Chapter 25 — Logan
Soon after they got back into the house, Marie took herself off to bed. Susan and George were already in bed so the house was quiet but Logan wasn't tired yet.
He was wired up. Thoughts were flying all over the place and pieces of a puzzle was slowly beginning to come together.
Logan began to pace the kitchen and Misty padded up to him, her sleepy eyes looking at him questioningly. Absently, he bent down and patted her head. "Go back to sleep, Misty. I'm fine."
Logan reached into his back pocket and pulled out his cell, speed-dialing Kellen.
"Logan. What’s going on?” His throaty voice sounded like he’d been woken up from a deep sleep.
"Tell me everything about Preston."
Logan heard him shuffling at other end, assuming that Kellen was sitting up in bed. "What do you want to know? Preston joined our school a little later than the rest of us, but we've always been friends. Why do you ask?"
"I don't get a good vibe off him. Just hear me out, okay?"
Kellen’s voice was now completely clear. Logan had his attention. "Go on."
He explained to him about Preston's odd behavior and how he seemed really pissed to find him and Reed together.
“Maybe he's just a bit sensitive about you being in his life? Congrats by the way… then again, I’m always the last to know when it concerns matters of the heart.”
“Sorry to break it to you like this, bro. We wanted to tell you in person. Anyway, it's more than that. There's an edge to him and I don’t like it. Look, they’re camping out by the stream but I'm not comfortable. I'm gonna go back. Make sure that Reed is okay, as Preston practically pushed me back inside the house.”
“That does sound weird, but seriously, I think you’re overreacting. We’ve known Preston for over ten years and he’s never done anything stupid.”
“I understand that this sounds totally off. But just humor me, okay?” He exhaled. “Please, Kellen.”
“Fine, fine. I think this is ridiculous, though. Call me back as soon as you get eyes on Reed and confirm that he’s okay. Then I’m going back to bed and will forget you ever mentioned this.”
“Call for local backup if you don’t hear from me in fifteen minutes.”
“Logan. Are you nuts? You’re talking about my two best friends here.” Kellen sounded frustrated at the other end.
“Just fucking do as I say, Kellen. Reed’s life may be at risk.”
Kellen swore under his breath. “You’ve got fifteen minutes.”
“Thank you.”
Logan dashed up the stairs and retrieved his Glock from the bedside drawer. He tucked it into the waistband of jeans, grabbed a flashlight and headed back out of the house, Misty following.
"Misty, stay.” He looked at the dog and held up a finger. She whined a little but understood the instruction and settled down outside the back door.
“Good girl.”
Logan turned on the flashlight, and heart thumping, made his way across the ranch, all the way praying that he was wrong.
After a few minutes of walking, from the distance he saw the fire still going strong and he breathed a sigh of relief. That meant that they were still awake, probably laughing and chatting.
Logan began to feel a bit silly, thinking he had overreacted and was starting to think about turning back, but as he neared closer, he realized he couldn't see either Reed or Preston.
Logan hung back for few seconds, expecting them to come back out of the tent. After a minute, neither of them appeared.
That was odd. If they were going to bed, surely they would have stamped out the fire.
Back on full alert, Logan turned off his flashlight and quietly made his way in the dark as he approached the tent. He could see a profile shadow standing and moving back and forth, and he crept closer until he was right outside. The tent was zipped closed so Logan couldn’t see what was going on inside but he strained his ear to hear their voices.
Immediately, he heard Preston’s and a chill ran up his spine.
“Reed, Reed, Reed. How could you not see that I was here all along? It's been me all this time and you never saw me.” He paused and continued to pace bent down. “Do you know how hard it was for me to watch you all these years, hooking up with different guys, and now you tell me that you're in love with that brute? The one you've only recently met? Do you know how much that hurts me?"
Logan felt his skin prickle with goosebumps and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
His gut instinct was right. It was Preston all along.
