Forever Alexa (Book Four In The Bodyguards Of L.A. County Series) (46 page)

“I’ll hide in the next spot over.”

Abby pushed herself in among the clothes.

Alexa closed the door and opened the next—suit coats, more slacks, and two large containers filled to the brim with socks. “Crap.” She wouldn’t be able to fit. Frantic now, she hurried for the closet but changed her mind at the last moment and dove for the bed. She shimmied her way under the tight fit of the frame, forced to keep her head turned to one side. Her back pressed against the mattress with each breath, and she fought not to panic in the tight space.

The bedroom door opened a crack, and Alexa nibbled her lip, praying it would close just as quickly.

“Fawn, it’s Blondie.” Blondie stepped in the room. “Are you in here?”

Alexa balled her hands into fists and willed her sister to stay where she was.

“If you come out now, I’ll make sure they don’t punish you.” Blondie walked by the bed, her black heels sinking into the plush, oatmeal-colored carpet. “Fawn?” She opened the closet door, and Alexa held her breath, desperately hoping it wouldn’t occur to the buxom blonde to focus on the wardrobe at her back.

“You find her yet?”

Alexa recognized Renzo’s voice. It was harsher without the fake charm he’d oozed throughout the evening.

“No.”

“Hartwell’s going crazy.” Renzo’s leather dress shoes stopped inches from Alexa’s face. “Make sure you check all the rooms. Don’t stop until you find her. She knows too goddamn much.
Fuck
. She’s gonna pay for this. She’ll be on the first flight to the Orient. We’ll see how she likes living over there. Ungrateful bitch.” Renzo turned and disappeared from the room.

The light flicked on and Alexa blinked against the sudden brightness.

“Power’s back on,” Eric said. “You see the blond I invited here tonight or her pain-in-the-ass friend?”

“We got bigger problems,” Blondie said as her heels passed Alexa again. “We can’t find Fawn. If she gets her skinny ass to the police, we’re all going down. I knew Renzo shouldn’t have trusted her with the files,” Blondie spat.

Alexa stared at the ornately carved base of the wardrobe as she digested the conversations she was hearing. Blondie was part of the ring. All this time she’d thought her a victim too. She remembered the way Renzo grabbed her at Lady Pink.

“I’ll help you look. Keep your eyes open for the blond. Her name’s Jenny. Hartwell wants her.”

“And what about Jenny’s friend?”

“We’ll have to take care of her. No witnesses. Let’s go.” The light went off, throwing the room into shadows again.

“Christina,” Alexa whispered. Christina was in trouble. She and Abby had to get out of here and alert Detective Canon and Agent Terron right away. Straining her ears, she listened for voices and footsteps while she wiggled her way out from under the bed. She crawled to the edge of the mattress and cautiously peeked around the corner, half expecting Renzo or Eric to be standing there waiting to grab her or Abby. They were both sought after now. She eyed the open door wearily and hurried to the wardrobe. It would only be a matter of time before someone came back. She pulled the heavy wardrobe door open. “Okay, Ab.”

Her sister sat huddled among the clothes, her teeth chattering as she trembled. Tears rained down in black streaks of thick mascara. Here was the frail stranger again, defenseless and completely broken. “Come on, Ab. We have to go.”

“I can’t.”

Alexa held out her hand. “Yes, you can. Livy’s waiting for you. We’re so close. Please come with me.”

“They’re going to send me away.”

“No, they’re not.” She crouched down, holding her sister’s gaze. “I won’t let them. You’re mine. Mine and Livy’s. They don’t get to have you.” She reached further in, waiting for Abby to take her hand, meaning every word she said. No one was taking her sister from her. “Please, Ab. Please.” She glanced behind her, terrified that they would be discovered at any moment.

Abby reached out and clutched Alexa’s hand. “Get me out of her, Lex. I think I’m going crazy.”

“You’re not going crazy. You’ve been through a lot.” She wrapped her arm around her sister’s bony shoulders and helped Abby free herself from the slacks.

“Not as much as the others. Not nearly as much. Business kept me from the worst of it.”

What did that mean? The files Blondie was talking about? She wished she had time to ask. She yearned to let her sister talk it out, no matter how disturbing her experiences. “Hold on a little longer.”

“Did you hear that?” a man’s deep voice asked.

“Sure as hell did,” Blondie said.

Abby’s breathing accelerated. “They’re going to get me,” she whispered. “They’re coming to take me away.”

“Shh. Shh, Ab.” Alexa pulled them into the bathroom and prayed that whoever was in the hall would keep moving.

“Fawn?” Blondie called, now lacking the kindness she’d tried before. “Fawn? Where the fuck are you, little cunt?” The bedroom door slammed shut, making Abby jump. Alexa sagged against the cool white tiles lining the wall and closed her eyes. How the heck were they going to get out of here?

