Authors: Kristen James
She made her way back into a business district and looked for a place to hide and think. It felt like she was thinking too much and not acting, but in this heat, she couldn’t seem to think straight in the first place.
She came to a wooden bench with pots of pink and white pansies growing on both ends and sat down to consider her options. She didn’t see any, and the outrage of it burned up inside her. Wasn’t there anything she could do? She could go to the police. But, she realized, they didn’t have legal grounds to bust into Keith’s home and look for her father, if they believed her story. Keith said he’d know if she went to the police, and he’d hurt Jerry.
Her stomach growled at smelling the fragrance of baking bread from a bakery. Cora listed the few possible options again, but her body wasn’t ready to move yet. It was dangerous to sit out in the open where anyone, including Keith’s men or Alexander, might see her. That thought made her feel like someone was watching her from somewhere behind her. She even thought she felt someone walking up behind her.
A man’s hand appeared in front of her, holding a fountain drink cup down next to her. “Ni…” She cut off mid word when she looked up to find Alexander looking back at her. On a delayed reaction, she sprang up to run. His hand came down on her shoulder. “I’m here to help you.”
“Yeah, right.” She looked around for someone to yell to.
He shook the cup, rattling the ice, and actually smiled at her. “You look thirsty.”
It wasn’t his smile that stopped her from running, but the black and blue bruise that covered half of his forehead. “What happened to you?” It looked painful.
“Nick. You didn’t know about that?” he asked. He must have read the confused look on her face in answer. “Here.”
She took the cup, the ice-cold cup, and found it full of lemonade. After a tentative sip, she couldn’t hold back and drained the entire drink. She wasn’t sure what to say. Her mind got hung up thinking about Nick hitting Alexander, hurting another person. So Nick had bashed Alexander’s head in and drugged her. On the other side, Alexander had been such a jerk at Keith’s house and at the cabin. So why was he here, offering his help? Now she was really confused.
Glancing around, she decided she would hear him out. They were on a public street with people around, and she needed something to help her find Jerry.
He put one foot up on the bench and rested his arms on his leg, watching her and the street behind them closely. He looked concerned. Concern on his face was an oxymoron, but there it was. His brows pulled together and his eyes held a quizzical look.
“You just happened to find me?” she asked in a hopefully-neutral voice. It had to mean something that he was being nice… she had no idea what to make of it.
“Of course not. You were at Jerry’s house.” Dressed in a nice shirt and slacks, he was composed, not angry. There wasn’t even a smug grin at finding her a sweaty mess. “Was it worth it?”
Without planning to get into the details, she replied, “I needed to look.”
His jaw clenched. “You took off on me to look in your father’s house?”
“You think...” She laughed out loud, picturing Alexander when he realized she was gone. He thought she ran away and with Nick, the silly man. “I didn’t take off. Nick kidnapped me.” Her smiled faded. “I guess after he hit you.”
Alexander’s gaze bore into her eyes intently and then he looked across the street, rubbing the stubble on his chin. She was relieved when he sat down then. The way he stood over her was somewhat unnerving. Almost as unnerving as wondering what he was thinking.
“He drugged me, can you believe that?” The sugar in the lemonade had gone to her head, making her dizzy and giddy. The surreal situation didn’t help.
Instead of anger in his face, he showed an almost fatherly concern when he asked, “Did he hurt you?”
“Hurt me? Nick? No.” This friendliness was so unexpected that she dropped her defenses. “He seems to think
you
want to hurt me.”
She was telling him way more than she should.
“He seems to be the most lethal one of us.” Alexander pointed to the huge bump on his head and stood. “Come on, I’m taking you back to my room and getting you dinner.”
He took the empty cup and threw it in a wastebasket, and then took her hand and nodded up the road. He didn’t hang onto her hand so tightly that she couldn’t pull it away, and run. But somehow his manner kept her walking beside him.
He had completely avoided her implied question. Why on earth should she go with him? The world must have stopped at some point and started turning in the opposite direction. She felt like he wanted to help her.
“Can you tell me where my father is?”
As he walked, he said under his breath, “Jerry’s here in Eugene now, trying to explain things to Keith.” The sidewalk came to a hotel and Alexander directed her up the first flight of stairs.
Once inside the door, she fell into a large armchair, enjoying the air conditioning. She noticed the dark burgundy curtains, cream walls, and lack of any personal items, except his suitcase and either a briefcase or laptop case lying on the small table.
Something soft landed on her lap. A white T-shirt and shorts, freshly washed and folded perfectly. By the door again, he asked, “Will you stay put while I get you dinner?”
The offer of food was too tempting. She nodded and watched him leave. Apparently he thought she’d stick around. She laughed again. She had told him Nick kidnapped her, so he might be thinking she wanted his help now.
What on earth was she doing? She didn’t stay with Nick because he was a Holloway, but now she was sitting in Alexander’s room. She couldn’t take Alexander’s help for the same reasons she couldn’t stay with Nick.
