by Moody, Diane
She pouted, running her finger along the back of his hand. “I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t you and I leave instead? I know you like to party as much as I do.” She leaned in to whisper in his ear. “C’mon, let’s go see what kind of trouble we can get into.”
JT shook his head in amusement, Liza’s face still nuzzled against his neck. “Girl, seriously, you need to chill, y’know what I mean?”
“What’s going on here? JT?” Tracey stood before them.
Liza tossed her a glance, then dug in closer to JT. “Tracey, why don’t you go find something else to do. JT and I are chatting.”
JT suddenly stood up, reaching out for Tracey’s hand. “No, I think we’re quite through with our little discussion, Liza. See ya!” He tugged Tracey behind him to the middle of the dance floor.
She stopped. “JT, what was that all about?”
“Trace? Forget it. She’s pathetic and not worth getting upset over. Dance with me, baby, and forget about her.” He pulled her close into his arms. “Sergio needs to dump that girl. The sooner, the better. She’s nothing but trouble. Big trouble . . .”
The crowd partied long into the evening. The endless trays filled with cheese and deli meats, fruits, chicken wings and marinated meatballs disappeared, along with all the fussy desserts. Laura and Frank hosted the younger crowd until around 11:30 when they called it a night.
As some of the guests left, the music gradually turned more mellow. Lights dimmed and shoes were kicked off as spirited conversations gave way to quiet chats.
Hannah and Jason shuffled upstairs to the loft, knowing most of the guys would have drifted there already. As they topped the stairs, they heard the heated voices of Gevin and JT.
“But you can’t do this! It isn’t fair!” JT grunted.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Gevin answered, his words measured. “Nobody ever said this was a prison we could never escape. JT, I’m tired of it. It’s been ten long years and I’m tired. I want to marry Marissa and have a normal life.”
“Then you’re a traitor!”
“Stop acting like a child, JT,” Sergio barked.
“Oh, so you’re siding with him now, huh Serg?” JT turned on him. “You roll into town at the last minute and think you know everything that’s happened here?”
“I know enough. I know that calling Gevin a traitor isn’t gonna solve anything.”
“Knock it off, you guys,” Jason hissed. “I told you not to get into this tonight. This is not the time or place—”
“Jason, thank God,” Marissa cried. “I’ve been trying to make them stop, but—”
“—but I still say it’s your fault to begin with, Rissa!” JT yelled. “I mean, fact of the matter is, who the hell do you think you are anyway?”
“SHUT UP, JT!” Gevin got in JT’s face. “I will not allow you to talk to her that way. Do you understand me?”
“Gevin, I’m gonna say it one more time,” Marissa spoke with barely controlled anger. “Either work this out with him once and for all or we leave town. And I mean now.” Marissa stormed down the stairs.
Hannah took a seat on the sofa, cradling her arms around herself. Jason yanked off his tie and jacket as he approached the fireplace. “Geez, guys, can’t you see what you’re doing? I know we’ve got to talk this all out. But not tonight and not here! Is that understood?” He looked back and forth at his friends, the anger still burning behind their eyes.
He looked around the room. Alli was curled up in the easy chair, her lower lip trembling. “Alli, where’s Jackson?”
“He went to his room little while ago. I’ll go get him.” She wiped her eyes as she left the room.
Approaching Jackson’s room, Alli heard laughter coming from behind the door. Candlelight danced along the carpet under the half-closed door. Certain she had happened on to some renegade partiers, she started past the door.
Her breath caught. A black and navy paisley bow tie lay on the floor just outside the cracked door. Alli leaned over to pick it up. Soft murmuring drifted from the room.
“ . . . but you know you want me, Jackson. You always have. I’ve seen it in your eyes a thousand times.”
Alli stopped breathing. The speech was slurred, but she’d know that voice anywhere. She started to reach for the door handle but found herself paralyzed.
“I’ve seen you looking at me tonight, baby.” Liza’s voice faltered
She’s crying? Why is she crying?
“Don’t do this, Liza.” Jackson’s voice cracked. “I beg you, don’t do this.”
