Alexis let herself into her apartment. The noise from the neighbors bled through the walls even though it was just before six in the morning. She couldn’t remember ever being this tired in her life. So tired it brought tears to her eyes every time she thought of Bradley going with the FBI.
And after he’d kissed her like that.
She dumped her purse, not letting herself even think overly much about the fact that it had not been the kiss of a younger him. It’d been absolutely the kiss of a man. One who knew what he wanted, and was determined to get it. Thereafter he would no doubt make sure it remained safe for the rest of his life.
That kind of determination was palpable, and it had been present there in his kiss.
Foregoing the coffee that would keep her awake when she desperately needed sleep, Alexis grabbed her Bible and headed for her bed. There was so much guilt, she had to pray for forgiveness. But she was just too tired to go look for Rachel anywhere else. She slumped onto the bed covers fully clothed, and her Bible fell open to the middle.
She tipped it up so she could read the verse of Psalms it had opened to. She let the words wash over her like a wave, and swam in the waters of the passage. This whole situation did feel a lot like drowning. She didn’t know how to swim to the surface of it. Rachel was gone, and there was next to nothing she could do about it—beyond thinking of places her friend might be.
When the reality was, she had no idea.
And what was that but the proverbial needle in a haystack of places that covered this entire city. If Rachel had even been kept locally. It had been hours since she was taken. They could have gotten her anywhere by now in a vehicle. Maybe even to another country. She was a high profile target, yes. But by the time the feds found her, who knew what condition she would be in?
Alexis turned her head and let the cool sheet soak up the drops of her tears.
She prayed to keep from thinking about what would’ve happened if Bradley had come with her. Or if she had gone with him. They would’ve been together right now, having to fight off the aftermath of the kiss. A little separation might scare her more than anything in the world right now, but it was for the best. The FBI didn’t think she was in danger, but tell that to her stomach. It just couldn’t settle when she thought about the danger she was in, or Rachel, or anything that had to do with Bradley.
She drifted off to a series of vibrant nightmares where she ran down the alley, stalked by some faceless killer. Before Bradley could show up to rescue her, she always woke up. Alone. Wondering if this could really be what God had called her to. She knew all about seasons, and every one being different. For her good. But that didn’t mean this wasn’t the hardest thing she’d ever gone through.
Around eleven-thirty in the morning, Alexis finally had the brainpower to put on a pot of coffee and take a shower, after which she felt vaguely human. If she was going to have any chance of finding Rachel, she needed to talk to her friend’s newest assistant. Alexis had helped choose her replacement from the pool of candidates. Still, she had never met the man.
She found his number on the back of the receipt she’d been using as a book mark. She’d used the scratch paper to jot down thoughts about each candidate. She’d have more information if she still had the computer the FBI had taken, but this would do.
It would take them some time to leaf through her notebooks. Assuming they could read her handwriting. It was possible they might not. And thank goodness she didn’t write her journal online, or they would already know everything.
Alexis shook her head even though she was alone. You’re seriously kidding yourself if you think everyone isn’t going to find out the truth about what happened. She figured from what had happened that Bradley was beginning to work it out. He was a smart man, and he was going to realize, even if she never said one word. It was just his way.
While he’d been gone, she had been able to convince herself he’d never find out. Now? There was no way to keep it from him. At least not for much longer.
After filling up a travel mug of coffee, she headed out to the office Rachel leased in a trendy building. It fit with her persona of the young millennial senator. Was the assistant even working today? She hadn’t heard anything about him from the FBI, even though he should be a viable suspect. He had only been working for Rachel less than six months. He could be suspicious.
Whether or not he was in the office, Alexis was going to get some answers. Something Rachel had been working on recently could point to the kidnapper, as could anything suspicious in her financials or anyone who had been asking too many questions. It wasn’t a secret that Rachel and Bradley were set to inherit a million each on their birthday in a few days. The twins’ story had been published in newspapers and magazines around the time Rachel was elected. It could be that someone had bided their time and then taken her from her house, leaving Alexis to take all the blame.
She let herself in the office and knocked on the door as she moved into the waiting area. “Hello? Is anyone here?”
The assistant emerged from the senator’s office with a frown on his face. “I hadn’t thought you would show your face around here.” After what you did. It wasn’t said out loud, but it was implied.
Alexis was no stranger to this kind of reaction from people, so she just did what she did every other time. Shrugged it off. Said what she needed to say. “I wanted to talk to you, to see if I can help find Rachel.”
“The FBI have already been here asking questions. Looking through all of Rachel’s computer files.”
“That doesn’t mean you haven’t thought of something since they left.” And yes, she wanted to know what he had told them. But she couldn’t act too pushy, or he would push back. “So what do you say? Want to help me try and figure out who did this to Rachel?”
He assessed her, probably just trying to decide if he thought she was guilty or not, then he seemed to make his decision. “There’s nothing in recent business that’s serious enough to warrant someone kidnapping her. I thought it was all about the money.”
Alexis nodded. “I think Bradley is in danger as well. The kidnappers asked for both of their money, and the FBI have put him in police custody to keep him safe.”
“Wow, I didn’t know that.”
