Blue Christmas (The Moody Blue Trilogy | Book One) (18 page)

Approaching Jackson’s
room, Alli heard laughter coming from behind the door. Candlelight danced along
the carpet under the half-closed door. Certain she had happened on to some
renegade partiers, she started past the door.

Her breath caught.
A black and navy paisley bow tie lay on the floor just outside the cracked door.
Alli leaned over to pick it up. Soft murmuring drifted from the room.

“ . . . but
you know you want me, Jackson. You always have. I’ve seen it in your eyes a
thousand times.”

Alli stopped
breathing. The speech was slurred, but she’d know that voice anywhere. She
started to reach for the door handle but found herself paralyzed.

“I’ve seen you
looking at me tonight, baby.” Liza’s voice faltered

She’s crying?
Why is she crying?

“Don’t do this, Liza.”
Jackson’s voice cracked. “I beg you, don’t do this.”

Oh my God.
Alli
watched her hand reach for the door knob as if it didn’t belong to her. Liza’s
voice drifted through the slight opening.

“You like this
dress on me, don’t you? Did you know I wore it for you? Did you? I picked it
out just for you, Jax.”

“Liza, please.”

“Sergi was always
just for fun. But you knew that, didn’t you?” Her voice grew more emotional.

Alli froze, hearing
the desperation in Liza’s sobs.

“You knew it was
always you I wanted, didn’t you? Because I’ve always known you wanted me. From
the very beginning. Say it, Jackson. Tell me you want me.”

Silence.

“SAY IT! I’m
losing patience with you, Jackson. All my letters and emails, I’ve told you a
thousand times how I felt about you. You
know
I love you.”

“What are you
talking about? You never wrote me.”

“Of course I did,
silly. I signed all my love letters—‘Til death us do part.’”

“Leslie?” he
gasped. “
You’re
Leslie? The one who’s been stalking me? Threatening me
with all those deranged letters?”

“
Love
letters,
Jax. Not deranged. I poured out all my love to you in those letters.” She sobbed
openly, hiccupping her words. “Leslie. Liza. Leslie. Liza. I thought for sure
you knew. You
had
to know. Because you love me. I know you do. Now I’m
only going to ask you one more time. Tell me you love me. Tell me now.”

Silence.

“TELL ME!”

Alli couldn’t
control the shaking. A thousand thoughts pelted her mind. Slowly, she pushed
the door open without a sound. She blinked back the tears blurring her vision.
Wild images danced along the walls from a sea of candles lit all around the
room. On the far wall in the corner, she could barely make out the image of two
people. She bit her lip to keep her staggered breath silent. Slowly the images
came into focus.

Jackson was pinned
against the far corner, Liza’s body pressed firmly against him. But it made no
sense. Jackson was a full 6’4”. Liza was so little. Why didn’t he do something?
Why would he allow her to—

“Jackson?” His
name fell from her lips.

His eyes shot
toward her. “Alli!” he gasped. “No! No! Get out of here!”

She shook her head.
“Jackson? Wha—”

“Just turn around
and leave. Now, Alli. LEAVE.”

Alli tilted her
head.
I’m dreaming. Surely this is a dream
?

Liza hadn’t moved.
She looked over her shoulder, casting a drunken glance at her. “You heard him.
Get out of here.” She paused a moment then yelled, “GET! OUT!”

Alli slowly shook
her head, back and forth, trying to make sense of it. She searched Jackson’s
face, desperate for an answer. His eyes were tightly closed. “Alli, please
leave,” he pleaded, his voice catching again.

She backed out the
door, one step after another. Suddenly she bumped into someone.

“Alli? What’s
wrong?” Sergio turned her to face him. “What’s the matter? What is it? You’re
shaking like a leaf.”

The words wouldn’t
form. She looked back at the room she’d just left.

He stepped around
her, still holding her arm. “Alli, answer me! What’s wrong?”

“Jackson . . . ”

His puzzled eyes
questioned her but she couldn’t speak another word. He stepped toward the door
into Jackson’s room. Alli reached for his sleeve, tugging to warn him. He
turned to face her just as the slurred speech continued inside the room.

