Page 58 of Allison

“Tex, will you get me a necklace and earrings to match,” Worm asks. “I’d like her to have several options. If one of them is removed, maybe the others will be left on her.”

“Yes, I can get you what you need, though it’ll take a few days.”

“I understand. Send me the bill for everything you’ve done for her,” Worm says. Wallace narrows his eyes at Worm. No doubt, he’s going to give Worm shit for this, but Worm feels it’s his responsibility.

“There is no bill. I’ll let you know if I find out anything more.” Tex ends the call before Worm can reply.

He places his phone in his pocket and waits for the ass chewing to commence. He squares his shoulders and faces Wallace. He isn’t going to apologize for looking out for Allison. He might not be able to claim her as his woman, but hewilllook after her.

“I don’t know what to say,” Wallace admits after a long silence. Their other teammates look back and forth between them. “I want to be pissed at you for messing with Emma’s cousin, but I can see, this isn’t just you scratching an itch. You care for her.”

“I do, but I have to be honest, man. She and I aren’t riding off into the sunset like you and Emma or the rest of you”—he gestures to his friends, gathered around—“I just need to know that she’s safe. I’ll do whatever I can to make sure that is the case.”

Wallace steps closer. Worm braces for the punch he is certain is coming his way, but never lands. Wallace sticks his hand out. Worm takes it and gives it a shake. Then he’s pulled into a bro-hug with back slapping. “Thanks for looking out for her. Emma has been so worried. I hate seeing her like this. It will be a relief to know Allison will have the trackers, if she’ll wear them.”

“You think she won’t?” Worm asks his friend as they step apart.

“Honestly, I doubt she will if she knows what they are,” Wallace admits. “She’s a stubborn one, very independent. She would see it as a way to control and monitor her, not as a means to keep her safe should the worst happen again, but then again, we don’t know what she’s been through so she might be glad to wear them.”

Worm runs this over in his head. Wallace is correct. Allison is stubborn and independent. He just won’t tell her about the trackers in the jewelry. He’ll just have to come up with some excuse for giving her an expensive gift when they aren’t a couple.”Fuck! This isn’t going to be easy.

38

ALLISON

Aweek later, Allison is a nervous wreck. She has tried to carry on with her life after being released. She’d gotten up the next morning and began looking for a new story, even though she really wanted to find out who the masked-man could be and bring his organization to the ground.

However, his warning kept playing over and over in her mind, so she’d forced herself to focus on other things. With a concerted effort to avoid anything related to the missing children, she’d begun to investigate other avenues that might still give her information about what’s going on and those that are helping to cover it up.

Allison had done as she’d promised, but the masked-man or more specifically, his lackey, Bruno, hasn’t kept his part of the deal. At first Allison had thought the feeling of being watched was only in her head. It would be understandable after what she’d been through, but now a week later, she’s convinced she’s being stalked. It’s the only explanation.

The first time she’d seen Bruno, the day after she’d been released, she’d nearly thrown up. She’d done a double take, but when she’d looked the second time, he wasn’t there. She’d actively looked for him despite her fear, but he wasn’t anywhere to be found. After thirty minutes of searching, she managed to convince herself she’d imagined seeing him.

The next day, she’d woken to the feeling of someone being in her apartment. She’d leaped from her bed, reaching into the nightstand for Alice, only to remember at the last moment, she no longer had her trusty handgun. Masked-man or Bruno had removed it from her suitcase at some point, because she couldn’t find her holster or gun when she’d opened her suitcase to get clothes.

She’d, then grabbed the chair she kept in her bedroom and jammed it up under the knob on her bedroom door. She’d sat on her bed, shaking in fear while she listened to someone walking around in the next room. She’d called 911, but when the officers had arrived, no one was there and the complex manager said the security system had gone offline during the night so there wasn’t any confirmation that a stranger had been in the building. The officers who had arrived to investigate treated her like she was a child that was afraid of the dark. She’d been raging pissed at the time, but now? Maybe they’d been right. Maybe her fear and the trauma of being abducted had caused her to imagine the whole thing.

Allison is beginning to believe she’s losing her mind. More than once in the last few days, she’s found things moved from where she’d put them. Not only that, but every time she goes out, she has the feeling she’s being watched. She can’t take it anymore. She can’t stay here in San Diego any longer. She needs to get away, to home, to her family and safety before she loses what’s left of her sanity. She doesn’t know what to do.

Allison’s relationship with Emma has been strained during this time, too. Emma knows Allison is lying about why she’d been MIA for three days. So, Emma has pressed her for the truth, but Allison has maintained her story which has frustrated Emma. They’ve argued every day, but they haven’t stopped talking to one another. For that Allison is grateful, but she can’t call Emma and tell her what’s happening without confessing the lies she’s told. Even if Emma would understand her reasons for lying, telling her anything will only put Emma and herself in danger. Yet, she needs someone. She needs help. She can’t take this anymore. The stress is weighing her down.

Allison pulls up her contacts and presses the call button. Her phone rings only once before she hears a familiar voice. “Sugar, are you okay? How have you been?” Allison immediately breaks down at the sound of Russell’s voice and begins to cry.

“Allison, please calm down and talk to me.” His statement only makes her cry that much harder. She had been convinced he wouldn’t answer when she called, but he had. Additionally, he doesn’t seem to be angry with her despite the rude things the fake her had sent or the fact she hasn’t called him since the night she’d gotten free. Emma has scolded her more than once for not calling or texting Russell since that first night back. “Please sugar, talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”

She can hear others in the background demanding to know who Russell is talking to.Where is he?“Quiet!” Russell yells, though it’s muffled as if he has pulled the phone away from his mouth. The sounds in the background die down immediately. In the meantime, Allison has gotten herself somewhat under control when he comes back to the phone. “Sugar?”

“I-I’m okay,” she stutters out, “I’m at ho-home.” More tears pour down her face as her phone makes the distinctive sound of an incoming Facetime call. She quickly answers to see Russell’s handsome face.

“Oh sugar, please don’t cry,” Russell implores the moment he sees her. “Where are you, right now?”

“My apartment,” she says, her voice growing stronger as she gets better control of herself. Seeing him has calmed her torrent of emotions. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for, sugar?” Another sob escapes her.

“I-I,” she blows out a breath, “I lied to Emma. I wasn’t working on a story when you all couldn’t reach me.”

“Where were you?”

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