Last Chance: A Second Chances Novel (30 page)

I
t’d been two days since Luke had given Kate a sample of his blood, and we were supposed to find out the results today. I had no doubt he was drugged, but I was curious to see what he was given.

The sound of dirt bikes filled the air, as Luke and Chance raced around his track. It was so hot outside, I’d decided to spend my day in the pool, relaxing and working on my tan.

Summer and Evan knew I was back together with Luke, but as far as I knew, Grayson didn’t. I was pretty sure he’d find out sooner or later and I’d get a phone call. Until then, I had no plans on calling him.

My phone rang and my stomach dropped. I paddled over to the side of the pool and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was Summer. “Hey,” I greeted.

“Don’t kill me, but I have a favor to ask you.”

“Okay, what’s up?”

“Can you work lunch on Saturday? Victoria has a family reunion to go to, but it’s only for a couple of hours.”

Luke’s race didn’t start until seven o’clock that night, so I had plenty of time. “Sure, I can do it. I’ll head to Charlotte for Luke’s race afterward.”

“Great, thank you. Evan wants to watch the race too, but he’ll be watching it with Emma-Grace at home.”

“It should be a good one. I’m excited.” We said our goodbyes and I paddled over to the edge to drop off my phone. Once I pushed off toward the center of the pool, it rang again. “Really?” I grumbled out loud. Hurrying over to the edge again, I answered my phone. “Hello?”

A strong, feminine voice replied. “Hi, is this Lara Jacobs?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied.

“I’m returning your call from the other day, this is Shelby Reynolds. I’ve researched your client and I love what I see. I’ve featured several athletes in the Charlotte area, including Evan Townsend and Cooper Davis.”

“Yes, I know. Evan is my brother-in-law.”

“What a small world. You and your sister are the ones who own Carolina Tavern, right?”

I bit my lip to keep from squealing. Shelby Reynolds was huge and if she knew who I was, that was pretty epic. “Yes, we are.”

“But now you’re working for Mr. Collins as well?” she asked.

“Yes. I graduated with a degree in Marketing and I want to put it to good use. Luke does really well on his own, but I want to help him reach the next level.”

“There’s no denying he’s a star in the motocross and supercross world. I’d love to interview him for a spread in
Physique
.”

“He’ll be thrilled to hear this. I can’t wait to tell him.”

“Great, I look forward to it. Talk it over with Luke and we’ll pick a time in the next couple of months to get together. Either I can fly out that way, or you both can come to San Francisco. I’ll leave it up to you. If you haven’t been out this way, I strongly recommend it. I have a house you can stay in and everything.”

“Wow, thank you. Now I’m even more excited.”

“Give me a call back with a time that suits you.”

“Will do,” I answered happily. “Have a great week.”

“You too.”

We hung up and I screamed, but Luke and Chance didn’t hear me through all the noises their bikes made. I put my phone back on safe ground before falling off my float. Rushing out of the pool, I slipped on my sandals and took off toward the track, waving my arms in the air.

“Luke!” I shouted. He and Chance were coming around the corner and I waved my hands wildly in the air. Chance looked over at me and completely missed the turn. He ran off the track, crashing into a bale of hay. I ran over to him and helped him up. “Oh my God, are you okay?”

He tore off his helmet and glanced up and down my body. “Are you kidding me? I’m in heaven. You need to wear a bikini more often.”

“Do you want to keep that tongue of yours?” Luke warned from behind. “If not, keep talking.”

Chance winked at me, then turned to Luke, holding his hand innocently across his chest. “I was respectfully admiring her beauty. I’d like to keep my tongue where it is, if you don’t mind. Numerous young ladies would be devastated if you took it away.”

I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Nice, Chance.”

Luke hopped off his bike and took off his gloves. “You okay? I saw you waving me down.”

I grabbed his hands. “You won’t believe who I just got off the phone with.”

His eyes went wide. “Who?”

“Shelby Reynolds
.
She wants to interview you for the magazine. She said she could come out here, or we could fly out there.”

“Holy shit!” he shouted, picking me up in his arms and twirling me around. “I can’t believe you got her to do this.”

He set me down and I shook my head. “I only made the call. You were the one who intrigued her. Just let me know when you want to go. She’s waiting for us to call her back.”

“Fuck yeah, that’s awesome.”

“What about me?” Chance asked. “Do you think she’d be interested?”

I smiled. “Oh, I’ll make sure to mention you. No worries.”

A whistle came from the house and when we looked at the culprit, my stomach dropped; it was Kate, waving an envelope in the air.

Luke blew out an angry breath and focused on me. “You ready?”

I shrugged. “If you are.”

Chance lifted his bike and jumped back on it. “Let’s see what that bitch gave you.” He took off toward the house and then Luke held out his hand.

“Hop on.”

“You promise not to wreck?” I asked.

Chuckling, he reached for my hand and pulled me toward him. “Just hold on and you’ll be fine.”

