Page 35 of Wildest Desire

We spent the rest of the evening talking about Jackie’s work, and how she and my mom have a spa weekend planned. Things that don’t interest me very much, but I was hungry and needed to eat.

I’m sitting in Jackie’s car waiting for her to drive me home when I hear her phone ring and see Lexi’s name appear on the screen.

Jackie answers, putting the call on the car’s Bluetooth. “Ms. Jackie, he’s here. He’s found me,” I hear her whisper. You can hear her shaking just by the sound of her voice.

“Ethan, call the police!” Jackie shouts at me. I just stare at her for a moment, confused about what's going on. “Lexi, listen to me. I’m on my way.” Jackie continues talking to Lexi in a calmer voice. What the hell is happening?

Calling the police, I give them Lexi’s address as Jackie speeds off toward Lexi’s house. All I can do is sit there and wonder what the hell is going on.

I look at the screen when I hear Lexi scream, and I’m terrified for her.

“No! Ms. Jackie. Please, please, please!” I hear her screaming. “Please,” she begs, before the phone goes dead.

“Jackie, what’s happening?” I shout at her as she goes through the contacts on her phone.

“Ethan, not now.” I feel the car speeding up a little more. “Dan, get to Lexi’s house… He’s found her,” she shouts into the speaker.

“What?” Dan yells, and I’m beginning to get angry because no one is telling me anything.

“Get there, now.”

As Jackie is disconnecting the call, I look around and see we are only a few minutes away. I’ve never seen her looking so scared in all the years I’ve known her.

Quickly putting the car in park, Jackie jumps out and runs up the stairs. She stops as she sees the front door open a little, and looks over her shoulder at me. The distress on her face worries me.

Slowly opening the door, I follow her into the house, and look around. This is what I thought her house would look like. There's a little bit of edginess to the style in the house, yet the artwork on the wall shows the family side of her.

Walking into the bedroom I hear Jackie calling out. “Lexi, it’s Ms. Jackie.” Looking around the room, I see the bed all messed up and the lamp broken on the floor. "Remember when you told me that if anything happened you wanted me to use a special word, one that only you and I would know?" I stop in my tracks, looking at the blood on the carpet. “Daisies are your favorite flower because they remind you of home and make you smile.” She stops, and we both look at the closet as it opens.

I’m going to kill the man that did this to her. She walks out, and from where I’m standing you can see her body trembling. I go to walk over to her, but Jackie stops me.

“Lexi, do you want to give me that?” Jackie puts her hand out. I look over and see the gun hanging from Lexi’s hand. Why does she have a gun?

“He found me, Ms. Jackie, he found me.” She sounds so broken, so lost, so hurt.

“Lexi.” I turn to see Dan and Jon walking into the room. Dan wraps his arms around Lexi. “I knew I should have come with you,” he says, pulling her into the tight hug.

He pulls away and cups her face. “He found me, Dan,” she says.

“What happened?” He leans down to make eye contact with her. Her eyes look so defeated.

“I-I…” She takes a step back from him. “I was in the kitchen and saw it, and knew he was here.” Dan looks back at Jon who walks out of the room. “I called…Ms. Jackie, then went to hide in here.” She walks over to the closet as Jon walks back in with a magnet in his hand. Walking over I see her wedding picture. She was married? What's happening here?

“What happened after that, Lexi?” Dan tries to calm her down, as she begins to hyperventilate.

“He pulled me out… Got on top of me… I scratched him, and then he hit me…” She stops and looks at the floor. “I think he hit me. My face hurts.” She walks over to the bed. “He threw me on the bed. He said he wanted to have sex.” She takes a deep breath, “He…was…going…to… No, he wouldn’t… I hit him… Reached for my gun.” She rubs her forehead. “Then he was gone.” She looks down at the gun and her hand starts to shake.

“Lexi, listen to me. You need to give me that gun,” Dan tells her, but her hand is clenched around it and her eyes are glued her hand.

“He’ll be back. I’ll need it,” she whispers to herself.

Jackie looks at me. The outright worry she has etched on her face worries me more than anything else.

Walking slowly over to Lexi, I speak in a low, hushed tone. “Hey, beautiful.” I’m trying to get her to look at me. “How about we let Dan run you a bath and you can take a soak? Then you’ll feel a little better. No one will leave, I promise,” I say in a calming voice. “Would you like that?” I ask, still trying to get her to look at me. I want to see the fire back in her eyes that she had yesterday.

“I have to sell my house. I have to move again,” she says, and I look at Jackie behind me, then at Dan.

“You don’t have to move again. We’ve got you. I’ve got you.” Slowly moving the hair away from her face, I look her in the eyes. “I’m not letting you go anywhere.” I move my hand down her arm to her hand. “Do you want to give me the gun?” I ask.

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