by T. K. Leigh
He turned his attention back to the one person he could save…his Olivia. His heart dropped when he saw the man press the knife against her body, far too close to her heart.
~~~~~~~~~~
“COME ON, LIBBY. I thought you were stronger than that,” Lucas breathed in her face. She was hopelessly trying to point the knife away from her chest and toward him.
“Lucas, let go of the knife. Remember, they said you couldn’t hurt me.”
He laughed. “Actually, they said I couldn’t kill you. As long as you’re alive, it doesn’t matter what I do to you.” He pushed her arms over her head, keeping her pinned to the ground and pressing the knife against her throat.
Olivia was using all her power to try to get Lucas off her. Losing strength, the knife drew a thin line of blood. “Lucas, please. Just let me go, and I promise I’ll figure out whatever it is you guys are looking for.” She opened her eyes and saw Alexander running toward them. Hurry! she thought. “Someone’s coming, Lucas. You better get off me.”
He turned to look, releasing the pressure on the knife just as Alexander approached.
“GET THE FUCK OFF HER!!!”
Within seconds, Lucas was thrown against the hard ground. Olivia lay perfectly still, frantically trying to calm her nerves, listening to punches being thrown. After just a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, she felt Alexander put his arms around her.
“Damn it, Olivia. Why the hell did you sneak out of the hospital?” he demanded. “You had me worried sick.”
“That fucker called me! He said if I didn’t come here that he’d kill…” She trailed off, her eyes settling on Melanie.
“I’m so sorry. I should have never left you alone. Are you okay?”
“No, Alex. I most certainly am not okay.” She stood up and ran over to where Melanie lay on the ground. “NO!” she screamed upon seeing her lifeless body. She bent down, trying to find a pulse. “Come on, Mel,” she begged, cradling her friend in her arms as she sat in a pool of her blood. “Don’t you dare leave me here!” Tears fell down her face as she tried to save her friend. “Please!” Her hands were covered with Melanie’s blood as she continued looking for a pulse, refusing to acknowledge the cold, hard truth of what she had just witnessed.
Alexander looked down while Olivia tried to save her friend. He did the only thing he could think of. He called his sister. “Carol, it’s me. Have Dave get to the big boathouse on the Charles immediately. There’s been an incident. Someone attacked Olivia and her friend,” he said, his chin quivering as he turned away so Olivia couldn’t overhear his conversation. “You should probably call Tyler, too.” He took a deep breath before continuing, “Melanie’s dead. Please hurry.”
Alexander turned back to where Olivia sat hugging her friend in her arms. He walked up behind her, placing his hand on her shoulder as she cried, her chest heaving from her devastating sobs. “Olivia, love, please…” He didn’t know what to say.
Olivia straightened her back, attempting to wipe her eyes with her hand, smudging Melanie’s blood all over her face. “I need to get her to the hospital. She’s been stabbed, Alex, and it’s all because of me!” she cried out. She tried resuscitating her friend in a final act of desperation.
“Olivia, please,” he begged her as he crouched down next to her. Placing his fingers against Melanie’s neck, he shook his head dejectedly when there was no pulse to be found. “She’s gone, love. I’m so sorry.”
“NOOO!!!!” Olivia cried out, hugging Melanie in her arms, holding her tight, desperate for her to wake up and everything to be a bad dream. She clutched her friend as EMTs and police officers swarmed the location.
“Olivia, please, let go of her. She’s in a better place,” he pleaded with her, unable to hide his own tears. That very well could have been her lying there.
Alexander was right. She needed to be strong for her friend. Taking a deep breath, she stood up, leaving Melanie’s body on the ground.
She was in a complete daze as she watched the paramedics check her non-existent vitals. She sank to the ground as crime scene technicians roped off the area, taking photos. She wanted to kill Lucas when she saw Carol’s husband, David, place him in handcuffs and haul him off to the police station. She howled when she saw the medical examiner zip up Melanie’s body bag.
