Authors: Nicole Garcia
Jace pointed at Felicia angrily and started to walk towards Kelly. "What?! I
did not
do this!"
She backed up out of the doorway pushing the others out of her way, she never took her eyes off Jace for a second. "Stay away from me!"
"Kelly, I didn't kill Felicia. I came running in here when I heard a scream. Besides, what motive would I have to kill her?
And
I didn't have any drugs on me anyway."
"Um, maybe you did have drugs on you and that's why you didn't want the security guards to search you before coming in the house. And maybe she embarrassed you on national television by asking if you had brought drugs with you, so to get back at her you killed her."
"That's ridiculous! Even if I did carry drugs into house, how could I possibly fit all those needles in these tight pockets?"
Kelly continued to step backward as he advance toward her again. "I don't know, you're the thug, why don't you tell me."
"Look, I didn't kill her. I had no reason to. Now, just get the hell out of my way.” He pushed his way past all of them and headed downstairs into the living room.
Lance proceeded to close the door behind them and Kelly stopped it with her hand. "You're just going to close the door and leave her there like that?"
"What do you suggest we do? Go running for help. Well, I'm sorry, I will not risk losing a million dollars for her or you or anyone else in this house."
Kelly then remembered the cameras. They must have picked up what happened in the room and how it happened. She ran over the camera mounted in the corner of the room jumping up and down and waving her arms back and forth. "Hey! Hello! Someone help us!"
"You're wasting your breath. They told us at the meeting once they leave they would not be coming back into the house until the contest is over."
"Well, I think that would be fine if people just left on their own, but someone died here."
Lance walked over to the lounge chair by the window and ripped the sheet off of it. He made his way over to Felicia and place the sheet over her body. "There, better?"
Kelly rounded Lance. "No, it's not better."
Lance followed Kelly out of the room and closed the door behind him. Scott had already joined Jace and Amber downstairs and that was one place Kelly didn't want to be.
Lance called to Kelly as she speed walked down the hallway. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to go lock myself in one of these rooms until someone comes to help."
"Fine, I'm going back downstairs."
Kelly found an office at the end of the house which was as far as she could be away from everyone without leaving. She didn't trust anyone and there was no way she would be caught dead in the same room with anyone in this house.
She locked the door to the office and sat in the big leather chair behind the desk. It was dark outside and pitch black inside the house. The only source of light was the moonlight peeking through one of the wooden planks that boarded up the window. She leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. The only thing to do was to try to forget about what happened, but all she saw when she closed her eyes was Felicia's blank stare looking back at her. She clenched her eyes tighter and hoped the vision would disappear.
Kelly dozed off for a few minutes and awoke to the sound of the door knob being turned back and forth vigorously. Half asleep it had annoyed her so much she never asked who was on the other side of the door. She unlocked it and swung it open. "What?!"
There was no one in the doorway. She peered into the hallway for a quick look. Still she saw no one.
How odd
. As she was about to close the door, she was pushed backed and fell the ground. "You!"
Lance locked the door behind him and threw the key somewhere in the corner of the room. Without lighting there would be no way she would ever find it. He walked over to the security camera and ripped the plug out of the wall. He turned to her and placed his finger over his lips. "Shh. I don't want the others to hear us and interrupt our fun."
"We're not going to have any fun!" Kelly got up from the floor and ran over to the desk. She picked up a paperweight and threw it at his head. She missed, hitting the wall behind him.
He rushed towards her and slapped her across the face. He pushed her into the desk and held her hands down. He pulled his tie off and wrapped it around her wrists, preventing her from moving them. He pushed all the papers from the desktop and picked her up, he slammed her on top of the desk hard enough that the wind was knocked out of her for a moment. Her black yoga pants were stripped from her body showing her black lace panties.
Lance slowly licked his lips and attempted to put his mouth on her. Kelly reached down with her tied hands and scratched his face. He slapped her again causing her vision to blur briefly. "I see you want to play rough. That's okay baby, I like it that way."
She tried to fend him off, but she wasn't doing a very good job at it. He weighed much more than she did and he was using it to his advantage. She struggled and tried to scream, but couldn't. One hand was covering her mouth while the other was ripping off her delicate undergarments.
A loud bang came from outside the door. Lance jumped up as another brutal thud against the door caused it to come off its hinges and Kelly saw Jace through blurred vision.
He stormed at Lance like a bull charging a red cape. Jace's fist made contact with his face hard enough that Kelly heard the sound of bones crush. Lance fell to the floor with Jace right on top of him. Pummeling him. Punch after punch Lance begged him to stop until there was no sound.
Kelly screamed at Jace. "Stop, you're going to kill him!" She could have very easily allowed Jace to kill the bastard, but she didn't want to watch someone die right in front of her eyes. She couldn't have that on her conscience. She suddenly realized she was half naked. Her panties were down at her ankles. She scrambled to pull them back up along with her pants. She ran to the bathroom across the hall and locked the door behind her feeling embarrassed.
"Kelly wait!"
