Protecting Lexi (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (2 page)

Lenny had a bad drug habit he couldn’t seem to kick. He had done what he had to do to pay for his heroin habit. One day, he had been wandering through an empty alley, on his way back from getting his fix, when he saw the gun lying on top of a crate. There were still six or seven bullets in the clip. Lenny looked around and slid it into his waistband before heading home. He took the gun to a deserted spot to see if it did in fact work. After firing off a few rounds, he was ready to set his plan in motion. He thought he would just scare some people into giving him their money.

A desperate druggie would do anything for his next fix. All he had wanted to do was scare the man into giving him all his money. Lenny had only threatened his life so he wouldn’t tell anyone. But before Lenny knew it, he had shot the man in the chest and found out that he wasn’t alone.

He needed to get to Alexis Brooks and fast. He wasn’t about to let some bitch put him away for the rest of his life. He had done some jail time in his younger years for petty theft, drug possession, and robbery and wasn’t about to go back.

* * * *

Alexis had never been more frightened in her entire life. She had never seen anyone being shot in real life. She kept seeing that poor man’s body go limp and then fall to the ground. Alexis cried the whole way home. She was shaking so badly she didn’t know how she made it home safely. She felt as though her body drove her home on autopilot.

She punched in her security code to let her into the securely gated complex. Along the way she kept looking in her rearview mirror to make sure no one was following her.

When Alexis got out of the car, she noticed her purse was nowhere to be found. She ran toward her door and quickly let herself into her condo. She locked the door and checked the sliding glass door before closing all the curtains in the house.

Alexis sat on her couch shaking like a leaf.
What should I do now? There’s a man lying dead in an alley. You have to go to the police and tell them.
Alexis had a next-door neighbor that was a detective. He would know what to do. She knew she should have gone straight to the police after what had happened, but she had just wanted to go back to the safety of her home and wait for Peter to get home from work. It felt like hours went by while she waited and cried her heart out on the couch.

She had finally contained her sobs when she heard the sliding glass door to her bedroom rattle. Someone was trying to break into her condominium. Alexis quietly got off the couch, grabbed the house phone, and ran toward the front door, but not before she felt an arm grab her around the waist and a strong hand cover her mouth.

“So, we meet again, my pretty Alexis. However, this time it will be a little more intimate compared to the show you got to watch earlier. I guess you can say that neither one of us was expecting to meet each other in those circumstances.” The man inhaled a deep breath of her hair. “Don’t you smell sweet enough to eat. I think I’m going to have a little fun with you before I kill you,” he said as he reached around to fondle her breast. “I can’t have you going to the police and ratting me out. I came here to make sure you don’t ever breathe a word of what you saw tonight. If you scream, I’ll shoot you right here and now, just like I did to that man in the alley.”

She could feel the gun in his waistband. If she didn’t try to get away, she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. Alexis had one free arm that she could use. This was her only chance, and she wasn’t about to die tonight without a fight. Alexis began struggling against the man. She was able to elbow the man in the gut. Alexis then turned around and raised the palm of her right hand and shoved it into the guy’s nose. That caused him to stagger backward. She then kicked his foot from beneath him, which caused him to fall on the floor. While he was down, she kicked him in the chin, which caused him to stay down on the floor.

“You bitch. You’ll pay for that!” he said while holding his bloody nose. He began to get up. That’s when she knew he was pissed and was coming to get even with her. The man crawled to his knees and started to get up. He began to sway on his feet and amble toward her. He stumbled on his feet a few times and fell against the wall for stability. He then shook his head like he was clearing away the sting. He then lunged for her again, and she ran to the door. She grabbed the lock and turned it quickly as she turned the doorknob.

This was her only chance to escape. She ran screaming toward the parking lot, hoping to find someone who would help her. She figured if she screamed loud enough, someone would hear her and come to investigate.

“Help! Help! Please someone help me! Someone’s trying to kill me,” Alexis screamed hoping to get any of her neighbors’ attention. Just then Alexis spotted Peter pulling up in his truck. She ran toward him.

