Rookie Mistake: A Sports Romance Novel (The Beasts of Baseball Book 1) (69 page)

Traffic wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and I made it to my apartment in fifteen minutes, which was the first bright spot in the day. I took a deep breath as I walked in, but stopped short, noticing cologne yet knowing no one had been in my apartment who might wear it.

“You know, refusing a man over and over is liable to leave him a little more needy than he might prefer to be.”

I jerked around to see Dillon standing in the doorway to my bedroom. Every cell in my body lit up with fear.

“What are you doing here?” I took a step back, trying to rationally think through how to get the fuck out of the apartment without him blocking my way. There was only a few steps between me and the door.

“I’m here to collect you. You coming without a fight, or do I get to put my hands all over you while I take you down?”

I didn’t wait another minute before turning and running toward the door. He was faster than I imagined possible, and I fought like hell against him until the chemical on the napkin pressed to my mouth and nose caused the room to dim and finally go black.

The last thing I remembered was his lips pressed to my ear, making promises I prayed like hell he wouldn’t keep.

CHAPTER 9

e

Zek

“D
ude. Sit down. Everything’s fine.” Ronald tapped the table in front of him. “Please. You’re making
me
worry.”

“I can’t. She means everything to me. Why the fuck isn’t she answering her phone? I’m on the edge of losing my shit.” I pressed my palms to my eyes and growled loudly. “I wasn’t there for Mark when he went through his surgery because I fucked up my life, and now Alisa isn’t answering her goddamn phone, and the psycho bitch that started most of this downward spiral is on the loose. I just have a horrible feeling about this.”

“Then let’s go. Let’s go check the city for her. I’ll tag you as being with me in the system. We just have to make sure we stop by a drug store or something to show them we’re not out having a good time.” He stood and shrugged. “I don’t want anything to happen to your girl. I know what that can do to a man.”

He spoke from something that seemed like experience. I would have to press him on it later, but right now, I needed to find Alisa and make sure that my worst fears hadn’t morphed into reality.

“Alright. I’ll drive. I’ll call my brother and sister-in-law to see who saw her last. It’s just not like her to be late and not call. Something is up, but maybe she’s just in a late court hearing or something.” I grabbed my keys and walked toward the door without another thought. If Ronald was going to let me look for Alisa, then I was going to move full-speed ahead with the hope that he wouldn’t change his mind.

“A case that runs until nine at night? No fucking way.” Ronald jogged beside me to the car, and got in as I hit my head on the ceiling.

I growled in pain, but started the car and tried to slow my racing heart. After pulling out of the driveway, I dialed Lizzy’s number and pressed speaker on the dash.

“Zek. What’s up?” My brother was on the line. Lizzy must have been home by then and Mark grabbed her phone.

“Can you ask Lizzy if she’s seen Alisa? I haven’t spoken to her since before lunch, and I’m a little worried.” I pursed my lips and waited for my brother to talk to his wife. My first stop would be Alisa’s place, then the office, and then I was calling Jon Mills. He had to have seen Melissa.

“She said she hasn’t seen her since before lunch.” Mark’s voice lost volume as Lizzy’s filled up the airwaves.

“Zek. Where are you?”

“I’m headed to her house. Ronald is with me. I just have a bad feeling, Liz. I know something is wrong. She wouldn’t have left me hanging this long. Do you think she knows about Melissa?” I was almost panting as the air in the car seemed so fucking hard to access.

Ronald patted my shoulder and gave me a ‘chill the fuck out’ look. I nodded, working to breathe through my nose and calm myself. If anything happened to Alisa, the rest of the story would be history. I wasn’t interested in living a life without her now that I knew we were going to commit fully. Especially not if her getting hurt was my fault. She was knee deep in the shit storm I’d created, no doubt.

“Yes. I sent one of our attorneys over there to tell her the news.”

“Did she not come back to the office after the case?” I reached up and turned the air conditioner on as my heart started to race.

“Yeah, Ronnie said she did. I’ll call up there and see if she’s around while you check her place. Mark and I will get in the car now too. Just stay in touch, and if you see her or talk to her, just let us know so we can stop searching.” Lizzy’s tone was tight and filled with worry.

