Chapter 37
The last thing Alex remembered seeing was James’ look of horror. The car must have flipped a couple of times. She had no way to tell but it had come to rest upside down. She had braced herself as best she could, praying the extra support bar she had installed would prevent the roof from collapsing, but she must have hit her head on the steering wheel at some point. She had no idea how long she was out. She didn't see any lights, so it couldn't have been that long. Marcus and Quinn would have arrived by now. The world was blurred, but she was alive. That was encouraging.
Alex managed to get her seat belt undone and crawled out the shattered window, stumbling from the car. The rain actually felt good; it was helping to clear up her vision. She could see Max wiggle out the missing back window and disappear into the shadows. Thank God, Max seemed okay. Where was James? She couldn't see in the darkness to the passenger side.
"You miserable bitch." Alex slowly turned to face James, who was a couple of steps behind her. She hadn't heard him coming. He backhanded her across the face throwing her to the pavement. The world swam again, but she needed to stay conscious. Alex peeled herself off the ground and stood up shakily. Her heels and formal gown weren't helping her situation at all. She took some deep breaths and steadied herself. James seemed genuinely shocked that Alex was back on her feet, but in the past three years, a lot had changed. If James wanted a fight, he was going to get it.
Suddenly, headlights came around the bend in the road. James was momentarily blinded and Alex took the opportunity to punch James square in the jaw. She was still wearing Marcus' large steel battle ring and it connected with a thud.
As Marcus and Quinn screeched around the bend, the headlights settled on two figures. Marcus saw Alex take a swing at James, and given the jolt of his head, she clearly connected solidly. He screeched to a stop. The wreckage of Alex’s car had created a barricade between him and them.
"Whatever you do, get Alex," he ordered. Quinn nodded.
As they jumped out of the car, Marcus saw James right himself and point the gun directly at Alex. She slowly started to back away.
"Don't even think about it," Marcus called, his own gun trained directly on James. Quinn was circling behind him to get closer to Alex. Marcus came around the mangled car without lowering his aim for a second. Marcus needed to give Quinn time to make his way to Alex before James realized they had company.
James looked at Marcus, but kept the gun pointed at Alex. She continued slowly sliding backwards, adding as much distance between her and James without attracting attention.
"Why must you keep interfering? This is between Lexi and me, and it needs to end. Lexi has to pay."
"Your plan won’t work; so what happens now?" Marcus asked to stall as long as possible.
James was completely thrown; his plan had gone terribly awry. What was he going to do? He couldn't think.
"Put the gun down and we can work it out. The police and an ambulance are on the way. You need medical attention; you’re bleeding."