Oh my God. Alli watched her hand reach for the door knob as if it didn’t belong to her. Liza’s voice drifted through the slight opening.
“You like this dress on me, don’t you? Did you know I wore it for you? Did you? I picked it out just for you, Jax.”
“Liza, please.”
“Sergi was always just for fun. But you knew that, didn’t you?” Her voice grew more emotional.
Alli froze, hearing the desperation in Liza’s sobs.
“You knew it was always you I wanted, didn’t you? Because I’ve always known you wanted me. From the very beginning. Say it, Jackson. Tell me you want me.”
Silence.
“SAY IT! I’m losing patience with you, Jackson. All my letters and emails, I’ve told you a thousand times how I felt about you. You know I love you.”
“What are you talking about? You never wrote me.”
“Of course I did, silly. I signed all my love letters—‘Til death us do part.’”
“Leslie?” he gasped. “You’re Leslie? The one who’s been stalking me? Threatening me with all those deranged letters?”
“Love letters, Jax. Not deranged. I poured out all my love to you in those letters.” She sobbed openly, hiccupping her words. “Leslie. Liza. Leslie. Liza. I thought for sure you knew. You had to know. Because you love me. I know you do. Now I’m only going to ask you one more time. Tell me you love me. Tell me now.”
Silence.
“TELL ME!”
Alli couldn’t control the shaking. A thousand thoughts pelted her mind. Slowly, she pushed the door open without a sound. She blinked back the tears blurring her vision. Wild images danced along the walls from a sea of candles lit all around the room. On the far wall in the corner, she could barely make out the image of two people. She bit her lip to keep her staggered breath silent. Slowly the images came into focus.
Jackson was pinned against the far corner, Liza’s body pressed firmly against him. But it made no sense. Jackson was a full 6’4”. Liza was so little. Why didn’t he do something? Why would he allow her to—
“Jackson?” His name fell from her lips.
His eyes shot toward her. “Alli!” he gasped. “No! No! Get out of here!”
She shook her head. “Jackson? Wha—”
“Just turn around and leave. Now, Alli. LEAVE.”
Alli tilted her head. I’m dreaming. Surely this is a dream?
Liza hadn’t moved. She looked over her shoulder, casting a drunken glance at her. “You heard him. Get out of here.” She paused a moment then yelled, “GET! OUT!”
Alli slowly shook her head, back and forth, trying to make sense of it. She searched Jackson’s face, desperate for an answer. His eyes were tightly closed. “Alli, please leave,” he pleaded, his voice catching again.
She backed out the door, one step after another. Suddenly she bumped into someone.
“Alli? What’s wrong?” Sergio turned her to face him. “What’s the matter? What is it? You’re shaking like a leaf.”
The words wouldn’t form. She looked back at the room she’d just left.
He stepped around her, still holding her arm. “Alli, answer me! What’s wrong?”
“Jackson . . . ”
His puzzled eyes questioned her but she couldn’t speak another word. He stepped toward the door into Jackson’s room. Alli reached for his sleeve, tugging to warn him. He turned to face her just as the slurred speech contin
ued inside the room.
“ . . . because I’ve waited all this time. And now it’s my turn.”
At the recognition of Liza’s voice, Sergio shoved the door open. “What’s going on here!?”
Liza jerked her head to face him, but remained pressed against Jackson’s body. “Get out of here, Sergio. GET OUT!” she screamed.
He moved closer, Alli right behind him. “Liza, what are you doing? Get away from him!”
“He loves me, Sergio. He always has. And I’ve been in love with Jackson. From the very beginning.” She laughed, a wet rebuke. “You’re such a fool. You never knew, did you? I used you to get to Jackson.” She spewed out expletives alongside a sarcastic laugh. “You’re soooo naive, Sergio. They all tried to tell you about me. But you wouldn’t listen. You actually thought I loved you, didn’t you? What are you, blind or just stupid?” Her crazed, inebriated laughter filled the air.
Sergio turned around to face Alli. She watched his jaw clench as he steeled his eyes.
“No, Sergio, don’t—”
He turned like lightning, charging across the room toward his deranged girlfriend. “Liza, you—”
She stepped back, revealing the gun she held firmly against Jackson’s stomach. Sergio stopped in his tracks.
