Breathless

by Laura Storme

"Thank you," responded Alex, "You wanted to see

  me."

  "Does he break every promise he makes?"

  "Who?"

  "Come closer and I'll whisper it in your ear. "

  "No, thanks; your breath is bad, you stink and

  frankly I don't like you very much. Now who are we

  talking about?"

  "The man with the plan and the money," answered

  Dan in riddle like fashion.

  “Who, Dan?" "Will you make sure I don't serve time?"

  "I can't do that; that's up to other people."

  "I know something you don't know," sang Dan.

  Alex watched as Dan continued to sing and lick his

  lips. She was repulsed by him, "So the man with the

  plan and the money. Who is he?" Dan continued

  to sing and eye her body. She felt like she were on

  display in some museum.

  "This isn't working," James said to himself as he

  watched the mind games that Dan was playing on

  Alex. James nodded, lit a cigarette and returned his

  attention to the interrogation room.

  "Dan," said Alex, hoping to pull his attention back to

  her. She watched as his unfocused eyes returned to eying her. She walked away from the door, closer

  to him, "Dan, did Tad Pierce hire you to torment

  me," she asked.

  Alex watched as the emotions changed on Dan's

  face. She watched as the anger, unfulfilled passion

  and desire came into focus in his eyes, "That

  bastard! He promised me no jail time. He promised

  that if I made you go back to D.C., he would make

  me very rich. All I had to do was have you. I could

  still have you and nobody would stop me," Dan

  raved, his eyes going glassy again. He attempted

  to stand up but his shackles only allowed him partial

  movement. Hunched over with the chair on his

  back, Dan began to walk towards Alex, "I'm going to

  have you," he began to sing. Alex backed up against the door and almost fell

  over Sam and Rob charged in. Rob forced Dan

  back into a sitting position as Sam escorted Alex out

  of the room.

  "Are you alright," asked James gathering her up in

  his arms.

  "Yeah. I'm fine," she exhaled, "Can we go home

  now, Sam?"

  "Sure. If I need anything else, I'll call you. "

  "Drop me off at the hospital," requested Alex as

  they walked to the car.

  "You going to tuck in Grayson," joked James. "Yeah, I am. I want to make sure he doesn't need

  anything and see when he'll be released. Besides, I

  need to get my car. "

  "Alright. You know I can't resist that smile. "

  James and Alex drove the short distance from the

  police station to the hospital each wrapped in their

  own thoughts. Alex was preoccupied with the best

  way to deal with Francine and James was

  suppressing an urge to be jealous of Alex's

  attentions to Grayson.

  "I'll be home in about an hour," said Alex kissing

  James' lips.

  "If you're not, I'm coming for you." "Alright," Alex laughed getting out of the car and

  heading for the door of the hospital.

  James pulled away from the curb and pointed the

  car for home. Lighting a cigarette, James inhaled

  the smoke and caught a lingering whiff of Alex's

  perfume. Smiling, he hoped that the smell would

  become a permanent part of his home and his life.

  Alex caught the elevator in the lobby and pushed

  the button for Grayson's floor. She was surprised to

  find Nurse Willamina still manning her post behind

  the station. Flashing the nurse a wicked smile, Alex

  continued into Grayson's room and pushed the

  door open.

  "Hey handsome, what's up," asked Alex cheerfully

  as she crossed the floor to his bed. As she got closer, she noticed the stone faced expression and

  the odd tilt of his body.

  "Grayson," she questioned leaning over him.

  Alex gasped as she saw the blood seeping through

  the sheet in a large red pool, "Oh my God.”

  Alex grabbed the call button and pressed it

  urgently, hoping to get anybody's attention.

  "What is problem," announced the nurse as she

  came through the door.

  "Please, get a doctor, he's hurt. "

  "Of course, he hurt. He got nasty bumps," said the

  nurse coming closer to the bed.

  "No not that," she angrily bit off, "That," pointing to

  the bloody sheet. A second nurse rushed into the room and saw what

  Alex was pointing, "I'll get Dr. Gibson," she said

  running from the room.

  "Here, help me," urged Nurse Willamina pulling

  back the sheet from the open wound.

  Alex assisted the nurse in pulling the sheet down

  and folding it into a compression pad. The nurse

  held the pad on until the doctor arrived with the

  second nurse and a cart of medical supplies.

  Nurse Willamina handed Alex over to the care of a

  candy striper who had come in with the doctor and

  took her to the waiting room.

  "Wait here. Dr. Gibson will come get you when

  he's finished. " Looking around the room and taking a seat, Alex

  noticed just one other person, a man who sat

  reading a copy of "Time" magazine with Tad's face

  on the cover. Alex shook her head quietly and

  wondered how this could have happened. Dan and

  Dominic were in jail and couldn't have caused

  Grayson this type of injury. She wondered if a third

  man could have been hired by Tad to take care of

  Grayson and possibly James.

