Levels Of Exposure (Distortion Series Book 2) Page 14

  Jackson kept his steps light as he ascended the stairwell, the calming music playing low in his ear. Teddy and Dane were only a few steps behind him as he moved quickly. The stairwell door ahead opened and a man’s voice began to flood the silence, echoing through the open space. It sounded like he was talking on the phone. Jackson held his hand up to stop Dane and Teddy.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’ll call you later,” the man said. Jackson continued up the stairs by himself. The man was still standing on the landing, scrolling through his phone when Jackson walked up the steps. He looked up when he noticed Jackson and his eyes immediately narrowed. “Who are you?” he asked with a confused expression.

  “Let me introduce myself.” Jackson smiled as he stepped up on the landing. He reached for his blade.

  “Oh shit!” the man called out when Jackson swung it down in a swift motion, impaling the man in the throat. His eyes bulged before he let out a strangled sound and grabbed hold of Jackson’s arm as the light drained from his eyes. He collapsed on the ground and a puddle of dark red blood began to pool around him.

  “Let’s go,” Jackson called down toward Dane and Teddy. He waited for them to meet him before he pulled open the door with his gun raised.

  “What the fuck?” a man standing on the other side of the door questioned when he saw Jackson emerge from the stairwell. He was standing with two others in the door of a room off the main hall. Jackson grabbed for the man as he reached for his gun. He twisted his arm back and shoved him into the room. Once inside, Jackson ran his blade across the man’s throat and then released him, kicking him into the bathroom. Dane and Teddy were already taking down the other two men, careful to keep the noise level down so to not alert anyone else. They wanted their presence to remain undetected for as long as they could to keep the odds in their favor. They were not certain how many men John had at this location. The men had struggled but were unprepared to defend themselves when taken by surprise. They didn’t even have time to retrieve their weapons before they were taken out.

  Jackson signalled them to follow when he made sure the hallway was clear. He could hear voices down the hall, coming from another room in the distance. Jackson made his way down the hallway until he came to room 324. The door was modified to have an exterior lock that was left unlatched. Jackson’s stomach felt like lead as he turned the handle and swung the door open. He raised his gun and took a cautious step inside. He passed by the bathroom door and pushed it open to reveal it was empty before he continued further into the main part of the room.

  Though Lexie was not there he could still smell her familiar scent, indicating that she had only recently left. He dropped his gun and turned around to face Dane and Teddy. He couldn’t hide his disappointment.

  “Did you really think it would be that easy?” Dane whispered with his brows raised.

  “No, but it would have been nice.” Jackson gave the room a quick search. It looked like a typical hotel room. Nothing seemed to be out of place. Teddy opened up the top drawer of the dresser. “At least they’re dressing her well,” Teddy said, turning around as he held up a lacy pair of underwear.

  Jackson shook his head and headed toward the door and peered out into the hall. “Ready?” he asked. “Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Lexie

  Lexie rubbed her forehead. She was exhausted from lying awake the night before, terrified that Flint would return. Every sound had her on edge and it made it impossible for her to sleep. She looked across the desk at John, who was holding another envelope identical to the one she had torn to pieces. He slid it across the surface of the desk so it was sitting in front of her.

  “How about this time you just hold onto it until you’re ready?” John said as he leaned back and placed his hands on the arms of the chair.

  “Why don’t you just tell me?” Lexie looked up from the envelope.

  “Forcing things on you doesn’t seem to work now, does it?” John said, tapping his fingers on the armrests.

  “So you’re getting to know me after all. I thought that would be impossible since you keep me locked in a room,” Lexie responded casually. She didn’t have any bite in her words this morning. She was feeling too drained.

  “On the contrary, I know you very well,” John responded in a manner that made her skin crawl. She desperately wanted to ask where Stephanie was, but to do that she would give up the fact that she has reason to doubt him. Flint was standing behind her and she knew it would solidify the truth he already suspected, she took his phone. She couldn’t risk it. She needed to trust that Jackson was coming. John obviously didn’t want her to know where Stephanie was or he wouldn’t have led her to believe she was safe. She couldn’t trust any of these men.

