Alex Drakos: For My Lover Read online

  But when Alex rammed the truck, he apparently rammed too hard because the truck not only veered out of control, but it slid to the edge of the road, caught the uneven curb, and began flipping violently. Then it ran off of the road, ripping through shrubs and high weeds, and then flew airborne into a lake.

  Alex slammed on brakes, pulled over to the side of the road, and looked back at Kari. Figuring he could get to the shooter before he got out of that truck, he handed his gun to her. “Stay in this car,” he ordered her. “You hear me?”

  “I will,” she responded. “But you be careful, Alex!”

  He said that he would as he unbuckled his seat belt and hurried out of the car. He had to know who the enemy was. He had to find out what motherfucker would be this bold!

  He hurried through those woods, removed his expensive dress shoes at the edge of the lake, and then dived into the thick, murky water where the truck was now floating.

  When he swam up to the truck, he could see the driver still alive inside and trying to get out. The driver was pounding on the driver side window with his shoes, as the water had already filled the truck’s cab and the driver was already holding his breath under water.

  Alex tried to open the door, and pull down the window too. But neither would budge.

  The driver was blue as he tried to hold his breath even longer and get out of that truck. He tried with all he had. But he couldn’t get out. Nothing would break loose. He was flailing his arms and legs and hitting against everything and anything. He was in total panic. Alex tried everything he could try too. He wanted that asshole alive almost as much as that asshole wanted to live. But nothing worked.

  And as soon as the gunman released a breath because he had to, it was over. The water filled his lungs faster than it had filled the truck, his face went ghostly, and within seconds the gunman was dead. He was no long flailing but was floating lifeless in the same truck he attempted to use to kill Alex and Kari, but it ended up killing him.

  As Alex swam back, and got out of the water, he was as baffled as he had been before he dived in. He didn’t know that gunman. Had never seen him in his life. Which probably meant whomever it was, he had been paid by somebody else. But who?

  But there was no time to even think about it because as soon as Alex walked out of the water, he faced a different situation. A car was now parked just behind the SUV, and two men were running toward the back passenger door. And, to Alex’s shock, they both had guns!

  As soon as Alex saw their guns, he reached for his own, but realized he had given it to Kari. And then he remembered Kari was in that backseat!

  “No!” he yelled breathlessly as if he began running toward them.

  “No!” he yelled again when gunfire erupted from inside the SUV. One of the men fell. Kari had hit one of those bastards! But the other man got off a volley of shots too.

  Alex was yelling hysterically and running as fast as he’d ever run before when he realized shots were being fired into that SUV. He was screaming as he ran, screaming to take the shooter’s attention away from Kari and put it on him!

  It worked. The shooter did look in the direction of his screams, saw Alex running toward him, and made a decision. But instead of firing on Alex, as Alex was expecting, he ran back to his car, jumped in, and sped away backwards, leaving his now dead partner on the ground where Kari’s bullet had dropped him.

  By the time Alex had run up to the SUV, the car had turned around with a swerve that almost caused it to lose control, and was speeding back toward DC. Back in the direction from which they’d all come.

  Alex was drained of all energy and nearly out of breath he was running to the SUV so fast. His heart was hammering. His entire being was shaken. But he still found the strength to fling open that back passenger door. He was praying that Kari was already. She had to be alright!

  But as soon as he opened that door, he knew she wasn’t.

  CHAPTER ONE

  TWELVE DAYS EARLIER

  “Can’t stay long,” Kari said as she slid onto the booth seat at Wayne’s Bar and Grill. Her two closest friends, Faye Church and Lucinda Mayes, were already seated side by side in the same booth. And they laughed.

  “What can possibly be that funny?” Kari asked them.

  “We knew you were going to say that,” said Faye. “Can’t stay long has become your theme song. You can never stay anywhere long.”

  “Not since you walked down that aisle anyway,” added Lucinda.

  But Kari only smiled. “Trying to get a brand new housekeeping department off the ground, a department that employs over a thousand maids, will do that to you,” she said. “It keeps me on my toes, I’m telling you. Especially with the turnover rate we’ve been having.” Her friends had already ordered her a drink. She was grateful, and took a sip.

