him. As he stared at the blank screen of his phone, he realized that he’d established more roots than he’d thought. More than one person in the city of Atlanta cared about him.

  One loved him.

  Thinking again of Sierra, he tried her cell one more time. She still didn’t pick up. He knew she would have watched the game and usually didn’t go to bed this early.

  So where was she?

  Chapter 50

  Geoff stood in front of Evan’s door, blocking Sierra’s exit.

  What’s he doing here? she wondered. It wasn’t a road trip day. Why would Evan have asked the dogsitter to stop by?

  Realization was slow to sink in. She noticed that his eyes were both glassy and bloodshot. They skittered over her, making her feel exposed in her sleep tank and shorts, then shifted to the family room. Instinctively, she followed his gaze.

  The place was a mess. Stuffing from the sofa lay in piles around the room. The television and other electronic components had been smashed. Glass shards glittered in the light from the kitchen, telling her the pretty table lamp had been shattered. A puddle that looked suspiciously like dog pee covered part of the hardwood floor near Beck’s cage.

  Her heart slammed against her breastbone as she once again looked at Geoff. His expression was no longer friendly and overly cheerful, but terrifying.

  “Didn’t expect you to stop by, Sierra,” he said.

  She tried to swallow and provide some kind of response, but couldn’t work up any saliva. Everything in her told her to move, but her limbs didn’t want to cooperate. She and Geoff were only a matter of a few feet apart.

  “Then again, maybe I hoped you would,” he continued, taking a step closer to her. “I knew you were over there, after all. I’ve been keeping close tabs on you.”

  Her skin crawled. He’d been spying on her?

  “I tried to be quiet at first so you wouldn’t hear me. He just wanted me to rough the place up, do some more damage to the dogs. He’s a chickenshit…doesn’t want to do time if we take things any further. He called me earlier, freaked out about the damn doll. So I started with the sofa and mattress, shredded the asshole’s clothes. But that was so fucking fun, I didn’t want to stop.”

  What did he mean, “he” wanted him to rough the place up? Was Geoff hearing voices?

  The hair on her arms stood on end. When he advanced again, her legs finally decided to cooperate. She edged toward the kitchen island, not moving her gaze from his.

  “You’re under the influence of something, Geoff,” she said, keeping her tone as calm as she could manage. “This isn’t you.”

  “I’m under the influence of a lot of shit right now,” he laughed, “which is totally me. I tried the clean and sober path for a while, thinking maybe you’d give me the time of day. Instead, you’ve lied again and again. I know you’ve been home every time you said you had something to do rather than go out with me.”

  Her hand trembled as she reached for the counter. She felt the oddest mix of guilt and panic.

  “I’m so sorry, Geoff,” she said. “I tried to tell you I wasn’t interested, but—”

  “Just one date, Sierra,” he interrupted. The fury in his tone made her bite back a gasp. “Just one goddamn date. You would’ve dumped this shitbag ballplayer in a heartbeat.”

  A whimper made its way into her throat. He was seriously unbalanced. This wasn’t just about whatever drugs he was on.

  “I told him that taking you from the shitbag would be the ultimate revenge,” he said, moving even closer. “But he thinks the dogs mean more to Dorsey than you do.”

  She stopped trying to make sense of what he was saying and tried to figure out how to best defend herself. Evan kept a baseball bat under his bed, but that was all the way across the apartment. The idea of grabbing a kitchen knife made her stomach clench. Geoff was more likely to take it from her and use it against her than she was of wielding it effectively.

  Something crunched under her bare foot. Searing pain lanced through her. She looked down and discovered that she was standing in more glass.

  Geoff propelled himself forward the moment she looked away. They fell hard. Her head cracked against the hardwood floor. Glass pierced her flesh. She couldn’t breathe.

  “Since you let one of the fucking dogs escape and I can’t find the other one,” Geoff growled against her ear, “I think you’ll do just fine in making his point.

  “Let’s find out just how much you mean to the hotshot Evan Dorsey.”

  * * *

  “So, what happened to your bike, hon?” Regina asked as they pulled away from the stadium in her SUV.

  He gave her a condensed version of what had happened, leaving out the part about the mutilated doll. There was no need to freak her out.

  “Holy crow,” she said with a shake of her head. “Burke Richards? I never would have guessed it. I suppose jealousy is a powerful thing.”

  “Guess so.”

  Evan couldn’t help but remember Burke’s earnest expression when he told the security detail that he hadn’t done the things Evan accused him of. If he was one to go on gut instinct when judging people, he’d be prone to believe the guy.

