Conclusion
“Do you think Tess will like what I picked out?” Kyle asked nervously as he and Alex returned home with his purchase in the truck bed.
“I’m sure that she will.” Alex replied trying to ease his friends worry, “What time will she be home?”
Kyle checked his watch, “We have about 2 hours to get the old machines out and the new ones in.”
Alex let out another sigh, this time for his desire to see Isabel again. He really missed her. Ever since they finally made love, they were hardly ever apart for long periods. It was as if they had become addicted to each other and were always looking for their next fix in each other’s arms.
“Isn’t that Isabel’s car?” Kyle broke into his thoughts as they pulled up to his house.
Alex frowned at the sight of his girlfriend’s vehicle, “I thought she was spending the day with her mother.”
Kyle pulled up into his yard and Alex quickly hopped out of the truck and went over to her car hoping to find his girl inside. He frowned when he found it empty.
“Maybe she is waiting around the back.” Kyle offered as he headed up the front steps, trying to figure out the best way to remove the old washer and dryer from the house.
Alex immediately headed around the house calling for Isabel. He couldn’t wait to see her again and maybe get in few kisses before having to help Kyle.
Meanwhile, his friend was so lost in his planning the he almost missed the note on the front door.
“Hey, Alex!” He called out, “There’s a note here for you!”
A few seconds later, Alex jogged back around, “Isabel isn’t here.”
“Maybe this is from her then.” He held out the note to Alex who quickly tore into the envelope.
Suddenly, Alex’s eyes widened and a gasp escaped from his lips as he realized what he was reading, “Oh my God! He has her.”
“Who has who?” Kyle questioned as he saw his best friend’s face drain of color. Not getting an answer, he ripped the note from Alex’s hand and read it.
I have Isabel
Meet us at the rock quarry
Come alone.
Kyle was in shock. Isabel had been kidnapped and right on his front steps. He looked up at Alex, who was still frozen in place.
“Alex!” He reached out and gave the taller man a shake.
Hearing Kyle call his name brought Alex out of his stupor, “I have to go.”
“What? Are you crazy?” Kyle frowned, “It’s a trap, Alex.”
“He’s got Isabel, Kyle.” Alex said in agony over the thought of the love of his life with the crazed lawyer.
“And you have me.” Kyle pulled out his cell phone and dialed a familiar number, “This is Deputy Valenti. We have a kidnapping.”
Isabel stood surrounded by rocks and dirt, her eyes fixed in the Latin lawyer as he paced in front of her. She was trying to get free from the rope that Jesse had tied her hands with when Isabel had slapped him and tried to escape.
He still wielded the knife that he had used on her earlier and it scared her how he held it with so much confidence. Even drunk, Jesse seemed to be in control over everything and that seemed to frighten her even more than the knife.
“Doesn’t look like your boyfriend wants to save you.” Jesse turned toward her and leered, “No matter. I still can have my fun.”
He started toward her menacingly causing Isabel to back up. Jesse laughed at her fear and grabbed her arm, “What’s the matter, Isabel? Do you think you are too good for me?”
Isabel spat in his face and he looked at her with so much anger and rage that she shouldn’t have been surprised over the slap that came her way. The force of it, however, was so hard that it knocked Isabel to the ground where her head smashed against one of the rocks that made its home in the quarry. Slowly she drifted into unconscious her last thoughts of Alex.
Alex was surprised that he had made it to the quarry in once piece. All he had been able to see, since finding the note, was red. If Jesse hurt Isabel then he knew he wouldn’t be able to control himself.
Why had the lawyer snapped like this? Alex never would have seen this coming when Isabel had first started to date Jesse. He hadn’t liked him on sight, but put that to his jealousy over Isabel.
Seeing the turnoff, he quickly pulled across the rocky terrain. His stomach dropped when he saw Isabel lying limply on the ground. She wasn’t moving and that caused Alex to slam on the brakes just as his heart beat raced in fear.
“What have you done?” Alex jumped out of his car and quickly made his way over.
Jesse turned his body so that Alex could see the knife that he was holding against Isabel’s throat. “Not so fast, lover boy.”
Alex quickly did what he was told fearing what Jesse was capable of doing with that knife. He just needed to remain calm and hopefully get Isabel out of this dangerous situation.
“What did you do to Isabel?” Alex asked trying to get the man to talk and lower his guard.
“I haven’t finished with her yet.” He walked around Isabel, holding his weapon and keeping his eyes on Alex, “You see, Whitman, I never did get to enjoy her body.” He knelt beside her and touched Isabel’s thigh that was bare from her short skirt.
Alex growled and started toward Jesse again, but stopped when Jesse flashed the knife at him once more, “uh uh, Whitman. I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
Jesse stepped over Isabel, “First, I have some unfinished business with you and I always say ‘business before pleasure.’”
Alex looked down at Isabel again; she looked so pale on the ground with blood soaked in her hair where she must have been hit. He knew he had to get to her and he needed a plan.
“Why are you doing this?” Alex asked trying to keep Jesse talking.
“She got me fired.” Jesse moved nearer to Alex, “It was her fault.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your little girlfriend made me look incompetent to Tom Elliot, one of the partner’s at the law firm.”
“No, Jesse. You made yourself look incompetent.” Alex evaluated the situation, “Look at you. You look like you’ve just crawled out of a hole and had been stranded with a whiskey bottle.”
