Trouble's Familiar Face

She shoved fifty dollars into the gas attendants hand and ran inside to use the bathroom. Relieved and on her way back to her car, she noticed a familiar purple BMW in the parking lot with the license plate that said: Tease.

Alex scanned the parking lot for a second and sure enough, Eliza was talking to the parking attendant by her car. She tried to jump back into her Jimmy without being seen, but right before she reached the door a familiar voice called her name. Alex forces a smile on her face and turned around to meet the daemon Eliza.

"Alexis, darling. How are you doing?" Eliza said, air kissing Alex's cheeks.

"Hey, Liz. I'm actually going to a friend's house, what's up with you?" Alex said vaguely.

"I was actually on my way to see your boyfriend." Eliza purred. "I wanted to give my key back."

"He's not my boyfriend, Eliza." Alex said flatly.

"Really? Because I was refused by him not too long ago because he was supposedly so in love with you." Eliza's serpent side started showing. Alex could almost see the forked tongue shoot out. "What happened honey, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Alex said, not indulging her with any details. "We just didn't work out. Look, it was nice to see you again, I've got to go. See you later."

"Bub-bye darling." Eliza said sweetly, watching her get into the truck.

Edwards was obsessing over the phone. Checking if the ringer was on, picking it up to check the dial tone then quickly hanging it up so it wouldn't be busy.

The look on Rayne's face when Edwards was leaving put so much fear in him for Alex that he just could concentrate on anything else. Though he told him self over and over that it was just crazy to feel this way about a woman he didn't really know. In the end he managed to chalk it up to male instinct.

Four hours after he had left the house, he decided that if Alex didn't call within then hour, then he was going there. Rayne be damned.

When the phone finally rang, Edwards jumped up so quick he almost hung it up again by accident.

"Hello?" he answered breathlessly.

"Eddy?"

"Yes Alex, it's me, are you okay?" relief rushed through Edwards like a wave.

"Well, I've been driving around for hours and I'm hungry and I need a friend." She said, humbleness in her voice.

"Where am I meeting you?" Edwards said, smiling a little.

"I'm by the police station, so the coffee place we first went to."

"Alright, there is a restaurant close by. I'll be there in about ten minutes?"

Alex put a little cheer into her voice. "Alrighty." She said simply. "Oh, and Edwards?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you bring Eddy? Not Edwards?" she said jokingly.

"Eddy's on his way." Edwards said smiling.

When they finally sat down at the restaurant it was half an hour later, Alex felt less tense, knowing that Edwards was there as a friend, not an FBI agent.

"So tell me, who did the dumping?" Edwards said in a nonchalant voice.

Alex laughed. "Both, actually. He accused me of sleeping with you, so I walked away." Alex explained. "He grabbed my arm and I told him to let go. A few words passed between us and I smacked him and he shoved me on the bed." Alex put her hand out to calm Edwards. "He didn't hurt me. In fact I think I hurt him more because he said something about, maybe I'd like him better if he'd rape me and then tried so I kicked him in the nuts."

"Was he always so aggressive?" Edwards asked, willing his body to relax. Every cell in his body was screaming to go kill Rayne.

"I thought Edwards was staying home tonight." Alex said smiling slyly.

"Edwards is at home finding a gun, Eddy is about to go there and help him." Edwards said laughing. He put his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright. So what did you do for the past four hours?"

"Well I saw my now ex's ex." Alex said in mock niceness.

"Really, that's always fun." Edwards joked.

"Yeah considering she's twenty times more beautiful then I am and when I stand next to her I feel like the elephant man." Alex said rolling her eyes. A waiter stopped at their table.

"Well the elephant man is a sexy fellow." Edwards joked after they ordered their meals. "Seriously, though, I just don't believe that. No way could a chick be that hot."

"I'm serious!" Alex laughed.

"Okay, I'm guess that you're over exaggerating, but humor me and describe this life altering beauty to me."

"Why in the world would you even care?" Alex asked lifting an eyebrow.

"Let's just say that I need something to get me to sleep tonight." Edwards laughed, wiggling his eyebrows.

Alex laughed, genuinely shocked by the comment. "Alright, she's about my height, curly brownish hair and skinny. She's got the whole heroin chic thing going on."

"That's funny, that's the exact description that the bartender gave to me." Edwards said thoughtfully.

