Beyond 10 Nights (27 page)

“You mean he’s missing?”

“What’s going on?” Alex asked; what he could hear of
the conversation, and the look on Leah's face, concerned him.

Leah couldn’t answer, she was frozen by the news she
had been given and the fear she felt for Rhett, who might be dead. She couldn’t
believe he had tried to fly home through a storm.

Seeing how upset she was, and worried by her sudden
immobility Alex stepped forward to take the phone from her. “What’s going on,
David?” he asked. He listened as David repeated what he had told Leah,
understanding as he did why she was so distressed. “Do they know if he’s
alright?”

“Uncertain at the moment,” David admitted. “They know
where his pilot was intending to attempt an emergency landing but they haven’t
heard anything since the pilot reported. They are hopeful that once the storm
passes they will be able to make radio contact and get a rescue team out to
them.

“The island they intended making an emergency landing
on isn’t far from where they started out. With luck the storm will pass later
today and they’ll have Rhett and his pilot back by morning. I just thought Leah
should know, I didn’t want her to find out about it from the news or anything.”

“Thank you, David; you’re right, it’s best for her to
find out from you.”

“Is she alright?”

“Not really,” Alex told him, “I think she needs some
time to process the news. Will you keep us posted if you hear anything else?”

“Of course, the moment I hear anything, you’ll hear
it.”

“Thank you.” He hung up then and dropped the phone on
the counter so he could take care of Leah. “He’s going to be fine,” he told
her, hoping that his words turned out to be true. Taking her in his arms he held
her for a moment and then lifted her off her feet and carried her back into his
bedroom, where he laid her gently on the bed.

The way she clutched at him told him all he needed to
know and he climbed on the bed with her. His arms wrapped around her, holding
her tight as he stroked her hair and whispered soothingly in her ear.

All she could think of as she held on to Alex for dear
life was that Rhett could be hurt, or worse. It wasn’t how things were supposed
to end between them, she told herself; he was an overbearing asshole at times,
but she still loved him. But if she loved him why was she starting to develop
feelings for Alex, it just didn’t make sense to her. Tears streamed down her
face as she wondered how she had come to be torn between two great men, one of
whom might have been taken from her by something as stupid as a storm.

Alex had to physically pull himself from Leah’s arms
when the doorbell rang. He hated to leave her when she was in such a state but
he had to answer the door. “I’ll be right back,” he told her, not even sure if
she could hear him. He had barely taken a step when she reached out to grab
hold of his shirt, trying to pull him back onto the bed with him. Gently he
disengaged her hand. “It’s okay sweetheart, I’m just going to answer the door,
I’ll be right back, don’t worry, I’m not leaving you.”

He had no qualifications as a psychologist, but he was
sure she was so desperate to hold on to him out of fear that he wouldn’t
return. A fear he was sure had been brought on by the news that Rhett was
missing, and the possibility that he might be hurt or worse; she didn’t want
him to disappear as well. At least that was what he suspected was the problem.

Janie smiled wearily when Alex opened the door,
knowing her friend must be going out of her mind. She’d headed over the moment
David got the call from Manuel, certain her friend would need her. Regardless
of what she thought of Rhett after his treatment of her friend, she had no wish
to see him hurt or dead, even if there had been a few times when she’d wanted
to punch the shit out of him.

“Where is she?” she asked without preamble.

“On the bed,” Alex told her, leading the way. “Leah,
Janie is here.” He was pleased to see her finally come out of her trance as
Janie moved over to the bed and joined her, even if it was only to pull her
friend into an embrace.

“I’m going to see if I can find out what’s going on
down there,” Alex said as the two women held each other. “Will you be okay if I
leave you for a little while, Leah?” he asked.

A fresh wave of panic filled Leah at the thought of
him leaving her, even for a short while and she almost screamed at him not to
leave her. She fought the urge and nodded, clinging to Janie as though she was
a lifeline that could keep her from drowning.