“Alright. Help me, okay?” A hot ball of despair lodged in my throat and my entire body locked up. “Just help me.”

“We’ll find her, Zek. I promise.” My brother tried to offer comfort, but he knew me well enough to know that none would be accepted until I had Alisa back in my arms.

“Thanks.” I dropped the call and let out a long sigh. “Why does this shit keep happening? It was one goddamn mistake, and I’m having to pay for it ten times over.”

“You don’t know if anything is happening or not. Just keep yourself together, man, and we’ll find her. Your brother and his wife will help, and you and I can tear down the city looking for her, okay? No worries at all. We’ll find her.” He tried to reassure me, but the more I thought about it, the sicker I got.

My worst fear would be to show up at her place and find her dead, but I couldn’t let myself go there. I’d be physically sick if I even thought about the trauma of having her gone forever. I didn’t like her, or have a crush on her, I adored her with every ounce of my heart and soul. I couldn’t lose this girl.

Why did it take so fucking long for me to realize that? And why now? Why when there’s a possibility that she’s gone?

“Where are we headed, Zek? I gotta put in the details on my phone to keep us clean and clear.” Ronald pulled me from my thoughts, and I was grateful for him.

“Longington Way Apartments. They’re right on the edge of the city.” I pressed the gas and moved past a few cars as terror surged through me. The phone rang, and I almost lost my grip on the wheel trying to get to it.

“Lizzy?”

“She’s not at the office. Mark and I are in the car headed that way, but Ronnie just checked the building and said she headed home. I’m sure she’s there, on the couch asleep. She’s been taking on a lot lately, Zek.” Lizzy’s voice was soft and caring, but I didn’t care. Nothing would help dampen my fear until I saw her alive and well.

“I pray that’s the case. Check at the office and call me back. If you think of anything else she might have mentioned… where she was or who she was seeing during the day that might jog your memory or help us at all. Please call back.”

“Of course. Be careful, Zek. Mark’s worried that you’re overreacting and are liable to get hurt. Just be safe.”

I started to snap back with something nasty, but decided on a simple ‘okay’ and hung up the phone again.

“Who else can you call? Is there anyone else she hangs out with? A mom, dad, sister, best friend?” Ronald turned the music up just a little on the radio and turned his gaze onto me.

“No. She’s close to her parents, but she would have mentioned that. She doesn’t have any siblings other than Clark, and her friends have all fallen by the wayside thanks to her divorce. They were friends of her and her ex-husband’s, so she doesn’t talk to any of them anymore.” I let out a long sigh. “I need to call her brother and see if he knows anything, but he’s going to freak the fuck out.”

“So what. Call him. You don’t want him finding out that you knew something and didn’t call him if something happens to her.”

I jerked my face toward him and grimaced. “Keep that negative shit to yourself.”

“Alright, man. Just call the guy. She might be asleep on his couch if they’re close. Besides, this is the guy you were best friends in school with, right? It won’t seem weird having you call out of the blue and ask about Alisa if that’s the case.”

He had a point.

“No, it won’t.” I pressed Clark’s number and turned off the freeway to the street that led to Alisa’s apartment.

“Hey, buddy. What’s going on?” Clark’s voice was warm and had an excited sound to it. He never failed to make me feel important, when I really didn’t deserve to have any warmth from him. If my sister was in love with a dick like me, I’d beat the guy to a pulp.

“Hey, man. Have you seen Alisa? I wanted to touch base with her, but can’t seem to find her.” I held my breath and said a short prayer that she was there with him.

“No, but you know how she is. She’s probably got her head in a book, or several books. She came over for dinner about two weeks ago, and we chatted briefly last week, but nothing since then.” He paused. “Is something wrong? I can hear panic in your voice. This isn’t about that girl escaping the hospital, right?”

“No. Yes. Fuck, I don’t know. I’m worried about her, man. She should have called or texted hours ago. I don’t know what to think, but I can’t help but think the worst. I’m headed to her house with my parole officer just to settle my nerves. I’m sure she’s fallen asleep on her couch, but I just feel—”

“Shit. Now I’m a bundle of nerves. I’ll head to her place now. I’ll call mom and dad just to make sure she’s not out there.” The sound of him moving around filled up the car.

