Love, Lies, and Deception(60)

Me: Emily, I’m fine. Please don’t worry. I’ll call u soon.



The reply was immediate.



Emily: Bitch, don’t ever scare me like that again. Call me ASAP!!!



I would call Emily in the morning, but first off I needed to call my sister. Taking a deep breath, I buckled down and dialed her number. She answered almost immediately, sounding frantic and full of worry.

“Oh, thank God, Marissa you’re okay. You had me so worried.”

My throat closed up. After losing our parents I should’ve known not to worry her with not answering my phone. “Kimberly, I’m so sorry. I was on a plane and couldn’t answer my calls, but I promise I’m okay.” It was the truth.

“Alec has been calling here every few minutes asking if we’d heard from you. What’s going on, Marissa? He said that something happened and you left. He also said that he and the detective think the person who’s after you staged the whole misunderstanding situation to get you alone.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, leave it to him to blame it on someone else. I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that. Did he even tell you what happened?”

“No, not every single detail, but I got the gist of it. Are you by yourself?” she asked.

“No,” I paused, “I’m with Kristian.”

“Okay good, at least you’re not alone. Just be careful, all right? I can’t handle anything more happening to you,” she said, tiredly.

“I will, and I’ll call you soon. Do you mind calling Detective Michaels and telling him I’m okay? I don’t want to have to answer questions right now.”

“Yeah, I will, but you might want to give him a call yourself soon just in case he has some information for you.”

“Will do, I’ll call him tomorrow. Right now, I’m tired and I need a drink. Whatever you do, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine … I promise. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

We both said our good-byes, and before I could face Kristian I took a deep breath of the salty sea air. It did nothing to calm my nerves, but I made my way inside anyway. It was going to be a long night.





My phone was quiet for the rest of the night which was a good thing since I took four double shots of vodka and passed out. Kristian must’ve carried me to a room and laid me on the bed because I had no recollection of how I got there.

All I knew when I woke up was that I had a piercing headache and my phone was buzzing by my ear. Squinting at my phone, I saw that it was Emily.

“Hey Em,” I muttered weakly.

“Did you just wake up?” she asked, exasperated. “Rissa, it’s two in the afternoon. You never sleep this late. Please don’t tell me you got drunk.”

I groaned and sat up slowly, feeling like I was about to throw up. My mouth was dry, but I tried to swallow a few good times to get the nauseous feeling to calm down.

“Trust me, I needed it,” I explained.

“Look, I know you don’t want to hear this right now, but you need to talk to Alec. He’s really worried about you. He told me everything that happened.”

Rolling over in bed, I grunted and shook my head. “Yeah, I bet he’s worried. Probably afraid I’ll go to the press or something. He hasn’t even called me since yesterday morning. That doesn’t sound like he’s too worried about me.”

Sarcastically, Emily laughed. “Yeah, and you want to know why he hasn’t called you since yesterday morning? Turn on the television, Marissa.”

Oh no, what happened? Dread settled into the pit of my stomach and I felt even sicker. Gazing frantically around the room, I recognized Kristian’s bedroom furniture from back at his house in Boone. It was his room he put me in. His flat screen television was hanging on the wall directly across from the bed and the remote was on his bedside table.

Frantically, I asked, “What channel, Emily?”

“Hmm … channel two, I believe.”

Grabbing the remote, I clicked it on and navigated it to channel two. My breath hitched at the sight before me. “Oh my God,” I breathed.

“Yeah,” Emily retorted. “It seems he went a little ape shit after you left and caused a major scene at the airport trying to look for you.”

I stared at Alec on the television as he pummeled a security guard trying to get past him. The rest of the video showed him getting handcuffed and taken away looking absolutely terrible.

I sighed. “His cover is blown now, Emily. He’s going to be all over the press and this is just the beginning.”

“Yes, I know, but he’s out now. I saw a clip of him leaving the station in Denver. I guess that’s where you two were?”

I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. “Yeah, that’s where we were. Even though we were in hiding those were the best two weeks of my life up until yesterday. I don’t know what to do, Emily.”

“Do you mind telling me where you are? Are you alone?” she asked. “I’ve been trying to call Kristian, but he won’t answer his phone. He’s not going to be happy when he finds out what happened.”

I heard the front door open and close and as much as I wanted to tell her where I was I knew that I shouldn’t. “Emily, I have to go. I’ll call you back later, okay?” I said quickly.