N. Walters - Legacy Found

“This is my husband, Joshua Striker.” She motioned to the extremely large male standing just behind her. He had shaggy black hair that fell to his shoulders and eyes so dark she couldn’t quite tell if they were brown or black. His face was rough-hewn, all angles and planes. He was also staring at her. All the males were.

“Joshua?” James stepped up beside her and she was glad for his presence. “Is there a problem?”

Joshua took a step forward. His expression grew harder and Shelley automatically took a step back. He froze. He started to speak, cleared his throat and tried again. “Rachel?” The name came out as a hoarse tortured whisper.

Alex gasped and James swore.

Had he misheard her name? “No, I’m Shelley.”

She glanced at James for support, but he was looking from the men to her and back to them again.

Joshua moved forward like a man in a trance, shaking his head as he came toward her. She braced her legs to keep from whirling around and running. She had a feeling if she tried to leave, he’d be on her before she made it to the gate. There was something primal, almost animalistic, about him.

“Rachel,” he said the name again, and this time a whisper came from the back of her mind. A memory long suppressed. Like a ghost from a life she didn’t remember, she could suddenly hear a voice calling her by that name. The male was younger, but he was important to her somehow.

Shelley frowned. A dull throbbing began behind her eyes. The pain hit her so swift and hard it made her dizzy. Her stomach roiled as the three other men stepped toward her.

“Who are you?” she asked. She knew his name, but suddenly needed to know much more. Her eyes scanned all four men. She didn’t know all their names, but she knew them.

Run!

The thought came out of nowhere. She didn’t question her instincts and whirled to obey. The sudden movement made her dizzy and she felt herself falling.

Strong arms caught her just as her legs seemed to crumble out from beneath her. James. She’d know his touch, his scent anywhere. He caught her before she hit the ground and lifted her into his arms.

She was suddenly ashamed of herself for being a coward. If she ran, she’d never know the truth. “Put me down.”

James shook his head. “No. Not until you’re steadier.”

Ignoring James for the moment, she turned back to Joshua and his brothers. There was no doubt in her mind the men were all related. She studied them. They were all staring at her as though they’d seen a ghost. “I know you.” Her voice was barely even a whisper, more of just a sigh, but they heard her.

“How, Shelley? How do you know them?” James kept his voice low and non-threatening as the brothers all came closer.

“I’m not sure.” She was trembling so hard now, her teeth were chattering. She was suddenly so cold. So afraid. Her head pounded and she rubbed her temples, trying to get some relief from the pain.

She was afraid to admit the truth to herself. She knew she was related to them. Somehow. Someway. Had they seen some weakness inside her when she was a child and given her away as Tom had always told her?

“It’s okay, Shelley. They won’t hurt you.” She clung to James’s reassurance, needing the comfort. She didn’t know if she was strong enough to face this. She hadn’t expected to come face to face with her past so soon.

Joshua reached out his hand and touched her face. “Is it really you, Rachel?” She flinched away and he dropped his hand back down by his side, unable to hide the pain from his face.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She didn’t know what to do. She was at a real disadvantage here. “Please put me down, James.”

She held her breath as James let her legs drop slowly until her feet were touching the ground. He waited until she was steady before removing one hand. He kept one arm locked around her waist. To keep her close to him or to keep her from running? She wasn’t sure, but she appreciated the support.

James addressed the group. “You know I found Shelley working at a diner on my way home. She’d been working there about six months.” James tucked her closer to him as he continued his bare-bones explanation.

“James.” She wasn’t sure she wanted them to know about her past. It was so ugly. She felt ugly and ashamed. Tainted by it.

She knew James understood, but he shook his head. “Better it come out quick so we can deal with it.”

Shelley knew he was right, but that didn’t make it any less of an ordeal. “Okay.”

Before she could muster up the courage to speak, James was already talking. “Shelley has been a prisoner for more than thirty-five years and doesn’t have any memory of her life before that.”

“Oh my God.” This came from another of the males.

Shelley reached out her hand and tentatively touched Joshua’s face. Her hand shook as she traced the outline of his forehead and cheeks. She couldn’t believe her audacity, nor the fact that he stood there and let her touch him. Having James stand with her made her braver.

“You look familiar.” Her voice trembled. He was a ghost from a dream.

Joshua reached out his hand again and this time Shelley didn’t flinch away. He stroked his hand over her hair. “You’re my sister. You’re Rachel.” He briefly closed his eyes and swallowed hard. Alexandra hovered close to her husband, offering her silent support. “You’re all grown up, but you look exactly the same.” His gaze hardened and went from her to James and back to her again. “Who took you from us?”

His question shook her to her core. “You mean you didn’t toss me away?”

Joshua threw back his head and howled. It was filled with a mixture of anguish and fury. His brothers all tipped back their heads and joined in the fierce cry.

Shelley slapped her hands over her ears. It was all too much. Her entire body was trembling. “I need to sit down,” she whispered to James.

“Enough.” His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried. The brothers broke off their pained call. “Let’s take this inside.”

The other three men stepped up to her side.

“I’m Micah, and this is Levi.” He jerked his thumb at the identical male standing next to him. They were both tall, good-looking men with brown hair and chocolate brown eyes.

“This is Simon,” Micah continued. Simon looked more like Joshua with his black hair and dark eyes.

She nodded at them all, unable to find her voice.

“Rachel?”

When Joshua called her Rachel again, she shook her head. “Rachel is dead. I don’t know who she was. Please call me Shelley.”

She could see the men struggling with it, but they all eventually nodded. Joshua’s face was somber as he said her name for the first time. “It’s only a name. I’ll gladly call you Shelley or any other name that you want. I just want my sister back.”

Shelley smiled as the first tear rolled down her cheek. Both Micah and Levi turned aside and swiped at their faces and cleared their throats. After all these years, she would finally know the truth.

Joshua couldn’t stop staring at Shelley. His head was still whirling, his heart pounding. He was grateful for Alexandra’s support. His wife kept her hand on his arm as if knowing he needed her touch.

His sister was alive. Except she wasn’t the bright-eyed, mischievous teenage girl he remembered. She was a woman grown and from the little he’d learned, she’d lived through untold horrors that none of them could truly imagine. What his mind did conjure up was enough to drive him mad.

She’d been a prisoner all these years.

He wanted vengeance, wanted the ground to run red with the blood of her captors. It made his heart hurt that she really didn’t remember them or her life before. His arms ached to hold her close, but he knew she’d flinch away from him. It was enough that she was home.