“They’re going to take me.” Abby slid to the floor and tucked her arms around her knees, consumed by a full-fledged panic attack. “She’s worse than the men. I tried to protect the girls. I tried, but most of the time I couldn’t. She hates me. She’ll punish them. She’ll hurt them to hurt me.”

Alexa risked their safety as she closed the bathroom door and twisted the lock, then she knelt down next to Abby. She stared into her sister’s tortured eyes and memories of their mother came flooding back. How many times had mom looked at her with the same hopeless expression before she gave up and took her own life? She couldn’t let that happen to Abby. She couldn’t bare the thought of walking into a bathroom and finding her sister’s pale, lifeless body sitting in a sea of blood.

Abby dropped her face in her hands and wept.

“Abigail.” Burying her own fears, Alexa squeezed her sister’s arm and used the same scolding tone that always got Livy’s immediate attention. “Abigail, look at me right this minute.”

Abby’s eyes met hers.

“I’m sorry for what you’ve been through. So sorry,” her voice gentled. “You have no idea how much I wish I could make all this go away. I need you to take a few deep breaths and help me. I need you to help me get us out of here. We have to go to the police. They’re right outside. Right outside, Abby, waiting for us. Please get up.
Please
.”

Abby sat where she was, still shuddering and crying—a mess. She was so damaged. Somehow Alexa had let herself believe that Abby, her strong, sweet, vibrant Abby, would make it through her ordeal with fewer scars.

“Please help me, Abby,” she whispered.
So I can help you
.

“The police are waiting for us?”

“Yes, Jack and his friend Tucker, and an FBI agent, the Baltimore and DC police. We’ve been searching for you, Ab. Not one day has passed that we didn’t spend looking for you.”

“Jackson’s back.”

They didn’t have time for this, but she couldn’t afford to move forward until Abby was in control of herself. “Yes, Jack’s back.”

“You love him.”

She nodded. “I always have.”

“He’s still hot.”

Blinking her surprise, Alexa grinned. “He’s not ugly. Wait ‘til you get a look at his friend Tucker.” For a moment everything felt normal—just sisterly boy-talk, but it wasn’t. Abby was an emotional disaster. They were trapped in a second-story bathroom in the mansion of the man who’d profited from abducting her sister. “Come see Jack. He’s been as worried as I have. Come meet Tucker. He’s been amazing. Let’s go home to Livy.”

“Okay. I’m ready.” She wiped at her face with her arm, smudging more mascara over her cheeks and temples. “I’m sorry. I know I’m a mess. I had to keep myself together for the girls. I did a pretty good job, but now you’re here and I’m…” she shook her head. “You seem to bring out the cuckoo in me, Lex.”

These small glimpses of Abby were wrenching. Alexa wanted her sister back.

“How are we going to get out of here?”

Alexa got to her feet and cautiously walked to the edge of the window. The stone porch rooftop overlooking the gardens was six or seven feet below the bathroom. “Out the window.”

Abby rushed to her feet. “Out the window?”

“We don’t have a choice.” Alexa unlocked the window, ready to begin. Their luck would run out sooner or later. “It’s now or never, Ab. We can do this. We have to.” She slid the glass up, and warm muggy air rushed in, along with the clatter of a busy kitchen below. They had to be in the east wing. She pushed at the screen and cringed when the frame fell to the porch roof with a clatter. “Ready?”

“Not really.”

“Don’t be a wimp. I thought you were the adventurous one.”

Abby eyed the window hesitantly.

“Freedom’s right outside. You can do this.”

Abby sighed and took off her shoes. “Okay.” She slid a leg over the sill and awkwardly sat half in, half out as she handed her heels to Alexa. Moving swiftly, her foot left the bathroom floor, and she lowered herself down.

“Good,” Alexa encouraged in a whisper as Abby dangled from the baseboards and jumped to the roof.

It was her turn. Alexa got up off her knees and tossed Abby’s shoes down one at a time. She walked to the bathroom door and cautiously opened it, then hurried back, eager to make her escape. She scrambled over the sill as Abby had and reached for the window’s rail as she hung by one arm. Her muscles trembled with her effort to hold her bodyweight while she attempted to close the window behind them. Her fingers made contact with the wood, and she pulled down. The glass slid several inches, but she lost her grip and tumbled, landing on the rough grit of the rooftop in a crouched position. She groaned as rock bit into her palms and a sharp, hot ache radiated through her right ankle. Unable to bear the pain, she immediately and awkwardly fell back on her butt, skinning her elbows in the process. “Damn. Damn. Damn.”

“Oh my God, Lex. Lex, are you okay?” Abby crawled to her.

She struggled for her breath as her ankle tingled and swelled. “I’m fine. I’m okay,” she tried to convince herself. “The fall scared me more than anything else.” She pulled off the stupid blonde wig dangling half off her head and threw it behind her.

