Page 86 of Alluring

Jack needed to sit down. He stumbled out of the room, found the closest chair and plopped down. Resting his elbows on his knees, he cradled his head in his hands.This was all his fault! Alexis was out there somewhere with a psycho who wanted to kill her andIT WAS ALL HIS FAULT! Rage built inside him. His vision turned red. FUCK! He wanted to shout, yell, smash and destroy things. He pulled at his hair, trying to block the rage with pain. But the rage was all consuming. It wouldn't be denied.

He always knew deep down inside, that the person stalking Alexis was connected to him somehow, after all, the threats didn't start until she met him. He'd rationalized it was a sick person doing this, something he had no control over. He selfishly kept Alexis near him, he had to have her, couldn't let her go. All he wanted to do was protect her, keep her safe but keeping her at his side, is what put her in danger.

After the attempt on her life, he should have whisked her away somewhere, where no one could have touched her. Instead, he threw money at it, hiring worthless bodyguards and extra security. All his millions would be worthless if he didn't have his Alexis. He needed her. He wouldn't know how to survive without her.

He didn't realize he was crying until he felt a light tap on his knee. He raised his head. Steph was kneeling before him. He couldn't even remember the last time he cried. Certainly not as an adult, maybe sometime as a child. He wiped his hands down his face.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," Steph spoke so softly, he almost didn't hear it.

"I can't live without her." His voice was a deep rasp, unrecognizable even to his own ears.

"We're gonna find her. We'll get her back safe."

"Jack," Stan said, approaching them. "We've got a lead."

Jack wiped his face again and stood. Breakdown time over. Now was the time to act. "What is it?"

"There's a property just outside of Pahrump. A ranch house. It's been in Ms. Jackson's family for generations. It's likely she would take Alexis there. I notified the police. They're sending a team, but it will take us two hours to get there."

"No it won't." Jack pulled out his phone, thankfully, Becky answered this time. "Prepare the chopper. Tell the pilot to be ready to leave in twenty minutes."

* * * * *

Alexis had lived in Nevada her whole life and had never once been to Pahrump. The only reason she knew she was in Pahrump now was because she passed a sign welcoming her here. The town was old, barren, and dry looking.

Alexis glanced at Sabrina in the rear-view mirror. She was ever vigilant, watching Alexis's hands carefully. The gun was still digging into the back of her head, but the area had gone numb about an hour ago.

The first time she'd looked in the rear-view mirror, when they'd left Steph's apartment complex, she'd been very surprised at the face looking back at her. After further reflection, Sabrina being her stalker, made sense. She always seemed to be around, and she seemed to have a strange fascination with Jack.

Sabrina didn't talk and Alexis, not wanting to set her off in any way, stayed silent as well. Which gave her a lot of time to think about her situation. She'd been terrified at first. Her hands had shaken so badly, she had trouble steering the car. But a person could stay terrified for only so long, oh she was still scared, but it was a functioning kind of scared, and that meant she could think.

She thought of many scenarios for when they reached their destination. Many of them included her overpowering Sabrina and taking away the gun. Unfortunately, she didn't know where they were going, thus making many of her scenarios unpredictable.

"Turn right, at this dirt road."

The sudden noise in the silent car, startled Alexis, causing her to bang her head on the barrel of the gun.

"Careful. You don't want me to accidentally pull the trigger."

Alexis shuddered at the thought. The dirt road was rough, moving the barrel of the gun to dig into new sections of her head that, unfortunately, weren't numb.

An old, weathered, ranch-style house came into view. The paint peeled and was so faded, the red, it probably once was, was now a light pink.

"Turn in to the driveway, then turn off the car. Keep your hands visible at all times."

So this was it. This was where she was going to die. Wait, what was she thinking. She wasn't going to die here. This is where she kicked ass by implementing one of her scenarios.

She heard the back car door open and Sabrina step out. Her door was thrown open and a hot wave of desert heat hit her in the face.

"Step out, slowly."

The gun was no longer pointed at her head. Sabrina stood a few feet away the gun aimed at Alexis, mid-body. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she recalled that gut shots were bad. They killed you very slowly. Killed being the operative word. She did not want to be gut shot.

Moving on.

She did as directed, getting out of the car slowly, hands raised in the air.

"Go to the front door. Open it. Step into the house. There's a chair in the middle of the room. Sit in it. Move, now."

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