“ . . . because
I’ve waited all this time. And now it’s
my
turn.”

At the recognition
of Liza’s voice, Sergio shoved the door open. “What’s going on here!?”

Liza jerked her
head to face him, but remained pressed against Jackson’s body. “Get out of
here, Sergio. GET OUT!” she screamed.

He moved closer,
Alli right behind him. “Liza, what are you doing? Get away from him!”

“He loves me, Sergio.
He always has. And I’ve been in love with Jackson. From the very beginning.”
She laughed, a wet rebuke. “You’re such a fool. You never knew, did you? I
used
you to get to Jackson.” She spewed out expletives alongside a sarcastic laugh. “You’re
soooo
naive, Sergio. They all tried to tell you about me. But you
wouldn’t listen. You actually thought I loved you, didn’t you? What are you,
blind or just stupid?” Her crazed, inebriated laughter filled the air.

Sergio turned around
to face Alli. She watched his jaw clench as he steeled his eyes.

“No, Sergio,
don’t—”

He turned like
lightning, charging across the room toward his deranged girlfriend. “Liza,
you—”

She stepped back,
revealing the gun she held firmly against Jackson’s stomach. Sergio stopped in
his tracks.

“Stop, Serg,” Jackson
warned. “She’s had it planted against my gut for the last ten minutes. She’s
drunk and stoned, and I have no doubt in my mind, she’ll fire it.” A bead of
sweat trickled down the side of Jackson’s face.

“
Stop talking about me like I’m not here
!”

“Jackson!” Alli
screamed.

Jackson leaned his
head back against the wall. “Alli, please, honey. Just back up and—”

“No!” Liza
shrieked. “She stays right where she is. Nobody leaves ’til I say so now.”

Alli watched Jackson
swallow with difficulty, his eyes pleading with her silently across the candlelit
room. Sergio pushed her back, forcing her to stay behind him.

“Liza, just put
down the gun and let’s talk about this,” Sergio asked quietly. “There’s no
reason we can’t work this out. You don’t want anybody to get hurt, now, do
you?”

“Oh, I don’t know,
maybe I do. Maybe I need to make sure Little Miss Muffet over there is never a
problem for me again.”

“No, Liza, leave
her out of this!” Jackson begged. “Please just let her go.”

Slowly blinking
her besotted eyes, Liza turned once again to face Jackson. “Oh, I don’t think I
can do that, Jax,” she said, pressing the gun harder against his stomach. “How
can I ever be sure you’re totally mine if she’s still alive?”

Alli could hear Jackson panting. He
lifted his eyes just as Sergio dived toward them. Liza grabbed Jackson’s jaw,
jerking it down toward her, then covered his lips with her own.

Sergio pounced
against her back, screaming, “LIZA!”

But it was too
late.

The shot echoed
through the room. Jackson heard Alli’s scream but she sounded far away. His
breath knocked out of him, he blinked, trying to understand what had happened.
It was only as he slid down the wall that he felt the searing pain in his
stomach. He pressed his fingers against the pain. When he drew them back, his
hand was dark and sticky. He gasped for breath but couldn’t find it.

His eyes moved
mechanically across the faces floating around him. Sergio’s horrified eyes as
he held Liza’s arms behind her. Liza’s twisted, satisfied smile. And Alli’s
contorted face, so close now though her cries sounded so far away . . .

Then it all went
black.

Chapter 13

“
A
lli, move back. You have to move back.” Jason
spoke with quiet firmness as he gently pulled her away from Jackson.

“You need to get
her out of here. Now,” the paramedic instructed, as he and three others moved
swiftly to assess Jackson’s vital signs.

“I can’t leave
him, Jason! No! Please don’t make me go!” she begged, screaming through her
tears. “Jackson! Jackson! Oh God—please! No!” She shook violently in Jason’s
arms as he tried to move her out of the way.

