Chapter 18
Lexie leaned over and kissed Midas before she climbed out of the car the next morning.
She was a bit sore from his overexuberant lovemaking the night before, but she wasn’t going to complain.
Nope. She’d been a bit rough herself. There was something about Midas that made all her inhibitions disappear.
“Have a good day,” he told her.
Lexie rolled her eyes. “You know I’m gonna see you in a bit when you bring me my coffee,” she told him.
It had become their routine. He dropped her off at Food For All so she could open the building and get coffee started.
Then he’d go and pick up her sugary brew and bring it back, giving them both an excuse to see each other once more before they started their days.
Midas simply smirked.
Truth be told, Lexie loved their teasing banter. “Right. Have a good day, honey. I’ll talk to you later.”
He smiled as she headed for the front doors of Food For All.
They’d talked about her being there so early, and by herself, yesterday on the way home from the North Shore.
After what had happened two days ago, when she’d walked home with Magnus, and after seeing Theo lurking in the shadows near her building, she’d agreed that she would talk to Natalie about having one of the part-timers come in half an hour earlier so she’d never be in the building by herself. Safety in numbers and all that.
Looking up and down the street, Lexie didn’t spot anyone. It was still fairly early, so that wasn’t surprising. She turned and waved at Midas, knowing she’d see him soon. He waited until she was inside before pulling away from the curb.
Lexie turned on the lights and headed for the kitchen toward the back of the building.
A few minutes later, she was filling one of the coffee carafes with water when she heard the front door open.
She figured it was Stephen. It was a bit early for him to be there yet, but it couldn’t be anyone looking for food, since she’d locked the door behind her when she’d entered.
Despite that…after everything that had happened lately, she reached for a knife from the block near her and placed it within easy reach on the counter. She felt stupid being so paranoid, but better safe than sorry.
A second later, a noise at the door to the kitchen caught her attention.
She looked up expecting to see Stephen, and instead saw Magnus standing there.
He was once again wearing a long-sleeve white shirt, which looked like it had just been ironed, and a neck tie.
His brown pants also had creases down the front.
She’d tried to get him to loosen up in the last couple days, but he was obviously comfortable in his formal attire.
She turned back to the sink to fill a second carafe, mentally berating herself for being paranoid. “Morning, Magnus. You’re here early,” Lexie said easily.
“Wanted to get a head start on the audit today. Thought I would take your advice and head to the beach later.”
“That’s great!” Lexie said enthusiastically. “If you want suggestions, I’m happy to ask Midas for you. I’m not really a beach person, but I bet he knows all the good spots that won’t be too crowded.”
Magnus walked closer until he was standing right next to her. “You okay?” he asked, nodding toward the knife.
Lexie smiled self-consciously. “Yeah. Just being cautious, I guess.” She turned her attention back to the water.
She was concentrating on not overfilling the carafe when the first blow hit her face.
She dropped the glass container with a grunt, hearing it shatter as it fell into the sink. Before she could get her bearings and figure out what the hell happened, Magnus had spun her around to face him—and had his hands around her throat.
Lexie was shocked beyond belief.
More than that, she immediately knew she was in deep trouble. Magnus wasn’t fooling around. He was squeezing her throat so tightly, she couldn’t get even the smallest breath of air.
Immediately, her hands flew up, clawing at the fingers around her throat.
And she realized with horror that he was wearing gloves.
He hadn’t been wearing them when he’d walked into the kitchen. She would’ve noticed. He must’ve put them on while her attention was on the coffee pot.
He’d planned this.
“You fucking bitch,” Magnus growled in a guttural tone she’d never heard from him before. “It should’ve been you. You should’ve died out there in that desert. Not my brother! Dagmar was worth ten of you. A hundred!”
Lexie opened her mouth to beg him to stop, but nothing came out.
“That’s right,” he said, his eyes narrowed. “From the second I heard those assholes had doubled their price and wouldn’t let Dagmar go, I swore you’d pay. All your emails. Those goddamn phone calls. Even this fucking job. All a means to an end. Your end.”
For some reason, something she’d seen while watching one of those crime shows on TV suddenly popped into her mind.