“I’ll call you if I find out anything,” Alex reassured
her, hoping once more than he wasn’t lying to her. “You just try and ease your
fears; we’ll find him and get him back.”

He knew he should be upset that she clearly still had
feelings for Rhett, even though she had become involved with him, but he
couldn’t bring himself to be. It wasn’t in his nature to be jealous about
something like that; he had learned long ago that a person’s feelings were
beyond their control, what was in their control was what they did about those
feelings.

Janie continued to hold Leah as Alex left them. “Don’t
worry, honey, Rhett will be back here soon enough, giving you orders and making
you mad as hell.” She meant what she said, knowing his life could be in danger
she felt very little anger toward the man, despite the way he had treated her
friend.

“This is all my fault, Janie,” Leah said, taking a
deep hiccupping breath. She remembered Rhett telling her he was coming home to
talk with her; why hadn’t she waited until he returned to tell him about Alex?
She berated herself. If she hadn’t told him she was sleeping with Alex he would
never have tried to fly home through a storm, he would be safe in his hotel
suite, not lost somewhere, and possibly badly hurt.

“Don’t say that, Leah,” Janie said, a little more
harshly than she intended. “You couldn’t know that he’d try and do something as
irresponsible as flying home through a tropical storm. He’s visited the area
often enough to know how bad the storms get down there, and how dangerous it would
be to try and travel in one.”

Janie wasn’t sure what Alex could do, especially from
Chicago, that the Mexican authorizes couldn’t, or what information, if any, he
could find out that David couldn’t, but she was glad he was at least willing to
try. She knew that if they didn’t hear something positive soon Leah’s fear and
panic were likely to become a whole lot worse. She didn’t even want to think
about what would happen if it was discovered that anything truly bad had
happened to Rhett.

Janie made her friend get up from the bed and go take
a shower, she then encouraged her to get dressed in case they needed to leave
in a hurry.

Leah felt a little better, being occupied, than she
did curled up on the bed feeling sorry for herself and worrying that Rhett was
lost somewhere in the ocean, drowning or already dead. She would never argue
with him again, she promised herself.  There had to be a middle ground for
them, some way for them to get along without the constant arguments.

Though she couldn’t find out anything about Rhett,
Leah was able to watch the storm’s progress on her laptop, which she did almost
obsessively, despite Janie’s efforts to distract her. By lunch time the storm
had passed beyond the island chain, and was well on its way to the mainland. She
worried a little about the people there who might be in the path of the storm,
but her relief at the thought that Rhett was no longer in danger, assuming he
had survived the storm in the first place, overrode it.

When her phone rang Leah grabbed it up, answering it
on the first ring. “Is he alright?” she asked eagerly, paying no attention to
the chess pieces she had just knocked flying. She hadn’t really been interested
in playing chess, she barely knew how to play the game, but Janie had been
trying to keep her occupied with it.

“He’s fine,” Alex told her, having spent most of the
morning on the phone to anyone on either side of the border he thought might be
able to give him some news. “They managed to make contact with Rhett and his
pilot once the storm passed. The jet suffered damage in the emergency landing
and can’t take off again, but both of them are okay, with the exception of a
few minor injuries. They’re currently waiting to be rescued.”

“But he’s okay?” Leah asked, wanting to be sure about
that.

“Yes, he’s okay. As I understand it he’s got a few
bruises and some minor cuts, but that’s it, the same goes for his pilot. He
should be back at the resort by this time tomorrow, perhaps sooner if his
friend Manuel can get a boat out there to him, as he is planning.”

With that confirmation Leah felt herself relax for the
first time in hours, since receiving the phone call from David that morning.
“Thank you, Alex.” She gave a sigh of relief as she set the phone down.

“See, I told you he’d be alright and back to order you
around in no time,” Janie said with a grin, able to work out from her friend’s
reactions what the news was. She managed to avoid a sigh of her own but
couldn’t help admitting that she too was relieved. Despite recent events, she
had known Rhett for a while, and the news that he was alright was welcome to
her.

