Keeping Her (The Lexington Series Book 2)

by Belle Winters

  “Lucy?” I heard and looked around. Who the heck was calling me?

  I saw a figure by a car closer to the curb. I squinted trying to see better. “Who is it?” I asked.

  She took a step closer. “It’s just me, Jasmine.”

  I sighed. “Hi Jasmine.” I called out.

  “Can you help me with something over here?” she asked.

  I frowned. I didn’t see her with anything. “Help with what?”

  “My car, it won’t start.” She said.

  I sighed again, she was a pain. I started walking towards her as I spoke. “I don’t know much about cars so I don’t think I could help you. There are plenty of guys around here that can probably help you.”

  “I can’t hear you well.” She shouted.

  I rolled my eyes and got closer to her. “I said I don’t know anything about cars. You should ask one of the guys.”

  Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. “Oh alright.”

  I turned to go back to the party, when she spoke up again. “Oh wait a minute.” I spun around and she walked up to me. “I think you forgot this.” I looked down into her hand and frowned. It looked like a napkin or handkerchief.

  I shook my head, “No I did-“ but my words were cut off when she grabbed the back of my head and pressed the cloth over my mouth and nose. I tried to struggle but everything became hazy really fast. I felt my body begin to slump and an arm wrapped around me. I heard her grit her teeth as she tugged on me. I tried to speak, but my mouth wouldn’t move then everything went black.

  I woke up half lying across the backseat of a car. I groaned and sat up. I looked up to see Jasmine behind the wheel and she was speeding. I peeked out the window but everything kind of blurred past. Then I remembered her covering my face with that cloth and me passing out. “What the fuck did you do to me?” I asked sitting up fully.

  She began to panic. I heard her whisper fuck under her breath and start feeling around. I checked the door considering jumping out of the moving car but also afraid if I do I might hurt the baby. She turned around and raised her arm. It came down quickly and I felt an explosion in my head. Everything went black again.

  I don’t know how long I was out of it for, but I woke up with a piercing headache. I touched my forehead and I felt wetness. I pulled my hand back and found blood. The bitch hit me in my head with something. I groaned and looked at my surroundings. There were old pipes and not much else around me. I sat up and took a good look and realized that I was in a basement. I got up slowly and felt a wave of nausea. I fought it and started to look around. Eventually I found a door and tried it. Of course it was locked. I wouldn’t have been so lucky to have found an open door that would let me just prance out of here. Why the fuck am I even here? What does this girl want with me?

  I found a spot on the floor and made myself comfortable. I toyed with my bracelet to keep myself entertained. My stomach growled telling me that I was hungry and I sighed. I wonder if anyone figured out that something happened. Naiyla must have figured it out by now since she won’t find me anywhere. My body was exhausted and I wanted to sleep, but I couldn’t let myself. I didn’t think it would be smart to go to sleep in a situation like this. Time continued to pass and I just sat there for god knows how long. I must’ve dozed off at some point because I was startled awake when I heard a door opening and closing. There were footsteps on the stairs and I peered up to see who it was. Jasmine entered and stood by the stairs staring at me.

  “Why am I here?” I asked.

  “Because I bought you here.” she said simply.

  I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Now she wants to have some backbone. “Ok, why did you bring me here?”

  She laughed. “Well I told you to go away… but did you? No. I warned you that this would happen Lucy.”

  My heart stopped. She was the one sending me those threats and stalking me. She was planning to kill me? “Why? What is all of this about? How long have I been here?”

  She took a couple steps towards me. “So many questions. You’ve been here maybe 10 hours or so. You slept like a rock I’ll tell you that. Is that little baby of yours hungry yet?”

  I instinctively covered my stomach. “I’m fine.” I lied. No wonder I was so hungry. It’s been hours since I’ve last eaten.

  “Sure you are.” She picked up a folding chair from the corner of the room and settled it close in front of me. “Now let’s chat shall we?”

  “This is your show. You have the mic.” I told her.

  She scowled. “I wouldn’t be such a smart ass if I were you. Look at the position you’ve already gotten yourself into. You should really consider playing nice, unless you’re ready to end this already.”

  I sighed. “Ok, can you tell me what this whole thing is about? Why did you start threatening me?” I asked.

  “You know. It’s a small world… you’d be surprised how everyone is connected.” She told me.

  She was starting to piss me off going in circles. “What does that have to do with this?” I asked gesturing to the room.

  “Well, everyone wants Lucy. I knew about you… Landon’s precious angel. It used to drive me crazy hearing him pine for you, and all the while he barely noticed me. Do you know how much that hurts? Having to endure the guy you’re in love with talk about how he’s in love with another girl. You know one time I asked him if we could get married when we grew up and he told me no. Why? Because he’s only going to marry you.” She said with a sneer.

  I scoffed. “Landon and I were friends back then. I admired him too, but we were too young for love or to even fully comprehend it. He liked me and I liked him as well but we weren’t doing more than sharing snickers or playing in the playground.”

