Breathless (22 page)

the other, but she could hardly climb in a
window.
Frowning intensely, Alex turned the
corner towards the offices and stopped at the Pepsi
machine.
She heard the office door slam and the
fading sounds of footsteps going up to R&D.
She
hoped it was James as she headed for the door.
James had slept badly all night.
He had tossed and
turned and panicked himself sleepless.
Alex had
never called him and when he had called the
restaurant to see if she got the message, the maître
d' was unavailable.
Sighing heavily, James helped
himself to another cup of coffee and went around
the long way to his office.
He was in no mood to
deal with Francine and her incessant demand to be
married before their baby was born.
Dragging
hard on the Marlboro, he was in the middle of
closing his office door when he heard Jeff and
Allen's conversation.
Alex was going to come in
today, despite the fact that she was off.
He would
find a way to talk to her then.
He had to.
"Have you seen, Alex," asked David when he
reached the R&D offices.
"No.
Is she here," asked James looking up from
Frank's designs.
"Yeah.
She was in the machine shop about 15
minutes ago looking for you."
James closed his eyes and sighed quietly.
She was
alright, at least he knew that much.
Whatever
else, she was here under the same roof with him
and he would find and talk to her.
"Thanks Dave.
Frank, can we finish this later," he
asked.
"Sure, James.
Go get her," Frank laughed happy to
have James' cigarettes out of his office.
Harry was
bad enough but to have both of them there was
killing him.
James all but sprinted down the stairs.
He reached
his office door, pulled it open with such force that it
banged against the wall.
James half expected Alex
to be sitting in his office waiting for him, but she
wasn't.
James heard Allen and Alex going over the
cost of goods and went to the doorway.
He
watched as Alex continued to study the pages, her
blue eyes taking in every detail and her fingers
tracing delicate lines from one number to
another.
His flesh yearned to feel that touch again
and he almost went and dragged her into his
office.
Allen was finishing the comparisons when James'
movement caught his eye.
Looking up at him, he
saw James' intense stare at Alex, "James, you need
something," asked Allen.
Alex looked up quickly and caught the end of that
stare. She returned it with an icy gaze of her own
letting him know she was unapproachable and not
willing to discuss the events of the past 24
hours.
Alex watched as James shook his head and
closed his door, retreating once more into his
office.
"Wonder what that was all about," asked Allen after
James had shut the door.
Alex shrugged and returned her attention to the
reports on the desk, "Here's your problem, Allen,"
she pointed out pulling her chair closer to the desk,
"You forgot to include the spare parts with those
last machines. "
"Shit.
No wonder I'm off. "
"In more ways than one," commented Alex
chuckling.
"Hey, now."
"I got to go, Allen, unless you need something
else. "
"Nope that's it," he replied standing and stretching
from his hunched over position, "I'll see you
later. Right now, I need a Mt. Dew."
Alex gathered her things, watched Allen go through
James' office to the vending machines and sat there
trying to decide which would be the best way to exit
the building.
Either way she'd have to face one of
them.
Alex got up and decided that Francine's
office would be best.
She could at least ignore
her.
It would be too hard to see James.
Alex walked as calmly through the office as possible
and was almost to the door when Francine called
her name.
"Hello Alex," she mewed smugly from behind her
desk.
Alex turned on her heel and faced the woman,
"Hello, Francine. Something I can do for you," she
asked.
"Actually, yes there is," Francine began with a smile,
leaning back in her chair, "Two things actually, first
you can take your claws out of James, he's ours
now," patting her belly for emphasis, "and second
you can convince him to do the right thing. "
"And that would be," Alex prompted.
"Marrying me, of course.
Alex, don't you see? You
were a distraction, a campaign stop, if you will,"
Francine continued, examining her nails, "James
loves me and as soon as you let him go, you'll see
where his heart lies. "
Alex chuckled, "You know, Francine, that's really
funny.
I gave James that same option last
night.
