The Call

by Kathi Goldwyn

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Alex

  I saw the article about Norris. Fuck me, I really did kill him. I know I didn’t have a choice in that moment. It really was him or me. But it still affects me. I feel horribly shredded that I stole a life, that I snuffed him out without a thought to his family.

  I know it’s something I’ll never forget. My emotions are running high as I step into the shower. I need to wash off the last weeks of my life and try like hell to wash off this feeling that’s dragging me down. I’m a killer now. I can’t forgive myself for it. I will always be a killer. That fucktard pushed me too far, and I had to react. I had to!

  But I’m feeling all sorts of fucked up right now. I’m warring with myself, one side arguing that I had no choice, but the other says you don’t take a life. It’s a Commandment, goddamnit. I can’t just shrug that shit off.

  What I really need is to talk to Rocco about all my crazy feelings. After I wrap myself back up in the hospital bathrobe, I go back out to the room to find him talking to Jack. They both stop talking as soon as they see me. I need to pull him aside and have this talk right now.

  But, oh my fucking heart.

  I can’t shake this feeling that shit is going to go bad. The death of this dude, this despicable dude, could have bad repercussions. I don’t know much about the Cribs, but I know one thing for sure. When they lose a battle, they look for vengeance. They want to kill the killer.

  I’m the killer.

  Are they coming for me already? Is revenge motivation enough to ruin me?

  I look over at Rocco and try to give him a look that tells him I need to talk to him. I jerk my head towards the door and hope he invites me out into the hall.

  I watch as Rocco starts towards the door and finally speak up. “Hey Rocco, hold up. Can I talk to you?” Jack doesn’t say anything.

  “Sure, honey,” Rocco says and comes back to help me out of the bed. He brings over the wheelchair and slides me into the seat.

  “Jack, I’ll be right back. Stay here, okay?” I whisper to the love of my life. I hope he understands, and he seems to as he nods and kisses my cheek.

  Rocco rolls me out into the hall and says, “What’s up, honey? What do you need?” Rocco looks me in the eyes. He’s being over cautious with me. He’s been super supportive.

  “Well, I’m feeling janky. I realized this morning I killed that asshole. And though, yeah, there’s reason to celebrate, I’m not handling it very well. I don’t know how to live with it, you know what I mean?”

  Rocco takes my hand in his much larger warm hand. He’s always been protective of me. He’s always been there to listen and offer advice. I wait patiently while he gathers his thoughts. I feel sheltered by him, and for the first time since reading the article I feel like I can breathe.

  “I get that. I really do, honey. It’s going to take time. You’ve got to give yourself some time to let it settle. Everyone around you is so grateful you survived, that you’re still here with us. That asshole...”

  Rocco looks so pissed. I'm not sure what he’s thinking. I know the one thing: he’s on my side.

  “I would have killed him in a heartbeat. I mean, if you had escaped, I would have hunted him down and killed that motherfucker. You know this, yeah?” Rocco looks at me with love shining through, matching the love in my eyes.

  “I do know. I know you wouldn’t have let that stand. I know I had every right to survive and kill that bastard. I know I had to. He was going to either rape or kill me. I knew that too. It was getting harder to hold back. Every time he came into that room, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to fight him off if I waited any longer.” I’m a ball of energy, and I can’t see clearly right now.

  It’s a fucked-up mess. The police or the Cribs, probably both, will want a piece of me. I start to feel really scared. The only person I know who can deal with this shit is Rocco. And I know he’d do anything to keep me safe. But how can he now?

  “Listen, Alex. First off, Jack and I talked and I hired a lawyer for you. So as soon as you get out of here, you’ll meet with him and figure out all the legalities. You know, figure out how to deal with the police.”

  I’m like, what the fuck? They talked already? I wasn’t included in this pow wow?

  Then he adds, “We just want to protect you.” He bends down and gives me a gentle hug. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. The police will come by and take your statement. You have witnesses too. Bark, me, Jack. You’ll be okay. We hired the lawyer just in case.” Rocco gingerly hugs me again, and I feel his strength seep through me.