  “Maybe to you. See this is why I knew you don’t deserve him. You didn’t even love him like I did. Then you broke his heart and he spoke to me even less. I thought I was grateful at first, but then I realized the only things he had to say to me had to do with you. So I bid my time and let him mourn losing you. I figured as time progressed he would realize his feelings for me and we would finally be together but he still didn’t give me the time of day. I would make sure I knew if he was around and I would seek him out just to be in his presence. When he got a little older he became something of a slut. He slept around and never had girlfriends and that eased my worries some. I knew he saw me as more than a one night stand. He needed to get all of the wildness out of his system and when he was ready to settle down he would come for me, someone he actually cares about.”

  I cleared my throat. “It sounds to me like your problem is with him, not me. I didn’t do any of these things to you, I didn’t even know you.”

  She barked out a laugh. “It is your fault. You had to worm your way back into his life after disappearing. Then he falls all over you and acts like you’re a god. I see the way he’s fiercely protective of you, and how crazy he is about you.”

  I snapped. “Newsflash Jasmine. Next time when you do your research do it thoroughly. I never left. I was always there. When he thought I broke his heart as you so eloquently put it, he tortured me. Him and all his friends… for years. I never knew why and I didn’t understand it but I was always on his radar. It wasn’t until sometime passed and Nick’s prodding that he confessed to me the reason he did what he did. He never stopped wanting me he just thought he couldn’t have me. You’re holding onto a torch that you know holds no hope.”

  She stood up. “I have hope! There is hope. I just need to get you out of the picture. And then you trap him and make him knock you up. Is that your way of trying to keep him around? Well that will be our first order of business. I’ve been googling how to do an abortion at home. I will save him from you and that bastard child. When I explain to him how toxic you are he will thank me and that ring on your finger will be mine.”

  “I’m toxic?” I asked in disbelief.

  “Yes, you are. You think this is all about Landon don’t you? But it’s not. You’re the reason why my c
ousin will never walk again. You lied to him and messed with his feelings. You made him love you and you broke his heart too. Then you accused him of raping and trying to kill you when you were the one that wanted to run away with him. I promised him that I would take you out. He told me all about how you tricked Landon into falling for you too. He knows how much I love him. You not only took the man of my dreams, you took my cousin and best friend away from me.”

  My stomach clenched and my hands flew to my mouth. “Dan is your cousin?”

  She gave me a humorless laugh. “Yes he is. I transferred to your school to see for myself. I tried to do things the easy way and lure Landon to me. Make him leave you that would’ve been enough for me. You know getting what I want while hurting you at the same time. But you kept hanging around. You just won’t fucking leave… now I have to make you. It’s obvious you’ve got him seriously fooled about you. So this is the only way.” She started walking towards the stairs and threw over her shoulder. “I’ll give you a couple of minutes of privacy to say goodbye to that baby of yours. I’ll be back with my hanger to try out the procedure. I’ve never done this before, it should be fun.”

  I grimaced and she left. There was no way that I was just going to sit here and let her do those things to me. I knew that Landon wouldn’t find me. Truth be told, when I was thinking about who could be threatening me she never even popped on my radar. She was a little thing and I knew for sure I could take her, that’s why she had to drug me. I think that all of the anger and blame going through her head is making her even more delusional. With my mind made up I looked around the room. I started feeling along the pipes to see if any of them were loose. This was the only thing in the room I could use as a weapon. Yea, I was planning on knocking this bitch out and getting the hell out of here. I kept feeling around and I was getting desperate. None of the pipes were budging and she said she would only be a few minutes. I didn’t have much time. I heard the door open and my heart started pounding. My fight or flight instincts kicked in. I will not let her hurt my baby. I spotted the chair that she sat in before and I folded it quietly. I backed up into the corner on the side of the stairs. I heard her coming down the stairs slowly while she whistled. She was a fucking nut job.

  “Where are you hiding little birdy?” she called out.

  I held my breath. She cleared the stairs and began walking into the room. I took a step forward and let out a war cry as I swung the chair at her head. She spun around to face me just as the metal crashed into her. She dropped back and fell to the floor hard. I kicked her to make sure she was out and ran up the stairs. The door led into what appeared to be a family room. I ran across the room and looked for an exit. I traveled from room to room looking for the front door. The place was massive. I finally spotted the foyer and began running towards the door when I felt hands grip me. I cried out.

  “You bitch!” Jasmine screamed and pulled me back tossing me to the ground. She climbed on top of me and I got a look at her face. I got that bitch good, and it spurred me on. She grabbed my arms and tried to pin me down. Thank god for Landon’s aggressiveness. I’ve been in this position plenty of times when I was feigning disinterest with sleeping with him. She was no match to his strength. I lifted my hips pulling us off the ground. Her eyes widened in surprise and as she was momentarily distracted I tossed her off of me. I crawled over to her and pulled her hair. She let out a blood curling scream. I knew that shit hurt because I put my back into it. “Let me go!” she snarled and I pulled harder.