  But he wasn’t, he reminded himself.

  “You had a good game tonight,” she observed.

  “It was all right.”

  “Bet you’re excited about the playoffs.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You get any kind of family passes for those games?” she asked, giving him a sideways glance.

  A smile tugged at his lips. “Maybe.”

  “Well, now, you just remember this la
te-night trip when those passes come available, hear?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She nodded. After a moment of consideration, he realized that something was different about her since the last time he’d seen her.

  “You got your hair cut,” he said.

  “Yep. Every year ‘round this time, the girls and Deanne and I take turns donatin’ our hair to organizations that make wigs for kids with cancer. This year, it was mine and Lane’s turn.”

  Evan’s chest squeezed with an ache he didn’t recognize. He realized that the reason Sierra’s hair had been so short when he first met her at Cole’s wedding was because she had donated it.

  She’d never mentioned it.

  “That’s nice,” he managed.

  “We do what we can,” she said. “My aunt had a scare with breast cancer a few years ago. Stage two.”

  He looked at her. “I’m sorry.”

  “Thanks. I’m happy to say that she’s a survivor, but we all take cancer seriously. We do the hair thing and make monetary donations to the American Cancer Society when we can. As you probably know, Sierra’s been plannin’ that big fundraiser in support of breast cancer research for more than a year now. I think it’s perfect that she scheduled it for October first, just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.”

  There was that ache again…more painful this time.

  “I didn’t know,” he said in a quiet voice.

  “Oh? Well, she’s always been terrible about tootin’ her own horn. We’re real proud of her, though. She’s auctionin’ off some of her photographs to raise money and awareness for the cause. Dee from Dee’s Designs is helpin’ her host it. They’ve invited half of Savannah, so hopefully they’ll get a good turnout. Sierra’s real excited about it. Nervous, too.”

  The ache spread as she spoke and he absorbed the words. Sierra was organizing a fundraiser for breast cancer research. She was donating some of the work that he knew would earn her thousands of dollars if she sold it on the open market. Even though she knew his mother had died of the disease, she hadn’t told him about it.

  It would be easy to get bent out of shape about that. But he had a feeling that she hadn’t said anything because she hadn’t wanted to inadvertently cause him pain or make him think she was doing it just to get into his good graces.

  And he’d called her too nice.

  He deserved a trophy for his level of ass-hattedness.

  “I figure she’ll get a fair amount for the pictures you donated,” Regina said.

  He glanced at her. “What pictures?”

  “The ones she made for you. You know…the dogs and the stadium?”

  “Oh.”

  He couldn’t tell if she knew that he hadn’t really donated them or if she was trying to make some kind of point, so he didn’t say anything else. Now wasn’t the time to discuss what a mess he’d made of things with her daughter.

  His cell phone rang. Hoping it was Sierra, he checked the screen. He didn’t recognize the number.

  “This is Dorsey,” he answered.

  “Mr. Dorsey, this is Detective Michaels with the APD. You requested a call after the evidence we collected from your locker was processed.”

  He shifted as the apartment buildings came into sight, avoiding Regina’s curious glance. “Oh. Right.”

  “We found a partial fingerprint on the toy camera. It belongs to one Geoffrey Hoch, currently on parole.”

  Evan went very still. “What?”

  “Do you know the guy?”

  “He’s my dogsitter.”

  “Makes sense,” the detective said. “His PO gave one of his current places of employment as Pampered Pawz.”

  Evan thought of the times Sierra had expressed concerns about Geoff and he’d ignored them.

  Sweet Jesus.

  “How the hell did the guy get a job working in other people’s homes?” he asked, running a hand through his hair as they pulled into the parking lot of his building.

  “Good question,” the detective said. “One I asked myself. Turns out, the business is owned by his cousin…a Mrs. Tiffany Uhre-Barrett.”

  “Uhre?” Evan echoed in a hollow voice.

  “Yep. The half-sister of your teammate, Mr. Lawrence Uhre.”

  Fear rose like a living thing in his gut. Everything suddenly clicked in his mind, like a terrifying game of dominoes.

  Larry’s comments about how he’d been the third baseman for their high school team until Evan came along. How he’d recommended the petsitting service back in June. How he’d known earlier that evening that Sierra was an “ex.” How some of the threats had been delivered to Evan’s home.

  Larry and Geoff were working together.

  “There’s something else you should know, Mr. Dorsey. Hoch’s convictions include possession of illegal substances and assault against a police officer. He’s prone to violence.”

