Chapter 28 - Alex

The next morning, Alex and Zee woke up early for a morning yoga session at a local studio. On their walk back to Zee's condo, Alex got a text message.

[Text from Jordan to Alex] Good morning, beautiful.

[Text from Alex to Jordan] Good morning.

Jordan - How was your night? Is Zee feeling better?

Alex - Zee is feeling better. She has a photo shoot and they're sending her a car, so I'm going to need a ride.

Jordan - I thought you drove over to her place?

Alex - Yeah...I changed my mind. I've got somethings I need to tell you.

Jordan - Alright. I'll see you in a bit.

Jordan arrived at Zee's place just as they finished breakfast and Zee helped Alex bring her things out to the Jeep.

"That's a lot of luggage for one night," Jordan remarked, greeting Zee with a hug and Alex with a kiss. Zee raised her eyebrows and shook her head as if to say, 'you'll understand soon enough.'

When the couple was settled in and on the road. Alex didn't waste a moment. "So, is it okay if I stayed at your place for a little while?" She handed Jordan her phone with the gallery opened to the pictures from the night before. Jordan pulled the car over to have a closer look.

"Alex, what is this? Why are you just now sharing this with me?" He said, slamming his hands onto the steering wheel. Alex exhaled understanding his frustration.

"I know, but there's more," she said, before going into detail about the phone call and parking garage situations. Jordan sat back, both palms on his forehead like they were the only thing keeping his head from exploding. He'd had a feeling they should have taken those threats more seriously.

"I knew I should have made Vince go with you to the station; I told you your place wasn't secure! You're definitely staying with me. What else do you need from your place?"

"Nothing, I'm good. I submitted an online maintenance report to have my apartment fumigated. Those spiders are probably everywhere, by now." Alex felt bad for not telling him about the incidents sooner; especially when he'd offered her his security on multiple occasions. She touched his arm, lightly. "Thank you. I really appreciate you letting me stay at your place... do you think you can have Vince look into something for me?"

"Absolutely, anything."

"I want him to look into that Instagram account and Twitter handle we blocked. LBD. Maybe you can show me what he or she looks like on the account page."

"You mean Little Black Dress? It was a fan page. They only ever posted pictures of me and maybe quote, or something. I don't know what they look like. But I'll see what Vince can do."

With the promise of Vince's investigation and the security of Jordan's home, Alex felt reassured that the situation would be resolved and she could rest easy.

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After over two weeks of living with Jordan, their relationship was stronger than ever. Jordan's family had come to visit, from Sacramento, for a weekend and Alex impressed them all by cooking a large family dinner. The only thing missing from their perfect night-in was a kind and supportive Pamila Montgomery, sharing in the food and laughter. Alex, however, knew her mother was stubborn and with the two of them still not on speaking terms, a dinner with both of the families present wasn't a realistic scenario.

When they weren't spending time with family or friends, Jordan and Alex appreciated coming home and spending time together at the end of each busy day. Jordan was still working late nights filming D.C. Undercover, while Alex continued doing interviews for Best Kept Secret and work for her recent brand sponsorship deals.

In fact, an early morning filming for her upcoming Fresh Faced, Inc. commercial was what kept Alex from accompanying Jordan to his late-night talk show appearance. As much as she wanted to cheer him on in the audience, it was crucial that she get a good night's rest. Vince would be there with him and she would try to catch it on television, live, later that night.

It was dark outside when she arrived at Jordan's place. Her final fitting for the commercial went well and as she put in the key code to the front door's digital lock pad, she considered taking a long hot bath. Alex put her keys and phone down at the entryway table. Taking her boots off, she took the three steps down into the sunken living room area, placing her jacket on the back of the sofa. This was typically when Biscuit would run up to her, eager to go out for an evening walk, but it was oddly quiet in the house. She looked around and saw no trace of the puppy.

"Biscuit! Where are you, buddy?" She called out making her way up the stairs. She nervously placed her hand on the birthstone pendant hanging on her neck, then sighed in relief when she heard shuffling in the walk-in closet with the motion censored lights already on. I hope that dog is chewing on one of Jordan's shoes and not mine, she thought, waltzing into the bedroom ready to startle the puppy.

She stopped on a dime when she saw Biscuit was not in the closet. Nausea crept up from her gut when she took in the full scene. Jordan's clothes were tossed all over the closet floor. Laying on top of the large heap of clothing, in a pair of Jordan's sweatpants and one of his white tanks, was Darcy. She seemed completely oblivious to Alex's presence as she held the framed selfie from Jordan's bedside table in one hand and scribbled over Alex's smiling face with a black marker.

