by T. K. Leigh
“Libby, no!”
But Olivia didn’t hear her protest. She had already hung up the phone.
Tears streamed down Kiera’s face as the large man took the phone away from her ear.
“Now, what did I tell you would happen if you did something stupid?” Grant raised his gun, pointing it at Kiera’s chest.
“Please, no. Don’t kill me,” she sobbed out.
“I love a girl who begs.” A smile crept across his face. “Well, it would be horrible to waste an hour doing nothing.” He pushed Kiera over on the couch and quickly untied her legs. “Oh, wait. A little insurance that you won’t run away.”
Grant picked up his gun and shot her in the knee.
“AAAGGGGHHHHH!” Kiera screamed out in agony.
“That’s better.”
~~~~~~~~~~
OLIVIA EMERGED FROM HER house less than an hour later. She couldn’t wait to tell Kiera all about her father being alive, but it sounded like she was upset. She had always been a good friend to Olivia, constantly listening about her problems. It was time for her to return the favor.
As she walked onto Commonwealth Avenue and into her car, she noticed that a dark SUV was no longer parked out front. Maybe Alexander finally realized that she didn’t always need protecting. As she drove through the city streets, she was confused about her feelings. She had grown accustomed to sitting in her bay window, staring into his eyes. Would she ever see him again?
Olivia arrived at Kiera’s house in a matter of minutes. She locked the car, thinking how useful the keyless entry Alexander had installed was. Walking up the front steps, alarm bells began going off when she noticed that the front door was slightly ajar. “Kiera? Are you in here?” she called out, slowly pushing open the door. She wasn’t prepared for the scene that met her eyes.
“OH, MY GOD! KIERA!” She ran over to her friend as she lay unconscious, covered in her own blood. She checked her breathing and her pulse, thankful when she was able to find one, although it was rather weak. She took in Kiera's appearance, bile forming in her throat when she noticed that her skirt was pushed up around her waist.
With shaky hands, Olivia grabbed a blanket and immediately tried to cover her up, her heart racing. A loud bang sounded from down the hall, startling her and making her almost jump out of her skin.
She knew what she was about to do was probably one of the most idiotic things she had ever done in her twenty-eight years, but her legs were on autopilot. She followed the noise, stopping dead in her tracks when the bathroom door swung open. The large man standing in front of her looked familiar, but he lunged at her before she had time to search her brain for how she knew him.
“Must be my lucky day. Two girls in one morning.”
Olivia screamed at the top of her lungs, kicking the intruder in the balls and taking off down the hallway.
“Fuck. You’re a feisty one.” Grant was relatively unaffected by Olivia’s assault to his groin. He grabbed her by the waist and slammed her against the wall, reminding himself to not go overboard with her. His job was to scare her off so she would run.
Olivia’s head hit the wall fairly hard. It wasn’t the worst pain she had ever felt, but she knew that the monstrous man in front of her would overpower her at some point. It was fight or flight, and it was no longer the time to fight. The best thing she could do was get to her car and call for help. She gave him one more kick in the balls and made her escape out the front door.
Running frantically up to her Audi, she attempted to punch her unlock code into the car door. The large man appeared in the doorway and Olivia became anxious, unable to get the code correct. The man started down the steps toward her. “Damn it!” she cried, running away from the house.
“Finally,” Grant said under his breath when she bolted down the street.
He picked up his cell phone and punched in a number. “It’s Grant. Your turn. She’s heading north toward Columbus.”
~~~~~~~~~~
OLIVIA FELT COMPLETELY HELPLESS as she ran up toward Columbus Street. Every few seconds, she turned around to see if she was still being followed. She didn’t see anyone chasing her, but she couldn’t risk it.
She needed to call 911, but her purse and phone were locked in her car which was still sitting in front of Kiera’s house. Then she saw someone she recognized. He appeared to be out for a morning run.
“SIMON!” she screamed.
Simon turned his head to see Olivia running toward him, obviously panicked about something. “Olivia? Are you okay? Oh, my god. What is it?”
She slammed into his arms, clutching on to him, her breathing labored and tears streaming down her cheeks. A grin crept across his face before he replaced it with the look he had spent so much time practicing.
“You’re shaking. What’s going on?”
She pulled out of his arms, looking up into his eyes. “It’s Kiera, Simon. Someone was in her house. They shot her. They attacked me, too, but I was able to get away. My phone and everything is in my car in front of her house. I need to call for help.”
He looked at Olivia with a confused look on his face. He shot her? He didn’t think anyone was going to get hurt. Not like that. They were just supposed to scare them a little.
“Here. Use mine,” he offered, snapping out of his thoughts. “Let’s go back there. You need to get your car and phone. I’ll go with you to make sure you’re okay.”
“Simon, no…”
“Olivia. Listen to me. If Kiera’s hurt, she needs help, and you need to be there to answer any questions the police may have, okay? For Kiera.”
She nodded. Of course. For Kiera. He handed her his phone and walked with her while she made the call to 911. In a stupor, she followed him around the block, arriving at Kiera’s house within a few minutes.
“Wait here.” Simon protectively pushed Olivia back before walking up the steps.
