Her head was pounding as her eyes fluttered open. The room swaying into focus as her stomach rolled.
"She's waking up."
Alex could hear Bella's voice. Alex turned her head, she could see Joe was in the chair stripped down to his boxers, he was tied to it. Alex closed her eyes, her head was so heavy and the bile was rising into her throat. She moved and rolled off the couch and lost what was in her stomach.
"Not doing too good there are you?" Bella asked.
Alex felt the back of her head being jerked up and she saw Blade squat down in front of her.
"You are a real pain in the ass. I was asked to take care of you and that's exactly what I'm going to do."
"Who?" Alex asked.
Blade smiled. "Victor asked me, but the order came from Enrico."
"Victor isn't in charge?" Alex asked.
"No you stupid idiot." Bella said as she pulled Alex's head back even further. "Victor is fish food. I had to have some reason to come home and Carlos fell for it. Jason had to have someone on the inside. Someone that Carlos wouldn't expect to betray him."
Alex looked at Blade. She heard that name before, "Jason?"
"You don't remember little Medea? You don't remember Uncle Jason? You were nine the last time I saw you. You've had six years free of me, and what did Lacy allow you to do. She let you actually take karate and learn to defend yourself." Jason hissed.
Alex looked away from him and over to Joe. "Why don't you let him go?"
She saw Jason get up and walk over to Joe and hit him while he was passed out. "No, Medea. Has he not told you about me? Shame, what a dreadful father he is."
Jason walked back over to Alex and stooped back down. "He's the reason why I even have you. He's the reason why I took your mother from him. No, I can't let him go. He'll die, but not after I kill you first and he watches."
Alex closed her eyes. Her hands were tied behind her back and feet were bound. "I don't understand how you know Bella."
"You want a story? Why not? You've earned that much." Jason said.
Alex opened her eyes.
"Pick her up and put her back on the couch." Jason said.
Bella did as she was told and moved Alex back to the couch. Alex sat and picked up her feet then she looked at Jason. Bella was off to her left, she could barely make her out. The optometrist said her vision would come back, and that it wasn't permanent.
Jason sat down on the coffee table in front of Alex. "I met Bella while I was in the FBI. We hit it off, we sort of see things alike. Bella had an enemy growing up in school as well as I did. I helped her get rid of hers, and she agreed to help me get rid of mine when the right time came. I knew Lacy was a dope head, I made her that way." He laughed.
Alex could see Joe's head as it lulled behind Jason, she knew Joe was waking up.
"And she earned a debt to Shiropolli." Alex said.
"Yeah the bitch did. Big enough that Victor wanted it back with interest. So I nabbed her. But you see, you were still living with her, and well Victor wanted his money. I talked him into letting you pay off the debt for her. Victor wasn't into letting any family members do that before, so I had to convince him of it. I had to call Enrico for him to comply, but it put you in the cage."
"Lacy wasn't enough for you?" Alex asked.
Bella barked with laughter. "No."
"Shut up, Bella. I'm telling this story. Go get me a drink." Jason said.
Alex watched Bella as she left the room and turned back to see Jason looking after her as well, but she saw Joe raise his head and look at her.
"Why me?" Alex asked.
Jason looked back at her. "Because you were one of the strings I had left dangling. I needed to finish my job with you. You were a very scared and frightened little girl when I left you at eight. Killing Lacy felt good, she fucked up and allowed you to get an attitude you never should have had. Can't you remember what I did to Michael? After he took you to the shore?"
Alex closed her eyes.
"You really don't remember do you? You don't remember walking into the apartment and seeing me with Lacy."
Alex started breathing fast, she blocked out all of this, but while he was talking she got flashes of seeing him. Flashes of Jason hitting Lacy, telling her she was a complete fuck up. Then him turning when they walked through the door. The anger that was in his eyes.
Alex opened her eyes and looked at Jason.
"Ah, so you are remembering now. So afraid of needles you became that day. Would you like a repeat of that?" Jason asked softly.
"No." Alex said as her voice wavered, her heart started racing. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly trying to drive the fear down, way down inside.
"Shame. You screamed ever so well for me that day."
Alex could see Joe as he was struggling with the ropes that tied him to the chair. Her mind was racing.
"You killed Michael, and you told Lacy not to let me take karate anymore. Then you left." Alex said and she focused back on Jason. "Then you...then you..."
