Chapter 54

Back in Seattle - Escala

Details

Elliot POV

I've been silent since I got the text from Kate, trying to contain my anger at Luke for pushing Rhi to get to this point. My anger spiderwebs to Ryan and Reynolds for not stepping in and preventing this. The closer to the center of the web, my anger multiplies and focuses on Taylor and his lack of control of the three idiots in Vegas. Finally, at the origination point, my brother. He holds the majority of my anger. It is because of him that this situation happened. His fucking paranoia and control issues have fucked up many things, many lives, but this…this is unforgivable. This is one life he has no right to fuck up, not that the others did, but they're not Rhi. Most of the others are already aware of his tendencies and take it with a grain of salt. Rhi, on the other hand, has no idea what he's like. Just like he has no idea about her.

"What in the fuck?" I shout, anger lacing my words. It's the only thing I can say after seeing this. All other words have abandoned my brain.

"What is it Elliot? What's wrong?" Christian's voice breaks into my focus on the screen of my phone.

Without a word I hand him my phone and I watch as his eyes get wide, confusion and concern evident.

"What the fuck am I looking at Elliot?" I can tell he wants answers by his tone.

Believe me, brother, you're going to get your answers.

I jab my finger at my phone and look at him, glaring. "THAT is what Rhi's hand looks like because of Luke." I growl out, struggling not to punch him.

I watch silently as he hands the phone to Taylor. Taylor's face remains stoic. He remains silent.

Christian looks at him, "Do you know anything about this Taylor?" Anger apparent in his words.

I understand his anger. I feel it too. He feels the same way that I do, women do not deserve to be hurt in any way. They should be cherished and worshipped and taken care of. Protected. Despite all this, that's the one thing that has failed. Rhi has not been protected. Though something tells me that even if we tried she would fight it, she's too independent.

I smirk, "Yeah, Taylor, do you know anything about this?" Sarcasm pouring from my lips.

Taylor looks at me like he wants to punch me and asks, "What is this?" Like he didn't just hear me tell Christian that.

I look at him like he's lost his fucking mind. "Taylor, THAT is Rhi's hand after she had to punch Luke because he fucking lost his mind and can't leave her alone. THIS is what happened when Ryan and Reynolds stood there watching as he tried to grab her. THIS is what happened when she snapped and had to defend herself!" No matter how hard I try, I can't keep from shouting my answer.

He looks back at the phone, silent, so I continue, "I've been telling you for how long now that Luke needed to be physically removed from the situation but you never listened. You followed your fucking 'protocol,' listening to your two goons who can't do their fucking jobs telling you the situation is 'handled.'" Shaking my head I aim to make him feel like an idiot. "Dude, they fucking lied to you to save their asses." I chuckle darkly.

Christian is silently watching, his eyes flicking between Taylor and me, listening. Taylor says nothing and I can't tell if it's because he won't or if he doesn't know what to say. Either way, it pisses me off more. It's like he's indifferent and has no remorse. Maybe he feels stupid from being lied to. Hell if I know.

"Taylor? Do you know anything about this? Is what Elliot saying true?" Christian breaks the uncomfortable silence.

I almost choke at his question. Turning my gaze to my ignorant brother, "What the fuck? YOU have been told the same thing! Numerous times!" Then realization hits me and I turn to Taylor. "You never told him anything did you?" My anger finally explodes and I turn and punch the wall behind me, putting a fist-sized hole through the drywall. There Rhi, we're twinsies now. I laugh and my lips twist into a smile.

"Elliot! What the fuck!" Christian yells.

I roll my eyes, "Fuck off. I'll fix it."

Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I turn around and face two of the biggest idiots I've ever laid eyes on. In a calm and controlled voice I say, "Listen and listen to me good. Kate, Ana and some guy she just met are the only ones watching out for her. All you other fucks," I point to my brother, "You included, just want to stick your dicks in someone. I, on the other hand, actually LOVE Kate. Right now, she's so pissed that she told me if Rhi regresses again she might not come back and that is something unforgiveable. If that happens, I lose Kate and you will lose Ana. Actually, you might lose her anyway because you're the one with serious fucking issues and have to control everything and everyone. Sorry to tell you this guys but by you doing this CPO stalking bullshit you've made a situation that was under control and happy into a complete nightmare for an innocent person." I'm done with them and their ignorance.

