Page 64 of Two Hearts' Christmas Homecoming

Lex was in kind of a hurry after that, so after she picked out multiple items that she thought they should get for Mom, Arielle, and Izzy, since they were going in on it together, they headed back to the table to have some coffee with the family after Suzanne said she’d have everything ready to pick up tomorrow.

As soon as they returned and sat down, Jake showed up at the table and had a cup of coffee with them while the kids ate dessert.

“Anytime you’re ready,” he finally said to Lex. “We shouldn’t be too long.”

Dad had already paid the bill but allowed Lex to leave a generous tip before they left the table. Matt would drive everyone home in the SUV.

“First, we’ll head into the security office, so Lex can hopefully point out the man who was associated with his days in captivity,” Jake said softly to Gabe and Amy. “And then we’ll head upstairs to my office and hear Lex’s story. He wanted you to be here too Amy when we went over the details.”

“It’s better if you know what you’re getting into when it comes to my past, Amy,” Lex said softly as they followed Jake.

“I understand, Lex,” she said, reaching out and clasping his hand tightly as they filed into the security office, located near the lobby. “Although, I’ve always kind of known. Don’t forget—I was pretty nosy as a kid.”

“I ran through the time frame from when you were here this morning, Lex,” Jake said as he directed Gabe and Amy to take a seat.

Lex and Jake stood over the computer screen while Jake had a tech run through the footage from the lobby.

After only a few minutes, Lex pointed and said, “There he is. That’s the guy.”

Jake looked grim. “I was afraid of that.”

“Why?” Gabe asked gruffly, standing to take a better look at the screen.

“His company just earned a government contract to produce some important machinery parts for the military,” Jake answered. “He’s here to seal the deal. Plus, he’ll be sticking around for the charity event next week.”

Jake glanced at Lex first, and then at Amy and Gabe. “Let’s go upstairs to my office so we can talk.”

A few minutes later, Dad and Amy were seated on some chairs in the apartment upstairs while Jake and Lex settled across from them on the couch, going over some notes on Jake’s laptop which he had resting on the coffee table.

Jake pursed his lips. “Lex? Tell us about this guy.”

“He was a client,” Lex answered crisply. “I won’t go into details, but he was abusive. He’s the one who broke my ribs and beat me up…repeatedly.” Lex paused, his gaze meeting Amy’s across the room. “I was the only one he ever requested when he came into town. One night, I’d passed out. I was always drugged pretty heavily when I was taken away from the farm. And when I was with him, I was given a lot of alcohol. When I woke, I was told that I’d killed this guy. My…pimp, I guess you could call him, threatened to go to the cops if I ever tried to run away.”

Amy’s eyes filled with tears, recognizing the harsh reality of everything Lex had been through. So, she stood, crossing the room to sit on the arm of the couch beside Lex, reaching for his hand.

He looked relieved, squeezing her hand tightly before he continued, “But then Zane came up with a plan, and he couldn’t handle Caleb all on his own. Zane told me later that he would have never left the farm without me either.”

“Was that why you were planning on running away after you moved in with us?” Amy asked.

“I didn’t want any of you in danger,” Lex answered, looking at Dad. “But after you discovered that the farm was abandoned, I figured that we were probably relatively safe for a while.” And then he grimaced. “If anyone did come for me, it would more than likely be the cops anyway, if I was responsible for killing the guy.”

Dad nodded his obvious agreement, looking a little choked up himself.

“So, what’s the plan?” Dad asked.

“First, I’ll do a deep dive into this guy’s background. Did you know his name, Lex?”

Lex nodded no. “Names were never mentioned around me, as I recall, and if there was, I was too drugged up to notice. But he always had bodyguards.”

“I think he still does,” Jake said, becoming thoughtful. “I’ve got a few ideas of what to look for.” He pursed his lips. “He’s supposed to be from the U.K. Do you remember him having an accent?”

“When he’d get out of control, I guess he did. It’s funny how I didn’t remember until now.”

“Maybe not so funny. When my security guy ran his credentials, there was an incomplete history. If he hadn’t had a meeting with General Pierce, I would have hesitated at taking his reservation. Now I’ll dig deeper and see if I can access his passport.” Jake hesitated. “You said that you were told that you killed him, Lex. Where was this supposed to have happened?”

“At a hotel in Milwaukee. An expensive one. I was told that I shoved him off the balcony and that the cops were on their way, so we had to get out of there quickly.”

“Wait a minute, Lex. Were the cops actually there when you left?”

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