“Simon, no. Don’t go in there,” she begged, grasping on to his arm.
“Olivia,” he said, turning to look into her huge, frightened eyes. He immediately felt a strange feeling for his part in all of this. It was something new… Remorse, maybe? He brushed a curl out of her face before pulling her into his body, comforting her. “I’ll take care of this. If the intruder is gone, Kiera needs help and the EMTs aren’t here yet. I can help her.”
“But if he’s still in there…” she sobbed into his chest.
He pulled back, looking down into her water-filled eyes, and dried her cheeks with his fingers. “I can handle him, Olivia.” He leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead before walking up the rest of the front steps into the house.
“Well, it’s about fucking time.”
“What the hell…?” He looked over at Kiera, a look of horror crossing his face.
“Don’t worry about her. Bitch is unconscious. Even half-dead, she was a good lay.”
“You’re an asshole.” Simon punched Grant in the face, and he deserved it. Although it was all part of the plan, the scene laid out in front of him was more than his stomach could handle. Kiera looked like she was on the cusp of death and he couldn’t believe he had a part in it. But, he knew that if he didn't follow through, he’d be as good as dead, too, so he did what he had to do. He punched Grant again. “You motherfucker! She’s a friend!” he shouted loud enough for Olivia to hear as regret overwhelmed his conscience.
Opening the basement door, Grant looked at Simon. “I can't look. Just push me. Make it quick.”
Simon grinned, driving into his body with all of his strength. A feeling of vindication washed over him as he watched Grant tumble down the stairs before getting up and winking at Simon. Closing the basement door, he ran down the hallway and out the front door, his breathing heavy.
“It’s okay, Olivia. He’s unconscious at the bottom of her basement stairs. I need to go before the police get here. I can’t get arrested again.”
Olivia immediately felt guilty for dragging him into her mess. “Okay. I get it.”
“Are you going to be alright?”
She stared blankly ahead, trying to process everything. “I don’t know how to answer that question, Simon.”
“I’ll call you later to check on you, okay?” He gently squeezed her arm.
Olivia nodded, thankful to have a friend to help her with what she was going through, even if it was Simon. “I’d like that.”
He walked away just as he heard an ambulance round the corner.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
BECAUSE OF OLIVIA
AFTER TALKING WITH THE police and telling the officer what she knew, Olivia left Kiera’s house, racing toward the hospital. She grabbed her cell out of her purse and dialed Mo’s number. He didn’t answer. She tried again. Still nothing.
“Damn it!” she screamed, throwing her phone on the seat next to her as she pulled a U-turn and drove out to Arlington to find Mo. Twenty minutes later, she pounded on his door.
Mo answered the door wearing a pair of cargo shorts and a t-shirt. His face paled when he saw the panicked look on Olivia’s face, her eyes red from crying. He knew that something had to be wrong and he immediately thought about Kiera. She had left the bar the previous night without saying good-bye, giving Melanie some story about how she wasn’t feeling well. He tried calling her, but she didn’t pick up. At the time, he just thought that she was sleeping off whatever sickness she had. Now that he thought about it, none of it made any sense.
“Olivia…” he said, cautiously opening the screen door. “What’s wrong?”
“Mo, it’s Kiera,” she quivered.
“No…” he cried out under his breath.
~~~~~~~~~~
OLIVIA DROVE MO TO the hospital. He was in complete shock when she told him what had happened. She didn’t give him all the details because she was quite uncertain of them herself. She didn’t want him to worry any more than he already was so she kept the information she gave him to a minimum. She felt guilty for doing so, but she saw the fragile state that he was in and didn’t want to add to it.
She immediately began to sympathize with Alexander’s reasons for keeping her true identity a secret. He said he did it to protect her, and she started to see why. Wasn’t she doing the same thing to Mo? It still didn’t make what Alexander did to her right, but she started to understand his reasoning.
After an excruciatingly long drive, Olivia pulled up outside the emergency room, allowing Mo to run inside and find out what he could while she searched for a parking spot.
Once she finally found a spot in the garage, she ran toward the emergency room. The sliding doors opened and she was surrounded by so many familiar faces standing in the stark white waiting area. There was one face she wasn’t expecting to see.
She immediately broke down in tears when Carol pulled her into her arms. “Oh, Olivia. I’m so sorry. I know how close you are to Kiera.”
“How did you find out about what happened?” she sobbed.
“I was working when I heard the call come in. The name sounded familiar so I wanted to make sure that I was here for you. I called Tyler and he let everyone else know.”
“I’m so glad you’re here. I don’t know what to do or think. We’re all a mess right now.” She glanced over at Mo. His face was still blank, obviously unable to come to terms with what was going on. Melanie and Bridget were hugging each other and crying, Tyler trying to comfort both girls. Kiera’s parents sat in the corner of the room, sobbing uncontrollably.
“There’s something else,” Carol said gravely. “Walk with me for a minute, please.”
Concern washed over Olivia as she followed her out of the waiting room and down a long corridor. Once they found a quiet corner, Carol turned to face her. She reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone, handing it to Olivia.
She glanced at the photo on the screen. It was of a small bag marked EVIDENCE that contained a piece of notebook paper.