I snatch my phone out of Taylor's hand and send a quick text to Kate:

E: Hey babe. I showed Christian and Taylor the pic. Thank you for sending it. I've chewed them out and told them they better fix this immediately. I'm really sorry this all happened. I'll let you know what happens. I love you.

I don't expect a response so I put my phone in my back pocket. Looking back at both of them I ask, "Now, do you really think things are under control like Ryan and Reynolds have told you? Did you really think Luke was going to back off and let someone else do his job?" I pause, waiting to see if he responds. When he doesn't I smirk, tilting my head to the side, "Wasn't he your top guy? He's lost it dude. Admit it, you've lost control of everything and now you can't even trust the guys you employ."

I chuckle because I know how much he takes pride in his ability to handle any situation. Me implying that he's lost control is like cutting him with a knife. Calling him out in front of his boss doesn't look good for him either.

He's clenching his jaw and I see his fingers twitching slightly. "So what are you going to do about the mess you've created?"

Taylor and Christian both sigh and Christian looks at me, confused. "Do you care to tell me what's going on?" He sounds like he has no idea what's been happening in Vegas.

I slide my eyes to Taylor who, as usual, still has his stoic face. I can't tell what he's thinking but I'm pretty sure he's pissed at me. Fuck him.

"So, Taylor, you really didn't tell him." I say, raising an eyebrow. "Did you." It's not a question because I already know the answer.

Taylor and I continue to look at each other. I can see Christian is physically about to lose his shit. I just want to get this shit over with. While I'm certainly enjoying pissing Taylor off, Rhi is more important.

"Look bro, here's the basics of the situation. I can't tell you everything. This is just for some background because you don't know who Rhi is. Ana, Kate and Rhi have known each other since childhood. They're super close, like sisters, and every year they go to Vegas to unwind and recharge. They've never had any problems before and it lasts a maximum of one week then they return to their normal lives." I pause, trying to contain my anger, before continuing. "I say they've never had any problems but that changed this year. When you guys decided to fuck things up because you are more interested in your control than someone's sanity." I glare at Christian, making my point. He says nothing for a minute and I'm waiting to see if Taylor does but he remains silent.

"After all this bullshit, even if I don't lose Kate, I hope Ana comes to her senses and tells you to fuck off. You don't deserve her. She deserves so much better than you and I'm pretty sure she can find someone to replace you in a heartbeat that treats her better and respects her. If your goons," I look at Taylor, "Taylor included, wanted to see if they could "land" Rhi, you really have some shitty guys on the force." My anger is building once again and I feel the need to punch something. Instead, I stalk further into the apartment and head straight to the bar and pour myself a glass of whiskey. "Fuck, when are you going to keep tequila in here? I need something stronger than this." I yell after downing the glass.

Pouring another glass I turn around and lean against the counter. "Besides, it's my understanding that she's completely taken. None of you guys have a chance in hell." I laugh sardonically. "Oh, I forgot to mention, Kate is using all her connections to handle the situation that should never have happened. She's more reliable than any of you guys." I toss back the second glass and pour myself a third. If I'm not careful I'll be taking swigs straight from the bottle like Rhi. She'd love that. I chuckle.

Taylor finally breaks his silence. Holding out his hands out, palms facing me, in a stopping motion he says, "Ok Elliot, now hold on. Before things get out of hand, let me make a call." I roll my eyes and snort, but just as I'm getting ready to say something he picks up his phone and dials a number.

After a minute he starts talking to whomever is on the other end of the call. "Mitch. Jason Taylor." There is a pause and he answers, "I'm good. Listen, I hate to bother you but I may need your help with a situation that's come up." He pauses, looking at me, "I might need to have you pick someone up for me and put him in a conference room until I get there. No, there's no need for a holding cell. I need to make a call before you pick him up. I will be flying out to handle the situation personally." He pauses, listening to whoever he is talking to, "His name? Luke Sawyer. Yes, that's the one. I don't know, I'm still learning about this whole situation. Thank you. I'll be in touch." He disconnects the call and looks at Christian and me and sighs.

Once again, he places another call and starts talking almost immediately.