Taking a deep breath, I hopped on the back and wrapped my arms around his waist. The takeoff scared me, but it was a smooth ride the rest of the way down the hill. Once he slowed down, I was able to breathe. Chance was already off his bike and talking to Kate when we pulled up.

She smiled and opened her arms to hug me. “It’s good to see you again. We need to catch up.”

“Yes, we do. How’d you know we were here?” I asked.

She laughed. “Evan tells me everything, since my own best friend doesn’t.”

I felt like a horrible best friend. “I promise to make it up to you. Everything’s just been crazy since the accident.”

“I know, but at least I’m about to make it better. I have the results.” She held the envelope out to Luke and he didn’t waste time opening it.

Chance rushed over and looked over his shoulder. “Holy shit, he had Secobarbital in his system?”

I felt sick to my stomach. I wasn’t exactly educated on the various drugs in the world, but I knew what that one was. Secobarbital was a barbiturate used for insomnia, but it was a drug that people used recreationally back in the day.

Luke’s gaze narrowed and he growled. “Along with Ambien and Xanax. That bitch could’ve killed me.”

“Which is why you need to turn her in,” Kate suggested. “If she’s done this to you, there’s no telling what she’ll do to someone else. You seriously could’ve died. You’re a strong man with a fast metabolism, but what if this had been someone else?”

I reached for his hand and squeezed. He glanced down at me and I could tell he was torn. “I think Kate’s right. She needs to pay for what she did. I’m pretty sure she won’t go to jail, but it’ll keep her from doing it again.”

Closing his eyes, he nodded. “Fine. I’ll call Jason tonight.”

“Who’s Jason?” I asked.

Luke opened his eyes and sighed. “I keep forgetting you don’t have your memories. Jason Avery’s a friend of mine, but he’s also a cop. He’ll know what to do.”

“Y
ou know what’s fucked up?” I said, sitting back in my chair. It was later that evening and Lara and I were enjoying dinner and drinks on the patio.

She frowned and looked over at me, her wine glass stopping at her lips. “What?”

“That Skylar got the best of me. I turned around for one minute and that bitch played me. You always hear about guys doing it to girls, but never vice versa.”

Lara nodded. “I know. I just wish someone would’ve seen something. After you call Jason, you might want to give Chance a call and see if he can ask around.”

Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair and even that made me ache. I was never one to get high off drugs; I didn’t like the side effects. “Good idea.” I reached for my phone and called Jason. It was time to fuck Skylar up.

“Collins, what’s up, my man?” Jason answered.

I huffed. “You’re probably not going to believe this, but I was drugged this past weekend by Skylar Wells. I just got the test results today.”

“Are you fucking serious?”

“As much as I hate admitting I was taken out by a girl, yes.”

“Do you have proof it was her who did it?” he asked.

“I confronted her and she admitted to doing it. Plus, Lara Jacobs and Chance Harris are witnesses to her leaving the bedroom where they found me.” Lara winced and I hated that she even had to deal with this mess. We’d had way too many obstacles to overcome for another one to fall on us. “She can’t deny it,” I added.

“When I go to question her and get all the evidence I need, what do you want to do from there? Press charges? If we do, she’ll most likely just get a slap on the wrist.”

“And that’s fine, but at least she’ll be blackballed from our group. No one will want her around after this, which is what she deserves.” Skylar could’ve killed me. She had no idea how I would react to the combination of meds she gave me. And worst of all, she almost ruined my relationship with Lara.

“Sounds good, brother. Can I stop by tomorrow morning to get a copy of the test results?”

“Of course. See ya then.” We hung up and it felt good to know that Skylar wasn’t going to get away with it. But there was still one nagging detail that bothered me about the whole situation . . .

Lara squeezed my hand, pulling me back into the here and now. “Luke, you okay? You zoned out there for a second.”

I looked at her and sighed. “I was thinking. Skylar had to have had help getting me to the bedroom. There’s no way she could’ve dragged my body around by herself.”

“True. And that’s why you need to get Chance to ask around. Maybe someone actually saw her putting the drugs in your drink.”

The thought pissed me off. The guys at that party were my friends. If someone saw her drugging me, it’d be pretty fucked up if no one tried to stop her. “If they did, I’ll kick their ass,” I growled.

She nodded. “I will too.”

The thought made me laugh. “Of that, I have no doubt. Let me give Chance a call and then we can take a walk. There’s a pond right through those woods,” I said, pointing to the tree line.

Her eyes lit up. “Great. It’ll give me a chance to walk off all the food I ate.”

“Don’t worry, cupcake, I’ll make sure you work it off in other ways too.”

She winked. “Can’t wait.”

I found Chance’s number in my phone, and waited for him to pick up. When he did, there was a lot of yelling in the background.

“You miss me already?” he joked.

“You wish. Where are you at?”

“Second Street. It’s two dollar Tuesday, you know this.”

I hadn’t been to the Second Street Bar in a long time. It was in downtown Charlotte, and a place I used to go with Evan and some of the other football players. A lot of our cop friends would go too, including Jason. Now that most of them were married, those times were few and far between.