"Darcy, what are you doing here?" Alex said in a low and measured tone. As if just noticing someone else was in the space, Darcy whipped up in Alex's direction.

"What are you doing here, Alex? This is Jordan's home, not yours." Alex took two steps back when Darcy slowly got up and began to approach her.

"Nice necklace," Darcy said, vacantly staring at the birthstone pendant, then forcefully snatching it off of Alex's neck. Darcy moved so fast that Alex was thrown off balance and almost fell when the necklace came off. Alex rubbed the back of her neck, trying to soothe the throbbing and took another two steps back. Darcy's glassy eyes indicated she may not be all there and that Alex should be very careful.

"I remember when he sent this to you. He asked me to have it shipped." Darcy suddenly flung the necklace across the room and it crashed into the bedside lamp, shattering it to pieces.

Alex remembered her phone was downstairs by the door and since Jordan didn't have a house phone, she needed to stay calm and in control until she could either get to a phone or take Darcy down. While mainly keeping her eyes on Darcy, Alex would occasionally glance around the room for something she could grab to defend herself. With every backward step she took, Darcy took a step forward, keeping the gap between them tight.

"So, that's how you got my address," Alex said, backing slowly outside of the bedroom.

"Yes. Did you enjoy the flowers? They're the same ones Damien gave you the day you cheated on Jordan, remember?" Darcy's pleasant and relaxed face morphed into a grimace. Alex was almost at the stairs.

"Darcy, I never cheated on Jordan."

"You lying, BITCH!" Darcy spat through clenched teeth. "Poor Jordan doesn't know any better. But I can see right through you, Alex!"

Alex tried to maintain slow and deep breaths.

"The parking garage...that was you, too?"

Darcy rolled her eyes, "Well aren't you a regular Sherlock Holmes. I was just messing with you that day. But today, I mean business." Darcy reached behind into the sweat pant's waistband and pulled out an LC9 pistol. Alex's heart sank when Darcy held it up pointing it squarely at Alex's chest.

"You're 'little black dress'," Alex whispered, scared frozen. She tried to make her leg move down to the first step, but it didn't budge. She dedicated every ounce of brainpower towards moving her arm up to slap the pistol out of Darcy's hand, but her arm wouldn't move either. Her vision became tunneled and the only thing she could see was the pistol's shaft in her face.

"Little black dress?" Darcy said, looking confused.

"LBD...Little. Black. Dress." Alex whispered in response.

Darcy froze, then doubled over in laughter. By some miracle, Alex's legs decided to work and she kicked Darcy in the face, while Darcy was still doubled over, causing the gun to fall to the ground. The pistol was too far out of reach for Alex to grab, so she started down the stairs, instead. She was running down so fast that her socks caused her to slip half-way down. This gave Darcy enough time to grab the gun at the top of the stairs and make it to the bottom before Alex could get up from where she tumbled on the living room floor. This isn't a total loss, Alex thought. At least I'm closer to my phone and the door than I was before.

"Do I need to shoot you in the leg, so you don't pull a stunt like that again?!" Darcy said, pointing the gun down at Alex, blood dripping from her swelling bottom lip.

When Alex began to slide backward on the floor towards the door, Darcy screamed, "Don't move!" Both women became still, not breaking eye contact.

"LBD isn't little black dress. It's my initials in reverse. Darcy Brielle LaRowe. Guess you weren't smart enough to put that together, huh, Sherlock? You were so busy creeping behind Jordan's back that you overlooked me, moving right in under your nose. You're so full of drama, Alex. That's not what Jordan needs in his life. He some who helps him and appreciates him and would do anything for him. Would you kill for Jordan, Alex? Because I would."

As the words escaped Darcy's lips the front door burst open.

"Alex!" Jordan called out, his eyes growing wide at the sight of Darcy with a gun in hand.

Startled and frightened Darcy's gun swung up towards the door. The sound of two 9 mm bullets exploding from the pistol's chamber echoed loudly against the twelve-foot-high walls. Darcy screamed realizing her mistake and the heavy thud of Jordan's body hitting the floor was the last thing Alex heard clearly.

From that point on, all sounds became distorted and Alex saw everything moving in slow motion. She saw Vince slide through the door and two long wires shoot out from Vince's taser, connecting to Darcy's chest. Darcy's pistol fell from her hands as her body jerked downward with every electrically triggered convulsion. Alex scurried up the three steps and towards the door, where Jordan lay surrounded by a growing pool of blood. Before she could get to him, she felt two strong arms lift her up and carry her away.

"I'll take care of this," she heard Vince say, his voice sluggish and distant, "you call the paramedics, now!" Vince pushed a phone into Alex's numb hand and Alex did as she was told.