“Olivia…” Alexander’s voice brought her back as she watched the coroner’s van drive off with her friend.
She immediately felt sick to her stomach just looking at him. “I’m done, Alex. I can’t live this way anymore.” She raised herself off the ground and started to walk away, not caring that she was covered in blood.
“My sister told me about the letter left at Kiera’s house!”
Olivia stopped in her tracks, spinning around, her eyes full of venom. “So you’re here to tell me to not do anything stupid, am I right? Well, you’re in luck because I have no idea what those fuckers are even after! Not even one clue!” She looked at him, his expression grim. “But you do, don’t you?”
He remained silent as Olivia stalked over to him, standing a mere breath away. “You need to tell me everything you know, Alex. NOW! I’m done being left in the dark and letting you make all the decisions for me. I’m an adult! I need to make my own decisions! There’s something going on, and these people are targeting my friends!”
“It’s not about that, Olivia! I wanted to tell you everything, but you said you didn’t want to talk about any of that. And now I can’t, not after seeing that letter. Your life is in danger!”
She threw her head back, laughing sarcastically. “Ya’ think?”
“No. You don’t understand,” he said, pleading with her. “If I tell you and you figure it all out, they’ll kill you. As long as you remain ignorant of what they’re after, you can’t be touched. They’re desperate for it and you’re the only one who can help them. It’s the only thing keeping you alive.”
“But my friends, Alex!” she cried out, thinking about two of her closest friends and what they had to endure all because of her. “They’re going after my friends.” She glared at him. “They killed Mel. She’s gone, and I was thinking that it’s all my fault.” She took a deep breath before continuing, “But it’s not, Alexander. This is all your fault. I hope you can sleep well tonight with Melanie’s blood on your hands!” She turned to walk away.
“I’m sorry, Olivia. I just can’t risk losing you again. You’ve got to understand,” he begged, running to catch up to her, desperate for her to grasp where he was coming from.
Olivia paused, looking deep into his eyes. “You can’t risk losing me?” she hissed, her chin quivering. “Well, Alex, you just did.” She pushed past him, bolting in the direction of the hospital.
“Olivia! PLEASE!!!” he shouted, watching as she ran away from him…again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
FOR MELANIE
OLIVIA RAN BACK TO the hospital, ignoring Alexander as he followed her. She was hysterical and needed her friends. They still had no idea what had happened to Melanie and she didn’t know if she was strong enough to tell them. Guilt overwhelmed her when she noticed Tyler slumped in the corner of the waiting room, sobbing. Mo saw her and quickly ran over to her, wrapping his arms around her, not caring that she was covered in blood.
She bawled uncontrollably into his chest.
“It’s okay, baby girl. Let it all out.” He soothed her tears, rubbing her back.
Alexander looked down at Olivia in Mo’s arms and felt overwhelming remorse for what had happened. Could he really have prevented it? At what cost?
Once Olivia’s tears began to subside a bit, Mo pulled back, looking down at her tear-stained face. “Does Bridget know?”
Olivia shook her head. “I haven’t called anyone yet. I know David was going to be notifying her parents, but no one knows yet…except for poor Tyler over there.” She looked up and saw Alexander hovering just a few feet away, his eyes sad and pleading.
She turned toward him, glaring. �
�Please leave,” she demanded.
Mo gave her a questioning look.
“I can’t stand to look at you right now, Alex,” she hissed. “I need my friends. Not you.” She turned to walk away, wanting to be alone.
Alexander reached out and grabbed her arm. “Please. Olivia, love…”
Mo immediately shot his arm out, grabbing Alexander’s. “Let her go.” He glared at him and he begrudgingly released his hold on Olivia.
She darted down the hallway, hiding herself in the closest bathroom. Rushing to the sinks, she scrubbed at her skin in a feeble attempt to remove Melanie’s dried blood from her body. Screaming in frustration, she collapsed on the floor. She buried her head in her lap, her tears soaking her blood-stained jeans as she thought how everything had taken such a horrible turn in the past few days.