  “Where did they take Miller’s body?” Lexie asked instead. The image of Miller’s lifeless body haunted her thoughts.

  “It doesn’t matter,” John answered coldly. “He’s dead.”

  “You’re wrong. It does matter,” Lexie said defensively. “He was a good person and didn’t deserve to be killed.”

  John tilted his head. “There is no such thing as a good person, Lexie. Everyone lies, steals, and litters the world.”

  “No.” Lexie shook his head. “He was trying to help me. He should be buried with his mother.”

  “Miller stepped out of line if your conversations lead toward his personal life. Is this what you so urgently wanted to speak to me about?” John looked impatient as he glanced at his watch.

  “No.” Lexie turned around and looked at Flint, whose eyes had been burning a hole in her back since she walked into the office. She turned back around to address John. “Can I speak with you privately?”

  “John, we have things to―” Flint began.

  “Leave us,” John cut Flint off and waved him from the room.

  Lexie listened to Flint’s retreating footsteps before she heard the sound of the door close behind her. She couldn’t bear to look at Flint again after what had happened. She looked up at John’s calculating gaze and knew she needed to work up the strength to talk to him.

  “Flint lied to you,” Lexie said apprehensively, playing with the material of her dress. “Miller was trying to help me. It was Flint who attacked me.” Lexie prayed she was right in that Flint feared John. She hoped John would see Flint’s actions as a betrayal, it was the only play she had left. She watched John clench his jaw as he listened intently. “He was drunk and…” Lexie trailed off when noise erupted outside John’s door. Men were shouting and running down the hall.

  Lexie spun around when John’s door burst open. “We have company,” Rayner said. He held his gun in his hand as he peered down the passage.

  “Who?” John demanded as he opened his desk drawer and pulled out a pistol.

  Rayner’s radio attached to his hip began to erupt in a frenzy of voices that Lexie couldn’t distinguish. It echoed the noise coming from down the hall. “Don’t know.”

  Fear and excitement roared to life inside Lexie’s chest. She desperately wanted it to be Jackson but she also feared what would happen if he didn’t succeed. A part of her wanted to believe he was here for her despite knowing the truth of his intentions. It was the part of her that refused to let go of the feelings he stirred deep within her. Her worry for his safety surprised her and made her realize how difficult it would be to hate Jackson.

  John rounded his desk, grabbed her arm, and hauled her to her feet. “You’re coming with me. Don’t try anything,” John threatened.

  Lexie gasped in surprise as his firm grip dug into her skin as he pulled her toward the door. “Where’s Flint?”

  “I haven’t seen him since earlier,” Rayner responded as he looked up and down the hall. “I thought he was with you.”

  Unsure of what else to do, Lexie let herself be towed along. She didn’t know the building well enough to use the distraction to her advantage. She kept her eyes open for exit signs as they moved down the hallway. Her adrenaline pumped through her system a
s the sounds of chaos and gunfire seemed to be just out of sight and drew closer every second.

  Lexie stumbled as they turned a corner but John didn’t allow her to slip from his grasp. He hauled her back on her feet, jolting her arm enough to make her eyes water.

  When her mother’s door came into view, Lexie felt a swell of emotion hit her in the chest. Rayner stepped up to the door and pulled a set of keys from his pocket. When the door swung open, Lexie tried to pull free from John’s hold, but he refused to release her. “Let me see her.” Lexie tried to pry his hand from her. “Please.”

  She looked up to see his dark, cold eyes staring down at her. Her struggles immediately died away. His gaze was filled with so much evil it made her sick to her stomach. There was nothing human about the man looking down at her. His other hand snaked up and grabbed her by the throat. He pushed her back against the wall as he asserted his grip on her neck. “Stop fighting me.”

  Lexie couldn’t even manage a sound as he applied pressure and blocked off the ability to speak. All she could do was look into his dark eyes that promised so much pain and death. One of John’s men came around the corner. He was walking backward with his gun raised toward anyone that may be following him.