“I think the police are keeping things close to the vest. What with this being a high profile story.”
“Like I told the feds, I don’t know much. I haven’t been working here long enough. And Rachel doesn’t let me in on everything. I know she’s been having some issues with her cousin lately, and he’s been showing up at weird times. But that’s probably just family stuff.”
The FBI had to be looking into that. It gave their cousin motive if he wanted the money Rachel and Bradley were set to inherit. Maybe he was mad that Rachel and Bradley were getting it while he got nothing. Maybe she should call him and find out just where his thinking lay on all this. Get a feel for where he was at.
Lincoln could be a bear sometimes when his back was up.
The assistant shrugged. “Sorry you didn’t get what you came here for.”
Alexis shook her head. “I appreciate you talking to me, I know it’s weird. I’ll let you get back to work.” She pushed out of the office, praying yet again for Rachel to be safe. She could call Lincoln right now, but the FBI had taken her phone. Maybe she should go by his office. He was a marketing consultant at a small company that wasn’t too far from here.
Walking to the Metro station was an exercise in surveillance. She had to use everything Bradley had ever told her about how to make sure somebody wasn’t following you. Alexis was pretty sure there was somebody following her, though. Bradley’s words about her being in danger kept coming back to her mind. About the fact he’d been distracted so that the kidnappers could try and take her.
That didn’t make sense, did it? She wasn’t the target here.
The Metro was quiet except for a few military personnel and government workers, along with the odd group of tourists. Her stomach rumbled, but she ignored it. Who cared about eating when Rachel was in so much trouble? She could even be dead by now for all Alexis knew.
Would they be burying her soon? Alexis would have to look Bradley in the eye and know she was at least partly responsible for what had happened. There was no way to consider any other option. She would just be hurt because she was kidding herself again. Living in denial and not reality, just because she didn’t like this life she had now.
He wouldn’t kiss her again after that. Alexis would have to live with the memory, hiding it away in her heart so that it kept her warm in all the lonely nights in all the years to come. Yes, that was a little melodramatic, but she was just that tired. Any other time she would’ve gone to a movie, or gone home and taken a nap. But that wasn’t an option right now.
Lincoln wasn’t even in his office. She left a message with his secretary to have him come by her house later tonight. After the way he’d left the last time, though, she wasn’t sure if he would show up.
Still, the idea he might be involved with this was just crazy. The man was pushy, but that just made him good at marketing. Lincoln was the one who’d stood by her. The only one who hadn’t shunned her after what happened. Even Bradley had never returned her call when she tried to explain to him what’d happened. She’d wanted him to know the truth. The truth she’d never even told Lincoln.
Making her way back to the Metro yet again, Alexis couldn’t help thinking that she was wasting time. Wandering around the city with no idea who to talk to, or what to do. Even in police custody she’d have had something to do. She could have helped them get more information as to who could’ve done this. They would have considered it to be another interview of their suspect—her. She would’ve thought about it differently, though. Who cared if they arrested her, if it made Rachel safe?
Should she go and see the lawyer next? The man with executive power over Rachel and Bradley’s parents’ estate would surely have something to say about all this. He’d know who had been discontent with the outcome. Maybe even someone had filed a suit to get the wording changed. Could Lincoln have done that? Either Rachel or Lincoln himself would have told her. Wouldn’t they? She considered Lincoln her friend. And yet, through all this, it seemed like it was Bradley who’d stayed with her. Until he couldn’t anymore.
He was safe. That was all that mattered.
No matter that Alexis had no idea where to go next, other than home where she could sit around doing nothing. Just wondering about her friend. Just praying.
That should be enough, and it was. She just had to remember that, and stand on that firm foundation.
Emerging from the Metro station closest to her apartment, Alexis stepped off the escalator onto the sidewalk and headed for home. She purchased a few things from the corner store so she could at least make toast and eggs when she got home. The cashier nodded and handed over the receipt, along with her change. Alexis pocketed the coins and the paper and she stepped between the automatic doors.
The hair on the back of her neck prickled. That wasn’t exactly what happened, but how else was she supposed to explain how it felt? She was pretty sure she had been followed this whole time. What was different now? The sensation of being watched wasn’t in itself malicious. So what had her senses waking up and registering fear?
She headed for her apartment, wondering if she should have ducked back into the store and asked to use their phone. She didn’t have a landline in her place, and the FBI still had her phone. She’d have to pray that somebody saw her being attacked, or saw someone trying to kidnap her, for the police to be called. Otherwise she would just be that suspect trying to distract everyone’s attention by pretending to be in danger.
She headed up the stairs in her building, the walls of the place not making her feel more secure. She had never been safe in this home, or even felt that way. Even though she called it that. Home.
Home wasn’t the place you lived. It was people who knew who you were to the very core of your being and still cared about you. Never mind the mess and the dysfunction. They just loved you anyway. She shut the door as a tear traced its way down her cheek. Rachel was that for her. At one point Bradley had been that. Now, she didn’t even know.
And yet how could she be so selfish?
She stowed the groceries but didn’t make anything to eat. That would’ve been selfish as well, when she didn’t know if her friends were even alive.
She had just shut the fridge when someone banged on the front door.