  “That’s why you can’t stay this time?” Faye asked her. “Too many bad maids?”

  Kari laughed. “That’s it! But no, Alex is coming home today. I’m going to surprise him and meet his plane. That’s why I can’t stay long.”

  There was loud laughter at a nearby table. All three ladies took a peep. Just tourists being their usual obnoxious selves, they decided.

  But Lucinda shook her head. “These tourists are changing the entire complexion of our once beautiful, picturesque town. Now we look like a cheap rip-off of Vegas.”

  “I don’t know about all of that,” Faye said, “but they are crowding in, thanks to The Drakos. That’s a fact.”

  Kari nodded. “That’s right,” she said. “I agree with y’all. It’s a hassle.”

  “A hassle?” Lucinda asked, surprised.

  “You agree with us even though it’s your husband’s hotel and casino that has them flopping here?” Faye asked, surprised too.

  “The truth is the truth,” said Kari. “I’m just keeping it real. It’s a great thing for Alex’s hotel and casino. And it’s a great thing for the local economy, too, let’s not forget that. But I agree with Lou. It’s changing Apple Valley.”

  “I say it needed changing,” Faye said, “so I’m not complaining about that part.”

  “You shouldn’t either, Lou,” Kari said as she checked a text message she’d just received on her cell phone. “I’m sure business has picked up at your diner too.”

  “It has. But we’re losing that small-town feel. And bump that diner,” she added. “I’m still going to sell it.”

  “Sure you are,” Faye said doubtfully. Lucinda was always talking about selling that diner, but never had.

  Both women were close to Kari, but Kari and Faye had been friends the longest and had more in common. Lucinda was white and older, a woman with a big heart and an acid tongue. Faye, a real estate broker, was right around Kari’s age and, like Kari, one of the few African-Americans in all of Apple Valley. It was Faye, in fact, who had introduced Kari to Lou.

  “How’s Dezzamaine?” Lucinda asked.

  Kari found it an odd question to ask. She sipped from her drink and looked at her old friend. “She’s good, I think. Why?”

  “I saw her old man at the club last night,” Lucinda said. “He was with a woman, but that woman wasn’t Dezzamaine.”

  Kari exhaled. “I know. I talked to her and talked to her about that man, but she loves him. That’s all she sees. She loves him and she believes he loves her and who am I to judge that?”

  “I’m not judging it,” Lucinda said, “I’m just calling it for what it is. He’s a cheater and she’s a fool. Period. That man doesn’t love anybody but himself.”

  “All we can do is hope she comes to her senses,” Kari said. “I’ve been there, hello,” she added, holding up her hand. “We ladies fall the wrong way sometimes.”

  Lucinda raised her glass. “Hear-hear to that,” she said, agreeing with Kari. Although Lucinda was a beautiful woman with a beautiful heart, Kari knew she was unlucky in love. Lou said herself that she could write a book about the men who’d broken it.

  “Is she still running Maids for M
om for you?” Faye asked Kari.

  “She’s still running it,” Kari responded. “And she’s doing a super job too.”

  “That reminds me,” Lucinda said. “When, on earth, are you going to part with that business of yours? You’re Mrs. Alex Drakos now. Why would you need to hold onto a small-time cleaning service that has to remind you of all the struggles you went through just to make ends meet?”

  “Because I’ve been Kari Grant for thirty years. I just became Kari Drakos. When I put some years in as Kari Drakos, and it looks like we’re gonna make it after all, then yeah, I’ll give it up. But I’m keeping my hustle, I’m sorry,” she added with a smile, and Faye and Lucinda laughed.

  But Kari got serious again. “For real though. I once relied totally on a man for my livelihood. Lived with him. Ate his food. Drove his car. He had me right where he wanted me. And no, I’m not saying Alex is going to turn out to be like Vito’s stupid ass was, I’ll never say that. But I’ll never rely on anybody ever again the way I relied on Vito. I am saying that.”