  The man Lexie recognized as Jacobs turned to acknowledge John. “They’re heading this way.”

  Rayner’s radio flared to life again. The voice that filtered through was familiar and it immediately made her stomach heat with emotions. “I know you’re here, Stodden. I’m coming for you.”

  Lexie managed a strangled gasp through John’s grasp. Jacobs began to fire his gun and John pulled her into the room behind him. As soon as John’s hold released, Lexie took advantage of the opportunity. “Jackson!” she screamed as loud as she could manage. She gathered more strength in her voice the second time as she called out but it was quickly followed by gunfire, and she feared her cries had gone unheard. John clamped his hand around her mouth and hauled her further into the room before he shoved her against the bed. “Shut the fuck up!”

  “Lexie!” her mother gasped from the far corner of the room.

  Lexie scrambled off the bed and ran toward her mother. The sight of her immediately brought tears to Lexie’s eyes. Her left eye showed the signs of bruising and her lips were swollen. She looked entirely too fragile as Lexie grabbed hold of her to make sure she was real. Her mother wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close. The thin nightgown her mother wore did nothing to hide her weight loss. She looked like a shell of herself, so broken and sad.

  “You’re all right. You’re all right,” her mother chanted over and over as she smoothed Lexie’s hair.

  Lexie pulled back and placed her hands on either side of her mother’s face and looked into her tear-filled eyes. “I’m fine, Mom.” Lexie gently ran her fingers along the side of her mother’s face. “What did he do to you?” Lexie whispered. She felt hot tears run down her cheeks as she took comfort being with her mother again.

  “Don’t worry about me,” her mother said as she pulled Lexie closer again and squeezed tight. They both startled when Jacobs and another man came barreling in the room and Rayner swung the door shut. The man Lexie didn’t recognize stumbled into the room and collapsed against the foot of the bed. Lexie’s eyes were immediately drawn toward his gun. It had fallen from his hand, landing beside the bed.

  Lexie pulled free from her mother and discreetly nudged the gun away with her foot while John, Jacobs, and Rayner were preoccupied. She tucked it under the bed skirt out of view. She turned back toward her mother, who had also noticed the gun. Her eyes followed Lexie’s movements before her eyes flicked up to meet hers.

  Lexie turned to look at the man staring blankly at the wall when he made a strange sound. “Are you all right?” Lexie asked when she noticed the color of his skin. He looked up at her and opened his mouth to speak but blood sprayed from his lips. Lexie gasped and covered her mouth as she watched blood pour from his mouth and puddle on his shirt. His head slumped to the side and his eyes slowly glazed over.

  Lexie’s mother grabbed her hand and pulled away from the man as Jacobs knelt down in front of him and felt for a pulse. He seemed unfazed that the man was dead as he patted him down for weapons and took a few extra clips he had been carrying. He tossed a clip to Rayner. “We’ll clear the hall and then we should keep moving toward the exit.” Jacobs looked at John for confirmation of the plan. John nodded before he opened the door and Rayner and Jacobs filed out with their guns raised.

  The sounds of gunshots filled the hallway and then they heard an explosion. The fire alarm immediately began to sound and its shrill ring cut through the chaos. Lexie instinctively ducked down and covered her ears, unsure of what would follow next. She dropped to the ground to grab for the gun she had tucked away but it was nowhere to be found. She pulled the bed skirt up to reveal a bare floor, panic squeezed her throat tight.

  Lexie looked up to notice her mother already had the gun in her hands and had it pointed toward John. She shuffled backwards out of the way to see what was happening.

  “What do you think you’re doing, Mary?” John asked with narrowed eyes.

  “What I should have done years ago.” Mary held the gun with both hands as she looked over the barrel. Her hands trembled as she held it.

  “You can’t kill me, Mary, because no matter how much you deny it, you love me,” John said. “You can’t really live without me and you know it.”

  “You’re wrong,” Lexie’s mother said, shaking her head like his words were trying to claw their way inside her head. “I hate you.”