Marry you or stay with me," Alex said
imitating a scale with her hands, "Only he offered a
third choice, for he and I to get married and raise
the baby ourselves. "
Alex smiled as Francine gasped and stood up
suddenly, the reaction was priceless to Alex,
"Frankly, I think you'll be a terrible mother. And I
despise the fact that you'll have any kind of hold on
James, but know this, I am not, under any
circumstances, letting go of him. Whether you like
you it or not, we love each other. This baby will not
change his feelings for me or you. And I will never
desert him to the likes of you," Alex hissed before
turning on her heel and heading for the door.
"You'll never see my child, Alex.
I'll see you dead
before I let you raise my child," threatened Francine
as Alex left the plant.
Francine sunk into her chair and fumed.
Nothing
was going according to plan.
Alex was supposed
to have left James after she found out about the
baby.
Francine calmed herself for a moment and
as the anger faded a new thought entered her
mind, if Alex and James were still a couple why
wasn't James with her when she left.
As far as
Francine knew, they hadn't said a word to each
other while Alex was here.
Francine smiled,
"Maybe they're together now, but something is
definitely wrong."
What James would have given to hear the
conversation between Alex and Francine; after
concealing himself in his office, James collapsed in
his chair more depressed than last night.
He had
left the restaurant and drove home only to find
Alex's things there.
He had spent half the night
pacing the floor and the other half wondering why
Alex hadn't called him back.
After seeing the look in her eyes just a few
moments ago, it was obvious that he had done her
a great injustice by asking her to raise Francine's
baby.
It was hard enough for Alex to accept the
fact that she was pregnant to begin with, but to
request that she raise the child as her own was the
worst possible thing he could have done.
"I'm such an idiot," he said aloud exhaling the
cigarette fumes, "I hope she can forgive me."
James was still calling himself every name in the
book when a knock resounded on his door, "Come
in," he barked at it.
"Hey James," said Sam as he came through the
door, "Got a minute?"
"Sure Sam.
What's up?"
"Rob and I went to Ashmore Valley Exterminators to
check on the guy who went to Alex's and tore the
place up. I think we have a lead and a problem in
that order."
"Tell me," he insisted.
"The company keeps photo id's off all the
employees, like we do.
We ran through them and
found a man we've already crossed paths
with.
Mrs. Johnson swears it's the same man
whom she let into the house. "
"Who," James asked beginning to feel his skin
crawl.
"Dan Reynolds. "
"Oh, shit. He's after Alex?"
"It's more than possible, especially after what
happened last night."
James looked confused, "What do you know about
last night?"
"Rob took Grayson and Alex's statements. They
both said that Dan was responsible for the attack. "
"What attack?"
"You don't know what happened to Grayson and
Alex, do you, James," questioned Sam.
"What happened, Sam," demanded James coming
around his desk and getting in his face.
"Grayson and Alex were attacked outside the W
Restaurant last night.
Grayson was beat up pretty
badly and Alex was hurt as well. "
"Oh, God; what have I done," James asked
collapsing into one of the arm chairs.
"James, are you alright? If it helps, Jeff was there as
well."
"Jeff knows," James said looking up suddenly.
"Yeah.
The doctors called him because they
couldn't find anyone else and his number was in
Alex's purse."
"I got to find, Jeff," said James rushing into the
plant.
Sam watched James leave the office and shook his
head.
Whatever was going on there was more
pain to come.
Allen came through the door then and found Sam
staring at James' empty chair, "What's up," he
asked passing through.
"Have you seen Alex," Sam asked.
"She just left. "
"Oh, thanks," Sam responded following him into the
plant.
James found Jeff in the weld shop and pulled him
aside, "Why didn't you tell me about last night?"
"There was nothing to tell," Jeff replied, "Alex is
fine; so is Grayson."
"What the hell happened?"
"After you abandoned her at the restaurant, she
called Gray for a ride, the minute she stepped out
Dan Reynolds had her. Grayson might have saved
her life and could have died himself."
"Dan Reynolds again; that son-of-a-bitch is starting
to annoy me."
"There you are," said Sam finally catching up with
James.
"What now Sam; more bad news."
"Actually some good; Dan and his partner have
been arrested on the New Jersey turnpike.
They
are being brought back here this afternoon. "
"That is good news.
