Keeping Her (The Lexington Series Book 2)

by Belle Winters

My eyebrows flew up. “You know computers?”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Believe it or not football is my pastime. I prefer computers and technology, now do you need my help before I change my mind?”

  I nodded. “Lucy was kidnapped.”

  He paled and came into the house. “I’ll help however I can.”

  He entered the house and made his way to Chris. “What’s needed?” he asked taking out a laptop from his bag.

  “He needs to trace a chip on her.” Chris told him.

  Dylan’s eyebrows flew up. “You chipped her?”

  “Yes the fuck I did, now do we have an issue?” I asked.

  He held his hands up in defense. “Not at all, I just didn’t realize that you guys were that serious.”

  “Are you fucking blind? This boy is mental over her, now can you trace it?” Nick chimed in.

  Dylan nodded. “Yes but I’ll need some information to locate that chip.” I ran up to our room taking two stairs at a time. I shuffled through my papers until I found the one with her information on it. I took it back downstairs to them. “I’ll need a while to connect to the chip then get the location.”

  I nodded then I hugged James. Like a real honest to god hug of love. “You’re a fucking genius man.”

  He shook his head and muttered, “I’m surprised it’s only the ring.”

  I chuckled for the first time in hours. “Yea, I’m working on that. You think she’ll agree to one in her wrist or something.”

  James glared at me. “No, she wouldn’t.”

  I shrugged. “There’s ways around that. After this, she’ll be lucky if I let her out the damn room. I’m going to strangle her ass once I know she’s ok.”

  Two more hours passed before Dylan narrowed down a location. It was an estate that belonged to Dan’s parents about an hour away. As soon as he gave me the address I was out the door. Nick hopped in the passenger side just as I sped off. My entire body was shaking. The closer I got the more nervous I became. What if we were too late? It would be my entire fault for forgetting about the damn tracker. I slammed my hands down on the wheel. How am I going to live with myself? It seemed like everything was against me. I couldn’t catch a green light, and I was strongly considering breaking every traffic law. It was the longest hour of my life. When the GPS told us we arrived I hopped out of the car, not even bothering to cut the engine. I could see there was a light on and then I heard a crash. Me and Nick sprinted to the door. It was locked and it took me a few tries before I was able to get it open. There was shattered glass by the door and the carpet was shifted. It looked like they were struggling. Me and Nick split up and ran through the house. My heart was in my throat the entire time. I found the basement and looked around and I recognized this place from the picture. I saw blood on the floor and a chair and my palms started to sweat.

  “LANDON!” I heard Nick scream for me and I ran back up the stairs. My heart was frantic and I had a million and one thoughts running through my mind. I found him in the kitchen and he was pulling Lucy up. She had blood on her shirt and I panicked. I ran and picked her up from his arms and ran towards the door. I needed to get her to the hospital. Nick nodded to me. “Hurry up and get her to a hospital, I’ll call the cops and get an ambulance here. She’s out too.”

  I didn’t even respond. I got her into the backseat and sped to the closest hospital. Thank fucking god for google maps, it got me here in 10 minutes. I carried her into the ER and looked around frantic. I ran to the front desk with Lucy in my arms. “Please you have to help her. I don’t know what’s wrong but she won’t wake up and there’s blood. She’s pregnant.” I pleaded.

  The nurse said some code into the speaker and people ran out with a stretcher. I placed Lucy down and followed them down the hallway. They only let me get so far before they made me sit in the waiting room. I called James to tell him where we were and then I sat there and waited. Nick finally showed up and he looked exhausted and pale. James appeared not 10 minutes later while Sam stayed home with Max.

  “How is she?” Nick asked.

  I shook my head and the tears I’ve been holding in came out. “I don’t know, and I’m so fucking scared.” I admitted.

  He took a seat next to me and patted me on the back. “She’s strong man. If that house is any indication, she didn’t let us down. She fought and she still had a pulse, I checked.”

  I nodded and let the fear consume me. There was nothing I could do to fight it, it was there like a black hole waiting to devour me alive. I prayed to every god I’ve ever heard of that she and the baby were ok. That’s all I need in life. “Please, please, please…” I begged.