Jason smiled. "Then I went back into the FBI, I got cut when I helped Bella kill her enemy. Bella told me all about her life, I was the one who became a renegade first. Bella followed, I put her with Enrico, and she follows orders better than Lacy ever did. But Lacy failed me, I thought I had scared you enough to make sure you wouldn't go back to learning karate. I see my mistake now, it was letting you live. I should have killed you the day I killed Lacy. Then Joe Morelli found out who you were. Killing you now in front of him will only make it that much sweeter."
"Jason look out!" Bella yelled.
Alex saw Joe had freed himself from the chair. He had it picked up and swung it as Jason turned. His mouth was still taped and gagged. Alex pulled her hands under her rear and lifted her legs. She was still tied but now she had her hands in front of her instead of behind her. The chair hit Jason and Alex kicked with both feet and made contact with his head as it came around.
Bella dropped the glass. Alex lifted her feet above her head and rolled backwards. Her feet landed on the floor behind the couch and watched as Bella started running for her. Alex braced herself, she couldn't use her legs. Bella charged and Alex used her momentum and she placed her arms open at the last second and Bella's head went through as Alex dove away from the couch. She heard the snap as they rolled. Alex turned her head to the left and felt sick, she had never killed anyone before and Bella was lying on top of her. She moved her arms out from around Bella's neck and pushed Bella's head off.
She could hear Joe and Jason on the other side of the couch. Alex pushed and was able to get half of Bella off of her. Then she heard the loud fart that came out of Bella's body as it defecated on her. Alex threw up. She heard the loud thump and groans from across the room and then looked up to see Jason walking to her.
Jason's eyes were wild. He had blood and drool coming from his mouth.
"Scream for me." Jason said softly.
Alex pushed frantically at Bella's body and she felt Jason grab her tied ankles. He pulled her forward away from Bella.
"No!" Alex screamed.
She rolled over laying flat on her stomach trying to get away from him. Then she saw it. The revolver that Bella had pulled on her back in the break room at Ranger's place. Alex reached for it and pulled it out of the holster, she turned and screamed as she unloaded the gun at point blank range in Jason's chest. Jason stumbled backwards, he still had Alex's ankle in his grasp. She kept pulling the trigger and it the only clicked.
"No!" Alex kept screaming.
Epilogue:
It's been three weeks. Three long weeks. It's taken me that long to process that my daughter killed two people. I watched Alex as she was on the mat in the dojo inside the Temple School of Martial Arts. I haven't pushed her to talk about that day. I can see she doesn't want to, but I know she's going to have to talk about it sooner or later. Jose had flown out, but Alex wouldn't talk to him. She's stubborn, just as much as I am. At first I really wanted to blame Ranger for all of this, I thought he set this all up, I was that angry about it. I found out he didn't even know. Bella had hid everything from him and her family.
We leave tomorrow. I talked her into Disneyland. I want one week for her to just be a kid before we have to go back. Before I have to go to work and she has to go to school. I think it'll do both of us a lot of good.
I'm taking back a lot of good memories of her here, and I'm sure there are going to be a lot of good ones to come. I can now understand why she likes karate so much. It's what happens when she's doing the katas. It was strange at first; it was like she was doing some type of dance. It was really beautiful, but then I saw the smile she had on her face after she did it. It was while she was doing those katas she didn't have to worry about anything, because she found her inner peace with them.
I stood up and looked at the man that was doing the kata beside her. We're bringing him back with us. He's American. We're pretty sure we know who he is. Alex had told me about seeing his picture on Santos' wall in his apartment. I made a few calls and sent off the prints, I got the call an hour ago. He was Stephen Santos. He's been missing in action for quite awhile, and he's taken some of that hard attitude out of Alex. He's kicked her around enough.
"Hey you two, we need to go pack." I yelled over at them.
Alex put her hands on her hips, "I'm not ready, let me finish this kata."
"How's that to address your father? What did I tell you?" Stephen asked.
"Sorry Master," Alex bowed to Stephan and walked off the mat and bowed towards the mat.
I watched as she came over to me and looked up at me. "I'm sorry, Sir. May I please finish the kata?"
"Yes. Make it quick, I'm ready for the Mattahorn."
Alex put her arms around me. "Thank you."
"You're welcome Kitten."
She looked up at me. "Meow!"