"I don't think that Eliza is capable of anything other then worshiping herself." Alex said rolling her eyes.

"None the less," Edwards said, looking into Alex's eyes. "She sounds hideous next to you."

Alex blushed. "Thank you."

"See you sent Edwards home without realizing that Eddy's such a huge flirt." Edwards joked.

After dinner, Edwards took Alex to a motel that was less then a mile away from his house. He checked her in and walked her to her room. He gave her his cell number and address just incase anything at all happened.

As he walked back to his car and talked him self out of going back to her room twice. He then realized that maybe he was getting too close to this woman.

"Who is it?" Eliza asked when some knocked at her door early the next day.

"It's Rayne, Liz. I've come for my key." He said, sounding grumpy and tired.

Eliza opened the door and moved aside for him to enter the house. "I didn't think that you would be knocking on my door so soon, considering your recent brake up and all."

"How do you know about me and Alex?" Rayne asked suspiciously.

"I saw her last night. She apparently wasn't too broken up about it since she was going to her lover's house." Eliza said, setting the bait.

"What are you talking about?" Rayne said, he fist closing tightly.

"Well she said a friend, but later that night I saw her dinning with a most attractive fellow. She didn't look the least bit broken up about you two." Bait taken.

"Bitch." He cursed under his breath and then looked back at Eliza, scanning her face. "Seems that there is a lot that you know about these days, that isn't any of your business." Rayne accused.

"Why ray, darling. I have no idea what you are referring to." Eliza said innocently.

"What do you know about Rick?" Rayne asked, taking a step closer to her. "And don't lie either because I can see right through your shit."

"That nasty oaf got what was coming to him, in my opinion." Eliza said nonchalantly.

"Your hands are red with blood, Liz." Rayne said, stepping closer still.

"Eliza didn't move away, but stepped closer to him. "And what if they are? Are you upset that he's gone?" she challenged.

"Bitch, you did it didn't you?" he said in pure disbelief. That was something that he would never think her capable of.

She reached between then and rubbed the front of his pants. "Honey, I wouldn't throw accusations around like that. Someone might get offended."

Rayne felt his will power weakening against Eliza's expert hands. "Don't Eliza, we're over." His breath sucked in quickly as her hand found its way into the front of his pants and took a hold of his manhood.

"Oh Rayne, you want this." She said, whispering into his ear. "A stiff cock doesn't lie."

Rayne pushed her back up against the wall, kissing her violently and grinding his now hard dick between her legs. Then without a word he stepped back and headed for the door.

"You're right." She said, stopping his exit mid-stride. He turned to face her, just outside the door. "I wanted his money, he'd promised me for over two months. When I realized that he was never going to hand it over, I told him that he wasn't getting any more freebees from me."

"You were his prostitute?" Rayne said disgusted in her confession.

Eliza went on without answering him. "He was angry and attacked me, then raped me in his car. I stabbed him in the eye with a screw driver that I found on the floor."

Rayne came back into the house and shut the door. He walked into her living room and sat down on the couch, listening quietly.

"I knew where he kept the checks that Alex gave him already signed. So I took one and made it out for cash and left." She said, her hands fidgeting nervously.

"I should turn you in." Rayne said, looking her over. He was silent, thinking deeply, staring at her hard before he said anything else. "Instead I'm going to use you."

Eliza smiled. "What did you have in mind, kitten?"

Rayne pointed to the floor in front of him and she stood before him. He looked at her expectantly and she got to her knees.

"How much did you take?"

"Only ten grand, honey. I'm not stupid." Eliza said, watching him carefully.

He took a hold of her hair with one hand and jerked her head up so that she was looking into her eyes. "Want more." He asked, knowing that Eliza's world revolved around money.

"I'm listening." She said, interested loving his roughness. 'Maybe Alex wasn't so bad for him.' She thought.

"Good, you listen." He said, using his other hand to unzip his pants and pull himself out in front of her. "You listen and make yourself productive."

Eliza smiled, she loved when he was all business like this. It was such a turn on.

Rayne jerked her face to his dick with the hold he still had tightly on her hair. "Common woman!"

Eliza put him in her mouth greedily, listening to his plan to make her money.

The hotel phone rang in Alex's room at about midnight the next night. Alex sat up in bed, alert, then remembered that she forwarded her cell phone calls to the room because her battery was dieing.

