Spark in the Dark

Chapter 129

Tig rushed into his daughter's house through the open back door with Happy close behind. They ignored the mess in the kitchen and walked into the entryway.

"Aw, man," Tig said as he stopped short. Shawn's ex boyfriend was on the floor at the bottom of the stairs, bloody and clearly dead.

"He is very dead," Happy said.

Juice came down the stairs slowly. Happy saw him first and hit Tig's arm to get his attention.

"What the hell happened?" Tig asked.

"I got home and the door was open. I came in and went upstairs," Juice started to tell him, but his voice broke as he thought of Brent on top of Shawn, again. "I got him off her. We fought and he fell."

"You did this?" Happy asked and Juice nodded. "Good. Proud of you."

"Wait, where's Shawn?" Tig asked.

"Upstairs. She's knocked out, but breathing," Juice told him. He tried to figure out how to tell Tig that his daughter had been raped. "I... I got most of her clothes back on her, but she's covered in blood."

"Oh, no," Tig said and covered his face with his hands has he began to cry. "Oh, no. No. My baby girl. Not my baby girl."

Hearing Tig cry for his daughter made Juice lose the last of his composure. He sunk onto the step and covered his own face has he cried. Happy stood there, giving them a minute to get ahold of themselves. He felt terrible for Shawn, but there was a lot of shit that needed to be done. After a few minutes, Happy could tell he was going to have to take charge of the situation. He approached Juice.

"Take her to St. Thomas. I'll call Jax so he can let Tara know you're on your way," Happy told Juice and then turned to Tig. "We'll take care of him."

"Yeah, okay," Juice agreed as he wiped his eyes. He stood and went up the stairs back to where Shawn was laying. He lifted her carefully and walked back down the stairs. He paused when Tig approached them. He laid a hand on Shawn's head and rested his forehead against her's for a moment. Juice watched and tried not to cry, again, as Tig sort of nodded to himself and stood back up. "Where'd Hap go?"

"He's looking for his car. Figure it must be parked around here somewhere," Tig told him. "Take her car. Hap called Jax so Tara will be waiting for you."

"Okay," Juice said. "I might need help getting her in the backseat."

"Right," Tig said and led the way to the garage, opening the garage door and then the car doors for him. Juice laid her in the backseat.

"I have to get her keys," Juice said.

"Stay with her," Tig said. "I'll look for them."

Tig left the garage and Juice got into the driver's seat. He waited there for Tig to return, focusing on the sound of Shawn's breathing. If it weren't for that, she could have passed for dead. Tig reentered the garage and handed Juice Shawn's key ring. Juice started the car.

"She was like this when you got here," Tig told Juice, "but she was alone. You suspect it was him, but he was not here. Understood? The hospital will have to call Roosevelt, but see if Tara can stall them. It won't take us too long to get him out of here, but we don't want them showing up here wanting to check out the crime scene anytime soon."

"Got it," Juice said and backed out. He drove straight to St. Thomas, going threw a red light or two along the way. Tara was outside the emergency room doors as he pulled up. She opened the back door and leaned in over Shawn once he stopped the car.

"Jesus Christ," he heard Tara mutter. She stood back up and called to people inside. "Get her inside!"

Nurses came and got Shawn out of the car and onto a gurney and rolled her inside. Tara turned to Juice. "Park the car, I'll wait for you here. And, Juice? You did a great job."