Ryan POV

"Hey T, what's up? I was just getting ready to call you."

Taylor asks, "Do you have an update on the situation?"

Oh fuck. What do I tell him? T's not going to be happy. I settle on the truth, no point in lying. "Sawyer has gone off the deep end and has started being the creepy stalker of Rhiann." I look at Reynolds and raise my eyebrows. "He tried to grab her to talk to her, as she was walking down the hall, but we were too late. He already pissed her off and she snapped and punched him in the face. After checking him in the hotel we took him to the clinic to be seen." I take a deep breath before continuing, "He's got a broken nose, black eye and a mild concussion. There was a sliver of bone showing through his skin. The whole time he was mumbling something about "It should be him with her.""

There's silence on the other end but I can hear him breathing hard. I know he's pissed and I don't blame him. Before he has a chance to say anything, I tell him my I voice what Reynolds and I have been thinking, "T, I think he's really got a problem and needs help."

Taylor exhales and barks, "What the fuck are you guys doing there? Vacationing? You told me Sawyer was under control. Now I hear she's hurt and he's the cause of it. I've got your mess to clean up because you guys can't seem to do it."

Fuck, he's pissed. "I've got someone on standby that will pick him up if needed. That information is not to be released, only you and Reynolds need to know that." I can hear his aggravation by the exasperated breath he lets out along with the tone of his voice. "You need to control that fucker. This never should have happened." He snaps, before continuing, "This is a fucking mess and me being here…" His voice trails off, for a second or two. "There's a lot at stake here. Just do your fucking jobs."

'Click.'

Fuck. He's right. This never should have happened. We shouldn't even be here but Grey has fucking issues and insisted on keeping an eye on the girls. Shit, he's more of a stalker than Sawyer.

"Reynolds!" I yell.

He walks in, "What's up?"

I tell him what T said and he doesn't react, he just looks at me. After a minute he says, "You know what? We shouldn't have been here from the beginning. This whole thing is a fucking mess and now we're being blamed for this shit." We're silent, just standing there looking at each other.

Sympathy evident in his eyes he says, "I feel bad for her. She's innocent in this. She's lucky to have Kate and Ana as friends. They are the only ones who truly care for her. Well, that guy she just met seems OK. Elliot too, though I don't understand how he knows about her."

I can see him pondering that part and I agree with him. How the hell does Elliot know about her? I'll give him credit, he certainly knows the meaning of loyalty and confidentiality.

Sighing, I reply, "You're right. We've got to keep Sawyer contained until we know what's going on. T said he has someone on standby to pick him up if needed. I hope it doesn't come to that. He's a good guy and does his job well. I don't know what the fuck is going on with him." My thoughts are scattered everywhere. I hope we can talk some sense into him and make him realize just how much damage he's really done. "What's he doing now?"

"He's actually asleep. The pain meds they gave him knocked his ass out." He answers with a laugh. "Big ass motherfucker fell like a Redwood in the forest."

I smirk, "Well, that's a good thing. You know…" I pause, thinking, then something occurs to me. "I got the impression that T is going to fly out here. Probably to try to do some damage control." I snort, "It's too late for that. The damage has already been done. Hopefully it can be fixed but something tells me it can't." Then something occurs to me. "You know what this means?" I don't want an answer so I continue, "That means we're going to get our asses chewed for something WE didn't do." God that fucker pisses me off. If I lose my job I'm going to kick his ass.

After thinking for a minute, Reynolds announce, "We need to figure out how to keep him in this room until he comes,"

Now he's got my attention. "I agree. Any ideas?"

"Actually, I do. Let's take shifts watching him so we can monitor him and get some sleep too. We can't keep going on no sleep and be successful at babysitting him." He rolls his eyes at that last part. "What a joke. A grown man needing another grown man to babysit him."

I laugh, "I totally agree. This is going to suck but hopefully he gets the help he needs as soon as possible."

"Do you want to watch him first or do you want me to?" We both are exhausted due to the lack of sleep and trying to handle the situation. "Why don't I stay up and you go get some rest?" I offer.

He's already walking out of the room and throws over his shoulder, "That sounds good to me. Wake me if you need anything."

I better tell T the plan.

I text him:

Ry: We're taking 4 hr shifts to watch him. and sleep

T: good.