Alex picked dup on the third ring. Before she even said anything, she heard a child's cries on the other end.

"Sammy? Oh god, Sammy?" she was up and getting dressed in seconds.

"Alex! Please come, there are strangers. No! Stop!" the line went dead.

"Sammy!" Alex yelled, knowing it was a dead line, but not caring.

Ale opened her cell phone, it still said 'Low Battery, she threw it against the wall. "Fuck you, you piece of shit." She yelled at it, then ran to the hotel phone and dialed Edwards's number.

"Hello?" a sleepy voice answered.

"Eddy! Sammy just called, someone's there," Alex said, her voice tight with emotion. "I think their hurting him!"

"Give me the address." He demanded.

"I'm going after I hang up with you, so call the police, my cell died." She said, after giving him the address.

"Okay, bye." He said and then hung up the phone.

Alex ran out of her room and cursed the stairs as she almost fell twice getting to the parking lot. She jumped into her jimmy and took off. It took her less then three minutes to get to Sammy's house and Edwards was right behind her.

Alex jumped from the car, leaving the door open and ran inside. "Sammy?! Baby, are you alright?" she said into the dark house.

She heard sobbing and then someone weakly call out her name. Alex ran into the living room, turned on the light and gasped.

"Sammy, no."

Edwards entered the house with a little more caution then Alex. He flicked on the light in the first room, which turned out me be the kitchen. It looked like a war zone, with random blood splatters and objects everywhere.

He heard a faint sobbing and a small voice say Alex's name. Alex heard it too and took off running into the next room. She flicked on the light and stopped, gasping at the sight.

"Sammy, no." She breathed. Edwards ran into the room and stopped short at the scene before him.

The boy was lying on the floor in his pajamas with his head at an impossible angle and what looked like whip marks from head to toe.

"Call an ambulance!" Alex yelled, rushing to the boy's side, not daring to move him.

"Alex? Mommy, I'm scared! Please help me." Sammy cried.

"Shhh. Honey, don't move, there is help on the way, baby." Alex said gently. "I'm here baby, mommy is here."

Edwards walked back into the kitchen to have more of a look around and get his emotions in check. Seconds later the police and ambulance arrived simultaneously. Edwards showed them in where Sammy was still responsive on the floor.

Edwards took the shaking Alex into his arms and held her tight as they moved the boy onto a gurney and out of the house. Edwards was thankful that Alex's face was buried into his shoulder so that she didn't see the condition of Sam's back. It had looked as if someone had stabbed him repeatedly with something no smaller then a machete.

Alex started for her jimmy, but Edwards took her hand, guiding her to his car.

"Let me take you. You are in no shape to drive." He said, opening the door for her.

Alex got in, her entire body numb, stress lining her eyes with dark circles.

They arrived at the hospital not long after the ambulance. Alex stopped at the receptionists' desk to give them her information and the information of Mr. and Mrs. Valintino.

When Alex was finally ushered into the emergency room where they had Sammy, Edwards was just going to wait outside, but Alex wouldn't let go of his hand.

In Sammy's room he was hooked up to just about everything in there and there was a bulky neck brace around his neck. His eyes were closed and his face was pale, exposing large bruises across his face.

A doctor looked up when they entered the room. "Hello, are you the mother and father?" he asked looking at them.

"No, I'm his stepmother, his father has recently passed away." Alex explained. "This is special Agent Edwards of the FBI, kind of my moral support."

"Now this young man has suffered quite a severe beating. Can you tell me what happened?" the doctor inquired.

"Actually, Sam called me up in my hotel room, scared and crying." Alex recalled, trying to hold her composure. "I don't know what happened before or after that. I found him like this." Alex gestured toward the bed.

The doctor nodded, writing a few notes in the chart that he held. "Now we cannot operate on his broken neck because he's lost so much blood and risk him going into shock." He explained. "The next 24 hours are very serious for Samuel."

"I understand. I'll be here or in the waiting room." Alex told the doctor.

Alex was shook wake two ours later by Mrs. Valintino, Sammy's grandmother.

"Alex honey," she said softly, tears streaming down her face and her eyes were rimmed with red.

"Oh no," Alex said, seeing it all over her face. "Oh god, no." she stood up, bracing herself for the emotional blow.

