In Her Sights (18 page)

She straightened with renewed strength. That was it. She was
tired of this. Sick of the sleepless nights, the mind wandering, and the
thinking back to the day when her world changed. She was going to their
bedroom. Once there, she was going to open that door, and she was going to look
in and see once and for all there was no scary man waiting for her.

She flung open her bedroom doors, made it a step on the plush
carpet, and her feet turned to stone and she couldn’t move. Of all the things
she did and faced, something about the wooden doors and elegant brass handle of
her parents’ room was something she couldn’t get too. She lifted her knees,
aching to take another step, but heat coated her back. Her vision swayed.

She stepped closer to the wall, seeking the cool surface. Those
old fears inched up her back and did their damnedest to make her a prisoner
within them.

She tipped her head back, found comfort, and slid to the
floor. Head still back, she caught sight of the silver-gilded edges of a framed
piece of artwork hanging beside her. It was a caption of a poem her mother had
liked. She often remembered her mother sitting in bed reading, but Lexie couldn’t
visualize it, just knew it had happened. She pulled her knees to her chest and
thought back, trying to place moments. Any memory was better than that morning.
Her mom had always seemed happiest when she read.

Or perhaps it was Lexie who was drawn to her mother reading.
After all, if her mother was reading, she was quiet. Was it in the living room
she liked to read or the bedroom? Definitely not outside. Originally from the
north, she hated the grueling soul sucking heat of a humid Mississippi summer.

Lexie turned from the art on the wall and glanced down the
long hallway leading toward her parents’ bedroom. Images flashed, flying
through at stomach turning paces. Wisps of color. Her footsteps. Gen’s laughter.
Bursts of sensations shot through uncontrollably. Shock. Confusion. Fear.

Everything smeared together. Her lungs sucked in tight and throat
squeezed.

She clutched her head, fighting for some clarity. She leaned
over and fell to the floor. Drew her knees up and focused on the carpet fuzz.

There she lay. Heartbeat slowing. It started at her toes. A
thread of relaxation swept through her feet and into her ankles. Soothing
tingles passed through her as soft weight loosened tight muscles.

Lexie blinked. The vision of colors and emotions drifted
back. Exhaustion took its place.

“Lexie?” Julia’s voice was distant.

She waved her off. “Just leave me here.”

“I’m not leaving you on the floor in the middle of the
hallway.”

“Go away.” Before the thoughts came back. Just another
minute and she would have been gone.

“No,” Julia insisted.

Sleep was right there. She was just on the edge. If Julia
would quit tugging at her arm. She would have it.

“Oh good, there you are,” Julia’s voice was still there, but
distant, too.

That softening, relaxing thing eased up Lexie’s neck. Body
molded against the floor.

“You might have to carry her.”

That was it. It was the end of any near sleep moments. Lexie
opened her eyes and found Mike bent over, arms an inch from scooping under her.
Her gaze met his, and he froze. She didn’t have to touch him or move. “Don’t
you dare.”

So close. So very close to the blessed sleep she craved. She
pushed up on her hands and leaned against the wall.

Mike was still squatted before her. “Are you okay? You look
a little pale.”

“I’m fine.”

“I brought some juice.” He turned around and grabbed the cup
from Julia. “And Julia had me bring something to help you sleep.”

She pushed both away. “I’m okay.”

“Lexie, you are not okay. When was the last time you had a
full night of sleep?” Julia’s short words were more than Lexie would take.

“Go to bed.” She pushed off the floor and stood.

“But….”

Lexie shook her head. “Go to bed. Please. Then we can all go
to bed.”

Julia’s chin lifted as she turned on her heel and walked
down the hall.

She took the juice from Mike, but pushed the hand with the
pill away. “You know I don’t like taking those things.”

“And I don’t like seeing you with bags under your eyes. Let
the
Magnolia Weekly
catch you looking like this, with your complexion
pale and your face worn down, and Gabe and Sam are going to bring us hell
faster than you’ll be able to take another power nap.” He pushed the pill back at
her.

Chapter Seventeen

“Lexie?”

There was that voice again. It was like Lexie should answer,
but she wasn’t sure where her voice was.