She heard Jace close the door and lock Lance in the office. His footsteps got louder as he came closer to the bathroom until they stopped at the door. "Go away!"
Chapter Nine
Jace listened to Kelly crying on the other side of the door and wanted to do something for her. That beating he gave that perverted piece of shit prosecutor wasn't enough. "Kelly, please. Let me help you."
"Go away!"
"I can't do that. Just open the door."
"No! You killed him!"
Jace placed his head against the door and closed his eyes. "No, I didn't. I only knocked him out. Kelly he was going to rape you. I had to do something. Now, please just open the door so I can have a look at you."
Her crying was agonizing to him. He couldn’t stand to see her hurt. He wished he could take her pain away. That son of a bitch Smith was lucky he didn't kill him. When he saw him on top of her he went ballistic. If it weren’t for Kelly telling him to stop he would have beat him to death.
"No. Please just go away. I want to be left alone."
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to sit by this door until you come out. You don't have to be afraid. I won't let anyone else hurt you."
A few moments passed and he heard the sound of the door unlocking. He stood and turned the knob to open it. He whispered as he entered the bathroom. "Kelly?" She was sitting on the edge of the bathtub sobbing. He put the toilet seat lid down and sat next to her. "Are you okay?"
Kelly held her head down looking at the floor. "I think so."
"He didn't, I mean, did he...?"
She shook her head no and broke down. His heart was breaking for the woman in front of him. All he wanted to do was hold her in his arms and tell her it was going to be okay.
Jace moved closer to her attempting to wipe her tear stricken face, but she pulled away from him. "Kelly, I promise I'm not going to hurt you. Please. Trust me."
Kelly looked up at him and wiped her face with her t-shirt. "I'm sorry."
Jace was confused. "Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong."
"I have a hard time trusting men."
"Well, I don't blame you. I've seen the assholes you have to deal with on a daily basis." Jace cursed under his breath and wished he could take back what he said as soon as it left his mouth.
"What do you mean you've
seen
the assholes I have to deal with?"
Jace sighed and inhaled a deep breath before he spoke. "Look, I haven't been completely honest with you. We have met before. Well, not technically met. I have been to your club numerous times."
Kelly jumped up and moved closer to the wall. "I knew it! You're some kind of creepy stalker."
He stood and stepped a little closer to her. "No! Will you just listen to me?"
"Please don't hurt me."
"Dammit Kelly, if I wanted to hurt you I would have done it already."
"Yeah, you mean like choking me on the bus?"
Jace closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose trying to find the patience to explain. "I said that was an accident. I didn't mean to do that. My boss frequents the club a few times a week. Most of the time he gets so drunk and disruptive that I have to carry him out."
"Wait, who's your boss again?"
"Cesar Gonzales."
He saw something click in her eyes figuring she now remembered seeing him before. "Cesar Gonzales, the drug kingpin? The tall dark haired man that always wears a long black leather coat?"
"Yeah, that would be him."
"That man is a pig. His hands are always where they shouldn't be. You're the one I've seen dragging him off the stage or through the crowd."
"Yes, it seems that you are Cesar's favorite dancer and when he's drinking and high on drugs there's no talking to him. I’m the only one strong enough to handle him."
Kelly moved closer to him and softly kissed his cheek. "Thank you."
Jace was in a state of shock. "What was that for?"
"For always protecting me even when I thought I didn’t need it."
He smiled at her. "You're welcome. What do you say we go downstairs and take a break from all the crap that’s happened today? I wish we had some food or water. I'm starving."
Kelly laughed. "You're starving? Even after all the food you ate for breakfast."
"Yes, I'm a growing boy."
Kelly looked around the unfinished bathroom and saw a toolbox under the sink.
"What are you doing?"
"I can't get us food, but I might be able to get water. Aha!" Kelly pulled out a needle nose pliers and placed it on the faucet stem. "The water is still turned on. They just removed all the handles." She turned the tool until water flowed into the sink.
Jace was surprised. "Wow, way to think on your feet."
"Not really. I'll have to remember to thank my good for nothing superintendent. This is how I have to use my kitchen sink if I want a glass of water or have to wash dishes."
Jace laughed. "You're kidding me right?"
"I'm very serious."
They both took turns drinking water out of the sink. It wasn't the best tasting water. It kind of tasted like dirt. Not much could be expected since the house had been abandoned for so many years. Kelly had found some matches on the desk in the office. She put them in her pocket and hoped they would be useful. There were many silver ornate candelabras placed in all the rooms. She lit the one next to the club foot bathtub and they proceeded into the pitch black hallways. Kelly abruptly stopped at the door where Lance Smith was locked in.
Jace put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. He can't get out. I locked the door and I put the key right here in my pocket."
Kelly breathed a sigh of relief as they continued down the hall to the main staircase. She stopped just before turning the corner. "Shh, listen."
"Sounds like a rocking chair that needs some oiling. This is an old house with old furniture. Scott’s downstairs. He's probably sitting in one of the chairs down there rocking himself to sleep.”