  "James," Alex whispered reaching for her purse and

  her cell phone. Alex's hand was seized by the

  stranger from the other side of the room,

  "Do you mind," she argued.

  "Yes, actually I do," came the icy reply. "Tad," Alex whispered, shuddering.

  Chapter 24

  "Hello, darling; how are you? I see that the

  competition has done well by you," he smiled sitting

  down beside her. Reaching into her purse, Tad

  removed her cell phone and put it under the chair

  in which he was sitting, "You won't need that. Shall

  we go?"

  "The only place you're going Tad is jail. Now let me

  go before I start screaming," she said trying to jerk

  her arm from his grasp.

  "We'll have none of that, my love," he answered

  pulling a revolver from underneath his jacket.

  "Shooting me will only bring unwanted attention." "Trust me, Alex. I'm not going to shoot you. I love

  you."

  Alex laughed, "You don't know the meaning of the

  word."

  "Shall we go before that beautiful little candy

  striper returns?" "Tad, I told you I am not going with

  you.”

  "Yes, you are Alex. You see, if you make me shoot

  you then the doctors will come running and if they

  come running then you're little friend will die. You

  don't want that do you?"

  Alex paled at the revelation of his words, "You did

  that?"

  "I knew you'd come back to visit your lover boy

  eventually. It was just a matter of time. So I poked a few holes in him while he slept," said

  desc
ribed an evil smile on his face, "Once somebody

  discovered him, you'd either come running or be

  sent from the room. Either way, it was a perfect

  distraction for me. This all your fault, you

  know. You just had to come here and take away

  the one chance I had of becoming a senator. I

  needed that money damn you."

  "So this more about money than it is about love,"

  declared Alex.

  Tad pushed the gun into her side, "It doesn't matter

  anymore, does it. We're flying out of here tonight

  and into D.C. where a nice priest awaits us. Once

  we're married the money comes to you and then

  you die in a mysterious car crash or something and I

  have all the means I need to achieve my goal," dragging Alex out of her chair by her arm, he

  pushed her towards the hallway.

  Alex saw the wild gleam in his eye and knew he

  would shoot her, either accidentally or on

  purpose. Scared for both her life and for

  Grayson's, Alex complied with Tad's demands

  praying that James would find her somehow.

  Tad continued to half drag, half pull Alex onto the

  elevator and managed to remain calm while

  surrounded by hospital staff. He panicked a little

  when a security guard got onto the elevator and

  applied more pressure to Alex's already bruised ribs

  with the gun, "Not a sound," he whispered. Alex

  nodded her head mutely; realizing the closed

  confinements of the elevator was not the ideal

  location for a standoff. The elevator reached the lobby finally allowing a small breath of relief to

  escape from both Alex and Tad's lips. As the

  exited the car, Alex almost jumped with joy to find

  Sam and Rob in the lobby.

  "Alex! Are you just coming from seeing Grayson,"

  asked Sam as she and Tad walked by.

  "Ignore them," said Tad.

  "Alex?”

  Tad rushed Alex out of the lobby towards the

  parking lot, "Where's your car," asked Tad.

  "Over there; in lot 4," she replied.

  Tad got Alex to the car and had her drive out of the

  parking lot, leaving Sam and Rob watching them

  from the lobby doors. "What the hell was that all about," asked Sam.

  "I don't know. But that was Tad Pierce," responded

  Rob holding up a picture he had acquired from the

  Associated Press.

  "Damn. I'll go see Grayson, you follow them. "

  Rob nodded his head and went to retrieve his own

  car. He had seen Alex and Tad heading towards

  Alex's house.

  Sam ran the steps to the fourth floor and Grayson's

  room. He narrowly missed colliding with the nurse

  who was just leaving his room.

  "Slow down," ordered Nurse Willamina.

  "I need to see Grayson Laird," said Sam flashing his

  badge. "You can see him, but he won't be talking for a

  while. He's in surgery. "

  "Surgery? What the hell happened?"

  "He was stabbed," said the second nurse who was

  changing the sheets on the bed.

  "Stabbed; how?"

  "A man came, stabbed him with knife. Security

  searching for him, checking monitors. I go see sister

  now," explained Willamina.

  "Sister,” Sam questioned; his confusion getting the

  better of him.

  "Red hair, blue eyes; not sister, just says so," she

  explained in broken English heading for the waiting

  room at the end of the hallway. Sam followed the

  stout nurse down the hall to the waiting room. It occurred to him that Alex had said she was

  Grayson's sister to get better visitation privileges.

  As they entered the room, they found it empty,

  "Humph. Where she go," asked the nurse before

  shrugging and heading back to the nurses’ station.

  Sam stood in the entranceway knowing something

  was wrong. He was reaching for the cell phone he

  kept in his jacket pocket when heard another phone

  ringing. Walking around the room, Sam attempted

  to find the source. Finally, he stooped to look

  underneath a row of chairs near the

  windows. Sam took a tissue from the box on the

  end table and picked up the phone.

