That’s the other woman whose face is plastered on billboards right next to Lexi’s. Another two million dollar reward I’ve set up for her, dead or alive. I’d prefer dead to be perfectly honest. I’m afraid I’ll kill her myself if she’s found otherwise.
My angel, Kate, has her parents here as well. They’re also worried sick. I got Hilda to hire however much extra help she needed to take care of the cooking and cleaning for this bunch.
* * *
Something has to happen. Ashley can’t hide forever.
* * *
The police think it could be a murder suicide and we may never find either one of them. I hope like Hell they’re wrong.
A knock comes at my bedroom door. It’s late and I wonder who it is, everyone went to bed hours ago. “Who is it?”
“Kate, can I come in?”
“Yeah,” I say and pull the blanket up to cover my bare chest.
“Max,” she says as she comes in and stands by my bed. “I had a dream and Lexi was in it. I think she’s still alive, but I don’t know how much longer she can hang on. I saw things, but the scene was too dark to see much. There was a door with light coming through it, and a silver chain holds her to a small bed.”
“That’s nice to hear, but I don’t think it’s enough to find her, angel.”
“No, no, Max, there’s more which I think may help,” she says as she sits on the bed. “Is there a place where two lion statues sit on a patio made of stone on either side of a large, glass door?”
My brain isn’t working to full capacity with the anti-anxiety meds and I find myself struggling to think of such a place. “I’m not remembering any place like that.”
“I think it’s in this town, this Houston,” she says. “Try to think hard, Max.”
“Perhaps I should sleep off this pill I took earlier so I could stop being so anxious. Maybe then I can think better.” I give her a smile.
“Okay, Max,” she gets up and walks to the door. “Time is limited, so try to clear your brain before it’s too late.”
* * *
I watch her leave and already her words haunt me. I let weakness get in my way of thinking clearly. I’ll take no more pills to stop myself from being anxious. I will be strong and in control. If she’s found after it’s too late and I could’ve found her, but didn’t because I took pills to handle the pressure instead of manning up and handling what I should’ve, well, I don’t know what I’ll do.
Alexis
My eyes open as I wake from the sweetest dream. Max and I were holding hands as we laid on lounge chairs by his swimming pool. Three children played in the water. Two boys and a girl. Light shimmered over the water and their laughter filled the air.
I’m crying because it’s all a dream. It can never come true. I don’t have the strength to even lift my body from the bed. I haven’t used the bathroom in forever so I know my body is shutting down.
Somehow I’m not afraid. Maybe because I don’t have the strength, or maybe because the pain of this life is nearly over. The pain of abuse, the pain of feeling so much for another person it hurts to think of losing them. The pain of the memories that never go away. It’s all going to slip away as I do.
My mother keeps flowing in and out of my head. She’s crying and telling me to hang on, they’re coming. I know they aren’t, so it doesn’t really give me any hope. I bet they think I’ve run off and think I’ll call or show up soon.
* * *
Surprise, I’m not.
* * *
A knocking sound comes from behind the door. It’s far away though. Muffled shouts ring out. Some man’s voice is yelling Ashley’s name over and over as the pounding at the door continues.
A loud bang makes me jump! I’m surprised I could even do that anymore.
* * *
What the Hell was that?
* * *
I hear banging and loud voices.
The sound of something cracking and then the voices are all shouting my name. I try to say anything at all, but I’m just too weak. There’s no spit left to swallow to clear my dry throat. I close my eyes and shout in my head that I am here.
The sweetest voice in the world flows over my ears. “She’s behind this bookcase,” a light, sweet French voice says.
* * *
Kate!
* * *
They’ve found me, but my love is married to her now, and I’ll be all alone in this horrible world. Lord, if you’re going to take me do it now, please before I see his face again and my heart breaks even more than it already has.
I’ve not the strength to keep my eyes open, yet a white light begins to glow and I feel light as a feather as it grows larger. Then a flash of white hot pain runs through me and it all goes black.
Max
The sun shines in my window, waking me from one of the best dreams I’ve ever had. Lexi and I were by the swimming pool, watching our three kids swim. I will find her and make that come true!
I jump from the bed, completely clear headed and with a place in mind where she might be. The fastest shower in history I take, then I send a text to everyone here to get ready, we’re going to leave ASAP to find Lexi. The police won’t be searching anymore so we’re on our own.
An older hotel downtown has two lion statues by the door and I bet we’ll find Ashley there. My hunch is she has Lexi with her. My phone dings and I see Kate has sent me a message. ‘221’ is all it says and I shrug and pull my T-shirt on. It’s the last article of clothing I need so I head out the door.
Marcos, I text last and tell him to meet us at the hotel. I stop by the room I keep the guns in and grab one for each of the men. I doubt one woman like Ashley needs that many to take her down, but I’ll be damned if there’s a man left holding nothing if she aims one at him. With a black bag full of hand guns and ammo, I head to the kitchen to find Hilda. She’s busy making breakfast.