  “But it doesn’t matter how it turns out, Kari,” Lucinda said. “That’s what you’re failing to realize. Because even if it turns out to be a horrible marriage and you and Alex divorce, you can take him to the cleaners for all he’s worth. You’ll be set for life no matter what.”

  But Kari was already shaking her head, and before she could answer, Faye answered for her. “If you think for one second that Kari Grant is going to take a dime of that man’s money if their marriage fails, you don’t know her at all, Lou.”

  “You got that right,” Kari said. “I’ll feel like a gold digger if our marriage doesn’t last a year, yet I’m taking his money. Money he worked for and earned. No way. I wouldn’t want a dime from him. I’ll just take my son, and we’ll be on our merry way. And I’ll take my black ass right back to Maids for Mom.”

  Faye laughed. “I feel that way too,” she said.

  “Well I don’t,” said Lucinda. “If I get a divorce even within a year of getting married, I’d drag that sonafabitch through the mud and take every dollar I can squeeze out of his sorry ass.”

  “I would too,” Faye admitted. “But the difference between me and you, Lou, is that I’d feel bad about it,” she added, and all three ladies laughed.

  “But for real, Kare,” said Lucinda when the laughter died down, “are you trying to tell us that perhaps you have something to worry about in your brand new marriage?”

  “No,” said Kari. “Alex is a very attentive husband and he’s been a great father to Jordan. That’s not what I’m saying at all. But it’s still very early days. We’ll see how it goes.”

  “But you must have some doubts about how it’s going now,” Lucinda said, “for you to be holding onto a broken down business like Maids for Mom, or whatever that business of yours is called. Something’s wrong in paradise.”

  “I’m telling you it’s not,” said Kari.

  “Then what I read in that blog that posted about an hour ago about him and that woman is no big deal to you?” Lucinda asked her pointblank.

  Faye was surprised that Lou would go there. “That was in that Live-feed gossip blog,” she answered for Kari. “Why are you bringing that up, Lucinda? Those people on the internet lie all the time about Alex.”

  But Lucinda was still looking at Kari. “Is that why you’re going to meet his plane?” she asked her. “To see for yourself?”

  “Whatever, Lou,” Kari said. People were going to believe what they wanted to believe and she wasn’t interested in changing any hearts or minds. She, instead, turned her attention to a new text message she’d received. It was a business-related text about another problem with yet another one of the maids at The Drakos, and she knew she had to respond. She’d already approved nearly two-dozen maid firings because they were either stealing from rooms, or not cleaning to the standard Kari had set. It was exhausting.

  “Hello, beautiful ladies.”

  It was a male’s voice. Faye and Lucinda turned to the sound, and then smiled when they saw a handsome gentleman standing at their booth. Faye wasn’t into white men like that, but she could appreciate beauty no matter what color possessed it. Lucinda was into all men period, no matter the color. She saw his beauty right away. Kari was too busy responding to her text message to see anything.

  “Hi,” Faye said, her smile expanding. Good looking men did that to her.

  “My buddies and I were wondering if you ladies cared to join us for drinks,” the male said. It was not lost on Lucinda that he, like Alex Drakos when he first hit town, was looking more at Kari than at her or Faye. It was surprising to Lou then when Alex was so fascinated with Kari. It was surprising to her now that the man before them was fascinated with Kari. Not because Kari didn’t have certain attributes. She did. But Lucinda and Faye both, in Lucinda’s humble opinion, looked way better than Kari ever would. They were considered two of the most beautiful women in all of Apple Valley. Especially Faye, who had Miss America-level gorgeousness. But, to Lucinda’s dismay, the man at their table kept darting his eyes over at Kari!

  “Which table is yours?” Faye asked him.

  “Over there,” he said, pointing at a table where two other white men were seated. They raised their glasses toward the ladies.

  “Where are you guys from?” Lucinda asked the stranger at their booth.

  “Actually, I just met those two since I’ve been in town,” the man admitted, “but I’m from the usual: here, there, everywhere.”

  Faye and Lucinda laughed. “A man after my own heart,” Faye proclaimed.