“Lexie.”

It just kept on and on, repeating her name. Lexie still
couldn’t answer. Not that she really cared to anyway.

“Lexie. Wake up.” She was grabbed. “Lexie.”

Julia. It was Julia’s voice. Lexie tried holding on to the
sound of Julia’s voice, but found she couldn’t do anything but lay there in a
dizzy fog.

The room spun around in circles. Or maybe it was the bed. Or
both. Definitely spinning in opposite directions.

“Clayton Addison is here.”

Clayton? He had nice eyes. Just blue. Dark blue, but so very
blue. Julia was right about his walk too.

“He has information about that dagger, or I wouldn’t be up
here.”

The dagger. Right. This was probably important if only she
could get her eyes open. It was like they were glued shut and she couldn’t see
a thing. She opened her mouth and moved her tongue that seemed wrapped in a
cotton sock. She swallowed a couple times and found her voice. “What?”

“Someone from out of town. Can you even wake up?”

“Uh-huh.” If she could just get her eyes open. Or an eye.
One at time. She dragged her hand close, and my God, she could hardly move. Was
she tied to the bed? Finally, her eyelid gave, but the room was completely
hazy. “Why do I feel like someone has tied me down and put a six-hundred-pound
blanket across my back?”

Julia’s face finally came into focus. “I’m guessing you took
the sleeping pill last night.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. Last night had been more like
this morning. That pill. She had popped it, walked to the bed, and fell on it. There
was laying down and there was waking up this morning. Assuming this counted as
waking up. If anything happened between those events, she was blank. Suddenly
she was becoming perkier by the moment. Her heart pounded. Anyone could have come into her
room during the night. She pulled in deep breaths, trying to shake it off, but
it was a battle. “This is why I don’t take anything.”

“If you slept the pill off, you’d be fine. I can turn Mr.
Addison away, but I knew you’d be furious if you didn’t get that choice. Go
back to sleep and I’ll tell him to come back this afternoon.”

“No.” No, she was not going back to sleep under these
effects. She was a light sleeper. In case anyone thought to sneak in her room
in the middle of the night to kill her, she’d wake up. “Give me a few minutes.”

“Mike fixed him some breakfast. Last I saw him, he was
headed for the table.”

It was work. Actual hard work that left her breathing heavy
as she pushed to sitting. The room still swam, or it could just be her swaying.
She put a hand to the wall and found her way to the bathroom to splash her
face. The cold water jolted her enough that she could look in the mirror and see her eyes bloodshot.

Nice. She threw on some cotton shorts and a shirt and headed
downstairs. True to what Julia had said, he was at the table. With the paper
opened in front of his face, legs clad in gray dress pants with black shiny
shoes. The remains of eggs over easy, grits, toast, and bacon were on the table.

That plate looked great. Where’d Julia go? Lexie wanted a
plate of that. She moved farther in the room. “You’re by early this morning.”

He leaned to the side of the paper and frowned. “Do you feel
okay? You’re a little pale.”

Her head thudded, making her hot and sweaty and, overall,
leaving her lightheaded. “I’m fine. Julia said you had something on the dagger?”

“I do.” He folded the paper and laid it aside. “I thought you
might be interested in spending the day with me.”

“And what gave you that idea—” Something rolled through her
empty stomach and took her balance. She swayed and moved so the air coming from
the vent in the ceiling would hit her. Cold air brushed her face and soothed
the flush in her cheeks. Nice. There. That was perfect.

Clayton was at her side. She wasn’t even sure when he moved,
but he was there with a steadying, strong hand at her back. Nope, before wasn’t
perfect because this was somehow better as his fingers extended across her
lower back. “You sure you’re okay?”

She nodded. “I couldn’t sleep last night and took a sleeping
pill. It hasn’t worn off. What did you want to do today?”

“I’m going to see Jake Lowler.” His eyes squinted. “Why don’t
you sit down?”

She tipped her head back and massaged her forehead.
Jake
Lowler.
“Why do I know that name? And no, I want this cold air on my face for
a minute.”