* * *
“You may as well stop that, Hilda,” I say. “I need you to come with us. I want you to stay in the car with Lexi’s mother and Kate and her mom while I take the men into a hotel to look for Lexi.”
“What’s in the bag, Mijo?” Hilda asks.
“I’m not going to tell you, because if we have to use what’s in here, we’ll be called vigilantes and I want all the woman completely ignorant of what’s in this bag.”
She winks and smiles, “K, boss!” She pulls her apron off and follows me.
Lexi’s father and brothers along with Logan meet me at the door. “What’s this about, Max?” her father, John, asks.
“Kate came to me last night, she had a dream about where Lexi may be. The young thing has a gift as I told you all before when I told you the story of how she found me in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. I trust her and so should all of you.”
Lexi’s mother and Kate and her parents come in and her mother, Matilda, asks, “Do you really think this is it?”
I nod and open the door. Load up and follow me. “Kate, will you please ride with me, we should talk before we go storming the place?”
* * *
She nods and we all walk out to our cars. I say over my shoulder, “I want no one to go inside until I give each one of the men something. If we have to do anything illegal, I want the woman to have no part in it.” I turn to look at Hilda and toss her a set of keys to my suburban. “You take the Mom’s with you, please. I’ll send Kate to you before we go in. And stay in the car, don’t get out until I send someone to get you.”
She catches the keys and nods. “This way ladies.”
Our convoy leaves the driveway and I feel amazingly calm, yet completely aware. I look at Kate as we pull out of the gate. “This number you sent me, what do you think it means?”
“Maybe the room number,” she shakes her head. “I can’t be sure, but it’s there over and over, like it means something.”
“Okay, so maybe I ask the desk clerk who’s in that room.” I say, then shake my head. “They can’t tell me.”
&nbs
p; “Perhaps I can, after all I look so innocent and am a foreigner. I find many people tell me more than they would others,” she says, and she has a point.
“I’d rather you not be involved, Kate,” I say as I glance at her. She’s so small and fragile, like a China doll.
“I can help. More than anyone else, you should know that, my prince,” she says, reminding me of what she called me when she found me floating in the ocean, before she knew my name.
I can’t help grabbing her hand and kissing it. “My little angel. I must put my trust in you. Okay, you’ll find out the name in your most excellent of ways then come tell me and I’ll see if I think it might be an alias Ashley would use.”
With a plan set, I find myself focused and ready to find my love. I see Marcos as we pull into the side parking garage. I didn’t want to use the valet service and hope that Kate can gain entrance undetected.
She makes her way towards the front door and I see her pause as she looks at the lion statues and nods her adorable little blonde head. I smile instantly as I know this is it.
* * *
“Okay, men,” I say as they crowd around my car. I open the black bag. “Take one each, make sure you put a clip in it and shove it in the back of your jeans and pull your shirt out to cover it. As soon as Kate lets me know the name of who’s in room number 221 we may be on our way to it to find our Lexi, or Alex, or Alexis whatever each of you call her.”
Marcos takes the first one and I find myself surprised. “Marcos, do you know how to shoot a gun?”
He smiles. “I grew up in Houston, bro!”
“Okay, ‘nough said,” I say and run my eyes up and down his jeans and T-shirt ensemble which is so unlike the model he is. “You okay, man? You haven’t been keeping up the normal appearance.”
“Hell no, I’m not okay, Max,” he says in a high voice. “My roomie and best friend is missing. I’m a wreck, dude! I haven’t been able to sleep, eat or do my work outs without bursting into tears. This shit is killing me!”
* * *
I see Logan look away. “How about you, Logan?” I ask. “How are you holding up?”
He clears his throat. “Best I can, I guess. I just need to see her, no matter what, you know?”
The glisten in his eyes tells me so much about what she meant to him. Her brother, Josh, gives him a slug in the arm. “We’ll find her alive, Logan. No worries, man.”
Lexi’s brother, Ryan, the one she told me she was the closest in age to and the closest to, says, “Alex is alive, I guarantee it. I’d feel it if she were gone. When we were young after her incident with those horrible bitches… we realized we had a special connection. About the same time they were beating her, chills ran through me and I stopped playing the basketball game I was playing at school.” He stops and laughs. “I got hit in the head with the ball and coach took me out. I walked away even though he was yelling at me to sit back down. I ended up running from the school, straight home.”
Josh takes over the story. “I remember that! You came in screaming for Alex and Mom told you she hadn’t come home. You yelled for me and Luke to come with you.”
* * *
Luke steps forward. “Yeah, and we did, and you ran straight for that park. My, God! When we saw her.” He pauses as tears fill his eyes. “My baby sister, all covered in mud and only in her…”
All three brothers look at each other and say at the same time, “Big, white panties.” They all chuckle, slightly.