“Stop, Serg,” Jackson warned. “She’s had it planted against my gut for the last ten minutes. She’s drunk and stoned, and I have no doubt in my mind, she’ll fire it.” A bead of sweat trickled down the side of Jackson’s face.
“Stop talking about me like I’m not here!”
“Jackson!” Alli screamed.
Jackson leaned his head back against the wall. “Alli, please, honey. Just back up and—”
“No!” Liza shrieked. “She stays right where she is. Nobody leaves ’til I say so now.”
Alli watched Jackson swallow with difficulty, his eyes pleading with her silently across the candlelit room. Sergio pushed her back, forcing her to stay behind him.
“Liza, just put down the gun and let’s talk about this,” Sergio asked quietly. “There’s no reason we can’t work this out. You don’t want anybody to get hurt, now, do you?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe I do. Maybe I need to make sure Little Miss Muffet over there is never a problem for me again.”
“No, Liza, leave her out of this!” Jackson begged. “Please just let her go.”
Slowly blinking her besotted eyes, Liza turned once again to face Jackson. “Oh, I don’t think I can do that, Jax,” she said, pressing the gun harder against his stomach. “How can I ever be sure you’re totally mine if she’s still alive?”
Alli could hear Jackson panting. He lifted his eyes just as Sergio dived toward them. Liza grabbed Jackson’s jaw, jerking it down toward her, then covered his lips with her own.
Sergio pounced against her back, screaming, “LIZA!”
But it was too late.
The shot echoed through the room. Jackson heard Alli’s scream but she sounded far away. His breath knocked out of him, he blinked, trying to understand what had happened. It was only as he slid down the wall that he felt the searing pain in his stomach. He pressed his fingers against the pain. When he drew them back, his hand was dark and sticky. He gasped for breath but couldn’t find it.
His eyes moved mechanically across the faces floating around him. Sergio’s horrified eyes as he held Liza’s arms behind her. Liza’s twisted, satisfied smile. And Alli’s contorted face, so close now though her cries sounded so far away . . .
Then it all went black.
Chapter 13
“Alli, move back. You have to move back.” Jason spoke with quiet firmness as he gently pulled her away from Jackson.
“You need to get her out of here. Now,” the paramedic instructed, as he and three others moved swiftly to assess Jackson’s vital signs.
“I can’t leave him, Jason! No! Please don’t make me go!” she begged, screaming through her tears. “Jackson! Jackson! Oh God—please! No!” She shook violently in Jason’s arms as he tried to move her out of the way.
“Shhhh, take it easy, Alli. The paramedics need lots of room if they’re gonna help Jackson, okay? Shhhh . . . just try to take a deep breath for me, okay? C’mon, Alli. Jackson needs you to pull yourself together.” He held her tightly in his arms, hoping to stop her trembling . . . and his.
When the shot first rang out, Jason and the rest of those in the loft flew down the long hall toward the sound of it. Laura and Frank bolted from the other end of the hall to find the heartbreaking scene along with the rest of them. Frank immediately called 911 as Jason, JT, and Gevin raced to Jackson’s side. Sergio quickly explained what had happened as he held Liza’s arms in a vise grip behind her back, the gun kicked away from them across the carpeted floor. His anger and panic erupted as he shouted the accusations at the woman who remained silent.
Jason had worked swiftly alongside Gevin and JT to lower Jackson to the floor. They ripped open his shirt, the buttons scattering silently across the carpet like discarded pearls.
“Oh my God,” Gevin groaned. Bright crimson seeped from the nasty black hole in Jackson’s stomach.
JT patted Jackson’s face. “Jackson! Jax, wake up, buddy! You gotta wake up!”
Jason looked across at Gevin and JT and saw his own terror mirrored in their faces.
JT continued. “C’mon, Jax! Don’t you do this! Don’t you even think about leaving us, man! JACKSON!” His voice cracked with despair.
Jason helped pull the blood-soaked shirt away from Jackson’s wound. They unbuckled his belt, loosening his slacks to relieve any possible pressure. “Gevin, he’s losing too much blood!”