“Olivia? Are you in there?” a gentle voice called out as her cries began to subside a short while later.
She raised her head out of her lap and wiped her eyes, pulling back the door to the bathroom and staring into Bridget’s watery eyes. “I’m so sorry, Bridge.” She wrapped her arms around her friend, clutching on to her.
“Hey, shut up. This is not your fault. You’ve got to stop thinking that,” she cried out, tears flowing down her face.
Olivia hated how much everyone in her life seemed to be crying lately, including herself. She clung to Bridget, never wanting to let her out of her sight, afraid that something horrible would happen to her, as well.
“Come on, Libby. Everyone’s here. We need you. We can’t go through this without you. You can’t go through this alone, either, okay?”
She nodded and allowed Bridget to lead her to the waiting room, hoping that Alexander had left. As soon as she entered, she couldn’t keep from feeling guilty for how Tyler was feeling, his normal exuberant stature gone. All that was left was an empty shell of a man.
Giving Bridget a reassuring look, she made her way over to him. “Tyler…?” She wrapped her arms around the younger version of Alexander. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault,” she sobbed.
He looked at her through his blood-shot eyes. “It’s not your fault, Libby. And it's not my brother's fault either. He told me everything,” he whimpered. “If Mel was in your shoes, I’d do the same thing. I love her…” He took a steadying breath, trying to get his emotions under control. “I guess that’s one of the things I learned being with her. That it’s not worth it to hold grudges. Life is precious, Libby. Don’t use this as an excuse to push Alex away. He loves you. He won’t survive without you. Don’t blame him for this. He didn’t kill Mel. That fucker, Lucas, did. If there’s anyone you should be angry at, it’s him. Not the person who worships the ground you walk on. I’ve just lost the one girl I thought I could spend the rest of my life with. I wish I told her that while she was still alive.”
Olivia watched in shock as he stood up and walked away. As she processed his words, she was unable to shake the thought that, had Alexander been honest with her from the beginning, Mel would still be alive.
“Miss Adler?” a voice whispered, bringing her back from her thoughts. Olivia looked up to see a couple in their late fifties standing in front of her. They had obviously just been crying.
“My name is Harold Brooks,” a man with gray hair said. “This is my wife, Sandra.” He gestured to the tall blonde woman standing next to him. “We’re Melanie’s parents.”
Olivia stood up and embraced them as she tried to find the words that told them that their daughter’s death was all her fault.
“We just want to thank you for everything you tried to do for our little girl today,” Melanie’s father said, his voice shaky as he surveyed Olivia, noticing his daughter’s dried blood on her clothes.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks.” Olivia sobbed even harder, knowing that Melanie would still be alive if it wasn’t for her.
“Enough with the tears,” Sandra said, releasing her hold on Olivia. “Melanie would hate to think that we were all here crying over her. She would never forgive herself if that was the case. She’d want us to only think of the happy moments we shared with her, and that’s exactly what we’ll do…” She trailed off, unable to follow her own words.
“She’s always been a little demanding, hasn’t she?” Olivia asked as she laughed through her tears.
Harold Brooks smiled. “She sure is…or was.” His face became overwhelmed with emotion once more.
“It was wonderful to meet you. I’m sure you have friends and family that you want to be with, but please let me know the plans for her services whenever you know of them.” Olivia gave them a compassionate look, her expression soft.
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you and your friend, Mo, about that,” Sandra said, glancing at Mo standing just a few feet away. He immediately walked over.
“We were hoping that your band wouldn’t mind playing a memorial show at the bar. She always loved going there to watch you perform, and it would mean a lot if we can pay our respects to her in a way that she would have wanted, with laughter instead of tears, at a place she felt at home. We both grew up in New Orleans and this is how we like to say good-bye…a celebration of her life, not a sad reminder of her death.”
