When Will I See You Again (35 page)

Kissing. Very loud kissing, almost like slurping, followed by what sounded like very heavy breathing. Maybe he should have expected this, but it was still very disconcerting, to say the least.

Jon appeared embarrassed, not meeting Alexx’s eyes. “It’s only… I mean, it doesn’t…” Whatever he was trying to say was put onto hold as the unbearable sounds suddenly fell silent.

What the hell?

A tense moment passed as Alexx tried to rationalize the situation.
Everything was fine. They must have gotten onto the
elevator and lost the reception. Just be patient, give them time to
get up to the third floor, then they should be audible again.

“Must be in the elevator,” Jon echoed his thoughts, while Philippe remained silent. Alexx cast a concerned glance at Raoul’s father. His expression was passive, but Alexx thought he read concern in his eyes.

Alexx couldn’t rid himself of the feeling that something had gone horribly wrong. He didn’t want to vocalize his misgivings,
lest he jinx them. But when the too quiet minutes began to pass, one after another, and five minutes became ten and when still nothing could be heard, it was apparent that there’d been some sort of a snafu.

“Dammit!” Philippe pushed back his chair, rising. “We have to go in there and see what’s going on.”

Alexx didn’t wait to hear Jon’s response. He was already out of the van and running toward the nightclub. He knew he shouldn’t be going back in, that wasn’t the plan, but right now plan be damned.

It was Raoul’s safety he was concerned about. To hell with everything else.

Before he reached the door it opened and a figure barreled out, straight into Alexx, almost bowling him over. Alexx managed to keep his balance and tried to thrust the man out of his way, but a familiar voice caught his attention, even as Miller grabbed onto his arms.

“What’s going on? Did the plan change?” Miller asked.

At that moment, Philippe and Jon raced up. They too looked perplexed.

“Not that I know of. We’re going up to Raoul’s office to find out why the transmitter stopped.” He tugged at Miller’s arm, but the other man failed to move.

“He’s not there.” That drew them all up short.

“What do you mean?” Philippe’s voice was tense, to the point of being snappish.

“Well, after I left you all, like I was supposed to… Disappear, I mean… I went into the men’s room, and just as I was coming out, I caught sight of… Well, Foster and Raoul.” He gave Alexx an apologetic glance. “In the hallway. I stayed where I was, although I was pretty sure Foster wouldn’t have noticed me, waiting for them
to…be done and move on.” He cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable with the scenario he’d witnessed. “But then I saw that they didn’t go up in the elevator, which surprised me. They went toward the back of the club instead. So I followed them. They went outside, and I saw them get into a cab that was parked there.

And I hate to say this, but I’m pretty sure Foster had a gun.”

Alexx’s head began to swim in a sickening way. He swayed toward Miller as everything threatened to go black, clutching at his arm until the wave passed. Something had definitely gone wrong.

Something that might end up with Raoul being hurt.

“But Raoul is far stronger than Foster,” Jon protested. “That doesn’t make sense.”

It didn’t to Alexx, either, unless the newspaper heir had another weapon, something besides the gun, which would never have posed much of a threat to Raoul. Something greater, if it held Raoul in check. “He probably threatened him, that’s the only thing that makes sense. And I bet he used me to do it. He must have made Raoul believe I was in danger. That I’d get hurt if he didn’t do what Foster said.” Anger surged through Alexx, replacing the light-headedness. He clenched his fists, wishing he were strong enough to give Foster Levine what he had coming to him. If he dared to hurt Raoul… He couldn’t even make himself finish the thought.

“All right, then here’s what we need to do.” Philippe’s voice was crisp and clear and matter-of-fact. “Jon, contact the cab company and see which cab is unaccounted for. I suspect he either stole it or bribed the driver into letting him use it. Either way, see if they have tracers on their vehicles. A lot of companies do these days, I’ve heard, at least in other cities. But I don’t know that this is a problem that’s ever faced Crescent Bay before.”
“You’re right, but you never know. It would be to our advantage to find out,” Jon agreed. “What do you think he wants with Raoul? Why is he even doing this?”

