Page 75 of Truths

The front door kicks in, and it stops Lex's sentence. Dani wants to run and hide and scream and cry all at the same time, but all she can do is sit there, completely paralyzed in fear. The last thing she wants is to go back to those basement dungeons. She can't do it again. She'd rather they just killed her.

“...see if they know you're here,” Lex finishes her sentence as two men Dani vaguely recognizes walk into the kitchen and stand behind her.

Their aimed guns slowly lower when they realize only the two women sit in the kitchen. They wait to listen for anyone else before letting their guard down, and Dani feels the tears sting her eyes.

“Look, we don't want to hurt you, Alexis,” one of them says. “We know who you are, and we know it'll be a shitstorm if anything happens to you. You have connections we don't want to fuck with.”

“We just want Dani, and we'll be on our way,” the other says.

Dani shakes in pure fear as it courses through her veins like ice water, but Lex watches them with an eerie calmness. She's never seen anything like this before, even with Dax, who was always so calm under pressure.

“Why do you want Dani?” Lex asks. “You're not using her to drive Dax crazy, otherwise, you would've let on that she was alive a long time ago.”

“She knows too much.”

Oh, God, I shouldn't have ever left Dax's house. This wouldn't be happening if I was at his house right now. Well, no, that's not true. They already broke in looking for me. If I was with Dax, he'd probably be dead, and I don't want that. But I also don't want Lex to die, and I don't want to be taken.

“I know you said you don't want to fuck with me because of my connections, but I think you're forgetting a few things.”

Dani glares at her. What the hell is Lex doing? She's going to make this so much worse.

“Yeah? What are those?” the first one asks, and his tone tells Dani he's amused.

“Well, first, taking her is no different than taking me or another old lady. She's part of the Drifters now, and if you fuck with one of us, you get all three charters after you.”

The second one laughs. “We ain't scared of you.”

“Well, then you're stupid. Which brings me to the second point. It's not in my blood to just let you take her. You have to know that if you know anything about me.”

Okay, great. They'll have two hostages. What good is that going to do?

“We know about you.”

“Then you shouldn't be as worried about hurting me as you should be about me hurting you.”

They both laugh as though her statement is the funniest thing she could have possibly said. “Oh, that's good.”

“I'm really glad my kids aren't here right now.”

“We told you that we don't want to hurt you. Let us take Dani, and we'll leave you alone, Alexis.”

Her eyes narrow. “Why are you calling me Alexis?”

“Because it's your name,” the first one says, annoyed now instead of amused.

“No one calls me Alexis. Unless they're my parent, and I'm in trouble,” she says. “Or...”

“Or... what?” the second man asks.

Smirking, she shakes her head. “This is going to be easier than I thought it was going to be. You don't really know who I am.”

“You're the daughter of the VP and married to the Sergeant at Arms’ son.”

“Oh, you really should have gotten the cliff notes of who I am and what I do.”

They both laugh. “Yeah, sure.”

Dani's eyes widen as Lex pulls a gun from under the table and fires two quick shots. Two loud thuds hit the ground behind her as she flinches before jumping up to lean against the sink. Her eyes land on the two dead men lying on the kitchen floor. “You shot them.”

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