Alluring (32 page)

The door slammed shut.  The apartment was gloomy.  All the shades were drawn shut.  Alexis felt something hard poke her in the back.

"Very good Alexis.  You made it on time with even a few minutes to spare.  Now, here's what we're going to do.  We are going to walk very calmly downstairs and get in my car.  You are not to yell or try to get away.   If you do, I will shoot you with this gun."  She dug the hard piece of metal into Alexis's back to make her point.  "Do you understand?"

Alexis nodded her head.  She was too scared to turn and look at her captor.

"I didn't hear you,"  her captor said in a singsong voice.

"Yes."  It came out as a croak, but she got it out.

"Good.  Steph," her captor yelled.  "We'll be leaving now.  Thank you so much for having us."

Was she trying to be funny or was she just crazy? 
Dumb question, Alexis.  Of course, she's crazy.  She's kidnapping you at gunpoint!
  Alexis heard a muffled yell coming from Steph's bedroom.  At least, she knew her friend was alive. 

"Let's go."  The door opened and she was shoved through.  The gun dug into her back even harder.  "No funny business.  You know I won't hesitate to kill you.  Be smart and I might let you live."

Alexis's mind raced.  How was she supposed to get herself out of this mess?  Jack was going to kill her if she made it out of this alive.  Oh God Jack!  He would go crazy when he discovered she was missing.

They calmly walked down the stairs, like two people out for a stroll.  She was led to a black, C-class Mercedes.  More than likely, the car that tried to run her over. 

She was taken to the driver's side.  "Open the door and get in slowly."  Alexis did as she was told.  "Keep the door open."  She felt the gun dig into the back of her head while the back door was opened.  The gun was gone for a second before it came back.  She heard the back door close.  "Okay, shut your door and start the car.  You do anything, and I mean
anything
funny, and I will blow the back of your head off.  Do you understand?"

"Yes."  Alexis's whole body shook.  She worried she wouldn't be able to drive.  She started the car, gripped the steering, and tensed her body, trying stop the shaking.

"Make a right out of the complex.  I'll give you directions as we go."

Alexis slowly backed out of the parking spot then did as she was told.

* * * * *

The Range Rover wasn't in its spot.  Jack quickly looked around.  It wasn't anywhere. 

Jack dialed Stan.  He filled him in on what happened.  "The SUV has LoJack.  Find it."

His phone rang again has soon as he hung up.  "Well?"

"The penthouse is empty, sir.  I found Miss Taft's phone on the bed."

"Bring it with you and meet me in my office."  Jack hung up, then took a few deep breaths.  He needed to stay calm.  He would be of no use to Alexis if he lost his shit.

He put a call in to Becky on the way to his office, but it went to voice mail.  Strange, she was always available.  He poked his head in her office on his way to his own.  Empty.  Jack continued to his own office.  He didn't have time to worry about his assistant.

Jack sat at his desk and pulled out his phone.  He opened his photo album and looked at his pictures of Alexis.  The first one, of course, was the selfie she took in her cocktail outfit.  Jack smiled at the memory as he lovingly traced her face with his fingertip.  He scrolled through a few, stopping at one he had taken of her asleep in bed.  He remembered she had looked so peaceful and without thinking he had snapped a picture. 

She was on her stomach.  One leg bent at the knee, the other one straight.  Her hand fisted snugly under her chin.  Her curls were in disarray, spread across her pillow, some falling across her face.  And she had a slight smile on her lips.  He liked to think, she dreamed of him.

A knock at his door grabbed his attention.  He looked up to find Hank standing in the doorway.  He motioned for him to come in while putting his phone to sleep and setting it on his desk.

"You have her phone?"  He asked, holding out his hand.

"Right here, sir."  Hank gave Jack the phone.

He opened the phone log.  A call from Hank, a call from Steph, and a call from him were her only calls this morning.  The call from Steph came a few minutes after his call to her.  He hit Stephs name and listened to it ring five times before going to voice mail.  Not turned off then, just not answering.

He looked up at Hank.  "Tell me why you didn't follow her to the second floor."

"Sir?"

"When you noticed the elevator had gone to the second floor, why did you stop to call me?  Why didn't you go to the second floor yourself? She might have still been there."

"Sir, when I noticed the elevator, I immediately called Miss Taft's phone.  When she didn't answer, I thought it best to notify you immediately of that."

Jack sighed.  This conversation was pointless.  He couldn't go back in time and change Hank's order of events.  He now knew for the future, he didn't think well under pressure.  "That will be all.  Go check in with security and see if they have a spot for you today."

"Yes, sir."  He gave Jack a quick nod of his head and left the office.

Ten more minutes passed before Stan walked in.  Jack stood from his desk.  Stan spoke before Jack could say anything.  "Police are in the process of tracking the vehicle now.  We should find something out soon."  He set his briefcase down on an empty chair.

Jack paced his office as they waited for the call.  He felt as though he should be doing something, like he was wasting time.

Stan's phone beeped a text.  "They found your car.  It's at the Rosewood apartment complex."  Stan looked up from his phone.  "That's where Stephanie Willis lives."

"Let's go."  Jack grabbed his phone and they were out the door.

The police were already at Steph's apartment by the time Stan and Jack got there.  When they walked through the apartment door, Steph came barreling at Jack, throwing her arms around his waist and sobbing into his chest.

He gave her a minute to calm down then carefully set her away from him.  She was a mess.  Her hair was matted, and her eyes were bloodshot from crying.  She had a red handprint across her left cheek, but she didn't look hurt anywhere else.

"Tell me what happened."  He had a gentle, yet firm grip on her upper arms.

Steph still cried, but he could understand what she said.  "When I woke up this morning, my hands were tied.  That crazy woman from the party last night stood over me, with a gun.  She gagged me, then used my phone to call Alexis."