“Frankly, I think he’s not playing with a full deck, and I blame myself for not noticing sooner.”

“How could you know?” Miller interjected. “He’s always acted normal, at least when I’ve seen him around the
Chronicle
. And he was really nice to me and Alexx the other night.”

Philippe turned his shrewd gaze upon Alexx. “I think he must have seen something that night. Something that made him feel you were a threat to him.”

“I don’t see how, when we didn’t know anything then ourselves. I mean we didn’t even exchange two words that first time.” Alexx’s mind went back to their first meeting, to the instant attraction he felt for Raoul, although he’d thought it was pretty well one-sided. To be fair, Raoul was closer to the change than was comfortable at the time. Alexx couldn’t help thinking about Jamie, too. About him being Jamie, or at least the possibility that he might be. Was their attraction based on who he was before or who he was now? He didn’t want to think about it too hard.

“You don’t think he’d try to hurt Raoul, do you?” And why were they still standing here when even now Raoul might be in serious danger?

The sudden silence told Alexx all he needed to know.

“He surely didn’t take Raoul back to his own apartment. What about Raoul’s?”

“That’s possible,” Jon replied, “but a bit obvious. Just to be safe, though, I’ll send men to both places.”

Alexx shook his head, with growing vehemence. He didn’t know why he knew, but he just knew where Foster had taken
Raoul. And it wasn’t to either location. It was somewhere else entirely. He pulled the key to the Ferrari from his pocket. “I know where they’ve gone.”

“Where?” Everyone seemed to be staring at him, waiting for his answer.

Alexx looked into Philippe’s eyes. “To the beach,” he said simply. “I’ll meet you there. Miller, come on.” Not waiting for a reply, and ignoring the cries of protest from Jon and Philippe, he raced to where he’d parked the Ferrari, leapt into the driver’s seat, barely waiting for Miller to get inside before he peeled out of the parking lot over Miller’s protestations to slow down.

Alexx threw caution to the winds as he stepped on the gas, his only thought to get to Raoul as quickly as possible. He was under no illusion that he possessed the sort of strength needed to wrest him from Foster’s grip, but maybe just being there would help.

Foster didn’t dare do anything in front of witnesses, did he? Or was he truly that far gone in whatever delusion he was under regarding himself and Raoul? If he was—and if push came to shove—Alexx would offer himself up as an alternate hostage.

Anything to save Raoul.

He had never driven so fast in his life. Fortune seemed to smile on him as he narrowly squeaked through each and every light between Charisma and the beach house. Miller had ceased to argue, clinging to his seat with a silent death grip. Alexx hoped that Jon had called for backup, but he also knew he’d arrive at the scene first, in Raoul’s souped-up ride. He remembered Ivan’s wry comment about police vehicles not being able to keep up with the Ferrari in any sort of pursuit, and he didn’t doubt that was true.

When he heard the first siren, his first thought was he was going to be pulled over for speeding. Never slowing, he glanced in the
rearview mirror, seeing nothing. Then he realized the cavalry was on its way, thank God.

Not waiting for them, he pulled up the car, threw it into park and jumped out, Miller after him, racing down the familiar path to the beach, to their private portion of it. Despite being unconvinced that he was Jamie McKenna reborn, the place felt too familiar to entirely discount the possibility. Deciding the boardwalk was too noisy, he jumped onto the sand, not wishing to herald their arrival.

What he thought he’d do once he found them, he wasn’t sure. Hold Foster at bay until the police arrived, no doubt. Keep him talking and keep him from hurting Raoul, most importantly. That was the priority—keep Raoul safe from harm. At any cost.

He expected to find them nearer to the enclosure that marked their private territory, so he wasn’t quite prepared to find them standing near the water’s edge. Foster had a gun trained on Raoul, whose back was to Alexx. He grinned maliciously at their approach, throwing up one hand in warning.