He waited to hear Reed’s voice as he prepared to go in, pulling out his gun.
"Preston, don't do this. Why…?” His voice trailed off. Logan's heart thumped—Reed sounded really weak. He prayed that bastard hadn’t hurt him.
"Why am I doing this? I told you in my notes, Reed. Don't you pay attention?" Preston's voice had raised a few decibels, frustrated and almost screeching. "Don't you know? If I can't have you, then no one else will."
Logan moved into place and ripped open the tent, ducking his head inside. His blood ran cold as he saw Preston on the floor, cradling Reed against his chest, rocking back and forth. He aimed his gun at Preston’s back. “It’s over, Preston.”
Preston spun around, his eyes wild. He looked at Logan, his eyes flashing surprise and then settling on pure hatred.
“Reed, I’m here, honey. Has he hurt you?"
"Hurt him?” Preston's eyes narrowed at Logan, ignoring the Glock. "Of course I haven't hurt him. Yet.”
Logan looked down at Preston’s other hand and noticed the six-inch blade he was holding.
“Put the knife down, Preston."
Preston laughed like a maniac. "Why would I do that?” He pointed the blade at Logan. “I tried to kill you once, you know? The night I broke in? But you were too quick for me."
Logan nodded. So that hit was meant for him.
"Preston, don't do this. Please… we've been best friends for years." Reed’s voice was so low, it was almost hard to hear.
Preston looked at Reed, bringing the point of his knife to Reed’s throat. He pressed against the skin and looked at Logan sadly. “Drop that gun now, or prepare to be heartbroken as I’ll have no choice but to kill him.”
“No, Preston, you don’t need to do that. Please.” Logan held up his hands and lowered the gun, slowly, until it was on the floor.
Preston eyed it. “Kick it over here.”
Logan knew that if he didn’t take the chance now, he might never get it. Reed was drifting in and out of consciousness. “What did you give him? Does he need medical assistance?”
Preston waved his hand. “No, no. It’s just a little Rohypnol. He’ll be fine. Right, Reed?”
Preston turned to Reed with a smile on his face and Logan knew that now was his chance.
He ducked and jerked forward, rolling across the floor in one fluid move. He grabbed Preston by the waist and dragged him away from Reed. Preston screamed in shock and started to wave his knife around.
They both struggled on the ground, Preston stronger that Logan thought he was. Logan managed to get him into a headlock, but the next second, he felt a sharp pain in his thigh.
Looking down, he saw blood spurting through his jeans and Logan immediately knew that it wasn't good. He began to feel faint but he couldn't give up! In the distance, he heard the wail of sirens getting louder. Grabbing Preston’s wrist, he managed to wrestle and shake the knife out of his grip, locking him in a choke hold. Preston thrashed in his arms, trying to escape but Logan did his best to hold on. As much as he wanted to reach for his gun, he was losing a lot of blood and couldn’t risk moving too much.
In the back of his mind, he knew that if Preston had nicked his femoral artery, he wouldn’t have long. He hoped that backup would find them soon because he wasn’t sure how long he’d be able to last. He looked over at Reed and saw that he was out cold.
Suddenly, Logan heard a blood-curdling growl. He turned his head to see Misty baring her teeth, slowly approaching Preston.
He’d never been happier to see her. “Get him, Misty.”
Misty jumped over and sunk her teeth hard into Preston’s shoulder. He screamed out in pain as she clamped her jaws around him. Preston tried to fight her off, but soon, Logan heard barking and more growling as Buddy joined her, pinning Preston into place. Preston’s screams could be heard loud into the night, as the two dogs fiercely protected Logan.
Logan was finding it hard to stay awake any longer but he kept his gun trained on Preston—it wouldn’t be too much longer.
Reed was safe. That was all that mattered.
As he began to zone out, he heard the voices of police officers getting closer and shouts of discovery as they spotted the tent.
He closed his eyes, giving in to the darkness.