A father was mourning the murder of his daughter…
and the fact that it took seven and a half minutes for her to die by strangulation.
He’d said he couldn’t believe how long seven and a half minutes actually were.
For Lexie, right this moment? It seemed too short. Way too short.
Her mind instantly switched to Midas. How happy they’d been…
She wasn’t ready to die.
She fought for her life, clawing her fingernails down his face. When that didn’t make him loosen his hands, Lexie jerked her knee as hard as she could into his groin.
She didn’t get a direct hit on his balls, but she must’ve at least glanced off them because Magnus grunted and his hands loosened for a fraction of a second. It was enough for Lexie to get a bit of oxygen into her lungs—but not enough for him to let go of her throat.
Magnus shifted and practically threw Lexie to the floor, tightening his hold around her neck as he followed her down.
She felt her head bounce off the floor, but it didn’t hurt. Nothing did.
“Bitch,” he snarled as he straddled her chest, putting all his weight on her.
Lexie’s feet scrambled against the tile floor, trying to get some traction, without luck. She tried to buck Magnus off but he was too heavy. Too strong.
She tried to move a hand between them to grab and twist his dick, but she couldn’t quite reach. She was quickly running out of options.
“Just fucking die already!” Magnus shouted, panting now as he squeezed her throat.
“It’s all planned. Theo’s dead already. I invited him in when I arrived and stabbed him in the back.
And when you die, I’m gonna drag your body out and put you under him.
I’ll tell the authorities I found him strangling you.
I had to stab him to get him to stop…but it was too late.
I’ll tell them all about him following you…
about the fact he’s fucking batshit crazy.
Everyone will back me up! And I’ll be free to head home, knowing I’ve avenged Dagmar. ”
Blackness began to creep in from the sides of Lexie’s eyes. The shit thing was, his plan had a pretty damn good chance of succeeding.
And she’d had no inkling he’d hated her so much.
“Die, bitch!” growled the man she’d come to think of as a friend, even as he leaned forward, putting yet more pressure on her neck.
Lexie had no idea how much time had passed. Three minutes? Four? She desperately tried one more time to kick her legs, to dislodge him, but it was no use. He was bigger and heavier, and he had rage on his side.
Her thoughts once again turned to Midas. How upset he was going to be that he hadn’t protected her. And the thought of Magnus playing the part of the grieving coworker, and everyone believing he was a hero, was absolutely repulsive.
The last thing Lexie saw before she lost consciousness was a pair of evil blue eyes glaring down at her.
Midas was irritated. When he pulled into the coffee shop parking lot, the line at the drive-through was eight cars deep.
It would take forever to get Lex’s coffee, return to Food For All, and then get back on the road.
At this time of the morning, there were usually only one or two cars ahead of him.
He hated not to get Lexie her treat, but he didn’t want to be late for PT.
So he turned around without the coffee, already thinking of ways to make it up to her as he headed back downtown.
There was a parking space not too far from the front of Food For All, which he took as a sign to stop, coffee or no coffee.
It was silly to come back so soon after dropping her off, but it had become a small tradition between them, and besides, he loved being around her.
Even if it was only for an additional five minutes each morning.
Midas strode toward the building, his thoughts going to the night before.
He and Lexie were extremely well-matched, in bed and out.
He’d never enjoyed sex as much as he did with Lex, but more than that, he loved sleeping with her.
Loved how she draped herself over him and used his shoulder as a pillow.
It reminded him of when they’d done just that for hours in Galkayo.
Of course, now they were much more comfortable, and no one was trying to hunt them down.
Smiling at the memory of her grumbling as he shifted too much under her this morning, Midas reached for the door to Food For All, preparing to knock…
But the knob moved easily under his hand. The door was unlocked.
Frowning, he entered—and immediately, all loving thoughts fled from his mind.
A bloody trail led from the middle of the floor toward the small hallway leading to the kitchen.
Midas reached for his KBAR knife, and swore when he remembered he was in his PT uniform of a T-shirt and shorts. He had no weapons other than his hands.
He didn’t immediately see the source of the bloody trail on the floor, and he moved silently toward the hall, praying harder than he’d ever prayed in his life that it wasn’t Lexie’s blood.