Josh says, “We tried so hard to make her feel better, to laugh. I took my shirt off and put it on her, and Luke grabbed her up, Mr. Muscles he is. He carried her home and she couldn’t speak. She was so far away it seemed no words could get to her.”
I take in a deep breath as I listen to her brothers describe the aftermath of her horror. Soft footsteps come up behind me and I turn to see my angel. “The name of the woman in room 221 is Mrs. Randy Lawton.”
I have to lean on my car as I hear my real name.
* * *
How did Ashley know that?
* * *
“It’s her, it’s Ashley.” I say and have to fight to keep my mind right and my heart beating at the right speed. My love is up there and I have to save her. “Let’s roll, men.”
“I’m coming too,” Kate says as she follows me.
Her father and I both say, “No!”
We all halt the procession and look at the tiny, young woman. She smiles. “I will go with you or sneak up later, but I will go.”
I frown. “You stay behind me at all times. Never do I want to see you, do you understand me, Kate? You stay hidden behind me.”
“Wee, wee, I do, my prince,” she says and grabs hold of one of my belt loops. “I am your shadow.”
I look at her father and he shrugs and says something in French to which Kate replies, “That is so right, Papa. What Kate wants, Kate gets.”
Marcos smiles. “Hey, me too!”
Kate looks back at the men. “This hotel is old. There are no security cameras. A few fake ones, but no real ones. I placed a rag I found between one of the outside doors so we could gain access without being seen. Follow us.”
I look back at her and smile. “A bright one you are.”
“That I am, and I will prove more useful, just you wait.”
* * *
We make our way through the side door and take the stairs up to the second floor. Room 221 is at the end and we move in. I knock hard and yell, “Ashley, let me in!”
I hear shuffling and everyone starts yelling her name as we all bang on the door and the walls. A gunshot rings out from inside and we all stop and look at each other. In an instant we all step back as Luke, who’s a massive man, takes a few steps back then runs at the door. The wood frame splinters and with one more hit it opens.
* * *
Ashley is on the floor, her body half way behind the sofa. I walk over to find she’s shot herself in the head. Averting my eyes I yell, “Lexi!”
We all yell out for her over and over, but there’s no response. I fear we’ll find her dead and have to push that away so I can keep thinking straight. Kate picks up a set of small keys off a bookcase and says, “She’s behind this bookcase.”
Luke has it moved before we know it and there’s a door. “Let me,” I say and grab the knob. As I twist it in my hand, I pray that she’s alive.
Light from this room fills the small room and I see her lying still on a small bed.
* * *
She’s not moving!
Alexis
The sound of a steady beep wakes me from the soundest sleep I’ve ever had. I try to take a breath and find it hard. I feel something in my mouth and try to touch it, but my hands are held by something. I try to open my eyes and it takes every ounce of energy I have to accomplish such a small feat.
“Get the nurse! She’s waking up!”
It’s Max!
A dark blur leans over me and he laughs. “Hey there, sleepy head,” he says softly. “You be still and the nurse will be here in a minute to get all this stuff off you. You’ve been asleep for a few days, princess.”
A few days! What’s happened to me?
My mind is in a fog and then I remember.
Ashley!
Max strokes my cheek. “I’ve missed you so much, Lexi.”
Wait! Isn’t he married to Kate?
His warm lips touch my forehead and warmth flows through me. He moves away. “I’ll be right here, princess. Don’t worry.”
A white blur moves over me. “Let us get this respirator off you, Miss Mathews.”
The thing in my mouth is pulled and I start to gag as she pulls it out.
Jeez! Did that thing go to my toes or what!
The top of the bed moves up after she takes the thing out and she places my glasses on my face and I see a room full of people. My parents and brothers, Marcos with his arm around Kate and her parents and Logan. Then my eyes fall on Max and I find I’m crying.
My mother rushes f
orward and embraces me. “Oh, my baby. I’ve been so worried.” She kisses my cheek then moves back to let my dad hug me, then the procession of hugs from each one in the room begins.
Max is the only one left and tears fall down his cheeks. He’s shaking as he moves towards me. His arms wrap around me and it is like fireworks are going off in my chest. The beeping sound increases in speed and I realize it’s my heart beating on some machine. Everyone in the room laughs and Mom says, “I guess she likes him a little bit.”
“I love you,” Max whispers in my ear.
I swallow hard and find my throat hurts really badly. I lick my lips and whisper, “I love you too.”
He seems like he never wants to let me go and I wish he didn’t have to, but I hear a door open and a man says, “So, my patient has finally decided to wake up?”
Max reluctantly lets me go and as he pulls away from me I see the tears are still flowing down his devastatingly handsome face. My eyes run to his left hand and I see no wedding ring.
Maybe he isn’t married!
I look at Kate’s left hand, and no ring is on it either. Also, there’s the fact Marcos is wrapped around her like a blanket.
What’s happened?
The man who came in must be my doctor, he holds the door open as he says, “Okay, I must examine Miss Mathews now, so you all will have to wait out in the waiting room.”
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