Forever Alexa (Book Four In The Bodyguards Of L.A. County Series) (40 page)

“How
dare
you.” She yanked free of his hold.

“
You’ve
put our daughter and my parents in danger.
You’ve
been advised to leave by not one but three security experts, yet you choose to stay. I think
you
should take a second and reevaluate who the selfish one is in this scenario.”

“Bastard,” she hissed. “How can you look at me and say that? Abby and Livy are all I have.”

“They’re all you have? Do I enter the equation here, or is that too selfish a question?”

“I promised I would always take care of her. She has stood by me through everything. She’s never left me, Jack, and I refuse to leave her.”

“So, it’s going to keep coming around to the past? I left you, Alex. I sure as hell did and regretted it every day after. I made the biggest mistake of my life when I walked away from you. How many ways do I have to apologize?”

“This has nothing to do with the past and everything to do with giving my sister her life back.”

“Sister Alexa to the rescue, no matter what.” He laughed and turned away.

“That’s it. That’s enough.” She rushed to the door and grabbed the knob.

He whirled and stopped her with a hand against the wood. “We’re not finished here.”

“Oh, we’re long past finished. All this time. I’ve wasted so much time on you.”

His heart stuttered as he measured the ice-cold blue of her eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Whatever you want it to.” She reached up and yanked hard on the charm of her necklace, snapping the chain in two. She threw the gold to the floor, elbowed him in the stomach, and rushed from the room when he lost his breath.

Fighting for air, Jackson stared at the ruined piece of glimmering gold as he tried to absorb the shock of Alex’s actions and words. With a gasping cough, he scooped down and picked up the jewelry; it was still warm from her skin. She’d worn it for years, and now she was done. Even when he’d broken her heart, she’d kept it. Dread slammed into his gut as he digested what this meant. He’d just lost Alex, and it had nothing to do with the traffickers. He rushed to the hall as her door closed and the lock clicked into place.

He stared at the wood for several minutes, then raised his hand to knock but dropped it. His first instinct was to barge in and demand they talk until they’d fixed everything, but instead he walked away. They were at an impasse. She wanted him to sit back and tell her that tomorrow night was going to be okay, but he couldn’t. Every fiber of his being warned him that Zachary Hartwell’s birthday bash was going to end in doom.

Alexa pressed her back to the door and closed her eyes as Jack’s footsteps faded down the hall. She swiped at her cheeks as unstoppable tears rained down from her eyes. What were they
doing
to each other? She walked to Livy, sniffling back her sobs, and stared at her beautiful girl. She pressed a finger to her lips and touched Livy’s nose, then she smoothed the covers over her restless sleeper.

She lowered herself to the edge of the bed and picked up Livy’s stuffed frog from the floor. The laughter from a night long ago echoed through her mind as she remembered Jack winning the mournful looking creature for her. She wanted that moment back, or any of the other thousand times they had made each other smile.

It had never been like this between them—the harsh words, the cruelty. The angry sex of moments before had been a shock. Jack’s eyes had been so cold while he rammed himself inside of her. They’d had urgent sex, hungry sex, many times before, but what they just shared was dramatically different and nothing she ever wanted to repeat.

Alexa rested her forehead in her hands and closed her eyes, wishing she could take the last few minutes back. She didn’t mean to call Jack selfish. Jack was many things, but selfish wasn’t one of them. He’d put his life on hold to help her. He loved her, of that she had no doubt, and she him, but maybe love wasn’t enough when the complications were so
big
.

So where did that leave them? Was this it? Was this really the end? They had come so far over the last month and a half. She had finally lowered her guard enough to let herself believe in the possibility of them being together forever. Everything she ever wanted was at her fingertips and quickly slipping away—and it was all her doing this time. Her obsession with Abby’s case and seeing her sister again was destroying other facets of her life. Jack was so mad—as furious as she’d ever seen him. A huge part of her couldn’t blame him. She’d lied, broken their agreement, kissed another man, and was taking major risks, despite his pleadings.

Tomorrow night was it—the last time she would help the authorities. It had to be. The wiretaps couldn’t go on indefinitely. Jack’s warnings weren’t going unheeded. She understood the danger, but she had to give this one last shot. Saturday night was for Abby—her final attempt to bring her sister home. She couldn’t turn her back when they were so close; she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she did.

She hated that she had to choose. It didn’t seem fair that she had to pick between two of the people she loved most in the world. But since when had life been fair? She wanted it all—her sister safe and thriving, the family she’d stopped believing in so many years before, the man she loved desperately—but to have one she lost the others.

It was time to take a step back and reevaluate the direction she was taking—no more job-hunting, no more conversations with the realtor in Hagerstown about putting the house on the market, no more dreaming of a future with Jack—not when they kept ripping each other apart. She and Jack had their daughter to think of. Having parents who got along was more vital than having parents who lived under the same roof. They could give Livy a wonderful, loving childhood from two homes, even though one would be better. Perhaps she and Jack simply weren’t meant to be together. Maybe the past was meant to stay the past…but she wanted a future with Jack no matter how she tried to dismiss her dreams. She wanted what they should’ve had all along.

In utter defeat, she lay back on her pillow, breathing in the scent of Jack, clinging to his t-shirt she still wore, and reached for her necklace no longer there. Sighing, she dropped her hand, snuggled up next to her baby girl, and held on to the only part of her life that made sense anymore.

Jackson stifled a yawn and resisted the urge to lay back and catch a nap. He’d stayed up all night studying the Hartwell estate, attempting to memorize every possible route the traffickers might use to bring girls in and out of the house. He had no doubt there would be live entertainment, and he intended to plant himself at the most probable location they would utilize to whisk Alex away—for certainly that was the intention.

