cap with a bow on top.
"Two's Company, Three's Perverse," Grayson read
from the hat laughing, "Oh, she'll love this."
The pair erupted in chortles of laughter as Alex
continued to unload the bag laying out the two
magazines he had requested, a deck of cards and
lunch.
"You brought me Quarter Pounders," Grayson asked
upon smelling the food.
"Yep.
I brought some for me too. "
"You look like you didn't sleep last night. "
"I told you I got drunk. "
"Well, at least you're safe. Have you eaten?"
"I had some toast this morning. "
"Well then you're eating with me. "
"Trust me I will," she commented stealing a fry.
They quickly devoured the lunch of fast food and
tossed the hospital food into a garbage bag to avoid
suspicion by Nurse Willamina. As soon as they were
finished, the charming nurse charged back into the
room.
"I smell something," she declared.
"What," asked Alex trying to hide a smile behind the
cards Grayson had just dealt.
"I smell something," she declared again as she
began to smell the room like a bloodhound,
"Ah-hah," she said finally, picking up the empty
McDonald's bag sitting beside Alex's chair, "You
bring bad food into room. You leave. "
"It was my lunch.
Besides, he ate his," Alex
pointed out gesturing to the empty plates on the
tray.
"Oh. I am sorry. I go, you stay longer.
Nice lady,"
she said leaving the room and taking the tray with
her.
"Thank God she didn't see the hat," erupted
Grayson as he laughed.
"Ditto," laughed Alex.
"They say laughter is the best medicine," came a
voice from the door.
"James," said Alex.
"Jimmy," said Grayson.
"Hi. Too late to deal in a third," he asked strolling
into the room.
"Never too late," replied Grayson peeling five cards
off the top of the deck for James.
"What are we playing?"
"Gin," replied Alex looking at James across the span
of the bed.
"Great drink, bad game. "
"Well the beat up guy chose it. How did you know?"
"Sam told me."
"I should've known," Alex said shaking her head.
"You don't look that bad, pal," said James to
Grayson, "Not as bad as this hand."
"Thanks, Jimmy; knew you'd agree.
Seems like
every time Alex looks at me she thinks I'm dying."
"No, I don't," protested Alex.
"More peoples.
Not good.
Need rest, mister,"
bustled in the nurse.
"He's our brother.
Can't he stay," requested Alex.
"First sister, now brother.
Oy," she exclaimed
before leaving.
"That was Nurse Willamina," explained Gray.
"Oh, good.
By the way, thanks for telling me about
this.
You know one of you could have called me
last night or this morning," said James.
"It was kind of difficult for us to call last night,
James.
We were both unconscious. Any way, if
you hadn't left Alex at the restaurant this may not
have happened," voiced Grayson.
"You think so? Well let me tell you something, Dan
Reynolds is the guy who came into your house and
shredded the sheets on the bed," James said
turning his attention to Alex.
"Dan did that," Alex replied
"Yeah.
Mrs. Thompson identified him from a
company photo that Ashmore Valley Exterminators
took. Sam knew who he was."
"Damn," sighed Alex.
"What's this about your bed?"
Alex and James filled in the blanks for Grayson who
listened intently, "He broke into your house, then
he beat the crap out of me and hurt you in the
process."
"You didn't tell me you got hurt," said James looking
her over for injuries.
"Not badly; more on my legs than anything. "
"Thank God.
Alex, I'm so sorry about last
night.
If I had thought about how inappropriate
my request was, I never would have asked."
"Well, I can see your point, James. But my answer is
still no. I'm sorry too," Alex responded reaching
across the bed to take his hand.
"Ahem," coughed Grayson, "Should I leave?"
James laughed, "No, I think we should. There are
some things we need to finish talking about and I
don't want Nurse Willamina in here busting our
chops."
"Alex? Are you going to be alright?"
"I'll be fine, Gray. Thanks. You get some rest, okay?
I'll sneak back in later tonight and check on you,"
she whispered before laying a light kiss on his
cheek.
A twinge of jealousy ran through James but he
squelched it quickly. It wouldn't do for him to be so
jealous of her relationship with Grayson while she
was handling Francine's pregnancy.
"Take care, bud.
We'll be back later on," said
James nodding his head.
"Thanks guys."
James and Alex smiled at Grayson and then
retreated from the room.