No longer worried that Rhett might be dead, Leah felt
a shadow lift from her, though it didn’t disappear entirely. The knowledge that
the danger Rhett had found himself in had been the result of her telling him
about Alex weighed on her.

“What’s the matter, honey?” Janie asked, seeing that
her friend wasn’t as happy as she should be. “You should be ecstatic, he’s
safe, isn’t he,” Leah nodded, “well then, you can relax and stop worrying.”

“But what will happen when he gets back here? Just
about the last thing he said to me was that he was going to kill Alex because
he’d slept with me; that’s why he was trying to get back here.”

“Maybe the storm and the emergency landing will have
given him time to calm down.”

“Maybe.” Leah’s voice reflected her uncertainty.

“Don’t worry about it, honey. He’s not back yet, so
there’s no point worrying about."

Leah was silent for a few moments as she picked up the
chess pieces she had knocked over. “I can’t help worrying about it though,” she
said finally. “I know he overreacted, like he always does, but I love him, but
I have feelings for Alex as well.”

Janie couldn’t help shaking her head at her friend’s
admission. “You certainly know how to get yourself into a mess, don’t you,
honey.” Pushing the chessboard aside she got to her feet so she could make them
some fresh coffee. “I know it isn’t likely to be easy but you’ll have to choose
between them.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Leah asked a little
helplessly, pottering around the kitchen area while Janie prepared the coffee.
“They’re so different. Alex is incredible, and I love being with him, it’s so
relaxed and comfortable, we have a great time. With Rhett though, it’s like
fireworks; a never-ending series of surprises. I never know how he’s going to
be and it’s very exciting. Even when he’s being overbearing and is in caveman
mode it’s still exciting, as well as frightening.”

“To be fair, you haven’t really experienced the
lifestyle with Alex yet,” Janie remarked, “it’s all been fairly vanilla for the
two of you so far. For all you know he could be just as intense, perhaps even
more so, when he scenes. Without trying his side of the lifestyle you won’t
know, and without knowing, you can’t really make a fair comparison between the
two of them.” She couldn’t believe she’d just suggested that Leah try out pony
play.

Her friend’s suggestion, when what Janie had said sank
in, shocked her; she wouldn’t have expected her friend to ever suggest
something like that. “I guess you’re right. The idea freaks me out a little,
but I guess it would be the right thing to do, to at least try Alex’s lifestyle
so I can understand it a little better before I choose who I want to be with.”
She couldn’t believe she was actually considering trying pony play so she could
make an informed decision about who to be involved with. The thought amused her
and she couldn’t help letting out a snort of laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Janie wanted to know, surprised by
her friend’s laughter. “I could use a little humor myself at the moment.”

“I was just thinking that less than a month ago, I had
no idea any of this stuff existed, and now I’m trying to decide how I want to
be dominated.” Saying it aloud make her laugh again. “I think I need mental
help.”

Janie joined in the laughter. Her sweet, virginal,
friend was exploding out of her shell like a ball from a canon. “Never let it
be said that you don’t know how to make up for lost time, Leah.” The laughter
helped to soothe both of them after the worry and concern of the past few
hours.

15

Rescued

The wait for the storm to pass had been interminable,
and it had been an immense relief when Jackson, the storm had given them time to
move beyond their employer/employee relationship and onto first name terms,
managed to get a signal on the radio and report their situation.

Hearing that it would be some time before they were
rescued had not pleased Rhett, he was too used to things being done the moment
he wanted them done. He couldn’t fault the reason for the delay in their rescue
though, as much as he wanted to. He and Jackson were both okay, with only minor
injuries, despite the buffeting the crashed plane had endured during the course
of the storm, whereas Manuel’s resort, and the rest of the island, had endured
much more of the storm’s fury and there was much damage and many injuries to be
dealt with.