by Lara Earlman
Lexi’s freedom taunted her from inside the pocket of her jacket, but the cell phone might as well be a thousand miles away. And the GPS could not be tracked, because she’d foolishly turned it off. Another sharp pinch to her already bruised skin had Lexi abandoning the struggle to free her hands. She sat down in the corner, as far away from the dead body and rank smell as possible. She would rest a moment and build up the nerve to dig through the security guard’s pockets. All guys carried around pocket knives – right?
Lexi startled – a noise? Her head was in a fog, had she fallen asleep? The sun had faded from the gaps in the door, but the heat of the day lingered. It was an effort for her to breathe in air, the metal container heated like an oven, not to mention what it did to the suffocating odor inside! Still, even coated in a thin layer of sweat, Lexi shivered.
“Ms Alberton, can you hear me?” A sharp bang of metal against steel followed the query. Lexi kicked the door with her feet. Thankfully, even with her soft shoes it gave a slight rattle of the hinges.
“Good, my name is Jack Ferguson,” he said. “I witnessed what happened to you and left to get help. Unfortunately, with the disappearance of the night guard your people tightened security and wouldn’t allow me in. I had to wait until evening to come back. I was afraid I might be too late and they’d moved you already.”
As he spoke, Lexi could hear him working on the lock. Leaning forward, she tried to stand, but her head felt dizzy and her legs weak. The heavy door opened and a light landed in Lexi’s face, before swinging away to reveal the rest of the container’s contents. Grateful for the fresh air, she filled her lungs. As she continued to take deep breathes, Lexi felt her head begin to clear.
“Shell, call the police,” her rescuer said into a communication device. “Now, let’s get you free,” he told her, as he stooped down even with her face. Jack gently removed Lexi’s gag and helped her to stand. Quickly slicing through the tape, he helped to peel it from her bruised and raw wrists. He put a supporting arm around her waist and guided her out into the dimly lit parking lot where Lexi got a first glimpse of his face.
“Aren’t you…?” her brows creased in confused remembrance.
“The man at the bar in Georgetown,” he confirmed. He turned his neck to watch the side of the building. Lexi followed his eyes and saw the flashing lights of a police vehicle, just before it rounded the corner into sight. It was followed by an ME van. Lexi trembled and Jack gave her waist a gentle squeeze. “I’ll talk to them,” he volunteered.
He left her side and Lexi watched as the men disappeared into the storage trailer. She just wanted to go home. The whole thing had been one big nightmare. Her uncle’s legacy continued. How many of her so-called loyal employees remained on his payroll? Or was it Fenwick’s? No, it seemed his only interest had been in science – and of course money. He admitted to the authorities that he’d started out partnering with her uncle, although their interests were divided, Richard’s being more diversified. She knew in her gut that Richard Alberton would never be held accountable for his crimes. He was too slick. It was she that was paying the price by being related to him. Would she forever be looking over her shoulder, waiting to be trapped in another one of his exploits?
Ferguson returned to escort her inside Al-Tech’s lobby. The FBI was now involved and had questions for her. By the time they’d finished, Lexi was feeling completely drained, and couldn’t rid herself of the putrid smell of human excrement and death. All she wanted was a long hot bath and a comfortable bed. Her friendly PI hurried over to her as she was climbing into her car.
“You shouldn’t drive anywhere without an escort,” he said. “Why don’t I drop you off at home and you can pick up your car tomorrow?”
Lexi shook her head. “No, I don’t live at the house anymore. I’m staying at a hotel and I need my car.” Ferguson opened the passenger door and spoke into his phone, before settling in beside her.
“I’ll just make sure you get there safely,” he said. “Shell can pick me up in my car.” Lexi acquiesced, and he filled her in on his side of the story during the ride.
Apparently he hadn’t gotten the message that he no longer had to spy on her, and proceeded to trail Lexi to work, early that morning. Since he couldn’t follow her through the gate, he positioned his car outside the fence and got comfortable. The only inconspicuous place to park kept him in sight of her car, but also gave him a view of the back door to the lobby, as well. Finding it suspicious that the security guard left the door propped open, Ferguson exited his car and followed the fence to the storage containers. There he had a ringside seat to the argument going on between the guard and Cass. Apparently the night watchman was getting cold feet, especially when Lexi showed up for work unexpectedly, and was trying to convince them to move their business elsewhere. After witnessing Lexi’s capture and the guard’s murder, Ferguson tried to get hold of Dane, to no avail.