  “Look what you’ve become.” John threw his hand out toward her. “When you were with me you wanted for nothing. Now you live in a small little town and barely have enough money to pay your bills.”

  “It’s you that has nothing, John. I took it all away from you when I left,” she gasped as tears fell down her cheeks. “You will never have us.”

  A loud bang outside the door startled Lexie and it rattled from the impact. She glanced toward the door, sure that someone had knocked it off its hinges. The sound of gunshots filled the room, startling her. Everything seemed surreal as Lexie looked at her mother and then John.

  John dropped his gun and grabbed at his stomach. The look of shock painted his features. “You shot me?” He looked up questioningly after he observed his blood-covered fingers pressed against his side.

  Lexie stared wide-eyed at John as he swayed on his feet and leaned back against the wall for support. He slowly slid down to the floor and left a smear of blood along the wall with a gasp.

  Lexie darted across the room and dropped down in front of John. “Where is Stephanie?” She grabbed his chin and made his eyes meet hers. “I know she isn’t home. Tell me,” Lexie demanded. “Tell me now!”

  “Lexie’s little friend looked a lot like the girl with the rose tattoo, didn’t she, Mary?” John said with a sinister smile as he glanced over Lexie’s shoulder at her mother. “Seemed fitting she meet the same fate, don’t ya think?”

  “No…” her mother gasped. Lexie spun around to meet her eyes. “I’m so sorry,” her mother panted when she looked at Lexie with tears in her eyes.

  “Mom?” Lexie watched her as she collapsed against the side of the bed. That’s when Lexie noticed her mother’s blood saturating the side of her nightgown. The scene had unfolded so quickly she hadn’t even realized that John had pulled the trigger as well. “Mom!” Lexie screamed as a heavy dose of fear hit her hard in the chest. She ran toward her as she slipped to the floor. Lexie frenziedly searched for something to press against the wound to stop the blood.

  “Stay with me, Mom,” Lexie said frantically as she grabbed a pillow from the bed. She ripped the case off it and held it to her mother’s side. “Stay with me.” Lexie looked up into her face. She could see the pain reflected in her mother’s eyes as she struggled to breathe through the pain. Lexie didn’t know what to do to save her mother as the she tried to slow her racing mind and fi
gure out a plan. She looked up to where John had fallen to see his body was no longer there. Her heart raced so fast it made her chest hurt.

  “We have to get you out of here,” Lexie said, picking up her mother’s arm and trying to support her weight.

  “I can’t…” Her mother inhaled sharply when her weight was shifted.

  Noise in the hall alerted Lexie that someone was coming. She released her mother’s arm and grabbed for the gun on the bed. She wiped her tears with the back of her blood-soaked hand to clear her vision to see the person who entered the room. She couldn’t help the thought that this could be the end for them as the gun shook violently in her hand.

  “Jackson,” Lexie gasped as she dropped back down to the floor. “Help me,” she cried. “My mother’s been shot.”

  Jackson lowered his gun after he scanned the room and dropped down next to Lexie. The siren still shrieked loudly around them as Jackson reached for her. As overwhelmed as she was to see him she couldn’t look him in the eye. He quickly assessed her mother before he turned toward Lexie and grabbed her shoulder. “We’ll get her to the hospital, but I need you to tell me where John is.”

  “He was just here. Mom shot him, he’s injured.” Lexie pointed toward the blood on the wall. Dane walked into the room and looked where Lexie was indicating.

  “He’s not far,” Jackson informed him. “He’s shot.”

  Dane nodded before ducking back out of the room and continuing down the hall. Jackson set his gun on the bed and reached for Lexie’s mom and pulled her into his arms. “Let’s go,” Jackson said as he rose to his feet and grabbed his gun while keeping her mother tight to his chest.

  Lexie followed close behind with the gun tight in her grasp.

  Jackson leaned back through the door to make sure the hallway was clear. “Keep that gun pointed in front of you, Lexie. Shoot at anyone who is not one of us,” Jackson ordered.

  Lexie shook her head, holding the gun firmly in her hands.