“The crime scene techs found it at Kiera’s house,” Carol explained quietly, looking around to make sure no one was walking nearby. “The lead on this case is going to contact you about it eventually, but I convinced him to let me talk to you first.”
Olivia looked closer and was able to make out what was written on the piece of paper.
We know who you are. Your loved ones are no longer safe unless you give us what we want. Consider yourself warned, Olivia.
“Have you told Alexander about what’s going on?” she asked Carol with a hesitant look on her face.
“No. I haven’t. Not yet. At some point, I will have to. He may know more than what he’s letting on.” Carol looked at Olivia as she stared off into the distance, deep in thought, the sound of heart monitors echoing through the empty hallway. “What do you know, Olivia?” Carol gave her a questioning look.
“Probably no more than you do,” she sighed, handing the phone back to Carol. “I know that I was a child with Alexander and that my mother was killed in a car accident. Your father faked my and my father’s deaths.”
“Wait. What?” Carol looked at her, surprised by her revelation. “Your father is alive?”
“Yes. You didn’t know that?” she asked with her eyebrows raised. How many more secrets was Alexander keeping? And from his own sister?
“No. Alexander never told me,” she responded quietly.
It was silent while both women contemplated what it all meant.
“Do you think he’s keeping even more information from me? Do you think my dad knows something more?” Olivia asked.
Carol exhaled loudly. “It’s possible. If my dad did change both of your identities to hide you, I’m assuming your father is still under protection so I can’t officially talk to him. He needs to stay protected…and a secret. These people obviously know about you. We don’t want them to find out about your father, too. Unfortunately, that means that you need to stay as far away from him as you can until we can figure everything out and make sure it’s safe. For both of you.”
“But I just found out he was alive last night!” Olivia protested.
“Libby, it’s for your own good. And his. Look at what happened to Kiera. Beaten, assaulted, and shot. She’s barely hanging on to life. Please. Listen to whatever Alexander thinks is best for once. He’s only ever had your best interests at heart. You may disagree with how everything went down in the end, and I’m right there with you, but he’s very good at what he does. He’s the only one in the world I would trust with my life, and you should do the same.” Carol walked away, leaving her completely speechless.
Olivia sighed as she reached into her purse and grabbed her cell phone. She dialed a number that she hadn’t in weeks.
“Burnham here,” Alexander answered curtly.
She didn’t know what to say.
“Olivia, love. Is that you?” His voice softened.
She melted when she heard his term of endearment. She had heard him call her that in her dreams, but hearing it for real was so much better. Tears took over and she broke down, the weight of that morning crashing down on her.
“Olivia, is everything okay?”
After several long moments of crying and fighting to breathe, she finally spoke, “No, Alexander. Everything is not okay. I need you. Please.”
“Where are you?” he asked with panic in his voice.
“M.G.H!” she cried out. “Oh, Alex! It’s Kiera!”
“Shit!” he shouted. “I’m on my way. Hang tight, love.”
She slid down the wall and sat on the floor, burying her head in her knees as she cried for her best friend who was fighting for her life at that very moment. All because of Olivia.
~~~~~~~~~~
“ALEX!” MELANIE EXCLAIMED WHEN he ran into the emergency room, searching for a familiar face…the face he missed so much since she had run out on him. “Oh, it’s so horrible!” she cried out. “I don’t know what do to!”
“What happened?” Alexander asked as he surveyed the group of people huddled in the waiting room. Olivia was not amo
ng them.
“I have no idea, and no one is telling us anything! Mo is in shock over there. We’re all falling apart. Please, Alex. Figure this out because none of us are strong enough to deal with it.” Melanie cried into her tissue as Tyler rubbed her back.
“Okay, Melanie. I’ll get some answers.” He looked around the corridor. “Where's Olivia?”
Melanie burst into tears, unable to hold back at the thought of one of her best friends fighting for her life at that very moment.
“I’m not sure,” Bridget said, comforting Melanie. “She went to go talk to a detective and never came back.”
“A detective?”
“Yeah. Carol’s here, bro,” Tyler explained.
“Of course,” he said under his breath. “I’ll be back.”
He strolled down the halls, not having to search for long before finding the girl he was looking for. She was sitting with her back against the wall, her arms wrapped around her legs and her head on her knees. She was visibly shaking, her quiet sobs echoing through the vacant hallway.
He approached her slowly and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “Olivia, love…”
She snapped her head up quickly upon hearing those words. It was exactly what she needed at that moment. She jumped into Alexander’s embrace, savoring the warmth of his arms. She inhaled deeply, basking in the smell and feel of him. This was home. “I’ve missed this,” she said softly.
“Oh, Olivia. So have I.” He placed a gentle kiss on her head.
She looked up, their eyes meeting. “I’m sorry for the way I’ve behaved, Alexander.” She began to cry again.
He pulled her head back against his chest. “Hey. It’s okay, Olivia. I’m sorry, too. Sorrier than you know. I knew you’d come around eventually. This isn’t the type of love that happens all the time. This is the real thing. I never gave up hope that you’d return to me all those years ago. I certainly wasn’t about to give up after we had a little hiccup.”