Peter slid out of his truck as Alexis fled into his arms. “Alexis, what’s wrong?” Peter said while holding her by his truck.

“There’s a man in my house, and he tried to kill me. He has a gun, Peter. I saw this man kill another man tonight. He said he was here to make sure I didn’t go to the police. I was so scared,” she said, trembling in his arms.

He handed her his truck keys and pulled out the gun he carried and headed for Alexis’s house. He yelled over his shoulder, “Lock yourself in the truck. Take my cell phone and call 911. I’ll go check it out.”

Ten minutes later, Alexis and Peter were standing in front of the house talking to the officer. Peter didn’t find anyone inside when he went to go check it out.

“Did you catch him, officer?” Alexis said to Officer Jones, who had been the first to show up at the scene.

“Not yet. That’s why we need you to identify him in the video we have. You’re lucky they have such good security in this complex. That will help us track him down easier. Ma’am, we would like you to come down to the station so we could ask you some questions. The security cameras that are around the complex may have picked up the man seen breaking into your house. We need you to come down and identify the guy on the video before we try and bring him in.”

“I will drive you, Alexis. With me there, we can get you through this process faster. I know how shaken up you must be. Jane said after she gets off work she is going to meet us there.”

“I don’t want you to go through any trouble. I can drive myself.”

Peter looked at her and said, “No trouble at all. What are neighbors for?” He smiled. “Now let’s get going so they can send a squad car and go get this scum bag that did this. I’m just glad you’re safe. Where did you learn to do something like that? I mean, I saw all the blood on the floor. Since you’re not hurt, it must all be his blood.”

“I don’t know. I guess I just watched it on a show one time. My gut instinct told me I needed to do something and quick. I knew there wasn’t much time and that I needed to at least try something to get away.”

“Well, you’re one of the lucky ones, Alexis. Not everyone reacts as quick and efficient as you did. Now, let’s go get this over with.”

Alexis was so exhausted. She was mentally done. After two hours at the station giving her statement about the shooting in the alley behind her store and the break-in at her condo, she was ready to go home. They even had a suspect in custody. The man’s name was Lenny Cook. Lenny was a small-time crook with a mile long rap sheet consisting of petty theft, possession of illegal drugs, and robbery. And now attempted murder could be added to his rap sheet. The police went and picked the man up and brought him in for questioning. After she positively pointed him out in a lineup, they booked him at the station.

She found out that the man Lenny had shot died of the gunshot wound to his heart at the hospital earlier that night. Lenny had killed a thirty-two-year-old man, married with a child on the way. He was now facing murder charges along with the attempted murder charge against her. The detectives had told her and Peter that she was going to have to testify in court. There was enough evidence against Lenny that he would be put away for a long time.

The detectives had finished with her and told her she was able to leave. They would contact her if they needed anything further from her. Alexis was walking in the hallway of the station when she noticed Lenny coming toward her in handcuffs as they were escorting him to the interrogation room.

He stared her down and then said in a low, menacing voice, “You better not testify against me, lady. If you do, I’ll find you and finish what I meant to do tonight before you got away from me. I will find you and make you pay, lady.”

The officer that was walking behind Lenny shoved him against the wall, “Shut your mouth, Cook. You’re in enough trouble without adding threats to it.” The officer then pushed him into the interrogation room.

Alexis turned and faced Peter. “I’m so scared, Peter. I don’t think I can go back to my house and stay there. I think I need to get away until the trial. I don’t think I’ll ever feel comfortable in my home ever again. My home was violated, and I can’t get that image out of my head. If he broke into my place that easily, what’s stopping another burglar from doing the same thing?”

“Alexis, you are welcome to stay with Jane and I until you decide what you are going to do. Maybe you should think about having a security system put in if you feel that unsafe in your own home,” he said as they were leaving the station, walking toward the parking garage.

