Second time lucky

61

Riley's pov

Scared isn't the right word to describe the surge of anxiety I felt when Ava called Brett at the same time Hannah called Kyle. Watching their reactions was all I needed to know that it was Britt and that she was not okay.

I took the phone from Brett and listened to a very emotional Ava.

"Alexis took her. She had a weapon, we couldn't stop her. Britt told us to go and take the kids. Riley she was going to kill them too. You need to find her."

"Did she say where they were going?" I asked even though I knew the answer.

"No and she took Britts phone. You can still track her though. She has her watch on. I don't think Alexis knew it has a GPS in it."

"Okay, take the kids back to Baileys, the guys will meet you there. I will find her Ava, I promise."

I handed the phone back to Brett and ran to my truck. We had gone to the river to fish and thankfully we had stayed on the shoreline close to the vehicles, taking two cars to save on all cramming into one.

I didn't wait to hear what they were saying as I jumped in my truck and peeled out of the gravel road. I pulled up the find my iPhone app and began tracking Britts Apple Watch through my truck navigation.

Britt has always said that she loved that her watch had so many features and while I thought it was too much, I was glad at this moment that she bought it.

I raced through the mountain roads following the gps as it winded up the mountains to a secluded area that turned to gravel. Only locals would even know about this road and it made me wonder how Alexis, a rich daddy's girl would even know about it.

From what I remembered about her from college, which wasn't much, she hated the outdoors. She was a part of Courtney's clan and only cared about money and how she looked.

I hadn't paid her much attention back then, and I hadn't even connected that I had seen her several times at Britts job since then. As far as I could remember we had only ever had a few conversations and none of them would even imply that I was interested.

Still Britt was in danger and I would do anything to protect her. If that meant I needed to sweet talk Alexis with some sweet lies then I would do it.

I had a plan, I hoped it would work. Of course it meant I needed to make it in time. When I saw the car in the distance I decided to park and walk the rest of the way. I needed to be smart about this.

If I was what she wanted, I would need to make this as real as possible to play into that, starting with finding them. I set my phone on record in my pocket as I walked closer.

"Alexis" I yelled as I approached the car. "Alexis where are you?" I called her again. I needed to know where they were.

"Riley!" She called back and my stomach dropped when I didn't hear Britt.

I followed the sound of her voice and raised my hands in the air as I approached the overgrown wooded area they were in.

I looked at Alexis and tried my best to focus on her. I needed to make this believable if I was going to save Britt. Our whole future depended on the performance I was about to put on.

I walked towards her as she turned to face me. I could see the gun in her hand as I sent her a smile. "Alexis what are you doing?" I asked.

I could see Britt behind her on her knees with tears running down her cheeks but I knew that running to her would be the worst thing I could do.

"Riley she wouldn't listen to me. I told her you didn't want her, that you were meant for me. I know you only asked her to marry you because of the children, but you deserve better than that. I did this for us. She has to die Riley, she will just come between us." Her face softened and I tried not to gag at the sight of how utterly crazy she looked as she spoke those words.

She clearly believed them, although I had no idea why. We had never hung out, or even been around each other without other people being there.

"I know." I sighed opening my arms for her. If I could make her believe I wanted her maybe Britt would walk away from this. "But if she dies, I... I can't look at you through prison bars Alexis, it would kill me." I stepped closer to her.

"She brainwashed you. I can't let her live." She tried to argue as I carefully put my hands on her shoulders.

"We can leave now. She can take my truck back to her parents and we can leave in your car. No one has to know about this. Her friends won't say anything. We can have the life we always wanted. Just you and me. We can drive to another state and start over."

I pulled her into a hug and as my face rested above her shoulder I shot brit a wink so that she knew what was to follow was solely for her benefit.

I felt Alexis pull away from me. "You're not just stringing me along are you?" She asked as her hand stayed firmly attached to the gun.

"If I was stringing you along would I do this?" I said before I moved my face closer to hers.

Her breath caught in her throat and as I inched closer and closed my eyes I tried to visualize Britt was the woman in front of me.

I pressed my lips against hers and tried to ignore the bile rising in my throat. It felt wrong, dirty, and yet I knew it was necessary. I opened my eyes as I pulled away and reached for her hands.

"Is that enough proof?" I asked noticing that Britt was now standing behind her, not that she had noticed.

"Yes." She smiled as she reluctantly handed me the gun and Britt seized the opportunity to strike her with a fallen tree limb.

When she fell to the ground we quickly picked her up and carried her to the car. Neither of us knew how long she would be out, but I had some ties in my truck we could use to restrain her until the cops could get here.

I tied her hands and feet and put her in the bed of the truck as Britt called 911. Neither of us knew what to do until the cops arrived and took over with Alexis.

Britt and I had moved away from my truck at that point and as soon as we were out of direct sight from the bed of the truck she fell into my arms sobbing.

We both sank to the floor and as I held her shaking body close to mine I let the reality of what I had almost lost sink in.

I cried with her.

She clutched me tightly as I held her as close as I could. Feeling her warmth, smelling her hair, it was all so overwhelming. I pulled her face from my chest and kissed her. I kissed her with all the unspoken I love you's I almost didn't have the chance to say. I kissed her the way I had dreamed our first married kiss would be like, or the way I had envisioned every kiss from now on.

We were separated again briefly as the police questioned us, and thankfully it didn't take long. Once I had sent the recording to the officer there wasn't much need for statements.

All we had to do was wait for Alexis to be removed from my truck bed. Thankfully the ambulance pulled up while we were being questioned. I could here her asking for me, and I was relieved when the officer told her that I wasn't allowed to talk to her until questioning was over.

As soon as the ambulance pulled away with her inside the officer handed us both a business card and I ushered Britt to my truck. As soon as we got back onto the main road I let her parents know she was okay.

I asked them to keep everyone busy when we got back. We both needed some time to decompress and if her silence on the ride back was any indicator, I knew we would need a lot of space.

Tonight we would hold our children tighter, and each other. I was trying so hard to hold on. She needed my strength more than anything and I had to give it to her.

I had hurt her again, unintentionally, but even still, without me this would have never happened.