Abby scrutinized Alexa’s foot and pressed gently at the tender skin. “Holy crap, Lex. I think it’s broken. If not, it’s definitely sprained.

“No, it can’t be.” She eased forward for a closer inspection and closed her eyes as the deeply bruised skin of her foot puffed around the thin strap of her high-heeled sandal. “I can’t
believe
this.”

“We have to get help.” Abby slid her finger over the worst of the swelling, and Alexa sucked in a gasp, fighting the sudden urge to vomit from the excruciating pain.

“Ow.
Please
stop touching.”

“Sorry but I have to get your sandal off.”

“Let’s leave it alone.” She tried to move away from her sister’s probing fingers, but it felt better to remain perfectly still.

“You’ll lose circulation if your foot gets any bigger. I’ll be gentle.” Abby slid the strap free of the small buckle, and Alexa ground her teeth, trying not to cry out.

“There. That’s done. We’re almost finished.”

“Thank God.”

“I just have to take it off.” Abby bit her lip as Alexa glared.

“Go ahead and shoot me instead.”

“I don’t have a gun, but I can slap you if it’ll make you feel better.”

“Take it off,” she snapped, not in the mood to appreciate her sister’s smartass sense of humor.

“Okay. Geez.” She huffed out and flexed her fingers. “Okay. We need to prop your leg up just a bit. I think it’ll hurt less. Can you lift it?”

Alexa leaned back on her elbows and hissed from the bite of rough gravel against raw wounds. She raised her leg and pressed her lips together with a wrenching moan. The lack of support for her ankle was excruciating.

“Close your eyes. I’ll be quick and careful.” Abby’s cool hand braced Alexa’s calf as she grabbed the heel of the shoe with the other.

Alexa slammed her eyes shut and grit her teeth as Abby tried to ease the sandal off. “Oh, Lex, it’s stuck. I’m going to have to pull harder.”

“Just do it,” she choked out.

Abby tugged; Alexa whimpered.

“It’s off. It’s off.”

She opened one eye, looked down, and winced. Her foot was easily triple its normal size. “I think—I think it’s going to split open.”

“I need to get us help.” Abby peered over the edge of the small rooftop. “You need a doctor, big time.”

“No.” She grabbed Abby’s wrist. “We stay together.”

“Lex, you can’t jump down. It’s like eight, maybe ten feet to the bottom.”

“We stay together. I won’t lose you again. If you go, I go too.” Alexa struggled to rip the hem of her thigh-length dress. “Help me wrap my ankle first.”

“Lex…”Abby’s brow rose with her ‘give me a break’ sneer.

“Some support is better than none. I’ll try to land with most of my weight on my good leg.” She yanked on the summery yellow cotton again, and the fabric finally gave way. “Help me rip some more.”

“Fine, but this is a really dumb idea.” Abby yanked, and another few feet pulled free.

“If you have a better idea...” Alexa glanced at her watch. Another thirty minutes before her original two hours was up. Was Christina still searching for her among the crowded rooms? She had to be okay, or the agents would’ve raided the house.

Abby yanked at her own dress and freed a long piece of black satin. “Between your dress and mine I think this will be enough. Prop it up again. Rest your leg on my lap this time.”

Alexa breathed in and expelled a whoosh of air when Abby jostled her ankle. “I didn’t think there was anything that hurt as much as childbirth. I was wrong.” She wiped at the tears streaming down her cheeks.

“I’m almost finished. I don’t want the wrap it too tight or too loose.” Abby tucked the ends of tattered yellow and black fabric among the strips she’d circled around the arch of Alexa’s foot and ankle. “There.”

Alexa studied the makeshift splint and smiled, despite the discomfort. Her foot looked like a bloated bumblebee. “Thank goodness you didn’t choose medicine as your profession.”

“I think I’ll stick with mannequins and sketch pads. Consider this the first and last design from my ‘Escape’ line.”

Alexa lifted her foot an inch off Abby’s thigh and winced. The flimsy support of two torn summer dresses would have to do. Sighing, she braced herself for more pain and moved to the edge of the roof. “You ready?”

“I’m ready to get you to a hospital.”

Alexa nodded her agreement and scooted forward gingerly. She bumped her injury on the rough surface and tried to ignore the nausea roiling her belly as she stared down at the well-manicured bushes and lush green grass. They were a long way up. It would be a good four to five feet to the ground after they let themselves hang off the side. Then what? She glanced at the pretty stone path lit by candles in decorative glass, leading to the front edge of the house. If they could make it to the shrubs along the security wall, they would be able to sneak out to the street from there. A surveillance vehicle wouldn’t be too hard to track down after that. She could do this; she had to. “After we jump, we have to hurry to the bushes.”