But how else could she find Jerry? If only Nick had brought her back to town, got her a room, and offered to help. He offered protection, but she didn’t need protection, she needed someone who could help her find her father. Maybe Alexander was that person.
That’s why Alexander wasn’t worried that she’d leave. He knew she finally saw he was the one person who could find Jerry.
The question remained… why would he help her? Maybe he just wanted to get his hands on Jerry. Or maybe he was coming back with a few of Keith’s other men. Then again, he could handle her all on his own, and an unwelcome sixth sense told her that he wanted them alone.
With effort, she pried herself up from the seat. She slid the small bag with the CD between the mattresses and pushed it back a ways, and then went into the bathroom. She was so out of it, she stepped into the shower before it warmed up all the way. The cold water sputtered down and woke her up some, enough to take a long shower, change into the clean clothes and lay down on the bed. She smelled Alexander all around, maybe on her. She couldn’t get away from the smell. Was it the smell of betrayal or help? Her conscious nagged her. This was wrong, but in that I-don’t-care-it’s-wrong kind of way.
Everything was mixed up. She might need Alexander’s help but she wanted… She wanted
Nick
. In a painful way. She wanted his kisses and caresses, his body against hers, fulfilling the fantasies she had at the cabin. She wanted him to find her and say it’d all be okay: He knew where Jerry was.
Her eyes fell shut. She was falling and spinning in a wonderful way, sinking –
Fresh bread?
Her eyes jerked open as her mouth watered. Alexander sat beside her, unwrapping a sandwich, and looking her over again like she’d been in a car accident. He still looked like a 1950s gangster, but he didn’t seem dangerous to her right now.
He handed the sandwich to her once she got herself upright. She bite into it and stopped, savoring the flavors mixing in her mouth and the happy endorphins erupting all over her body.
She almost didn’t care how closely he watched her. Almost. She grabbed it and retreated to the side table, turning away from him. Fresh tomato, provolone cheese, lettuce, roast beef!
It even had salt and pepper, like he knew how she liked her sandwiches.
“Thanks,” she squeezed it out between bites.
“Nick really screwed this whole thing up,” Alexander muttered, his features drawing into a tight and dark frown. “I’m glad you got away from him... most girls fall for his money and looks. They don’t see how he’s been given everything he has.”
So it was personal.
Cora didn’t let any expression surface on her face as she listened to him, instead focusing on her food. She would guess Alexander didn’t have anything given to him. He hadn’t had girls falling over him. It wasn’t that he was ugly at all, but his personality pushed people away.
She doubted that too many other people saw this side of him.
“So…why do you have a room? Don’t you live in Eugene?”
He didn’t answer right away and she had to look at him. He was weighing his words, being careful. “Yes, I live in Eugene but I didn’t want to risk Nick finding you again. Keith might have other people watching for you, too.”
“But,” she said, then stopped, trying to backtrack and figure it out. “You’re working for Keith. Why would it matter if he knew you found me?”
He smiled again, this time a small smile. It might have meant he felt sorry for her, for not understanding. “Cora, do you want Keith knowing you’re here?”
No, she didn’t. But why did Alexander care? Was he actually on her side, hiding her? She finished the last few bites, nibbling for something to do while turning this problem over.
When the sandwich was gone, he said, “There’s a new toothbrush and a few things in the bathroom when you need them.”
Cora nodded and pulled herself to her feet. The hot shower and full stomach were working against her now, making her lethargic. She shut the bathroom door and turned on the water, all the while trying to decide what he wanted from her. Instead of thinking, she ended up spacing out a little, letting the water run and the toothbrush sit on her teeth, unmoving.
Alexander had a plan. Suddenly she knew it with certainty. He’d help her find Jerry, and then she’d figure out a way to get herself and her father away from him.
Several minutes later, she opened the door and lingered there, choosing her words. “I want to thank - I mean, you don’t have to help me. But thank you.”
Alexander was perched on the bed like a bird about to take flight. Why was he sitting there, watching her like that? She stood there, in his clothes, not sure of what they’d do now and feeling that spaced out feeling again. Maybe it wasn’t good for your health to swim for several hours in a cold, snow fed river. Or maybe he’d slipped something into her food?
“You really are tired.” She heard him say as her hand searched for the doorframe. Cora thought she heard him walk closer and realized she was about to fall over.
He lifted her up in his arms. It shocked her awake, but she didn’t fight him.
“I’ll let you stay here tomorrow and get some sleep while I check on Jerry.” He laid her down on the bed, already asleep.
Ten
Where had she gone?
Was she alright? Nick left the police station in the early morning, his nerves still vibrating with overwhelming fear that had hit him the second he woke up alone the day before. She was gone, just gone. He jumped in his car and ripped out of the parking lot too fast.
He had promised Jerry, and then Cora, that he’d keep her safe. How did he let this happen?
Nick wasn’t sure which prospect frightened him more: the possibility that Alexander had found them and stole her away, or that she took off on her own, into the wilderness with nothing to defend herself or a map. He’d searched, yelled, searched, and yelled some more, even though Alexander might have heard.
But since Alexander didn’t show up…