  She spun around and grabbed my left ankle. I brought my right foot up and kicked down on her head hard. She immediately let go and I got up and tried to run for the door. I got it unlocked when something crashed next to me. I spun in time to see her tossing a lamp my way. I ducked and ran to the side. I went around towards the kitchen and she was hot on my heels. I ran around the breakfast bar and she was on the other side. I fainted right but she caught on. We continued circling each other before I spoke.

  “Is this really the answer? You think that hurting me and Landon’s baby will give you a chance?” I asked.

  She laughed. “Of course. He just needs a little push in the right direction. You won’t be around to influence him.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re delusional. He loves me and our baby. Don’t you get it? He will hate you if you do anything to me or our child. He wants our baby.”

  She scoffed. “He’s confused and you’re crazy. Who would want a baby with you? It should be me! He should be with me!” she screamed and flew across the breakfast bar at me. I backed up and knocked over stuff on the counter. I ran to the other side as she got herself up. I backed myself up against the counter since I knew I wouldn’t make it to the door. I gripped onto the counter preparing myself to fight. I have to be careful I can’t keep tossing myself around like this. My hands fell on something and I gripped it. I have no idea what it was but she was charging at me. She gripped me by my neck and her hands tightened. I struggled for air and tightened my grip on whatever it was. I slid it off the counter and brought it up behind her back. It was a large cutting knife. My body entire shook, I didn’t want to kill her I just wanted to get out. Her eyes went wild and her grip tightened. I tried to pry her hands away with my free hand but it was no use.

  “That baby and you should be dead.” She said in my ear as I began to see black dots. I used all of my strength to meet her eyes and she smiled. “That thing in your stomach was the biggest mistake in his life.” I couldn’t get any air into my lungs and I was beginning to panic. This just couldn’t be it for me.

  In a barely there whisper I told her, “No one will ever hurt my baby.” And then I plunged the knife into her. Her eyes widened and her grip on my neck fell slack. I gripped onto the counter to hold me up. She slowly fell down sliding across my body and my knees gave out. I fell down to the floor struggling for air. My breathing came out in rapid short pants and my lungs were blazing. It hurt so much to take in air and I didn’t have the energy to move. I heard noises as I kept trying to get control of my breathing but I could only hear beating in my ears. I collapsed on top of Jasmine. I felt a hand on my arm right before I passed out.

  Landon

  Four hours ago…

  “Nick I’m fucking losing it man. I can’t deal with this shit. I need to know where she is and if she’s ok. The longer it takes the worst the shit in my head is getting.” I confessed.

  “It’s alright man. We’ll find her, it’ll be ok I promise you. Lucy is a strong girl. She has to be to deal with you. Truth be told I’m sure she can take Jasmine. She’s going to be ok.” He promised me.

  I nodded but I was on pins and needles. If anything happens to Lucy I have no idea what I’m going to do. She was carrying our fucking baby! I couldn’t lose either of them. I paced for another hour before my phone rang it was Frank from the security department. He informed me that he was sending me everything they found on Jasmine. I immediately grabbed my laptop and accessed the email. She was in therapy but it didn’t say why. Go figure the girls a fucking nut. She had to be if she thinks she’s going to do something to Lucy and get away with it. I’ll break her neck myself. I continued reading until something caught my eye. There was information about her seeing someone in jail. I scanned through the documents and found that the person she was visiting was Dan. How does she even know him I continued to sort through the information and I found the connection. They were cousins through their mothers, which is why they had different last names. Apparently they were close. I kept reading and my blood boiled. She was working with Dan? That’s what this is all about; I thought we were rid of that fucker.

  “Nick, she’s Dan’s cousin.” I told him by way of explanation.

  Nick paled. “Are you serious? That’s why she’s gunning for Lucy something to do with him?”

  I nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking. She’s not on campus, so where could she have taken her? I’m trying to think if we had any homes around here that she could be at. The p
icture didn’t give much to a background. They could be in a warehouse for all I know.”

  Just then James and Sam arrived. After we filled them in James went into a spin. He was on the phone nonstop pulling in favors and contacting the police. We had Chris hard at work looking for family properties close by. So far he came up with nothing. Nick rubbed his chin then told Chris to also check for Dan’s family properties. He nodded and expanded his search.

  James finally got off the phone and sighed. “I’m surprised we haven’t found her yet.”

  That pissed me off, I felt like he was accusing me of something. I tensed. “What is that supposed to mean? We’ve been trying everything we could!” I argued.

  He put his hands up in defense. “It’s not that. I would have just assumed with your ridiculous protectiveness you would’ve chipped her or something by now.”

  I slammed my fists down on the table. “Fuck! I’ve been so damn stressed I’m not thinking. I did tag her, the ring.” I looked up at Chris. “You know how to trace those and see where she is?”

  Chris shook his head. “That’s outside of my expertise but I know someone who can.” He offered.

  I nodded. “Call him.”

  He placed the call and 20 minutes later there was a knock on my door. I swung the door open and was face to face with Dylan. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I roared.

  He threw his arms up. “Chris told me to come here to help him with something. If I known it was for you I wouldn’t have come.”