  “And you will learn to embrace this kill. I promise you it gets easier over time. Can you give yourself time to catch up with yourself and all that’s happened to you? It's a mindfuck, honey. You see that, right?” My eyes are glistening; I’m on the verge of tears.

  “It’s okay to cry,” Rocco whispers just as the first tears drop slowly down my face. I wipe them away with my hands but they keep falling even more. Rocco drops to his knees and enfolds me in his arms.

  “I just feel so shitty about it. Yeah, he was a slime bag, a creep, but did he deserve to die?” I look to Rocco for the answers here. I know whatever he says is going to help me move forward.

  “Yeah, I know what you mean. And yes, he deserved to die. He kidnapped you! He stole you, and no motherfucker has a right to do that. He stole your freedom. Fuck him, I’m glad he’s dead.” Suddenly, my heart feels freer. I’m not so hung up on this whole killing thing. In fact, I think I can learn to live with it. Rocco’s right. Fuck him for stealing me. He got what he deserves.

  “He got what he deserves,” Rocco says, and I start laughing, tears forgotten. I laugh so hard I feel like I’m going to puke.

  “What’s so funny?” Rocco asks.

  “You said what I was thinking. He deserved it.” And we both laugh.

  Yeah, that bastard asshole Norris, he was the scum of the Earth.

  I’m putting it behind me. I can do that now.

  He got what he fucking deserved.

  And I’m free, motherfucker. I’m strong and free.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Jack

  The doctor comes into our room. “Jack, I think I can release you today. You just needed some rest. And to get hydrated. I’ll handle the paperwork, and you’re free to go.”

  I’m not going anywhere until Alex can go with me, but I say, “Thanks Doc, I appreciate it.” I shake his hand. He's a nice man, in his fifties, if I had to guess. He’s balding and carries extra weight. I don’t care what he looks like, as long as he’s good to Alex.

  “What about Alex?” I look at him with the hope that she can go too.

  “Well, Alex, how are you feeling this morning? You needed rest and meds to keep your heart in rhythm. You’ll have to take those meds the rest of your life.”

  “I’m good, Doc. I feel good. I’m ready to go home.” I hope she means with me. I hope she doesn't want to go back to the scene of the crime. I’d have a hard time leaving her there alone. I won’t do it, I decide. I just won’t.

  “I think you can go soon. I’d like to do an echogram to check your heart one last time. After we get the test results, if they show progress then I’ll let you go. You’ll have to follow up with a cardiologist. You ready for that?” His eyebrow arches. I can tell he wants the best for her.

  “Sure, I can do that. I just want out of here,” Alex reassures him.

  “Okay then, I’ll go order the test. I’ll see you after, and hopefully I can release you then.” The doctor leaves our room. He’s all business and needs to check on his other patients.

  “That's awesome, baby. We get to go home today.”

  “I know, I’m so happy to get out of here.”

  “Baby, where do you want to go? Do you mind coming home to my house? I don’t want to lose sight of you.”

  Alex giggles a little and says, “Sure, Jack, I’ll go home with you. I want to be with you.” She gives me a wide
-ass smile.

  That’s settled, then. I hope she decides to move in with me. But one thing at a time. I’m relieved to get the fuck out of here. Now that I know she wants to come with me, I’m in a big hurry to get out right the fuck now. But I know I have to be reasonable. She has the one test to go through, then we’ll leave.

  “Should I call Rocco to come pick us up?” I ask, because everyone who would pick us up is here at the hospital. I can’t think of anyone else to call.

  “I’ll do it. Hand me your phone?” Alex takes my cell and gets out of bed. She scrolls down the contacts, then she slides her thumb over Rocco’s name. While they’re chatting, Alex walks around the room. I’m dreaming of getting her to my apartment. I’m thinking we should move into a place of our own.

  When she hangs up, she says, “All set. Rocco will come gets us.” We smile at each other. We can’t wait to get home and grab each other naked. “Oh, and he’s going to go by my place and pick up a few things for me.”