"Good. Family leaving,"
commented the Danish nurse as the couple passed
her. They smiled again and proceeded to the
elevators.
"I missed you," James whispered once they were
ensconced in the elevator.
"Me too," she whispered back.
James kissed Alex lightly on the lips attracting the
stares of the other passengers in the car. The
elevator was reaching the lobby when the sound of
Alex's cell phone began to ring in her purse.
"Alexandra Chambers.
.
. Hi,
Sam.
.
. Really.
.
. Yeah, I'll be right there,"
she said into the receiver then clicked it off, "Dan
Reynolds and his partner are at the Ashmore Valley
headquarters. They want me to come down and
identify them.”
"Let's go then," suggested James leading her from
the hospital to his car.
Alex left her car behind and
drove with James downtown to the police station
on Washington Street.
Sam met them in the lobby and escorted Alex to an
interrogation room where Dan was being held.
His
partner, who Sam said was Dominic Shelly, was in a
separate room awaiting identification by the maître
d' from the restaurant.
"So, where were you last night, Mr. Reynolds," Alex
heard Rob ask in the interrogation room.
Sam,
James and Alex were stationed on the other side of
the two way mirror watching the interrogation
which seemed to be going nowhere fast.
"Alex, is that him," asked Sam from behind her.
Alex stared at Dan Reynolds, her skin crawling at
the memory of them crossing paths so many
times. Shaking her head yes, she felt James' arms
go around her.
"Thanks, Alex. I'll let Rob know," Sam said before
turning for the door.
"Sam," Alex called, "Can you ask him why? Why
me?"
"Sure, Alex"
Sam walked out of their room into the one they
were observing. They watched as Sam told Rob and
Dan that a positive identification had been made
and that Dan was being charged with breaking and
entering, assault and a list of other charges.
Dan stared hard at the mirror.
Alex felt him
probing it and almost seeing her through it.
She
retreated further into James' grasp trying to hide
from that stare.
"Are you alright," asked James.
"He knows I'm here. "
"He can't hurt you anymore, Alex. "
"I know. "
"I want to talk to Alex," demanded Dan finally,
"Alex! I know you're in there. I want to talk to
you. Not these damned pigs!
He said I wouldn't
serve time.
He promised!
Alex," he shouted at
the mirror.
"No such luck, Reynolds. You're screwed to the
wall. There is nothing you can do to get out of this,"
assured Rob.
"Alex," continued Dan shouting at the
window.
Finally, he got up and rushed to the
mirror, banging on it with his shackled hands.
Sam and Rob wrestled him to the ground and
forced him back to a chair, handcuffing him to it,
"Behave yourself! This is not helping your case,"
yelled Rob.
Sam retreated from the room and returned to the
observation room to find Alex near tears and James
glaring at Dan's face.
"Is she alright," asked Sam.
"Just fabulous, Sam," hissed James.
"I want to talk to him," murmured Alex.
"What," asked James stunned.
"I want to talk to him.
I want to know who made
him do this to me."
"What makes you think that anyone made him do
this," asked Sam.
"You heard
him.
Somebody.
.
. no.
.
. some man
promised he wouldn't serve time.
I want to know
who he's talking about."
"Alex, he just may be saying that to get to you."
"Sam's right. We don't know what he'll do to you
once you're in there with him.
I'm not going to
take that chance. God help him if he touches you
again. "
"James, I'll be alright.
Sam can handcuff both arms
to the chair and I'll stand near the door and stay
with me. I won't go any closer. Sam, what do you
think," she asked turning to the officer and her
friend.
"Let me get him secured. When I nod my head,
come on in.
Rob will stand outside the door and
I'll stay in there, James. "
Sam left the room again and secured leg irons and
another pair of handcuffs.
Securing Dan to the
chair, he nodded at the mirror.
"Are you sure you want to do this," asked James
again.
"Yes, I am," she replied placing a kiss on his lips,
"When I'm finished with this, we're going to sit
down and talk about Francine and her baby. "
Alex travelled the short distance between the two
doors, took a deep breath and walked in.
"God you smell fabulous," said Dan licking his lips
salaciously.
"Thank you," responded Alex, "You wanted to see
me."
"Does he break every promise he makes?"
"Who?"
"Come closer and I'll whisper it in your ear. "
"No, thanks; your breath is bad, you stink and
frankly I don't like you very much. Now who are we
talking about?"