“Just don’t scare them, Clark. I’m sure I’m overreacting, but I just can’t sit here when I feel like my insides are going to bust open. I’m fucking scared.”

“Great. Now I am too. Shit. Alright. Keep in touch and find her for us. Hopefully it’s just a fluke and we can all get together for a long night of beers and pizza and laugh about it soon.”

“I hope so. Keep in touch.” I dropped the call and glanced over at Ronald. “I got one more trick up my sleeve and that’s it.”

“Pull it out. This shit isn’t looking good.” He leaned back in his seat and turned his face from mine.

I hated like hell to call Jon Mills, but with Alisa possibly in trouble or in harm’s way, I had no choice. I dialed his number and turned into the parking lot at Alisa’s place. He answered on the first ring, his voice pinched with anxiety like I’d only heard him sound a few times.

“Zek.”

“Jon, tell me where Melissa is. You know I didn’t do that shit to her, and she’s out of the hospital—”

He cut me off. “Shut the fuck up and find your girlfriend. Melissa showed up this morning talking crazy and acting like she used to when Dana didn’t give the girl her medicine.”

“Where is she now, Jon?” I parked the car and got out as I pulled the phone from my pocket and pressed it to my ear. I lost a bit of what he said as the phone reconnected to the hand-held device, but cut him off. “Tell me that again. I lost part of it.”

We ran toward Alisa’s apartment to find the door slightly ajar. I didn’t pause, but raced in to see her purse on the floor and no sign of her.

“I said that Melissa has paranoia-schizophrenia and is bipolar. She’s not stable, and where I would defend her to the end because she’s my daughter, I’m telling you that she’s after you. I should have called the cops, but I couldn’t. I was praying they would find her without my help. I didn’t need any more guilt on my shoulders.”

“Find her, Jon. Alisa is missing.” I hit the end button and dropped the phone in my pocket as I moved through the tiny apartment. “Alisa? Baby? Where are you?”

Insanity threatened to steal my voice as the room grew darker. I pressed my hand to the wall beside me and turned to find Ronald standing in the kitchen.

“Something went wrong here, Zek. Her purse is all over the floor and the door was open? I don’t like it.” He moved down the hall, but I couldn’t force myself to follow.

“She down there?” I called out with a shaky voice. My whole upper body was starting to shake due to the heavy dose of adrenaline pumping through me.

“No, man. She’s nowhere in the house.” He walked back into the living room as my phone rang.

I pulled it to my ear, grateful that she wasn’t dead somewhere in the apartment, but still at a complete loss for where she was. I was desperate to find her, or at least hear her voice.

Lizzy’s was the voice I got instead. “She’s not at the office for sure. We’re here now. Did you talk with her brother? Have you made it to her place?”

“Clark’s helping me look and will make sure she’s not at her mom’s, but I’m pretty sure something went wrong here.” I took a deep breath and forced myself to walk to the door. “The door was ajar when we got here, and her purse is spilled out across the floor. We need to call the cops. Now.”

“We’ll call since you’re not supposed to be there. We’ll head that way.”

“Lizzy, I need to know if you can think of anything that might help us. There’s no fucking way I’m believing Melissa took Alisa against her will. Alisa is a tough girl and doesn’t put up with any shit. Like none.”

“None!” I heard my brother’s voice in the background.

“There had to be someone who helped her. I need to figure this out. Jon’s a hot mess because Melissa was there this morning.” I started to talk again, but Lizzy cut me off.

“I don’t know of anything else, Zek. I sent Dillon over there to tell Alisa about Melissa, and he would have been the last person to—”

“Dillon? Who the fuck is Dillon?” My heart almost stopped in my chest. I pressed my back to the wall closest to me. “Oh shit. Don’t tell me you guys hired Dillon Starling.”

“Wait. What? How do you know Dillon? He’s the newest member of the firm. He—”

“Fuck, Lizzy. Dillon is Jon’s stepson. He’s Melissa’s brother.”

CHAPTER 10

e

Alisa

I
woke up to someone petting my face rhythmically. I would have assumed it was Zek, but the touch was rough, too rough.

“There you are.” Dillon’s voice was filled with an odd calmness that left me jerking back and letting out a muffled scream.

I was in the middle of someone’s living room, tied to a chair.