“I know, I know. Where are those paramedics?!”
The commotion behind them answered the question as the medical team arrived. Frank and Laura tried to clear out the guests, instructing them to move quickly downstairs and out of the way. Red lights swirled through the windows as dozens of police cars swarmed the grounds responding to the 911 alert. Jason heard a police sergeant assuring his father they had called in extra back-up knowing the identity of the homeowners and guests. They would secure the property against curiosity-seekers or media who would arrive as soon as the news spread.
They handcuffed Liza who moved like a zombie as the officers pushed her out of the room. Her face registered no emotion whatsoever.
Jason spotted Hannah, Marissa, and Tracey huddled close together in the corner of Jackson’s room, their hands locked tightly as they trembled together in tears. They watched in horror as the paramedics strapped an oxygen mask on Jackson’s face and attached other monitors. Their medical terms meant little to the hushed people gathered in that room, but they didn’t need to know the scientific language. What they saw was enough.
One of the paramedics hustled to get the stretcher from the hall, popping it to lock the wheels in place once back inside the room. As they secured Jackson’s arms across his chest, they lifted him efficiently in one motion, placing him on the gurney. Strapping belts across him, they continued to work on him.
“Let’s go—move out of the way, please,” the female medic yelled. “Clear out, people! Move it!”
Suddenly everyone was in motion, all talking at once, making sure everyone had a ride to the hospital. Gevin wrapped his jacket around Alli, trying to keep her on her feet as they left the room. Jason joined Hannah and Marissa, quickly ushering them out of the room and down the stairs. In a matter of seconds they were all outside, blinded by the countless flashing red lights of all the emergency vehicles.
Jason shuddered as the scene unfolded.
Oh God, please tell me this is just a bad dream.
“C’mon, JT! Tracey! Hurry!” Jason pulled Hannah along with the others as they climbed into a limousine one of their guests had hired for the evening. Gevin and Marissa held Alli between them, gently pushing her into the car. JT and Tracey climbed in after them.
“C’mon, c’mon! Get this thing moving!” JT shouted at the driver.
&nbs
p; “Wait!” Alli cried. “Where’s Sergio? Where is he?”
Realizing he wasn’t with him, they looked outside. “There he is on the porch!” Jason threw open the limo door. “Serg! Get in here! Hurry up!”
Sergio stood among the crowd of party guests, his hands dug deep in his trouser pockets and shivering in the cold night. He shook his head back and forth defiantly. “No,” he mouthed.
Jason flew out of the car, racing toward the porch. He lunged at Sergio who bolted back, resisting Jason’s efforts. “No, Jason, I can’t go. This is all my fault! I can’t—¡no puedo! ¡No puedo! Oh Dios mio!”
Jason gripped Sergio’s arms. “Just shut up and get in the car, Sergio. I’m not gonna listen to that kind of talk!”
Sergio fought back, his strength overpowering his friend. “No!” Angry tears coursed down his face. He stepped back, colliding into the strong arms of Frank McKenzie. Sergio struggled to get free, but Frank held him tight.
“Jason’s right,” Frank said urgently, just an inch away from Sergio’s ear. “You have to go with them. This is not your fault, son. But this isn’t the time for discussing who is or isn’t at fault. You have to think of Jackson right now and nothing else. That’s all that matters.”
Jason could see Sergio’s body relaxing. He looked at his father appreciatively. He wrapped his arm over Sergio’s shoulder. They moved quickly toward the limo. As Sergio ducked into the long black car, Jason turned back toward his father. “Dad! Call Jackson’s family. Get them here as fast as you can.”
“Your mother is already trying to track them down. Go on. We’ll join you shortly.”
The door slammed behind Jason as the tires of the limo squealed in hasty retreat. Sirens pierced the air as a long police escort surrounded them. Hannah cried softly, her head on Jason’s shoulder. He rested his head against hers, looking at Alli, sandwiched between Gevin and Marissa. Her lips moved silently as tears poured down her face. JT stared out the window, his body rocking in quick, jerking movements as Tracey held his hands tightly in hers.