“Shhhh, take it
easy, Alli. The paramedics need lots of room if they’re gonna help Jackson,
okay? Shhhh . . . just try to take a deep breath for me,
okay? C’mon, Alli. Jackson needs you to pull yourself together.” He held her
tightly in his arms, hoping to stop her trembling . . . and his.

When the shot
first rang out, Jason and the rest of those in the loft flew down the long hall
toward the sound of it. Laura and Frank bolted from the other end of the hall
to find the heartbreaking scene along with the rest of them. Frank immediately
called 911 as Jason, JT, and Gevin raced to Jackson’s side. Sergio quickly
explained what had happened as he held Liza’s arms in a vise grip behind her
back, the gun kicked away from them across the carpeted floor. His anger and
panic erupted as he shouted the accusations at the woman who remained silent.

Jason had worked
swiftly alongside Gevin and JT to lower Jackson to the floor. They ripped open
his shirt, the buttons scattering silently across the carpet like discarded
pearls.

“Oh my God,” Gevin
groaned. Bright crimson seeped from the nasty black hole in Jackson’s stomach.

JT patted Jackson’s
face. “Jackson! Jax, wake up, buddy! You gotta wake up!”

Jason looked across
at Gevin and JT and saw his own terror mirrored in their faces.

JT continued. “C’mon,
Jax! Don’t you do this! Don’t you even
think
about leaving us, man! JACKSON!”
His voice cracked with despair.

Jason helped pull
the blood-soaked shirt away from Jackson’s wound. They unbuckled his belt,
loosening his slacks to relieve any possible pressure. “Gevin, he’s losing too
much blood!”

“I know, I know. Where
are those paramedics?!”

The commotion
behind them answered the question as the medical team arrived. Frank and Laura
tried to clear out the guests, instructing them to move quickly downstairs and
out of the way. Red lights swirled through the windows as dozens of police cars
swarmed the grounds responding to the 911 alert. Jason heard a police sergeant
assuring his father they had called in extra back-up knowing the identity of
the homeowners and guests. They would secure the property against
curiosity-seekers or media who would arrive as soon as the news spread.

They handcuffed Liza
who moved like a zombie as the officers pushed her out of the room. Her face
registered no emotion whatsoever.

Jason spotted Hannah,
Marissa, and Tracey huddled close together in the corner of Jackson’s room,
their hands locked tightly as they trembled together in tears. They watched in
horror as the paramedics strapped an oxygen mask on Jackson’s face and attached
other monitors. Their medical terms meant little to the hushed people gathered
in that room, but they didn’t need to know the scientific language. What they
saw was enough.

One of the
paramedics hustled to get the stretcher from the hall, popping it to lock the
wheels in place once back inside the room. As they secured Jackson’s arms
across his chest, they lifted him efficiently in one motion, placing him on the
gurney. Strapping belts across him, they continued to work on him.

“Let’s go—move out
of the way, please,” the female medic yelled. “Clear out, people! Move it!”

Suddenly everyone
was in motion, all talking at once, making sure everyone had a ride to the
hospital. Gevin wrapped his jacket around Alli, trying to keep her on her feet
as they left the room. Jason joined Hannah and Marissa, quickly ushering them
out of the room and down the stairs. In a matter of seconds they were all
outside, blinded by the countless flashing red lights of all the emergency
vehicles.

Jason shuddered as
the scene unfolded.

Oh God, please
tell me this is just a bad dream.

“C’mon, JT!
Tracey! Hurry!” Jason pulled Hannah along with the others as they climbed into
a limousine one of their guests had hired for the evening. Gevin and Marissa
held Alli between them, gently pushing her into the car. JT and Tracey climbed in
after them.

“C’mon, c’mon! Get
this thing moving!” JT shouted at the driver.

“Wait!” Alli cried.
“Where’s Sergio? Where is he?”

Realizing he
wasn’t with him, they looked outside. “There he is on the porch!” Jason threw
open the limo door. “Serg! Get in here! Hurry up!”

Sergio stood among
the crowd of party guests, his hands dug deep in his trouser pockets and
shivering in the cold night. He shook his head back and forth defiantly. “No,”
he mouthed.