“He’s the one who had the dagger before Arnold got his hands
on it. You probably read the name in the file I have at my office. I thought I
might pay him a visit and see what he had to say.” He left her side for a
minute and was back with his orange juice. “Drink.”

She looked at him out the corner of her eye.

He only smiled. “Bottoms up. I don’t have the cooties, and
you’ll feel better.”

She took the cup only because she knew he was right. She
needed something in her belly, and that would make her feel better. She tipped
the glass up and sipped until half the juice was gone. The rawness in her
throat cleared and she could see through some of the cobwebs in her brain. “You
haven’t checked those sources linked to the dagger yet?”

He grabbed a chair from the table and pushed her onto it. “Been
a little tied up installing somebody’s new security since that somebody wouldn’t
give me the dagger. Since you’re not feeling too well, I’ll head over and let
you know what I find.”

“No.” She caught his arm, not remembering how strong he was.
And warm. “Give me time to dress and eat. Can you come back in about two hours?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “You’ve got forty-five
minutes tops, and I’m being generous.”

Forty-five minutes? She wasn’t even sure she’d be able to
stand out of this chair in that time. “There’s no way I can be ready by then.”

“No choice. We need to catch him at home on his lunch break.”

There always had to be a catch and reason for everything. “All
right. I’ll hurry.”

He saved her the dignity of struggling out of the chair and
just grabbed her hand and pulled up her. She held him by the shoulders as the
room tipped, went fuzzy, then came back into focus.

He studied her face. The back of his hand touched over her
forehead and cheeks. “I really think you should stay.”

Leaning her cheek into his hand would probably look bad. She
nearly did it anyway, but managed to resist. “I’m going with you.”

She just needed the world to quit rocking. She made it down
the stairs. Surely it was possible to make it back up. First step was out of
this room. She turned the corner and focused on walking and blinking. If she
could manage a quick shower, that’d do her a world of good. Just splashing her
face had perked her up a lot.

Somehow, she made it up the stairs, pulled her hair back,
and showered. The cold water was a dream, washing off all that sluggish weight.
Julia must have been through because when Lexie stepped out, a white top and gray-blue
dress pants hung from the hook outside her closet. A pair of ballet flats sat to
the side. Good call on the flats. At the moment, heels weren’t an option. Along
the counter were basics for her makeup and a tie for her hair. Then, on the end,
a glass of juice and some aspirin. Bless her.

Lexie hurried and by the time she was dressed, most of the
fogginess had cleared and a lot of the weight had lifted off her body. Clayton met
her halfway down the last flight stairs. “I was coming to make sure you hadn’t
passed out. Are you sure you’re okay?”

She just needed some quiet time and a full belly to make it
all better. “Breakfast, and then I’ll be ready.”

He handed over a plastic bowl with the lid on it, and a
fork. Two bottles of water were in his other hand. “Got it to go. Julia handed
it to me.”

She slipped into the passenger seat of Clayton’s black Lotus
and opened her breakfast. Fruit stared back at her. Just fruit. And that’s it. “You
couldn’t have gotten me a crust of bread with this, too?”

He lifted both hands. “I didn’t do it. We can eat after we
talk to Jake.”

She plucked a strawberry out. The fruit pieces weren’t even
that big. The bowl either, as a matter of fact. Her stomach had been rumbling
for Mike’s famous bacon and cheese omelet. His usual, too-big-for-her-to-eat
omelet that was buttery, with those crunchy pieces of bacon caught in the
fluffy scrambled egg and with cheese melted throughout. Little tiny pieces of
green onions softened by heat sprinkled over the top. Her stomach rumbled.

Clayton glanced over and the corner of his mouth lifted. “Eat
the fruit first, and if you feel better, I might have a protein bar hidden in
here that you can have.”

She paused with a round of honeydew waiting at her lips. She
hadn’t even considered where they were going, but had just jumped in the car
with him. “Where’s
there
?”

“Monroe, Louisiana.”

That was three hours away, but she still had time to make it
back before she had to meet Adam Breeze this evening. “I’ll be wanting that
protein bar, then.”

“Fruit first. Then I have a surprise for you in the back.”