“No. I think I want to sell the condo and find somewhere else to live. I will lose some money on it, but I just don’t feel safe there anymore. Maybe I need to go away for a while to get my mind off this until the trial. I haven’t taken a vacation in a while, and I think now may be a good time to take one. I know Caroline can handle things while I’m gone. I just can’t rest until he’s put away for a long time.”

“Let’s go home. Jane said she will make us some food when we get there. She knows we’re hungry and tired. You can stay in the spare room till you know what you are going to do. You need some sleep. Tomorrow you should have a clear head after you have rested. You’ve had a traumatizing night.”

Alexis nodded in agreement. Rest would do her good, for now. It was going to be tough to get those images of that poor man being shot out of her mind. She could still feel Lenny’s gun pressed against her back and his breath against her ear. She could still hear the threat of him killing her ringing in her head. Time would heal her memories of the night. It would never bring back the poor man that lost his life because of Lenny Cook. The decision he made would forever change their lives.

* * * *

“Thank you so much, Jane, for letting me stay over.” Alexis sat on the couch across from her. She had attempted a few hours of restless sleep and gave up after Jane woke her from a nightmare she was having. Jane said she was screaming in her dream, so she carefully woke her up.

Alexis slept as well as could be expected. She kept waking up feeling like Lenny was standing over her bed with a gun to her head, wanting to finish her off once and for all. Having her life threatened was enough to traumatize a person in its self.

“I can’t imagine everything you have been through, Alexis. I would be so frightened to live by myself, too. You are welcome to stay here as long as you want. Peter and I don’t want you to ever be afraid while you’re here with us. We have a security system on the house. ” She smiled warmly at her.

“Thank you, Jane. You and Peter have already helped me out immensely. I could never repay you both for that. I don’t know what would have happened to me if Peter hadn’t been there. Anyways, I put a call in to the realtor that sold me my condo. He told me it shouldn’t take that long to sell it. He has had a few people mention to him that if any condominiums came up in this complex to let them know. It could be a short sale on the place.”

“I don’t want you to have to move, Alexis. We have become such good friends, and I will miss you. I do understand your circumstances and fears,” Jane said sadly.

“I don’t want to move either. I loved my place. It was perfect for me, so I thought. I just can’t live day to day knowing someone broke into my home and tried to kill me there. It will never be the same. I need to go over there and gather some things. When will Peter be home? He told me to wait till he can escort me over there.”

“He called from the station ten minutes ago and said he was on his way.”

“Did he have any new news on Lenny?”

“No. He just said for us to hold tight, he wanted to talk to the both of us.”

Ten minutes later, Peter came home. Alexis and Jane were still sitting on the couch when he arrived. Peter sat on the couch next to his wife. He leaned over and gave her a kiss before turning toward Alexis. He looked very serious as if he had something important to say.

“Alexis, I’m worried about you.” He looked toward his wife and nodded. “We both are in fact. Lenny has made numerous threats toward you while incarcerated. He’s been telling other inmates that when he gets out he plans on killing you. We have him heavily guarded, and he has no phone privileges. He says he knows people on the outside that will finish you off if he can’t. He swears he won’t let you live to testify.”

Alexis stood from the couch and started to pace in front of them. She stopped and looked at Peter. “I have to leave. I can’t stay here anymore, Peter. I just don’t know where to go that he won’t be able to find me. I’m not sure what this Lenny Cook is capable of doing. Who knows what kind of people he associates with? I don’t want to take any chances. I don’t take threats lightly, and I value my life.”

Alexis’s parents had moved to Florida after she graduated from college. They lived in a retirement home. She couldn’t go there and endanger them. She had to get far away from Nebraska where she now resided.

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I have these two cousins that are brothers that own some land in Wyoming. They are retired Marines. I called them today and asked them if they would help you out. I think it would be best if you got out of this state until the trial. You could be there a month or so, maybe less. I have arranged to take you there tomorrow. We’ll leave in the morning. You will be safe with them. They will do anything to protect you. They’ve been trained to do that.”