Olivia glanced at Mo. “What do you think?” she asked. “I mean, what about Kiera…?”
He stopped her. “Livvy, Kiera would want us to do this. For Melanie.”
Olivia nodded her head in agreement. “For Melanie.”
~~~~~~~~~~
AFTER LEAVING THE HOSPITAL that evening, Olivia stormed through her house, slamming doors. She knew full well that it wasn’t going to fix anything, but it certainly made her feel better. She was so angry with Alexander. She gave him a choice…tell her what she wanted to know or risk losing her. She couldn’t believe that he continued to keep secrets from her, not when it nearly tore them apart. She wanted to scream. Then she heard her mama’s words again: Music is the best solution to any problem. Olivia leaned her head back and looked at the ceiling as if talking to the sky. “I sure hope you’re right, Mama. I could really use a solution to this chaotic world I’ve found myself in.”
She ran up to the third floor of her house, sat down at the piano, and did what she did best. She lost herself in the music and, for a minute, everything was okay.
When Olivia finally came out of the music room, she had no idea what time it was or even how long she had been in there. Time always seemed to stand still when she surrounded herself with beautiful lyrics and melodies. It was the only thing that made her forget about everything. But outside the walls of her music room, the cruel reality of what had happened set in.
Reluctantly, Olivia walked down the two flights of stairs and into the living room. Her stomach growled loudly and she couldn’t remember the last time she had actually eaten. After the past several days, she had no desire to cook so she ordered take-out from her and Kiera’s favorite Chinese bistro.
She grabbed her purse and started to head out to pick up some wine. As she walked down her front steps, she purposely ignored the black SUV sitting outside of her house…or, at least, she ignored it for about two seconds, her hard stare softening when her eyes met Alexander’s. She was furious at him but, deep down, she knew that she was still madly in love with him.
After selecting a few bottles of wine at the local liquor store, she walked back to her house, arriving just as her food was being delivered. Alexander stood on the doorstep, paying her regular delivery guy. She snatched it out of his hand before turning away from him and entering her house, slamming the door behind her.
“Not even a thank you?!” he shouted through the closed door.
“Thank you, okay?” she replied sarcastically.
“Olivia, please. Can we talk?” he asked, his voice soft and full of pain, his head resting on the door.
“You had your chance to come clean, Alex. You chose to put your own needs above mine. So no, we can’t talk.”
“I love you, Olivia.”
> She lowered herself and sat against the wall, leaning her head on the door. “I love you, too, Alex. With all my heart, and maybe that’s exactly where I should keep you. In my heart, but out of my life.”
“You can’t mean that,” he said quietly.
“I don’t know. Maybe I do. I just…”
“I’m only trying to protect you, Olivia. Keep you safe. You have to understand where I’m coming from with all of this. I thought I lost you all those years ago, and when I found out that you were alive, I promised myself that I’d never let anything bad happen to you again. So I need to keep you in the dark. For now, though…”
His heart raced when he heard the door open. He met Olivia’s large brown eyes.
“Unless you’re ready to tell me everything you know, please go.” She turned and slammed the door in his face again.
Fighting back tears, she walked into the kitchen and put her food on a plate. After pouring a glass of wine, she sat in the bay window with her dinner and stared out at the black SUV into the eyes of the man she knew she would always love, no matter what.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
WAIT FOR YOU
THE FOLLOWING MORNING, OLIVIA was woken up by a loud banging at her door. She stretched her neck, sore from having fallen asleep in the bay window. She looked outside and saw that the black SUV was empty. Groaning, she got up and walked over to the door, checking the peephole to see who was outside…even though she knew who it was. “Are you ready to tell me everything, Alexander?” she asked through the closed door.
“Olivia,” he said with a hint of urgency in his voice. “It’s Kiera. She’s awake.”
She swung the door open, her eyes wide. “Really?”
