Dangerous Conceit by Ali Lee

Chapter 30

Lexi smiled in her thoughts; remembering how Rafa used to be somehow brought her comfort in spite of her past catching up to her present. It made her think that everything would be alright.

“Well,” Abby spoke up. “You sent Lexi to Gio-land. That's what Kayla used to call it.”

Ella laughed, “It really is cute how someone like Rafa could make Lexi lost like that. I guess even Rafa has a hidden side. You can tell she loves him.”

“Love…obsession…infatuation—you pick.” Lexi overheard them say, bringing her out of her daydream.

“What are you talking about?” She looked at them both, realizing she had opened herself up to their jokes.

“You are,” Abby said. Abby always had teased her when she reflected on the past.

“So all of you were never here to kill Angelo?” Ella asked; Lexi shook her head.

“We were. They sent us for that, but we had our own plan…was just waiting for the right opportunity. That was it.”

“Were you surprised about Rafa—that he was Maura's father.”

Lexi gave a dazed nod. “Everything about everything is a shock, but keeping Rafa away from me this whole time…doesn't make sense.” Lexi looked up and then off to the side. She thought about the police audio that she heard. Her brother came to mind. “Abby, have you found out anything else about any of it?”

“No, I had to back off that because they started tracking me back to my computer. The person I logged in under caught on too fast. So now, they’ve removed anything having to do with it. I’ll let you know when I find where they’re hiding it.”

Lexi nodded but her attention changed direction. She thought she saw someone. She shifted to get a better view of an older man with dark graying hair. He was in line at one of the food venders. A cover. He was busy looking through the crowd, his attention going from one table to another. He was looking for her.

“Abby,”—Lexi stretched over the table and leaned forward—”look who's in line about twenty feet behind you…but be subtle.” Lexi ducked as Abby twisted to see through the shoppers who scurried past and blocked her view.

“Who am I looking for, Lex?” she whispered, still skimming the crowd as she spotted a tall man in need of a haircut, wearing a dark grey suit with a couple of frazzled strings reaching his slacks. “Oh shit…Kenneth.”

“Who's Kenneth?” Ella asked, her relaxed posture stiffening as her hand went to her purse. “What does he look like?”

“It's her stepfather. He's wearing an old grey suit jacket.”

As Ella started looking at the lines in front of the food counters, Jim came back with Nina on his arm with Lexi sliding to the table with the men.

“We have get out of here. My stepfather’s here,” she whispered to Ray and Brett as Jim sat in the seat next to her.

“Where is he?” Jim asked.

Lexi described him and Jim nodded, holding up his phone to snap some quick photos; then he looked at Brett and his brother. “Nina is ready to leave too. She said she’s tired, so go get the Escalade. Pull next to the side exit and call me when you get there.”

They waited. Jim kept his eyes forward, watching every move Kenneth made. While they focused on the lines, a person came behind Lexi. She could feel their body pressing the back of her seat. “Get up.” The jarring voice demanded.

“She's not going anywhere,” Jim said. Having known she was there all the time, Kenneth walked out of line and took Brett’s empty seat.

“If you don't want anything to happen to the rest of you, you’ll step out of my way,” said Kenneth.

“Are you brave or just plain stupid?” Jim flicked his hand in taunting reply. “Did you really threaten us?”

“You make the choice.” Kenneth nodded at the man behind Lexi who clenched the collar of her shirt. “She's the deal I made with Moretti, and now I'm taking her back.”

Lexi looked at him with disgust; she could feel her face reddening with the building hatred she felt. “You knew Rafa was the father of my baby. Tell me why you separated us before I go anywhere with you,” she said, trying to buy some time for Jim to come up with a plan.

Kenneth grunted, mocking her words. “Moretti hasn't let me forget about that…how you were pregnant. Stupid slut.”

Lexi's chest tightened as she strained her breathing with her rising rage. The nerve of him to call her anything. “You know what I think, Kenneth?” she said, knowing she could rile him the same as he did her. “I think Gloria cheated on you and got pregnant with another man's baby. I think that’s why you have always hated me.”

Anger shot from his eyes, his loathe of her penetrating from his glare. “And it’ll bring me pleasure to take my fake daughter back where she should be.” A spiteful smile spread on his lips as he stood, nodding at the man behind Lexi to move.

“You can't let them take her!” Abby started to stand when Jim snapped at her with Ella immediately speaking in her ear. Lexi's heart fell when Jim let the man lead her away from the table. How could he? Angelo sent them to protect her and she could not use the gun in the middle of the food court. Did Angelo change his mind about her? Lexi would rather die than let them take her back to Moretti.

Lexi walked down the quiet hallway to the emergency exit where they led, secretly planning to escape as soon as they stepped through the door. Lexi could hardly understand how it all happened. She felt completely betrayed by the men who promised to keep her safe.

Once the door opened, Lexi scoured the delivery area, having no idea where she would hide once she escaped. She waited for exactly the right moment and closed her eyes, counting to three. On two, she heard loud screeching tires come to a stop right in front of her. Out of several black SUV's, a half dozen men jumped out, aiming guns at Kenneth and the man holding Lexi.

It suddenly hit her. Angelo planned this entire ordeal, making Lexi furious and thankful at the same time. She would not be used for barter and became deadweight in the attackers grasp; then she pulled out her gun at the same time. Lexi made sure they could not use her as leverage.

In the next two minutes, Angelo’s people trapped the two men with Angelo dragging Lexi by the arm. Before she could shoot, he shoved her into an Escalade, jumping in beside her. As the vehicle sped away from the scene, Lexi placed her hands over her face to hide her tears. The fear of nearly being at the mercy of Moretti was too much for her to hold in anymore.

“We couldn't tell you.” Angelo climbed from the back seat to the front beside Brett. “If we had, they would have known it was a trap.”