Mrs. Valintino nodded sadly. "Samuel has passed away, honey."

Alex collapsed to her knees, sobbing loudly. "No, god no. Please not my baby!"

Edwards came behind her, taking her into his arms. Alex sobbed harder, cursing god, praying it wasn't real.

"What happened?" Edwards asked, not moving to wipe the tears on his own face.

Mrs. Valintino cried openly. "His body went into shock." She wept. "They couldn't do anything because of how much blood he'd lost."

Edwards rocked Alex, holding her tightly as she cried. He cried with her, for her, and for the young boy he didn't know, but didn't deserve to die.

Chapter 5

When Alex awoke again, she was at the hotel in her room, undressed down to her underwear and in bed. She faintly heard someone in the room talking. Slowly she peeked an eye open to see Edwards on the phone, talking quietly.

"She's been sleeping for over 24 hours." He was saying. He looked up and saw her looking at him. "Wait, I think she's up, you want to call back?"

"I'm okay." Alex said, sitting up a little.

"She said she's okay." He repeated. "Now? Alright." Edwards walked to her side and handed her the phone.

"Hello?" She croaked.

"Honey, its Sam's grandmother." The voice on the other end identified.

"Hello Mrs. Valintino." Alex greeted, closing her eyes.

"I just wanted to let you know that the funeral is set for tomorrow. Also," she went on, after pausing for a second. "I would like to apologize for my behavior to you regarding Rick's death."

"It's okay, you were upset." Alex forgave. "It's understandable."

"Well thank you for being so graceful about it and if you need anything at all, please call us." Mrs. Valintino offered.

"Alright, thank you Mrs. Valintino." Alex said, hanging up after their good byes.

Edwards took the phone and put it back on the night stand. He went to her, taking her hand in his. "I have to go home and shower and change." He explained. "Do you think that you'll be alright for about an hour? I'll be right back."

Alex nodded and looked away.

"Stop it." Edwards said suddenly. Alex looked up at his seemingly angry tone. "Don't dare try to blame yourself for Sammy's death." He ordered.

Alex nodded weakly, knowing that's exactly what she was thinking. "I wont and I'll be fine for an hour, two if you would like a leisurely shower." Alex smiled weakly.

"I just might," he joked. "Because being in your life, when I get my next shower is anyone's guess."

Alex smiled and watched him walk out the door. She got out of bed and walked to the bathroom to take her own shower.

Twenty minutes later she emerged, feeling refreshed and walked over to the bed and sat down. After debating for a while, she picked up the phone and dialed a number.

Rayne was lying in bed with nothing but Eliza draped over him. He was awake and thinking about how funny it was that they never go along as well as they have been. Now that feelings and respect have been taken out of the relationship and all there was left was sex.

The phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. Rayne reached to the night stand and answered it.

"Rayne?" He recognized the voice immediately.

"Alex, are you okay? I haven't herd from you." Rayne said, sitting up, ignoring Eliza's lazy protest.

"I'm fine, well, I'll be fine." He heard her take a deep breath as if to steady herself. "Rayne, Sammy was attacked in his house, day before yesterday. He died at the hospital." She said, her voice breaking.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Alex." He said sincerely. "Is there anything that I can do?"

"No, I just wanted to let you know that the funeral is tomorrow." Alex said, trying to stay away from personal conversation. Alex gave Rayne the address and time and said a hasty good bye.

Rayne hung up the phone, this thoughts now turned to Alex. He decided in that moment that he would use the funeral to get close to Alex, long enough to talk to her.

When she walked out the door that day, he vowed that their relationship would no end without him having her. One way or another, he will not be put out.

Edwards showed up at the hotel about two hours later. Alex was eating a pizza that she had just ordered.

"Has anyone ever told you that you eat entirely too much pizza?" he joked as he walked through the door.

Alex smiled and patted the chair next to her. Edwards took a seat and was about to grab a slice when she took a hold of his hands, stopping him.

Alex looked into his green eyes and smiled shyly. "I just wanted to thank you." She said, giving his hands a little squeeze. "You've been so wonderful to me these past couple days."

Edwards removed one of his hands from hers and gently touched her face. "Darlin, I could just say that it's part of my job, but quiet frankly, it's my pleasure." He said sincerely.

They stared at each other a minute longer, both contemplating what was happening between them, but not willing to explore it just yet.