Blood leaked from the corner of Alex’s mouth. He lay sprawled on his back on the sofa, his left eye swollen shut. Bella sat on the floor, squeezing a handful of Legos, tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn’t look up when I burst through the door.
“Tell me,” I said.
“I was asleep,” Alex said, his voice groggy. “But I heard something. Thought maybe he’d gotten up for a drink of water or to go to the bathroom. I went back to look and got jumped. Saw at least two before I went out. Hit me with a gun, I think.”
“Did you see anything?” I asked Bella.
She didn’t respond, just sat there clutching the tiny bricks, as if the handful of Legos would somehow morph into her son.
“Bella.” My voice was harsher than I intended. “We need your help. What did you see?”
“I was already in the shower,” Bella said, her voice hollow. “I didn’t hear anything. I got out, put on my clothes and found him in the hallway.” She motioned to Alex. “I ran to Jax’s room and it was…empty.”
A sob tore from her chest and I looked away. I knew what it was like to lose someone.
“David.” There was no question in my mind.
“He took him,” she said, her voice breaking. “It was him.”
I nodded and felt the same rush of guilt I’d felt walking into Liz’s condo. I should’ve stayed with them. I shouldn’t have left them. I shouldn’t have been so stupid.
“I’m so sorry, Bella,” Alex said, trying to sit up. “It’s my fault.”
She bit her lip and folded her arms across her chest, her fingers still wrapped around the Legos. “No. It’s not. It’s mine. For letting this go on so long.”
“Noah left me here,” he said. “I should’ve gotten up when you got in the shower.”
She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. David was going to make his point one way or another. And he decided to do it.”
I bent down next to her. “Bella. Listen to me. He did this because he’s pissed at me. Because I showed him up.”
“He took my kid.” Her voice broke and I put my hand on her shoulder.
“We’ll get him back.”
She looked at me with a ferocity I’d never seen. “Promise?”
The guilt sat on my shoulders like dead weight. My decision to get her out had hurt Jackson. It was on me to fix it and I hadn’t been good at fixing anything in a really long time.
“Promise.”
She dropped the bricks she was holding and stood. “Tell me what to do.”
I fingered the Legos on the floor, thinking. “He wants his money, Bella. And he wants me. Because I did this to him. Put him in this position.”
“No,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “He’s doing it because he can.”
I waited, watching her. The sadness and helplessness were battling with some other emotion inside of her. Anger.
She paced the floor. “Control. I told you. He needs control. Just like Evan. When you told him I wouldn’t run for him anymore, he lost control of me. Now he’s got it back.” She paused. “Only way he’s gonna give that up is if he’s dead. I promise.”
Alex finally managed to push himself into a sitting position. He grabbed a tissue from the table and wiped at his mouth. “Not if we get you to San Diego. He won’t go that far.”
She sat down next to him. “It doesn’t feel like I can get far enough away.” She hesitated. The anger died out and the tears resurfaced. “And now he has Jax.”
The sobs came out in short bursts. Alex put his arm around her and she collapsed into him, her body shaking as she cried against him.
I watched her, helpless.
Liz’s voiced whispered in my head again.
Be you.
“Gimme your phone, Alex,” I said.
He looked at me, confused, but dug into his pocket. He fished it out and handed it to me.
I opened the contacts and found what I was looking for. “I gotta go outside and make a call.”
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Bella pushed tighter into him, her crying muffled as she pressed into his chest.
I headed for the door. “Being me.”