Love, Lies, and Deception(47)
Alec came into the room at the same exact moment I collapsed onto the bed, struggling to breathe. He rushed over and took me into his arms. “I am so sorry, Marissa. None of this would’ve happened if you never met me. Please say you forgive me for causing you all this pain.”
He pried the note from my fingers and threw it on the bed. “I didn’t want you to see the note, but I need you to know how serious this is.”
My teeth chattered as I shook in his arms. I felt sick, disgusted, and absolutely terrified. Whoever we thought was going after Alec was actually coming after me, and I was scared.
“What are we going to do?” I cried. “We’re not safe here, or anywhere for that matter.”
Alec rubbed his hand soothingly down my back and clutched me tighter. “No we’re not, which is why I’m taking you away from here. Detective Michaels wants us to bring the letter to him first thing and then we’re out of here. I need to get you away from this place until whoever is coming after you are found. I’m going to call my parents and get their help as well. They have connections that the police here don’t have.”
“Wait … no,” I argued, pulling out of Alec’s grasp. “I have exams this week and graduation. If I leave I won’t graduate. I’ve worked too hard to have it taken away from me.”
Alec sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Well, maybe the detective can get in touch with your professors and have you take them all tomorrow. I’m sorry, Marissa, but when it comes down to either your life or exams … forgive me, but your exams don’t mean shit to me, you do.”
“What am I going to tell my sister and my friends?” I asked hesitantly.
Taking my face in his hands, Alec touched his forehead to mine and murmured, “You can tell them everything about me, and about what’s happened, I don’t care. Except the only thing you can’t tell them is where I’m going to take you. Only you, Detective Michaels, and I will know where that location will be.”
“Where will we go?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure yet, but we’ll figure it out once we talk to the detective. Right now, we need to get our things packed up and ready to go. Once we get the go ahead to leave, I’m getting you out of here.”
Nodding, I changed out of his shirt and boxers, putting on my T-shirt and jeans. The note was on the bed, so I folded it up and placed it in the back pocket of my jeans.
Alec quickly scrambled through his closet and drawers, packing up two huge bags full of clothes. “I hate having to do this, but we’ll need your Jeep to get us out of here. Is that okay? We won’t be able to pack everything if we take my bike.”
Incredulously, I waved him off and rolled my eyes. “Of course it’s okay. I don’t want to die by a psycho killer, but I sure as hell don’t want to be road kill either. I’m assuming I’ll need my passport?”
“Probably,” he replied. “When you pack up your stuff get it just in case.” Alec carried his bags to the living room and set them on the floor. “All right, once we get your things packed up it should be about time to get to the station.”
Grabbing my keys, which were on Alec’s counter, we left to scramble up to my apartment. Cautious and quick, we hurried up the steps and I unlocked the door. The person who left the note had just been outside and there was no telling when he planned on coming after me. When I opened the door, what I didn’t expect was to see a tall, dark figure standing in the middle of my living room.
For the second time that night, I screamed.
Protecting me, Alec burst into the room and tackled the man that was standing in my living room. I scrambled around for the light switch and when I turned it on I saw Alec rearing back to land a hard, solid punch to the guy’s face. Once it registered who the man was, Alec stopped abruptly and stood up.
“What the hell are you doing skulking around in the dark?” Alec growled, breathing hard. The adrenaline had us on edge, and the fear of knowing someone was after us had us really on edge.
Exasperated, Justin stood up and picked up his phone that had fallen on the floor. “I was looking for my phone charger. What the hell is wrong with you two?” Pinning an angry glare at me, he said, “You know I’m always here. Why is it such a shock?”
At that time, Emily came bounding into the room. “What’s going on? It’s like four in the morning,” she complained, darting her gaze between us and Justin.
Justin rubbed the back of his neck and winced. “Other than almost getting the shit beat out of me … nothing’s wrong.”
“Why would you do that?” Emily asked, lifting her eyebrows at Alec and pursing her lips.
Alec joined me by my side and put his arm around me. Seeing my best friend and knowing I had to leave her hurt my heart, but I also prayed that whoever was after me wouldn’t try to do anything to her to get to me.
My chin trembled and the tears started flowing down my cheeks. When Emily noticed my angst, her expression softened and she swiftly came up to me, taking my shaky hands into hers.
“Marissa, you’re scaring me. What happened?” she asked worriedly.
Alec let me go and I fell into Emily’s arms, clutching her tight. I had the note in my back pocket so I dug it out and handed it to her. She eyed it skeptically, but I nodded for her to open it.