  We were waiting for about an hour or two when the doctor finally came out. “James Fielder?”

  We all stood and walked to him. “Yes, that’s me… and this is the rest of her family.”

  “You’re her father correct?” the doctor asked.

  “I am. Now please tell us how my daughter is doing.”

  “Ok, well….”

  Lucy

  Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

  I groaned, I knew that sound all too well. I was in the hospital… again. I’m getting sick of being here. My head was hurting and I slowly opened my eyes. Landon was lying next to me in the hospital bed. Nick was lying across a couch in the corner and James was in a chair that looked mighty uncomfortable. I reached up and moved a piece of hair off of Landon’s forehead and he stirred. I smiled when those intense green eyes found mine.

  “Hey baby.” He murmured.

  I smiled. “Hey Landon.” I croaked out then cringed. God dammit that hurt. My throat was on fire.

  Landon frowned. “What’s the matter?” he asked.

  I pointed to my throat. “Hurts” I told him in a hoarse whisper.

  He sighed and ran his fingers through my hair. He placed a kiss to my forehead. “Other than that, how you feeling?” he asked and I gave him a thumbs up. He got up and left the room, I’m assuming to tell the nurses I was awake.

  “Great to see you there young lady. You must be very popular to have a room full of hot guys.” The nurse told me with a smile. The sound of her voice caused Nick and James to stir.

  I couldn’t help myself. “You can have them if you like. They’re a hell of a lot of trouble.” It hurt like hell to talk, but it was worth the scowl that Landon threw at me.

  She laughed. “Oh no honey they don’t seem like they’re leaving you.” Nick stood up and stretched and his shirt rose up as she was checking my vitals. She whispered, “But holy hell, I’ll tell you I would if I could.” That made me snicker. “Well everything seems fine. I’ll let the doctor know that you’re awake and he will be in here to speak with you. If you need anything you let me know.”

  Nick came over and stretched out in the bed where Landon was. “Hey there cupcake, how’s it going? Do you know that selfish bastard over there,” he gestured to Landon, “wouldn’t rotate with me last night? I considered trying to squeeze in on your other side but he threatened me. I mean you are carrying my baby.” He rolled his eyes and kissed me on the cheek. “I missed you muffin. How is my girl and my child doing?” he asked.

  Landon growled and I laughed. “We’re doing ok I think. The doctor will know more than me right about now.” I told him. Truth is I was worried about the baby. I still felt pregnant, but I have no idea what kind of crap could’ve gone wrong with all that wrestling and shit.

  The doctor came in a few minutes later. “Hi Lucy, its great seeing you awake. Now most of your bumps and bruises are artificial. Your neck will be hurting for a while from you being choked, but there is no permanent damage. You should try to have more hot drinks and ease your way into cold. I know you’re thirsty so I would start with some tea.”

  Nick stood up. “I’ll go get it.” he told us and left the room.

  “Let’s check on the baby, shall we?” he setup the equipment for a sonogram. “I see here that you are around four months pregnant. When they initially brought you in, the
re were some signals of distress with the baby. The ordeal that you went through put a high dosage of stress on your body and that reflected on the baby. However, you will need to take it easy for the remainder of this pregnancy and stay away from stress.” He applied the goo to my stomach and added the wand. It only took him a few seconds to find the baby and I smiled. He was moving, which meant he was ok. I grabbed Landon’s hand and squeezed. He pressed a button and a heartbeat filled the room.

  “I can’t believe you kids are already making me a grandpa. He’s beautiful.” James said.

  I looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. “He? We don’t know if it’s a boy or girl yet.” I told him.

  He nodded. “Well I already know. That’s a boy, and if he’s like his daddy you’re going to have your hands full.” The doctor shut down the monitor and told us all looks well and exited.

  I nodded and laughed. Nick came back with the tea and I drank it happily. I didn’t realize I was so damn thirsty. It stung to drink it but it was worth the pain. A guy in a cop uniform entered the room and I already knew the protocol. Before he began I put up a hand to stop him. “I know the drill. My throat is sore so you’ll have to bear with me.” I told him.