  “But really,” the man said, “we’d love to buy you ladies drinks and have a few laughs together.”

  It was certainly tempting to both ladies, even though Faye was married. But what gave her pause wasn’t her marital status, but her business status. She, like Lucinda, was a successful businesswoman in town. Drinking with tourists, especially when so many townspeople hated the newcomers with a passion, wasn’t a good look for either one of them. In Faye’s case, who was a real estate broker, she could lose clients. But she and Lucinda were still tempted.

  “What do you think, Kari?” Lucinda asked.

  Kari pressed Send on her text response and then looked at Lucinda. “What’s that?” she asked her, and then looked over at the man she now realized was standing at their booth.

  But as soon as Kari looked up and saw that man’s face, her eyes grew big with recognition and her hand, as if by reflex, swept sideways and spilled her drink.

  “Kari!” Faye cried, as she and Lucinda, and Kari too, feverishly grabbed napkins and began dabbing the liquid before it could roll off the table and onto Kari’s pretty blue dress. The man stood there smiling.

  “Are you alright?” Lucinda asked Kari.

  “I’m fine, yeah.”

  Once the spillage was contained, they all settled back down. Although Kari’s heart was still hammering.

  “This gentleman right here just asked if we cared to join him and his friends,” Lucinda said. “We were asking if you wanted to join in.”

  “No,” Kari said bluntly. “No thank you.”

  It was odd to both ladies that Kari didn’t bother to even acknowledge the man standing at their booth. They were usually the rude ones. Kari was usually the cordial one.

  Faye looked at the man. “We’re going to have to decline your offer,” she said. “But thanks.”

  He smiled. “No problem,” he said, with a slight grin in his voice. He glanced at Kari again and then headed back to his own table. Faye and Lucinda watched Kari as she watched the man walk away.

  “Who is he?” Lucinda asked her.

  Kari suddenly turned to Lucinda as if she’d been startled again. She frowned with irritation. “What?”

  “Don’t chop my head off,” Lucinda said. “I was just asking who is he?”

  “And we know you know him,” Faye said. “Nobody reacts that way to a stranger.”

  “He’s nobody,” Kari said. “But a
nyway, I’d better run.”

  “Kari, you just got here,” Faye said. “You literally just got here!”

  “And I’ve got to go,” Kari said, sliding off of her booth seat. She grabbed up her key fob and cell phone as she slid. “How much do I owe for my drink?”

  “Nothing,” Lucinda said. “We got you.”

  “We’ll get together soon, ladies, I promise,” Kari said, but didn’t hesitate. She headed out.

  Faye and Lucinda looked at the handsome man that had obviously startled Kari. He was staring at Kari as she hurried out.

  Lucinda smiled. “Looks like girlfriend might have some skeletons in that innocent little girl scout closet of hers.”

  “She used to live with a drug dealer, Lou,” Faye said. “I doubt if that qualifies her for innocent or girl scout status.”

  Lucinda laughed. “True,” she said. “But I wonder what was that about. And I wonder if Alex Drakos knows anything about it. Maybe we should go over there and ask the gentleman himself?”

  “We will do no such thing,” Faye said firmly. “Stay out of it. I’ve run into many old boyfriends before that spooked me too. I wouldn’t want Benny knowing about any of them. Leave that the hell alone.”

  Lucinda smiled, sipped her drink, but kept taking peeps at the handsome man across the room. Wouldn’t it be interesting, she thought, to know some of Good Kari’s dirty little secrets for a change?

  CHAPTER TWO

  The plane had already touched down and was idling on the tarmac when Kari drove up in the beautiful Rolls Royce Alex had purchased for her. There was a time when she used to feel self-conscious about driving such an ostentatious car in a town like Apple Valley, where everybody knew that she was, before Alex, nothing more than a struggling maid service owner trying to eke out a living. Why was somebody like her driving a car like that? They thought it was a crime and unthinkable that she could be outdoing them. They were so convincing in their outrage that they got into her head with their way of thinking. Now she didn’t care what they thought.