"The man with the plan and the money," answered
Dan in riddle like fashion.
“Who, Dan?"
"Will you make sure I don't serve time?"
"I can't do that; that's up to other people."
"I know something you don't know," sang Dan.
Alex watched as Dan continued to sing and lick his
lips. She was repulsed by him, "So the man with the
plan and the money.
Who is he?"
Dan continued
to sing and eye her body.
She felt like she were on
display in some museum.
"This isn't working," James said to himself as he
watched the mind games that Dan was playing on
Alex. James nodded, lit a cigarette and returned his
attention to the interrogation room.
"Dan," said Alex, hoping to pull his attention back to
her. She watched as his unfocused eyes returned to
eying her.
She walked away from the door, closer
to him, "Dan, did Tad Pierce hire you to torment
me," she asked.
Alex watched as the emotions changed on Dan's
face.
She watched as the anger, unfulfilled passion
and desire came into focus in his eyes, "That
bastard! He promised me no jail time. He promised
that if I made you go back to D.C., he would make
me very rich.
All I had to do was have you. I could
still have you and nobody would stop me," Dan
raved, his eyes going glassy again.
He attempted
to stand up but his shackles only allowed him partial
movement.
Hunched over with the chair on his
back, Dan began to walk towards Alex, "I'm going to
have you," he began to sing.
Alex backed up against the door and almost fell
over Sam and Rob charged in.
Rob forced Dan
back into a sitting position as Sam escorted Alex out
of the room.
"Are you alright," asked James gathering her up in
his arms.
"Yeah.
I'm fine," she exhaled, "Can we go home
now, Sam?"
"Sure. If I need anything else, I'll call you. "
"Drop me off at the hospital," requested Alex as
they walked to the car.
"You going to tuck in Grayson," joked James.
"Yeah, I am. I want to make sure he doesn't need
anything and see when he'll be released. Besides, I
need to get my car. "
"Alright.
You know I can't resist that smile. "
James and Alex drove the short distance from the
police station to the hospital each wrapped in their
own thoughts.
Alex was preoccupied with the best
way to deal with Francine and James was
suppressing an urge to be jealous of Alex's
attentions to Grayson.
"I'll be home in about an hour," said Alex kissing
James' lips.
"If you're not, I'm coming for you."
"Alright," Alex laughed getting out of the car and
heading for the door of the hospital.
James pulled away from the curb and pointed the
car for home.
Lighting a cigarette, James inhaled
the smoke and caught a lingering whiff of Alex's
perfume. Smiling, he hoped that the smell would
become a permanent part of his home and his life.
Alex caught the elevator in the lobby and pushed
the button for Grayson's floor. She was surprised to
find Nurse Willamina still manning her post behind
the station. Flashing the nurse a wicked smile, Alex
continued into Grayson's room and pushed the
door open.
"Hey handsome, what's up," asked Alex cheerfully
as she crossed the floor to his bed.
As she got
closer, she noticed the stone faced expression and
the odd tilt of his body.
"Grayson," she questioned leaning over him.
Alex gasped as she saw the blood seeping through
the sheet in a large red pool, "Oh my God.”
Alex grabbed the call button and pressed it
urgently, hoping to get anybody's attention.
"What is problem," announced the nurse as she
came through the door.
"Please, get a doctor, he's hurt. "
"Of course, he hurt. He got nasty bumps," said the
nurse coming closer to the bed.
"No not that," she angrily bit off, "That," pointing to
the bloody sheet.
A second nurse rushed into the room and saw what
Alex was pointing, "I'll get Dr.
Gibson," she said
running from the room.
"Here, help me," urged Nurse Willamina pulling
back the sheet from the open wound.
Alex assisted the nurse in pulling the sheet down
and folding it into a compression pad. The nurse
held the pad on until the doctor arrived with the
second nurse and a cart of medical supplies.
Nurse Willamina handed Alex over to the care of a
candy striper who had come in with the doctor and
took her to the waiting room.
"Wait here. Dr.
Gibson will come get you when
he's finished. "
Looking around the room and taking a seat, Alex
noticed just one other person, a man who sat
reading a copy of "Time" magazine with Tad's face
on the cover. Alex shook her head quietly and
wondered how this could have happened. Dan and
Dominic were in jail and couldn't have caused