Thanks Sam," accepted Jeff.
"You're welcome.
I better get back to work. "
"What hospital," asked James watching Sam's
retreating back.
"Memorial. "
James shook his head in acknowledgement and left
Jeff standing there as he headed for the door, "Has
Alex left," James asked Francine as he passed
through the office.
"Wouldn't you rather see me? I am the mother of
your child, James," she responded.
"I don't have time for your games, Francine.
Has
Alex left?"
"James this isn't a game, it's a child's life.
If you
can't take this seriously maybe I should just do away
with it altogether. "
"Don't you dare," shouted James, "Don't you even
consider making that decision.
This is my child
too, Francine. "
"Well a lot you care about it.
You'd rather let Alex
raise my child than me? How do you think that
makes me feel?"
"You talked to Alex?"
"Of course I talked to Alex.
I wanted to know what
her intentions were."
"And?"
"And what do you think? She's going to hold onto
you for dear life.
I will not let her raise our child,
James.
That's my privilege."
"Francine, we'll talk about this later.
In the
meantime, you do anything to jeopardize my child
and there will be hell to pay.
Do you understand,"
James demanded grabbing her upper arms in his
urgency.
"Yes, James, I do understand.
I understand
completely. "
"Good," he said letting go of her arms, thrusting her
into her chair, and then charging out of the building.
Francine watched him go and picked up the phone,
"It's me," she said into the receiver, "we got a
problem. "
Chapter 23
Alex made a few pit stops along the way and arrived
at the hospital just as lunch was served.
She found
Grayson sitting up as gingerly as possible playing in
the mound of unappetizing mashed potatoes.
"Hey stranger," she said walking into the room.
"Alex," Grayson replied trying to smile.
The
stitches in his lip as well as the bruises on his cheeks
restricted the movement.
"How are you feeling?"
"Much better since I have the prettiest nurse
here. "
"Where is she," Alex joked removing the nasty lunch
from his bed stand and placing on the empty bed
beside her.
"Very funny.
What'd you bring me?"
"Tons of goodies; first and foremost, let's do
something with that hair." Alex pulled the brush she
had grabbed from home and ran it through the
tangles in Grayson's hair, "Anything good on," she
commented as the TV droned overhead.
"Only if you're in the mood for soap operas or
cartoons."
"Cartoons would be good. "
Grayson used his free hand to search for a decent
cartoon reveling in the gentle strokes that Alex
applied to his hair.
"I can do that you know," he
said.
"I like doing it.
Besides, how are you going to
maneuver a gum band around this mass of hair with
only one hand. "
"Good point," he responded, turning his attention
back to the television, "Cool, Speed Racer. "
"That works; here's your glasses," Alex smiled as she
continued to pull the various lengths into a decent
looking ponytail.
"Hello, who is this," came a voice from the door as
she made her way into the room, "You are relative,
no?"
Alex and Grayson watched as the stocky nurse
puttered closer to the bed.
Her graying hair had
been pulled into a tight bun which only served to
relieve the mass of wrinkles that creased her face.
"Yes, I'm his sister," replied Alex.
"Sister, huh? Well I suppose it is possible. I am
Nurse Willamina, I take care of brother.
But you
can't stay long.
The mister needs his rest.”
Alex smiled at the heavy Danish accent, "Well then I
won't stay very long."
"Good.
You be out in an hour," she decreed
pointing her finger at Alex, then turning her
attention to Grayson, "You eat lunch!
No pick,
eat!"
"Scout's Honor," promised Alex, "And I'll make sure
he eats."
The nurse harrumphed herself from the room never
taking her eyes off of Alex.
She doubted Alex was
a sister, but she was just a nurse and refused to
comment on the patient's lives.
"What a personality," laughed Alex.
"Try dealing with that first thing in the
morning.
She came in and demanded to help me
go to the bathroom; insisting I couldn't do it
myself. The damned sponge bath was the worst.”
Alex laughed heartily and finished the ponytail for
Grayson, "It isn’t the best, but it looks better," she
commented going to the bag she brought with her,
"This should help," she said handing him a baseball