The PI’s priority was to get Lexi out of there. If he got the police involved, he knew from experience that the red tape would bog them down, and time was of the essence. He grabbed some tools and returned to Al-Tech, where they halted him at the gate. Without Ms Alberton’s authority, they could not be convinced to let him in. So, he regrouped, waited until the building emptied, brought along his sexy blonde associate, and induced the night guard to allow them access to spray for insects. Once inside, his colleague, Shell, kept the security guard occupied while he snuck out to rescue Lexi.
“Thank you,” Lexi said, sincerely. It seemed inadvertently, Dane did rescue her after all. Her heart burst out in pain from the loss of him in her life. How could she have been such a fool? She closed the door to her hotel room and turned to the bath.
Lexi’s phone blasted out, waking her from a dead sleep. She rolled over and grabbed the instrument. “Hello?” she answered, figuring it was probably the FBI with more questions.
“Lex, oh thank God!” Fani’s overly dramatic voice shouted through the receiver.
“Hello, Fan,” Lexi said calmly, counterbalancing her friend’s anxiety.
“Lex, you’ve gotta go back home,” she said.
“I can’t do that Fani; it’s not my home anymore.” Lexi climbed out of the bed and started preparing coffee. She still wore the hotel terry robe she’d put on after her bath and noticed that she’d apparently fallen asleep atop the bed covers, as well.
“Horse pa-too-ee!”
“Oh…kay, but that doesn’t change facts. I got angry the other night and burned my bridges, as far as Dane is concerned. There’s no going back, Fani.”
“Do you love him?”
Lexi didn’t answer.
“Alexiah Alberton! Do you love Dane Wellesley, or not?”
“Of course I do, but…”
“Then it may be of interest to you that he was shot last night!” Fani came off all bossy and high-handed, which would have irked Lexi had her words not shocked her.
“What? Stefani Carsten if you’re just trying to maneuver me into going back – so help me!”
“I’m not Lex,” Fani was serious. “He was released this morning. He’s okay, but it could have been worse.” She proceeded to fill Lexi in on what she knew of Dane’s exploits, while Lexi hastily threw on some clothes. “He’s a hero, Lex,” she ended, the drama queen resurfacing.
Lexi’s corvette squealed into the driveway and stopped haphazardly at an angle, close to the entrance. Sprinting up the steps, she threw open the front door and began calling his name. “Dane! Dane?”
She flew up the stairs and ran into their bedroom. He was lying atop the bed wearing only his sweat pants, casually reading a book. She stopped and stared, soaking in the sight of him.
“Dane?” Suddenly tears of relief poured down her face. She’d been so scared.
“Liebling, it’s okay,” he said, swinging his legs off the bed. “I’m alright.”
“No, you shouldn’t get out of bed,” she said, motioning for him to lie back down. Her tears flowed harder. “I…
I’d better leave you to rest.” She turned to go, but suddenly he was beside her, pulling her into his arms.
“I heard from Jack Ferguson,” he murmured into her hair. “When I think of how close I came to losing you…” he held her tightly. “We caught one of guys, the other two got away. The woman got away, but they will find her, Pips. I swear to you that no one will ever take you from me again.”
“I’m sorry, Daney,” she sobbed into his chest. “I didn’t mean those awful things I wrote. I don’t know why I got so angry with you.” Lexi couldn’t continue, as she began weeping uncontrollably. Dane held her in his arms until she calmed. He grasped her chin, tilting her head up to look into her reddened eyes. Leaning down to give her a tender kiss on the tip of her nose, he reached on the table behind her, and picked up the unopened envelope.
“Are you referring to this?” he asked. “I never got around to reading it. I was so angry when I found out you’d left, that I didn’t really give a damn what you had to say,” he confessed. “By the time I calmed down I was already in the middle of… well, this,” he pointed to his leg. “Fani told you what happened.”
“Wait a minute, Fani called you this morning after she talked to me? So, you knew I was on my way here? You were expecting me.” Lexi pushed her finger into his chest. Dane shrugged.
“I guess she felt that forewarned is forearmed,” he quipped.
“Did you just say, forearmed?” Lexi repeated. “And just what did you need forewarning about?”
“Nothing, mein liebes,” he took a step back, “nothing at all – gah!” he grimaced in pain. Lexi immediately helped him back into bed.
“You shouldn’t get out of bed. Did the bullet hit anything important? I mean will you have a limp or anything?” Tears threatened to well again.
“No, liebling. Here help me take my pants off and I’ll show you.”
Lexi raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing his intentions. Hmm, if he’s feeling that good… why not go with it? She assisted in removing his sweat pants and he pointed to the bandage.
“The bullet just grazed my calf. There are a few stitches, and I lost a little blood,” he explained. “I’m supposed to keep it elevated for a day or so.”
“But, I thought you passed out,” Lexi said.
“I got my feet knocked out from under me and hit my head on the asphalt. They checked it out – apparently I have a hard head,” he joked.