“That’s far enough, stay right there or I pull the trigger.” He pulled back on the hammer, as if to show he meant business. Raoul turned, eyes widening when he saw Alexx and Miller.

“What are you doing? You shouldn’t be here!”

“And neither should you,” Alexx returned. “We figured out what happened, and I just knew he was bringing you here.”

“Very perceptive of you, little one.” Foster snorted. “But then you’ve been here before, haven’t you? You and Raoul?”

Alexx made no reply, cautioning Miller to stay behind him, waving him back with his hand.

“Let them go. It’s me you want,” Raoul contended.

“I’m not going!” Alexx protested. “Let Raoul go. Don’t hurt him and they’ll go easy on you.”
“They? They who?” In the distance, sirens could be heard, the wail beginning to rise, a sure sign of the imminent approach of the police. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Then tell me.” Alexx took a step closer, giving Foster a defiant glare. It was a surreal scene. His heart hammered as he worked to remain calm, his eyes beseeching Raoul not to give up or lose heart. Behind them, he could see the shimmer of the moonlight as it played upon the water. Inside he was shaking, but outwardly he assumed a false bravado he was far from feeling.

“Tell you what? How you ruined everything? I suspect you know that already.” Foster gestured with the gun, waving it casually in the air. “He was mine once, you know. Long before you came along. At least this time.”

Alexx swallowed. What was this, public knowledge or something? What did Levine think he knew? And what did he really know?
Never mind, just keep him talking,
his more rational mind argued.
Stall for time.

“Is that so?” His voice sounded surprisingly cool. He felt like he was acting a part, like a scene from a dramatic play. Someone else’s life. Was it Jamie’s?

“They were always together. It was ridiculous. Like Siamese twins, except for being conjoined. Well, sometimes they were, weren’t they? They thought they were subtle, but I knew. I knew about their private play place, and sometimes I followed them there and watched them.”

“You what?” Raoul turned back toward Foster, clearly surprised.

Foster’s grin only broadened. “Seems that you don’t know everything, do you, Mr. Perfect? You got careless, didn’t you?

Thought you and your precious little love slave were safe from
harm. But you were wrong, weren’t you? You were very wrong.”

Alexx fought against a tidal wave of memory that swept his mind, unsure if it was real or imagined. Water. Water and moonlight. And a shadowy figure, followed by pain, a searing pain that filled his head before blessed oblivion.

“You killed him,” he whispered, horrified. “You were there that night. In the water. You were there.” He dropped to his knees, as if his legs were suddenly unable to hold him up, the knowledge of Jamie’s death coursing through him. “You killed him. And you killed Louis. And you tried to kill me.”

“Can one really kill the same person twice?” Foster threw back his head and laughed. “Yes, yes, yes to all of the above. It was me.

I admit it. I was there that night. On Halloween. I followed you down and watched you fuck. Oh how romantic.” His voice was bitter, filled with contempt. “And then you just had to go for a swim. Even then, I might not have done it if I hadn’t realized Raoul fell asleep.”

Raoul turned his head, enough for Alexx to see the stricken expression there, the realization that he had indeed been instrumental in the death of his lover.

“No, don’t!” Alexx cried. “Don’t listen to him. It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t!”

The sirens had stopped by now, but Alexx felt their presence, saw the reflections of their revolving lights as they bounced through the night. He knew Foster saw them too, raising the gun once more, aiming it directly at Raoul.

“Stand back!” he directed. “Or he dies.”

“You wouldn’t kill him. You love him,” Alexx bluffed, grasping at straws. “Or else there’s no point to any of this, is there?”
“You’re such a pitiful fool,” Foster spat out. “You don’t even know, do you?”

“Know what?” A knot twisted itself in Alexx’s stomach. He told himself to ignore Foster’s taunts, he was just bluffing, but that didn’t keep the words from coming out.

“About the shrine. His shrine. His pathetic attempt to resurrect his dead love. Lot of good that did, right, Raoul?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Raoul countered in a pain-filled voice.