Jesse laughed, “Your half right. At least about the whiskey bottle.”
Alex stepped closer hoping Jesse hadn’t notice, “Why do you think Isabel made you look incompetent to Tom Elliot?”
The knife was now starting to move unsteadily in Jesse’s hand, “She walked out on me during a party at the Elliot’s.” He scratched the stubble that had formed on his chin, “Today I saw her having lunch with Marion Elliot and the looked real cozy. They were probably laughing over how they finally got rid of me.”
Alex watched as Jesse’s unsteady hand drop a little and he took it as his opportunity to even up the odds. Bringing his hand down on Jesse’s wrist, he knocked the knife to the ground and with a swift kick sent it flying across the dirt and far away from the lawyer.
“You son of a bitch!” Jesse cried out before lunging at Alex and slamming a fist across his face.
Alex reeled from the punch and found himself on his knees in the dirt. He wasn’t known for his fighting skills and he wondered how he was going to defend himself from anymore attacks.
“Freeze!” Yelled out a familiar voice that caused Alex sigh in relief. The Calvary had finally arrived in the form of his best friend, Deputy Kyle Valenti.
Alex looked up to find Jesse holding up his hands in surrender and Kyle reading him his rights. Slowly he got up from the dirt and staggered over to Isabel just as sirens roared in the distance. Pulling her into his arms, he held her tightly and prayed that she would be alright.
Isabel tried to blink away the bright light, but something was keeping her eyelids open. Finally, she brought her hand up to try and brush the offending object away.
“I’m glad to see you are awake, Miss Evans.” A masculine voice said from above her.
“Where am I?” She muttered through dry lips and slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a dimly lit room. How did she get her? The last thing she remembered was fighting with Jesse. Gasping she wondered what happened.
“Do you know what day it is?” The balding man in the white lab coat asked.
She told him and he nodded, “Do you remember anything about this afternoon?”
Isabel nodded and then wished she hadn’t when her head throbbed painfully, “Jesse?”
“I believe the police are here to question you,” he smiled down at her, “They’ve been questioning your boyfriend for awhile now.”
“Alex?” Isabel’s heart leapt making the monitor beep louder. Alex had come from her like she knew he would, even though she had feared it.
“Do you remember how you hit your head?” The doctor asked.
Isabel recalled and gave him the account of how Jesse had slapped her.
“Well that explains the bruise across your cheek.”
She raised her hand and touched the tender spot, “What happened? Will I be alright? Is Alex alright?”
The doctor flipped open her chart and smiled, “Nothing to be alarmed about. You have a concussion so we will be keeping you over night for observation.”
“I’ll stay as long as you like, just let me see Alex.” Isabel looked up at him pleadingly.
The doctor nodded, “I think that can be arranged after the police have questioned you. He’s been trying to see you for a while now.” He poured her a glass of water and handed her some pills, “Take these. They should help with the headache.”
“Thanks.” She murmured as she took them.
“Shut your eyes and relax. I’ll send the officer in so you can get it over with.”
An hour later, Isabel closed her eyes again after the officer left. She still didn’t understand Jesse’s revenge, but thanks to Kyle, he was under arrest for assault and kidnapping.
She was dozing when she heard the door open and shut, but Isabel assumed it was another nurse come to check her vitals and didn’t want to open her eyes for a stranger. Feeling lips pressed upon hers, though, caused those eyes to fly open in surprise and recognition over the familiar touch.
“Alex!” She cried out as she found his face looming over hers with a smile upon his lips.
Seeing the bruise on his cheek, she reached out and touched his face tentatively, “Did he do this to you?”
“I’m fine, Izzy.” He also touched her cheek cautiously, “Are you okay?”
Isabel nodded, “I’m sorry, Alex. I had no idea what Jesse was capable of.”
He brushed his lips against hers to stop Isabel’s unwarranted apology, “Don’t worry, Isabel. It’s all over.”
“I must look a mess.” She started to run a hand through her hair but was stopped by the bandage.
“You look beautiful.” Alex kissed her forehead and smiled down at her, “You had me worried there for a moment.”
“You weren’t the only one.” She sighed looking up into his concerned green eyes. Isabel could tell that he was drained emotionally and physically from the events of the day, ‘Lie down with me.”
‘I don’t think the nurses will allow me to stay here with you.”
Isabel took Alex’s hand, “I don’t care what the nurses say. I need to hold you and be held by you.”
Alex understood her desire and slid into the bed beside her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly to his own body. “Is this okay?”
She nodded as her head rested against his shoulder, “Nothing compares to being in your arms, Alex. I don’t know how I have managed so long without them.”
He ran his hand along her back in comfort, “It is wonderful.” His famous smile split his face, “but the next time we do come to the hospital, I hope it’s for the birth of our first child.”
Isabel looked up at him in surprise, “Child?”
Alex leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers again, “Child.”
She smiled glorious at him, “I like the sound of that.”
“Rest now, Izzy.” He murmured as he pulled her head back down to rest over his heart, “We will talk about the future later.”
Isabel let out an audible sigh, thinking of her future and realizing that this was just the beginning of her life. There would be hard times, she knew, but like her parents they would be able to work through it together. It was all she could think of as she fell into a deep slumber with dreams of a life with the man she loved.
The End
GOODBYE!
Kara