  He nodded and took a seat. I sat up and Landon took a seat next to me. “She saw me at the party that Naiyla and I went to. She kept asking me questions and trying to hold a conversation. She asked me to come over and help her with her car. When I got close enough she covered my face with a cloth and I blacked out. I woke up in the car and then she knocked me out. Hit me in my head with something. I woke up in a basement and she told me I was out of it for several hours. She basically went on to accuse me of being the reason why she couldn’t have Landon and why he didn’t love her. She intended on trying to perform an abortion then I guess kill me? In her fucked up brain she thought that if she got rid of us that she could undo whatever brainwashing I did to Landon and they’ll live happily ever after. Then she blamed me for the reason why her psycho as hell cousin attacked me. Saying I made him fall in love with me and had him believe I’ll run away with him or something. I cracked her in the head with a chair and tried to get out. Unfortunately I didn’t know the layout of the house so she caught up with me before I could get out the door. We scuffled some and I got away again. When I almost got out the door she started throwing shit so I ran to the kitchen. That’s when I think she lost her last shred of humanity and she choked me. The knife was on the counter so when I started blacking out and she was talking about our kid I stabbed her. It was hard to breathe and I remember collapsing. Now here I am.”

  Landon cursed under his breathe. “This was about me and me not giving a rat’s ass about her? What the hell is wrong with that family?” he asked frustrated.

  I shook my head and gave the officer a pointed look. “Let us know now if there is any other bat shit crazy people in that family that I need to watch my back from.”

  He shook his head. “Not that I know of, we have enough information here to lock her up.”

  I sighed. “How is she?” I asked. I needed to know what type of damage I caused this time.

  “She’s going to be ok. She lost quite a bit of blood, but you didn’t hit any organs or such. I will say you did a number on her… I have to ask how she got that knot the size of a boulder on her head?” he asked.

  I laughed. “No clue. It could’ve been when I cracked her with the chair, or when I pulled the crap out of her hair, or maybe it was when I kicked the shit out of her head. I don’t know how she didn’t have a concussion.”

  “Oh she did actually. We think the adrenaline pulsing through her kept her going. She also had drugs in her system.” He told me.

  I shook my head. “Good riddance.” The cop excused himself and I turned to Landon. “When can you bust me out of this joint?” I asked.

  He chuckled. “When they say it’s ok so don’t rush it Lucy. You heard them say that all the stress from the night affected the baby. I need you to just relax.” He told me.

  I sighed and snuggled into him. I placed a kiss on his chin. “Don’t try to get sweet with me now girl. I’m still going to kick your ass. How many times do I have to tell you to just fucking listen to me? Why is that so damn hard for you? Do you just like being a pain in my ass?” he asked.

  I rolled my eyes. “Sure you are tough guy. I’m shaking in my boots.”

  His hands flexed on my arm. “I’m serious Lucy. You need to cut all this independent bullshit you have going on. I’m telling you this for your own good. I just don’t want anything to happen to you baby that’s all.”

  I grabbed onto his shirt and he looked down. “I know LJ, thank you.” He gave me a soft kiss and I heard someone gag. I looked up and Nick was looking at us like he was going to be sick.

  “You two are gross. Did you forget there were other people in the room? Can you spare us the mushy stuff?”

  I laughed and waved him over. “It’s ok, thank you too Nick. You can have a kiss too.” He smiled and skipped over to us. He came to the other side of the bed that Landon wasn’t on and bent over giving me his cheek. I leaned forward to kiss him and he grabbed my face at the last minute and smacked a wet kiss on my lips. I laughed and Landon shook his head grabbing me back up.

  “Beat it Nick.” He shooed him off.

  James stood up. “I’m going to head to your house so that Sam can come see you. She’s worried sick.”

  I nodded. “Thanks dad. I’ll see you soon.” He placed a kiss on my forehead and left.