He pulled his phone from its holder and punched Tucker’s number in, frustrated that they were eight hours from show time and still in the dark. Hopefully, Tucker’s DC informant would have something useful. For two thousand bucks he’d better. If the authorities weren’t willing to play nice, they’d go around them.

The phone was on its second ring when the black Escalade with blacked out windows turned in the park entrance. Jackson shoved his cell in his pocket and rushed to his feet when the vehicle slowed as it approached the bend in the long drive close to the swings. On high alert, Jackson walked closer to Alex and Livy, waiting for the SUV to pull into a parking spot and for a mother or father to take their kids from the backseat, but the vehicle continued along at a crawl with its windows up, making it impossible to identify who was inside.

Jackson hurried to the bright blue swing and brought it to a stop. “We need to go.” He scooped Olivia up despite her protests.

“Jack, what are you doing?”

“Let’s go.” He wrapped his arm around Alex’s waist and tightened his grip on Olivia as she pushed at his chest, wild with tears.

“What is it?” Alex looked around.

He continued to study the Escalade, memorizing the plate number as it circled the loop and started toward the exit. “It’s time to get home.”

Her eyes darted about. “Did they find me?”

“I don’t know. I can’t be sure, so we’re leaving.”

She nodded as her hand came up to clutch at the hip of his jeans.

“I want to fly in my plane, Daddy,” Livy screamed and kicked. “I want to play with Kylee.”

“Later, Liv. We have to leave.” He waited for the SUV to turn onto the main road before he walked them the rest of the way to the car. “Go ahead and get in.”

“I’ll help with Livy. She’s hard to manage when she’s out of sorts.”

“I’ve got it,” his voice sharpened, and he winced. “Sorry. Get in. I want to get out of here.”

Alex nodded again and said nothing as she opened her door and took her seat.

“No, Daddy, no!” Olivia fought and squirmed as he struggled to secure the belt around her booster seat. “ I want to
play
.” She bowed her chest out so he couldn’t lock the latch.

“Olivia, that’s enough.”

His terse tone made his little girl freeze. He sent the belt home when Olivia sat back, her lip trembling on a fresh wave of tears. Goddamn, her sad eyes were breaking his heart. This was the first time he’d had to pull the ‘authoritative dad’ card. He would have to make it up to her when he was certain they were safe. Closing her door, he studied the area again.

The coast was clear.

Jackson got in on his side and started the car. They drove through the parking lot while Livy sucked in trembling breaths. He scanned the main road, keeping an eye out for the vehicle, and turned in the opposite direction of his parents’ residence.

“Why are we going this way?”

“I want to be sure no one’s following us before I head home. The last thing I want to do is lead them straight to the house.” He checked the rearview mirror, the side mirrors, forever watching. The Escalade was nowhere in sight.

“I’m sorry, Jack. I just needed one more night,” Alex said quietly.

He raised his brow in her direction.

“Tonight’s it. I mean it. I want Livy safe. I want everyone safe.” Her voice trembled, and a tear trailed down her cheek. “I don’t know what else to do. She’s my sister,” she choked out and turned to the window.

Jackson glanced from Alex’s hands clenched tight in her lap to Olivia’s red-rimmed eyes staring at him form the backseat. The two people he adored most were in tears. Sighing, he took a back road to his parent’s neighborhood, turning down several streets to make sure he was tail-free before finally they arrived home. He pressed the button on the remote, opening the garage, and pulled in to the empty spot. As soon as the car came to a stop, Alex got out and hurried to Olivia. Before Jackson could close the garage door and circle around, Alex had their daughter clutched in her arms and was heading for the kitchen entrance.

“Wait.”

Alex stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

“Fucking-
A
.” Leaning against the hood of the rental, Jackson scrubbed his hands over his face. “Now what?” He’d never been in this situation before. He wasn’t in the habit of upsetting little girls and making women cry. Hell, he usually made people laugh, and that was the way he preferred it. Weary to the bone, he pulled his phone from his pocket, went into the kitchen, and watched out the window, waiting for an Escalade to drive by. He dialed Tucker again.

“Campbell.”

“It’s Matthews.”

“I have a couple of stops to make, and I’ll be on my way back.”

“Are you sure you weren’t followed last night?”

“As sure as I can be. Why?”

“I took Olivia and Alex to the park. An Escalade pulled in about half an hour after we got there—black body with blacked out windows. It was impossible to tell who was driving. The vehicle never stopped—just cased and kept going. I got a plate number. I’ll have Ethan run it and see what he comes up with.”

“Let me know what you get.”

“I will.” He rubbed his throbbing temple. “Tonight’s it.”

The line stayed silent.

He sighed. “Alex said she’s done after tonight. I think she means it. This little incident scared the shit out of her. We’re going back to LA tomorrow.”

“Terron and Canon will be pissed. Alex is their new way in.”

“Fuck ‘em. Tonight’s all they get. Even that’s too much as far as I’m concerned.” He opened the cabinet and found the bottle of Tylenol his mother kept on hand. He shook two capsules into his palm and swallowed them dry. “Did your informant have anything useful?” The pills stuck in his throat. He coughed and snapped on the tap, gulping down water.

“Could be. There’s a house about five miles from Hartwell’s. It’s smaller, a bit rundown for the area. There’s been some speculation that it’s a stash house. The cops ran a raid on the residence a couple years back after neighbors complained about the sketchy characters coming and going, but they didn’t find anything. I’ll do a drive by and get my own impressions. We’ll map it out when I get back.”