  Alex gets back in bed and we snuggle close together. “I hear you got me an attorney. You think I’ve got something to worry about?” Alex broaches the subject I was hoping to ignore. I’d hoped we could discuss this when she was stronger. But fuck. Damn it to hell. This is what I love about her, though. She’s so direct.

  “Yeah, well, I think it doesn’t hurt. We don’t know what the police will discover. It’s good to have one for a just-in-case scenario. You know what I mean?” I kiss her on her lovely lips.

  Wait, I hope she’s not pissed that I took over.

  “Yeah, I agree. I need to figure out the legal crap I just stepped into. I'm sure my DNA is all over that room. You know how that goes, right? They’ll know it’s me before I get out of here. I have a feeling that detective…” Alex pulls out the card he left for her, “Detective Black will be here soon. I just want to lay it all out and let the chips fall where they may. If we need to, we can meet with Rocco's attorney together. But let’s see what Black says first. See what’s what. Right?” She looks over at me. I hope we’re right about all this shit.

  “Right, baby. We’re going to find out what’s what. Go from there.” Jack gives me an encouraging smile and gives me a soft squeeze. Right then, I finally relax . Jack says I need to take one thing at a time. Rocco will deal with the Cribs. I have to believe that things will work out.

  “Time to get out of here,” I say with a smile and a kiss. Jack and I never stop kissing until they come take me away for my test.

  When I come back, Detective Black is standing in the room, talking quietly to Jack.

  “Hello Detective, my name is Alexandria Giovanni. I hear you want to ask me some questions.”

  Detective Black says, “Yes ma’am, we need your help.”

  I smile, and we dive right in. I tell him everything. I tell him how I finally escaped.

  He looks in awe. “What an incredible story. Okay, Alex, I’m going to take all this back to headquarters. I’ll call you later, but from what I hear, if it all checks out, you’ll be in the clear. Don’t worry. Congratulations,” the detective looks over at Jack and says. “You must be damn proud of your girl.” Then he leaves us alone.

  By the end of the day, we’re both released from the hospital. We stop by to say goodbye to Jeremy and my folks. We stop to thank Nurse Susan, too. Then Rocco takes us both to Jack’s apartment.

  I’m so relieved. We faced our demons today. I need a cardiologist and a stiff drink.

  Time to get naked.

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Jack

  I have Alex naked within five seconds after Rocco leaves us alone in my apartment. She sure looks good, sitting here, wearing my shirt. The tails meet her ass and her luscious breasts peek out from the unbuttoned buttons.

  “You look beautiful, baby,” I whisper into her neck. She looks good in anything, but damnit, she looks amazing wearing that shirt.

  I slide my hand up her body, following every curve. Her beautiful skin feels amazing under my fingertips. It feels like I’m going to melt right into her. I follow down the path of her body and spread those creamy thighs. “You’re so wet for me,” I whisper gruffly.

  I swipe her hard clit with my tongue, and Alex arches her back, pushing her clit further into my mouth.

  “Oh Jack,” Alex moans. I savagely tongue her until she comes all over my face. When she pushes my head away, I take a deep breath and move back up to her lips.

  “That was amazing. I love watching you fall apart, baby,” I whisper in her ear.

  Alex whispers, “I need you in me, Jack. Come on, fuck me now.”

  I pull my naked body over her and my dick nudges her entrance. She pushes her hips up towards me and I slide right inside. I pound into her, over and over, chasing my own orgasm. She’s grabbing my ass, and we both come together.

  “Whew! That was incredible,” Alex says after we both start coming down from our orgasm high. I lay her head on my shoulder, and we cuddle like that for a time.

  “It was. I love you, baby.”

  Alex whispers, “I love you, too.”

  Time to talk. I need to tell Alex a few things.

  “Baby, I need to talk to you about Lizzy.” She turns to look at me, curiosity splayed across her cute as fuck face.

  “Who's that?” Alex asks. We’re tangled together, stretched out on my bed.