  "Hello," he answered. James frowned at the masculine voice on the

  phone,

  "I'm trying to reach Alexandra Chambers. Who's

  this?"

  "James? It's Sam."

  "Sam, what in the hell are you doing with Alex's

  phone," he asked concerned.

  "James, I got some bad news. "

  Sam explained what had taken place since he

  arrived at the hospital. Sighing in frustration,

  James told Sam to stay put and that he was on his

  way back to the hospital.

  After hanging up, Sam put down Alex's phone and

  dialed his own. He requested that a unit be

  dispatched to the hospital to assist the security team and take statements from the hospital

  staff. Then he called Rob.

  "What do you got," he asked.

  "So far they just seem to be driving. At first they

  were headed to Alex's house, but then they

  changed paths. They're on the expressway."

  "Don't let Tad see you but don't lose them

  either. The minute you think you know where

  they're going call me."

  "Will do."

  Sam hung up and kicked a chair. He felt frustrated

  at not being able to get Alex away from Tad in the

  lobby. "If I'd only recognized his face," he swore

  standing there. "Sam," asked James from behind him, "Have you

  heard from her?"

  "No. Rob is following them in my truck. Alex will

  recognize it, but Tad won't. I'm hoping she stays in

  sight. "

  "Where are they going?"

  "I don't know. They're on the expressway heading

  away from town," Sam responded his voice trailing

  off, "Damn," he swore again, reaching for his cell

  phone.

  "Rob, get some units to cover the airport and route

  seven. I think he intends to get her out of town

  and back to D.C."

  Sam led James out of the waiting room as two

  technicians entered it. They searched the room and lifted Tad and Alex's fingerprints from her cell

  phone.

  "Hey Sam," hollered one of them holding a plastic

  baggie.

  Sam and James went back into the room and

  examined the contents of the bag. Sam extended a

  gloved hand into the bag and withdrew a large,

  serrated edged knife covered in blood.

  James whistled, "Tad stabbed Grayson with that?"

  "Possibly," replied Sam.

  "Probably," came a third voice as Dr. Gibson, still

  dressed in surgical scrubs crossed the room to

  where Sam and James stood, "The weapon used to

  stab Mr. Laird was a two inch serrated blade, like

  this one. He was stabbed twice in the abdomen. One of those swipes punctured the

  outer lining of his stomach requiring surgery to

  repair it."

  "He could have died," commented Sam.

  "If he'd been discovered an hour later on the

  nurse's rounds, yes. He'd lost a lot of blood before

  his friend found him.”

  "Thanks, Doc. I'll hav
e somebody come by and get

  an official statement later," concluded Sam excusing

  the doctor.

  James stared out of the window thinking of

  Alex. He had heard the doctor's words and knew

  that Tad had gone over the edge. He was terrified

  to think that Tad would escape with her, "If he

  touches her, I'll kill him," he vowed. "I'm sure she's fine," comforted Sam, "besides, Rob

  is right behind them."

  "I pray to God, you're right."

  Alex drove steadily trying to keep the truck in her

  rear view mirror. She tried desperately not to be

  frightened but failed miserably. She had no way to

  check on Grayson's condition and the wild look in

  Tad's eye made her wary of his the gun and his

  fists.

  "Where am I going," she asked after being directed

  to the expressway.

  "The airport," he replied quietly looking in the

  mirror for police cars.

  "What are you looking for," Alex asked trying to

  divert his attention from the mirror. "Cops, your lovers, anyone who could screw up my

  plan," he responded glancing at her and then at the

  speedometer, "Let's try keep it under 60. I don't

  want to stumble into a speed trap," Alex nodded

  and slowed down the car, "That's better," he said

  seeing a sign for the airport, "Is that a shortcut?

  "It's more like a back road."

  "Take it; less traffic. "

  "I can't," stated Alex trying to stall. Taking the back

  road would alert Tad to the presence of Sam's truck

  behind them.

  "Why not," he asked suspiciously.

  "They're doing construction on one of the

  bridges. We'd have to sit in what little traffic there is and the police are directing traffic," she lied

  passing the exit without taking it.

  "Well, since you've just passed it, I guess we'll be

  taking the highway after all," he responded looking

  in the mirror again.

  Alex caught the movement of his head and cursed

  quietly. She could still see the truck and could tell

  by the way Tad was fingering the pistol that he was

  able to see the truck now too.

  "What's wrong," she questioned innocently.

  "Looks like we're being followed," he responded

  bitterly, "Nice ploy to keep us on the expressway

  where he could be concealed. Take the next exit,"

  he ordered gesturing with the weapon. Alex turned off the expressway and wondered

  vaguely if Tad knew exactly where the airport was

  or if he could be diverted by a roundabout

  route. "Tad, how did you get to the hospital?"

  "I took a cab from the airport. My chartered plane