Making the Cut (Saving Dallas 2)

“Well, everyone is different. Your body might have processed it faster due to the alcohol you consumed with it. The best I can give you is about an hour before you started feeling the symptoms, at the most two.”

Fucking Tammy.

“Are you sure about that, doc? I mean, on a scale from one to ten, ten being the most sure, where are you at?” I was back to sounding like Dallas Knox, property of LLC. Fuck.

“I would give it a ten, Dallas. There is no way it could have been in your system any longer and you not have known. You could have begun feeling the symptoms immediately. But, my professional opinion is at most, two hours before.”

I stared at my feet, my head in one hand and my phone in the other. I was sitting in the living room and if I were standing, I probably would have passed out. I hung up the phone without saying goodbye and leaned back on the couch. My pulse was quickening, but I didn’t want to jump to conclusions. I thought back on the events of that night. I had only had one drink with Tammy. I had also had one drink with Stacy.

Bile rose in my throat as I reached for the phone and called Luke. Maybe I had misunderstood him. Luke had acted like he didn’t know who Stacy was when I told him I was going to Tupelo and he worked there at the Abbey where I was staying.

“Dallas,” Luke’s clipped tone came through the receiver and it was like another dagger to my heart. I sat there for a second trying to remember why I called him in the first place. For weeks, Luke had answered my phone call with a “babe” and a smile in his voice. I never thought I would miss his endearments so much. “Hello,” Luke repeated, sounding a little more anxious. Maybe I should tell him I heard something so he would come back. Shit! I was such a pathetic idiot!

“Luke,” I started, managing to find my voice although it was a little more breathy than I intended. I cleared my throat and continued, “Who did you say would get that land if something happened to me?” I sat on the couch holding my breath.

“Stacy,” Luke stated. I let out the breath I had been holding and took another deep one.

“You acted like you didn’t know him when I mentioned him working at the Abbey,” I said, still hoping that this was all a misunderstanding.

“I don’t know him. I only know his name. I assumed that he lived in Georgia.” I could tell Luke was getting curious as to why I was asking.

“Okay, thanks,” I replied and quickly hung up. I didn’t need him questioning me on this and his voice made me quiver-in a way I had no business quivering.

I would deal with Stacy later. Next, I needed to change the code on my gate. I grabbed the pamphlet from a drawer in the kitchen and called the number on the back. The lady informed me that I would just have to key in a generic code, and then key in the code I wanted as my new one. They would cancel the old one, letting the generic four zero code be the temporary password until I programmed it myself. Step two-done.

As soon as I hung up, Red called letting me know that she was on her way. That gave me about thirty minutes to figure out what in the hell I was going to do about everything else. My phone rang once again and I looked down to see Luke calling. I started to not answer, but who was I kidding? I wanted to hear his voice. I missed him already. Apparently my hard shell had a few cracks in it. I answered the phone in the bitchiest voice I could manage and with a simple, “Yeah.” Luke ignored my bitchy response.

“Hey, babe. I was wondering if you wanted me to send a couple guys over there to bury the rest of that barn. I looked this morning and it seems there aren’t any lines running under it. It shouldn’t be a problem and will only take a couple of hours.” Fuck me. Why did he have to be so nice? And why was he calling me babe? I walked to the back door and noticed that the large heap of burnt tin and wood was a grotesque sight, and an even worse reminder.

“That would be great,” I said, thoughts of Frankie tying me up and touching me invading my thoughts and causing me to involuntarily squint my eyes shut and steady my breathing.

“You okay, darlin’?” Luke asked me softly. All the fight in him seemed to be gone. I needed him, but I wouldn’t succumb to this shit again. “I’m fine. Red will be here soon. I’ll call you later if I have any questions.” I hung up the phone on him, again, before he could respond. I took another look outside, and this time my eyes were on the pool. What the hell. I didn’t need an expensive outfit to express my bitch persona. A bikini would do.