Katie

Chapter 28

"Katie!!"

"Katie!!"

Katie groaned and slowly opened her eyes. There was a loud ringing in her ears and her vision was blurry. Turning her head slowly, she saw a blurry outline of someone leaning over her.

"Katie!"

Someone was running their hands through her hair. Groaning, Katie blinked her eyes several times, trying to bring them into focus. Slowly she could start to make out everything clearly. She realized it was Logan leaning over her, a worried look in his eyes.

"Katie! Are you ok?" He ran his hands over her face and into her hair.

"I will be when you stop yelling at me." Katie mumbled.

She felt herself being hauled into his arms. "Thank God you're ok!" She felt warm and safe in his arms.

"What happened?" she asked. Everything was still foggy in her mind. The last thing she remembered was hearing David's gun go off in her ear.

"Shawn got to the gun right before David pulled the trigger. I thought you were gone!" He pulled her tighter into his embrace.

Katie squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shut out the memories. She gripped Logan's arms as he held her. "I'm ok," she whispered. "Where's Shawn?"

"He's ok. He grabbed the gun and knocked David out cold. Cops should be here any minute. He's keeping an eye on him until then."

"Good." Katie whispered. She pulled back and held a hand up to her head.

"You sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, just have a massive headache." Katie reassured him. Glancing up into his concerned face, she noticed the cuts and bruises that took up the majority of the left side of his face. Frowning, Katie reached up to touch the the cut above his brow, pulling back when he winced. "Sorry," she whispered.

Logan smiled softly at her, "It's ok. Doesn't really hurt that bad. I've had a lot worse."

Katie knew he was trying to make her feel better but those words made her heart ache. She stared into his eyes, swallowing the lump that was trying to form in her throat. "I am so sorry, Logan. I had no idea this is what you had to live with. I never imagined," her voice trailed off as tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"Hey," Logan said softly, "You have nothing to be sorry for. You didn't do this, he did. Nothing he ever did to me has anything to do with you, or with your family. We all have to make choices when life throws us curves. Some of us just make better choices than others. My dad decided to throw the rest of his life away, including his family." Logan shrugged. "I learned to deal with it. No one besides Shawn has ever known about my home life because that's how I wanted it. The only reason he did was because he lived it too."

Wiping her cheeks, Katie started to pull herself to her feet. Logan grabbed her arm, helping to steady her. "This is just too much to take in right now. Everything your dad said about my dad, about Shawn and his mom, and to find out David turned into such a cruel, violent person," Katie shook her head, at a loss for words.

Logan put his arm around her. "I know. Believe me, I know. The cops should be here soon. I'm sure they'll want to take down our statements and then after that, Shawn will take you home."

Katie frowned at him. "Shawn? What about you?"

"What about me?"

Katie pulled out of his arm and turned to face him. "You're not planning on staying here, are you?"

"Why not? David will be gone, hopefully for good. Where else am I supposed to go?"

Katie folded her arms in front of her. "You're coming with us. I refuse to let you stay here one more second than absolutely necessary!"

"Is that so?" Logan half smiled. "This is my house, Katie. It's where I belong."

Shaking her head stubbornly, Katie said adamantly, "No, you belong with Shawn. With people who care about you, Logan. You do. You don't need to stay in a place that has horrible memories for you." She raised her eyebrows, "and I didn't miss the fact that you called this place your 'house', not your home. There is a difference."

"Is there?"

"Yes, there is and if my home is good enough for Shawn then it will be good enough for you too. I will not take no for an answer." Katie swallowed hard and pleaded at him with her eyes. "Please Logan. I can't stand the thought of you staying in this horrible house any longer. Please!" She gulped as tears threatened to fall again.

"Hey," Logan pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. "I'll go! If it'll make you feel better, then I will go. Ok?"

Katie nodded against his chest. "Thank you!" She closed her eyes and sighed in relief as that achy feeling in her chest eased up, just a little.

Shawn walked into the room behind them. "Hey, cops are here."

Logan and Katie turned at the same time to see several police cars pull up and officers stepping out of them. Shawn held the door open for them as they carefully walked up the porch. Shawn directed two of them to the back of the house where David was tied up. As they headed off to check on David, the other officer asked them the necessary questions and took their statements down.

Katie cringed and leaned into Logan as she saw David walking down the hall towards them, being guided by the two officers. She felt Logan stiffen beside her as he glared at his father. David paused for a moment, staring at each of them in turn. His lips curled in disgust, he addressed Shawn first.

"You are an ungrateful piece of scum. Your father wanted nothing to do with you and I took you in. Raised you as my own, despite the fact that I knew George's blood was running through your veins." he shuddered. "What do you do to repay me? The moment you discover who your biological father was, you go running, desperate to claim his money. You're just like him." He spat on the ground.

He turned to glare at Katie, "And you," he sneered, "have never been anything more than a spoilt, rich, daddy's girl. The best thing my son ever did was kick you out of his life. I will regret til the day I die that I didn't go after you, instead of your daddy's secret lover and child. I should've known nothing would've hurt him as long as he had you. Even his wife leaving didn't faze him. He lived his whole life being selfish, arrogant and self absorbed. You are just like him. It's no wonder your mother left and never came back."

Katie's face paled and she shivered at the hate burning in his eyes.

Finally, he turned to look at his son. "As for you. All I have to say to you is, I wish it had been you, not your mom." With those words hanging in the air, he let the cops pull him out of the house and into the car. Not bothering to look back.

The last cop cleared his throat to get the attention of the three teens who were frozen in place, stunned at David's parting words. It took two more tries before he finally had their full attention. "I just want to let you three know that you won't have to worry about him anymore. We've actually been trying to catch up with him for awhile. He has more warrants out on him than I can even list right now. With all the evidence we have on him for his other crimes I guarantee he will be locked away for a long, long time." With a small smile, he walked out the door.

Silence filled the room after he drove away. Each was lost in their own thoughts.