"What crazy lady?"  Jack's grip on her arms grew tighter, but neither of them noticed.  Stan lightly tapped him on the arm and gave a slight nod of his head.  Jack immediately loosened his hold.

"I don't remember her name.  The one Mase was with."

Jack felt his body go still.  "Sabrina?"  He asked.

"Yeah, that's it.  Sabrina."

An officer walked up to Jack.  "You know the kidnapper?"

Jack slowly nodded his head.  "Sabrina Jackson."

"Sir, you need to come and tell us what you can about Ms. Jackson," the officer said.

Jack looked at Stan.  "Pull up everything you can find on her."

Stan gave him a nod.  "On it."

Jack went to the couch and sat.  Steph sat gingerly on the seat beside him.  He put his arm around her shoulders and she relaxed against his side.  The officer, his name tag read Blake, gave him an odd look, but he didn't give a fuck.  Steph was Alexis's best friend and he knew she was just as worried about her as he was.

"Tell me how you know Ms. Jackson."  Officer Blake took out a pad of paper and a pencil.

"I've slept with her once."  He felt Steph stiffen beside him.  He gave her shoulders a squeeze and she relaxed again.

"So you dated Ms. Jackson?"

"No, I fucked her,
once."

Blake gave him a sharp look.  "And that was the end of your association with her?"

Jack sighed, "She was around a lot after that.  She'd come up to me, try to start a conversation.  I let her know I wasn't interested.  She knew it was a onetime thing.  She knew I didn't date or have relationships.  After a few months of me blowing her off, she got the hint and went away."

"What kind of conversations did she try to have with you?"

Jack closed his eyes and thought for a moment.  "It was awhile ago and I really didn't pay much attention to what she said, but it was always along the lines of wanting me back.  Even though there was no back, to get back to."  Jack paused for a minute.  "I do remember one thing, because she sounded a little off when she said it."

"And what was that, Mr. Cole?"  Blake looked slightly more interested now.

"She said we were fated to be because my first name was Jackson and her last name was Jackson."

Jack finished his interview with the officer then made his way to where Stan stood.  "Anything?"

Stan looked up from his ipad.  "We have the location of her residence.  The police are on their way there now.  I'm running a background check on Sabrina Jackson, but it's gonna take a bit longer."  He typed something into his ipad.  "We should head to Sabrina's residence, see what they find out."

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Stan pulled up in front of a single-story, tan, stucco house.   The front yard had a desert landscape, mostly cactus and rocks with a small patch of lawn.  Neighbors stood on the sidewalk, probably speculating on what was taking place inside. 

Jack followed Stan and Steph up the walkway.  The front door was open.  They entered the cool interior and followed the voices to the back of the house.  Jack looked around, his gaze sharp, looking for anything that would lead them to Alexis. 

Every once in a while Stan would fiddle with his ipad.  Jack gave him raised eyebrows.  Stan shook his head.  "Nothing yet."

Jack could feel himself growing impatient.  He knew he had to stay focused, collect all the information, so they could figure out were to find her.  But there was an animal inside him, dying to run free, ready to sniff out the scent of its mate.

They came upon a cluster of officers in a back bedroom.  Jack peeked his head in the door and stopped cold at the sight before him.  He slowly inched his way into the room, a growing sickness overtaking him. 

One entire wall held hundreds of pictures of him and Alexis, but in every photo, Alexis's head was cut out and Sabrina's was put in.  It must have taken her weeks of snapping pictures to get this many.  He could tell where they were or what they were doing in most of the photos, by background location or the clothes they wore.  But, some pictures looked random, with no clues, to where or when they were taken.

On a queen size bed laid two mannequins.  One looked eerily like him, the other like Sabrina.  The dolls were under a light-blue quilt and both appeared to be naked.

On another wall, painted in big red letters were the words
DIE ALEXIS
.  Jack actually shuddered at the image, bile rising to the back of his throat.  "What the hell is all this?"  he asked, no one in particular as he stood stunned, trying to take it all in.

Officer Blake walked up to him.  "Most stalkers have a shrine, per se, of their victim, or the person they're obsessed over.  In this case that would be you."

Jack needed to sit down.  He stumbled out of the room, found the closest chair and plopped down.  Resting his elbows on his knees, he cradled his head in his hands. 
This was all his fault!
  Alexis was out there somewhere with a psycho who wanted to kill her and
IT WAS ALL HIS FAULT!
  Rage built inside him.  His vision turned red.  FUCK!  He wanted to shout, yell, smash and destroy things.  He pulled at his hair, trying to block the rage with pain.  But the rage was all consuming.  It wouldn't be denied.

He always knew deep down inside, that the person stalking Alexis was connected to him somehow, after all, the threats didn't start until she met him.  He'd rationalized it was a sick person doing this, something he had no control over.  He selfishly kept Alexis near him, he had to have her, couldn't let her go.  All he wanted to do was protect her, keep her safe but keeping her at his side, is what put her in danger.

After the attempt on her life, he should have whisked her away somewhere, where no one could have touched her.  Instead, he threw money at it, hiring worthless bodyguards and extra security.  All his millions would be worthless if he didn't have his Alexis.  He needed her.  He wouldn't know how to survive without her. 

He didn't realize he was crying until he felt a light tap on his knee.  He raised his head.  Steph was kneeling before him.  He couldn't even remember the last time he cried.  Certainly not as an adult, maybe sometime as a child.  He wiped his hands down his face.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," Steph spoke so softly, he almost didn't hear it.

"I can't live without her."  His voice was a deep rasp, unrecognizable even to his own ears.

"We're gonna find her.  We'll get her back safe."