  “She’s my ex-girlfriend.” I see surprise strike Alex’s face. We really haven’t had this discussion yet, the raking over of exes—both of girl and boy variety. I don’t want any more time to pass before I give her a heads up. Alex deserves my honesty.

  “She lives here on the first floor. We met a couple of years ago when she first moved in. And yes, I thought I was in love with her. Until I met you, that is.” I give her my fat-ass smile. I hope she’s not the jealous type.

  I know it seems crazy. I want Alex to be mine. I want to forge a life with her. But there is so much we need to learn about each other. We fuck like madmen, but we haven’t had a chance to learn the stuff most couples learn about each other. We never did go on that date. There will be time for that later.

  “Go on,” Alex encourages and takes my hand in her small little hand. I love these hands. I love this incredible woman.

  “So anyway, we dated like a normal couple.” I tell Alex about Lizzy’s note, my waiting for her call. I tell her everything. “It’s crazy what happens while you’re making other plans.” I chuckle, because really it is crazy. All that time I was waiting for Lizzy to call…well, I fell in love with this beauty. The waiting tortured me until I met Alex.

  “I never heard from her, not for months. I thought she was it for me. But then I met you.” I give her another huge-ass smile. “That’s when things changed. That’s when I knew she really didn’t have my heart, baby. You do.” Alex gives my mouth a kiss, just a pucker up and bam, kiss me hard, kind of kiss. I am over the moon in love with her.

  “You have mine,” Alex says around our kisses.

  “The reason I’m bringing her up now—I don’t want to wait for this conversation—is because while I was in the hospital waiting for you, she popped up. She called and then she showed up.” I start laughing. “Isn’t that some crazy as fuck shit?”

  “You’re telling me you waited all that time, and when things got messy in your life she shows back up? Yeah, I'd say that’s some crazy shit. So, what happened when you saw her?” Alex giggles, and I know right then she’s not the jealous type at all. Thank fuck for small favors, because I hate dealing with that shit, especially when I have to deal with Lizzy’s crazy shit.

  “I told her to fuck off. I told her to leave, and she did. The weirdest part of this whole story...” and I tell her about Jeremy’s photography friend and the photo of Lizzy in Rome.

  “What the hell? I mean, that’s just insane. I wonder what she was doing in Italy. Any ideas?” Alex asks. I didn’t have any ideas back when Jeremy gave me the photo, and I still have no clue now.

  “Nope. Jeremy and I tried
to come up with some ideas. But no...not really. Anyway, I thought you should know that I plan to have that conversation with her now. I plan on telling her that I’ve fallen in love with you. You get that, right? I need the breakup conversation. I think it’s the least I can do. Even though she didn’t treat me with respect, I still want to do that.”

  Alex gives me another kiss and says, “Hell yeah, I get it, honey. It’s always good to make a clean break. But I say fuck her. She had the best man she’ll ever know in her grasp and she just let him slip away. Too bad. I don’t feel bad for her, because the man she tossed to the side? He’s mine,” Alex says with a big grin.

  I don’t feel too bad. The is the first I’ve thought about Lizzy in a long fucking time. I don’t want to hurt her, but I still need to be honest with her.

  “I’m just trying to do the right thing.” I take a beat.

  ”It’s why I love you so much, honey,” Alex says, grabbing my face and kissing me sweetly. Then we’re kissing some more. She’s the most remarkable woman I’ve ever met in my entire life. I feel blessed that she’s mine. I'm not going to squander my time with her; I know I'm blessed as sin.

  “We have to deal with the Norris shit show, baby.” I hope we can figure it out together.

  “I know you’re right. I hate it though, Jack. I hate that I can’t just hide here and live in this fantasy world with you. I’d love to just enjoy time with you and not think about it. But I know we have to deal with the asshole’s death. I hope that detective calls soon.”

  Just then my phone starts ringing. Alex swipes to accept.

  “Hello. Yes, Detective Black, this is Alexandria.” Then she’s listening to whatever he’s saying. She pauses like she’s on hold, and her eyes sweep over me.