“Right…” she eyed him closely, making sure everything looked as it should – lying there in just his navy boxer briefs. Yeah, he looked good. A blue tent began to rise from the fabric – very good. Her gaze slid up his torso and met his intense golden eyes.
“I believe you have me at a disadvantage, mein liebes,” he stated.
Lexi moved to close the bedroom door. She picked up the envelope addressed to Dane, reached in a drawer and pulled out an incense burner. Lighting a match, she held it to the paper and watched it quickly ignite. Placing it in the burner, the offensive letter commanded her attention until it was nothing but ash, only then did she turn back to the beautiful man waiting in her bed.
“I love you, Daney,” she said, as she slowly removed her clothes.
Standing naked under intense scrutiny, she pulled her chin up high basking in the adoration radiating from his gaze. Her emotional cache filled to overflowing with love for the man. The child that had once been Lexi Alberton had resurfaced and matured, surrounded by the support of lost friendships, now renewed – and a love that refused to die.
She danced to the bed and dove in next to him. His hand slapped her buttocks playfully and then began touching and inspecting her, as if to reassure himself that she’d not been harmed by yesterday’s ordeal. Finally convinced, his hands caressed. He rolled her beneath him and locked caramel flecked eyes upon hers.
“You belong to me,” he pronounced, sternly.
“Yes,” she willingly conceded. “I do.” She kissed him on his neck.
“Although, there is a way you can even things out,” he revealed.
Dane brought his mouth to hers, tasting and teasing. Her lips opened and he dove in, pouring his passion into her soul, into the kiss. Pulling back so she could read the love in his eyes, he implored.
“Make us even, Pips – Marry me.”
~ Good-night ~
Authors Note
Thank you for reading Alveus. If you enjoyed the story I hope you will take a few moments to submit a review. This is the first book in a series which will give each of your favorite ABC characters a chance to share their story, starting with Greig Carsten in book two. For updates please follow my Facebook page http://on.fb.me/1t3eqB1.
Although this author glamorized human trafficking for light storytelling, it is in reality a horrific crime. Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers in their own countries, and abroad. Every country in the world is affected by trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit, or destination for victims. Please take time to read the statistics on the following page.
Finally, I would also like to acknowledge the invaluable help of my beta readers: Susie, Lisa, and Charity, and my awesome proofreader Joy Carter – Thank you! I couldn’t have done it without you.
Human Trafficking
According to the 2012 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Global Trafficking in Persons Report, based on data supplied by 132 countries:
· 27 per cent of all victims of human trafficking detected globally between 2007 and 2010 are children, up 7 per cent from the period 2003 to 2006.
· The vast majority of detected trafficked persons are women, accounting for 55 to 60 per cent of victims detected globally.
· Girls make up two thirds of all trafficked children.
· Girls constitute 15 to 20 per cent of the total number of all detected victims, including adults, whereas boys comprise about 10 per cent.
· Conviction rates are low - 16 per cent of reporting countries did not record a single conviction for trafficking in persons between 2007 and 2010.
· Trafficking victims from East Asia have been detected in more than 60 countries, making them the most geographically dispersed group around the world. Victims from the largest number of origin countries were found in Western and Central Europe.
· There are regional variations in trafficking trends. Countries in Africa and in Asia generally intercept more cases of trafficking for forced labor, while sexual exploitation is somewhat more frequent in Europe and in the Americas.
· Trafficking for organ removal has been detected in16 countries around the world.
The Blue Heart Campaign http://www.unodc.org/blueheart
The Blue Heart Campaign’s goal is to inspire people and mobilize support for action against human trafficking by international organizations, governments, civil society, the private sector and ultimately by individuals. The Blue Heart also aims to enable citizens to show their support for the cause and to increase understanding of the issue of human trafficking in order to spur coordinated actions to fight the crime. The intention is that the Blue Heart becomes the symbol for human trafficking and its cold heartedness toward our fellows.
For more information on the Blue Heart Campaign, please contact:
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
PO Box 500, 1400 Vienna, Austria E-mail: [email protected]
The Legend of the Church in the Rocks
The symbol of Oberstein (Germany) is the Church in the Rocks, built right into a steep rock and accessible only by climbing up about 230 steps. The church was probably built (or possibly re-built) between 1482 and 1484 by Wyrich IV of Daun-Oberstein. It might well have started earlier, as a military installation, although the legend that arose is much more romantic.
Oberstein has become a major gem and jewelry center, having contained rich deposits of Agates and Jasper, and is also home to an important diamond exchange.
Picture obtained from the following site:
http://ww
w.romantic-germany.info/Trails-to-epicurean-delights.4131.0.html