  Nick headed home when visiting hours were over. Landon pulled his normal shit and ended up spending the night with me. They let me go the next day with strict instructions to avoid stress and take it easy. I would need to make an appointment with my OB to check the baby next week. Landon took care of that as soon as we got home. He provided her with all the information the doctor told us she needed to know and got me settled. He made me get in bed and wouldn’t let me move unless I had to use the bathroom. I rolled my eyes at him and argued that he couldn’t keep me chained to the bed forever. When it was time for me to return to classes for finals he almost lost his shit. When the doctor said take it easy, he thought that meant I was an invalid. After effectively ignoring him as I got ready for school he finally let it go.

  CHAPTER 8

  Lucy

  The final weeks passed by and we were done. Thank god. We decided it would be best to stay up at our home since my OB was out here. Nick decided to stay with us, I thought he would go home but apparently he didn’t want a reason to be in the same zip code as Mel. Erica came up to our house for the summer and helped me with all things baby. We did some shopping and we moved Max to the larger room on the other side of the floor. By now he was completely comfortable in the house so he had no issues. He actually felt like more of a big boy being a little further from us. We decided to turn his old room into a nursery. Landon was still a mother hen, but as time passed he let me get more freedom.

  It was mid-august and I woke up excited. I turned over and peered at Landon who was still sound asleep. I started placing kisses all over his face.

  “Lucy…” he groaned.

  “Landon wake up.” I sang to him.

  He threw an arm up to cover his eyes. “No Lucy, go back to bed.”

  I sighed and threw back the covers. “No, I don’t want to.”

  He shifted his arm and peeked at me with one eye. “Your hair looks like a birds nest.” He told me and I flipped him off.

  “We can’t all wake up beautiful.”

  He snatched me and gave me a kiss. “You look beautiful even with the nest on your head. Now why are you so happy this early in the morning?”

  “Today is our doctor’s appointment.” I prodded.

  He nodded. “Yes, but that’s not for a few hours.” He said confused.

  I sighed. “It’s our six month appointment. We find out the sex of the baby!” I told him in excitement.

  He smiled and brought me closer. “Yes I know ba
by. That’s why you’re excited?”

  “Well duh. Me and Erica have been going crazy. We are having such a hard time getting anything since we don’t know if it’s a boy or girl.” I told him.

  He snickered. “So this is about being able to shop is it?” he asked.

  “No I’m just excited. Now get out of bed I’m making breakfast… I’m so hungry.” I told him.

  He chuckled. “Baby when aren’t you hungry these days?”

  I swatted him with a pillow and got up to make food. Max was eating his pancakes when he turned to me asked, “Do you find out if I’m getting a little brother or sister today?” he asked.

  Landon only shook his head then responded for me. “Yea little man you’ll be the first to know.”

  Max smiled his megawatt smile. “I can’t wait to be a big brother. I’m going to take care of him I promise. I’ll play with him and everything.”

  That made me laugh. Max has been really excited about the baby since he found out. He still calls me his mother so to him this baby is his brother or sister. At this point we just leave him alone. Truth is me and Landon pretty much taking care of him the way we do, they’ll probably grow up as siblings anyway. When he gets a little older he’ll understand better. We try to not confuse him since it’s weird to say your brother and mother are having a baby… but he’s been taking to looking at Landon as a father. A few nights ago when he was dozing off on the couch lying on Landon’s shoulder, he called him dad. He knows his real parents, but in his mind we’re the people that take care of him the way he would want his parents to. It kind of sucks also to be the only kid without any parents.

  We headed to the doctor’s appointment with Erica in tow. She wasn’t going to let us do this alone she was practically brimming with excitement. She already told me that we are going shopping immediately after the appointment, which is why she was in a separate car... so that we can ditch Landon. We sat in the waiting room and I flipped through magazines but didn’t see a thing. It felt like we were sitting there forever, but it was only about twenty minutes. Landon kept sneaking glances at me and I could see the amusement in his eyes. When they called my name I practically jumped out of my seat. This time Landon did laugh. I cut my eyes at him and stuck out my tongue.