  The fact that Sierra wasn’t answering her phone suddenly took on new significance. Picturing the bloody doll, Evan threw open the door of the SUV before it came to a complete stop and started running. He didn’t have time to explain to Regina.

  “You need to send someone to my home address, Detective,” he said into the phone as he unlocked the gate. “I think Hoch is here, and he might have my girlfriend.”

  “Don’t do anything stupid, Dorsey.” The detective paused like he was talking to someone else, then said, “There are units en-route to your location. They’ll be there in two minutes.”

  Evan didn’t reply as he yanked open the lobby door and sprinted to the elevator. All he could do was pray that he was wrong…and if he wasn’t, that they weren’t all too late.

  Chapter 51

  Darkness nearly claimed Sierra after her head hit the floor. So much pain radiated along her back and arms that she thought she’d surely fallen on a bed of nails. Her inability to draw a proper breath had dots dancing behind her eyes.

  But Geoff’s words frightened her right out of the stupor.

  Fear gave her added strength. Rather than shove against him, she rolled to her left with as much power as she could muster. The move caused more agony to blast through her, but it also dislodged Geoff.

  The second she was free, she scrambled to her feet. She couldn’t take more than two running steps before she collapsed. The pain in her right foot was crippling.

  With the door less than a foot away, she dragged herself across the floor and reached for the handle. Vaguely, she realized that shards of glass protruded from her forearms. A trail of blood followed her as she surged forward.

  “Get back here, bitch.”

  Geoff grabbed her left leg and pulled. She tried to use her nails to keep herself in place, but only managed to get a splinter of wood jabbed into her skin. She kicked violently, trying to dislodge her leg from his grasp. Much to her surprise, she succeeded.

  “Jesus, you’re fucking slippery,” he said with a maniacal laugh. “All of the blood.”

  She knew she was injured, possibly seriously so, but she couldn’t think about that.

  Get away! her brain screamed. Just get away.

  He reached down and grabbed her by her tank top. Using both hands, he lifted her off the ground and threw her to the side, away from the door and closer to the family room. Her clothing tore. She braced herself to keep her face from connecting with the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the dark outline of the guest bedroom doorway.

  Could she somehow get in there? she wondered. Darkness would be so nice.

  So very nice.

  She shook her head as her thoughts grew nebulous. Shock was taking hold. She somehow managed to push herself up onto all fours, though she had no idea what she’d do next.

  “I’m voting on you, Sierra,” Geoff said as he advanced. “I think your ex-boyfriend is going to shit himself when he sees what I’ve done to you.”

  The idea of Evan coming home and finding her dead slammed into to her. Dear God, she couldn’t put him through that.

&nbs
p; Not Evan. Not again.

  Another surge of energy raced through her, fueled by anger and desperation. Before he reached her side, she rose up and threw herself at him, taking him in the waist like an NFL tackle. He grunted as they once again hit the ground.

  Get to the door. Get to the door!

  She clambered over him while he was stunned. He grabbed her before she could get more than a foot. Yanking her back, he flipped her over. Violence radiated from him.

  “Nice try, bitch,” he snarled.

  His hand went back into a fist. She saw her slow, painful death in his eyes.

  That’s when they heard the growling.

  * * *

  When the elevator doors opened, Leo and Beck greeted Evan in the hallway. He knew immediately that his gut reaction had been right.

  Something was terribly wrong.

  The fear that had propelled him into the building vanished in a snap. It was unable to stand against the power of his fury.

  Seeing that Sierra’s apartment door stood open and no one was inside, he ran toward his own. Ferocious growls and the sound of snapping jaws reached him through the door. It was Miller, he realized.

  Geoff screamed. The sound was like music to Evan’s ears.

  He grabbed the doorknob and twisted. It was locked. He reached for his keys.

  Miller issued a loud whine. There was a thud. The whining and growling ceased.

  “No!” Sierra cried.

  There was another sound, like flesh striking flesh. Forgetting about the keys, Evan stepped back and kicked the door with his booted foot, aiming for the spot right beside the doorknob. Wood splintered. The broken door flew inward.

  He raced across the threshold, his eyes sweeping the apartment. In the back of his mind, he knew to watch for a weapon. He poised to dive behind the kitchen island if he needed to.

  The destruction registered in his brain faster than his eyes could take it in. Kitchen cabinets were open. Smashed glassware littered the hardwood floors. His furniture and electronics had been destroyed.

  And a trail of blood led right to Sierra’s prone body.

  “Well, well, well,” Geoff said, standing over her. “Looks like my theory is about to be put to the test.”