Page 87 of Mile High Baby

Oh, God.

“Alex is too good for that,” Ian argued.

“Not if his head wasn’t in the right place.” Dax glared at me. “Let's take a walk around the corner. See if we can find anything or a witness to where Alex might have gone or if Pitney found him. Contact Elliot to request access to any surveillance cameras in the area.” Dax and Ian started up the street.

I’d been wrong about Alex. The guilt of that burned deep in my gut. More than that, I was in a panic. If Pitney had Alex, it meant he knew about the sting he pulled. He’d kill Alex for sure. Alex would die because of me, because I’d been selfish and escaped protection. He’d die without knowing I loved him and was having his baby. Even if he didn’t care about me or the child, he deserved to know. And now, it was probably too late.

“Will you call me when you have news?” I called out to Dax and Ian.

“If Alex wants to contact you after we find him, he can.Ifhe can.” Dax’s words were a slap to the heart. I pressed my hand to my chest like that would ease my pain, fear, and guilt. But it didn’t. It wouldn’t. It would live there until this was resolved. Maybe even forever.

29

Alex

Pain pulsed through every cell of my body. It clued me in that I wasn't dead. Or maybe I was, and I was now in hell.

I worked through the pain to focus on my surroundings. Listening, I heard nothing. Had Pitney gotten tired of torturing an unconscious man?

With incredible effort, I opened my eyes. The room was dim, not dark. A shadow appeared, looming over me, and instinctively, I flinched, recoiling from whatever Pitney was going to deliver next.

"You're safe now, Alex. You're in the hospital."

The voice was familiar, but I couldn't place it.

"It’s Dax. Are you with me, Alex?"

I emerged from the fog, my vision clearing to see Dax standing over me.

"How the fuck did you find me?"

He let out a laugh. "Tommy and Amiee didn't have a lot of information until it counted. They were aware of several properties owned by Pitney but under a different name. We started with the ones closest to an airport where he might make an escape and lucked out. I’ll tell you what, man, I think if we arrived any later, things might be different for you."

I tried to nod, but it hurt too fucking bad. "Thanks."

“Of course. I’m just glad we found you in time.” Dax handed me a glass of water. “You should drink something.”

I lifted my left hand and noted a significant bandage on it. I took the glass with my right hand and sipped, but my teeth hurt. I ran my tongue around them, wondering if I still had them all. Miraculously, I did. "And Pitney? Is that fucking pussy of a D.A. finally arresting him?"

Dax shook his head.

That was when I knew I had to be in hell. "What the fuck?" The vehemence with which I spoke sent more pain through me.

Dax gently patted my shoulder until I winced. "He's dead. Most of them are. The ones who aren’t are recuperating in a hospital under police custody."

"What happened?"

"I'll give you the details later. Suffice it to say that Pitney did not go gently into that good night.” I could imagine the scene even though I wasn’t conscious during it. I knew how operations like this worked. It wasn’t quite like the movies, but the end result was the same. Carnage.

“Your old buddy Henry is having a field day with the story."

Thinking of Henry brought me to Victoria. The memory of hearing them talking about how I was a murderer and how angry Henry was to learn about my relationship with Victoria filtered back, causing a different type of pain. It rooted in my chest, and I imagined it would live there forever.

"Are they safe?"

"Yeah, they’re safe." Dax’s expression looked as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. "Seriously, Alex, if those are the types of friends you have, I can't imagine your enemies." Then he flashed a grin. "I guess I can, as Pitney was one of them."

I shrugged. I hadn’t had many friends in life. I suppose when I was working, I grew close to my team, but that waned once our mission was done. Henry had been the only one who stuck.