Page 27 of Until Presley (Happily Ever Alpha World)

CHAPTER

TWENTY

PRESLEY

I t’s been seven and a half weeks since we found out we are expecting, and in that time, Ham and I got married, I moved back to Key West, and my father and Thea are getting a place near us.

Clara ended up getting no jail time since it was her first offense, but she was given lots of community service.

She is attending counseling and calls me to talk when she can. Like me, she has put school on hold.

I’m working with Dr. Miller and slowly gathering my hours for my doctorate and working on my final dissertation.

I’ve decided to finalize Leah’s studies.

My dissertation will be on sharks and dolphins.

I’m excited to work on it and feel like I’ll be able to get it completed shortly after the baby is born.

Right now, my focus is my small family and friends.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I’m shocked to finally see the baby belly I was worried was never going to come.

The doctor said to give it time. I’m only fourteen weeks along, but it feels like it just popped out overnight.

The bikini sits low on my pelvis with my little belly over the top.

My boobs have gotten bigger, and so my top has more coverage.

I move out of the bathroom off the pool to see my friends lounged on the chaises.

Morgan and Madison showed up with their husbands, Jack and Tyler.

Currently, the guys took Zinnia and JJ to the store with them while us girls all rest. Madison has her six-month-old, Phoenix, lying on her chest under a thin blanket.

She’s relaxing under an umbrella. I never thought I would see her with a baby.

I’m so glad she and Tyler met, and he had the patience to wait for her to heal.

“Girl, that bump is getting bigger every day.” Morgan chuckles as I slip onto the chaise between her and Hanna. Tonight, we are heading down to the beach for a bonfire dinner with the kids and to relax.

My phone rings, and I look at the caller ID before picking it up.

My dad and Thea are supposed to be picking up Griff from the airport.

He’ll be attending a school nearby and will stay with Ham and me whenever my parents are traveling.

Although my dad is excited to work here locally on his research.

“Hello, George.” I smile as I answer the phone, hoping my greeting comes across as friendly.

“Hey, Presley, can you come in and help me with the information on this tracker we picked up last week?”

“Oh, didn’t you know? I’m on vacation this week.”

“I know, but it’s got some weird anomalies. I thought you’d want to see them. It will only be about an hour. Please.”

I try not to huff but can’t stop it. Since I came back to Key West and George found out I was married to Ham, he’s been a pain to deal with. It’s why I’ve tried to hide my pregnancy. Dr. Miller knows, but no one else on the research team does.

“I have company right now.”

“I wouldn’t ask, but this is part of your dissertation. It looks like there was a shark and dolphin encounter.”

I bolt upright. “Really? You’re serious?” It’s been months since we had an encounter. They’ve primarily avoided each other, but this could be just what I’ve been waiting for. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Ugh, really, Leylee? You promised no work.” Morgan covers her eyes.

“It’s a shark and dolphin encounter.”

“Okay. Come on.” She stands up.

“No, you stay here.” I stand and move toward the house to put on some clothes.

“No, if I don’t go with you, you’ll get stuck in a microscope or something.”

Madison chuckles at Morgan’s joke.

“Fine. Give me a sec.” I rush to my bedroom.

I pull on a pair of coverall shorts over my bikini and slip on some tennis shoes. When I come down the stairs, Morgan is wearing a sundress over her bikini. I grab my shark purse, and we head out the door.

Ham took the SUV he bought me after we got married.

We traded in my little car for a more family-friendly vehicle.

I walk over to his Jeep and use the step and row bar to pull myself up into it.

He’s taken the top off for a bit. When Morgan climbs into the passenger seat, I set my purse in the back seat.

Another thing that’s changed is that Ham took me to the range and got me trained to conceal and carry. He makes me take my purse everywhere I go, just in case.

When we pull up to the research facility, I turn to Morgan, who is glancing around. There are only a couple of cars in the parking lot, and something just doesn’t feel right. It’s got to be because I’m usually here when there are more people.

“Call Ham and Jack and tell them where we are,” Morgan says as she reaches down to check her bag. “Something feels off. Where is everyone? It’s a weekday.”

“Oh man, I think they are out collecting trackers.”

“Then why did he call you to come by?”

“Because I made him do it,” a deep, dark voice says from behind us.

I look into the rearview mirror and see Professor Blackman aiming a gun at Morgan. My blood runs cold.

“Don’t hurt her.” I dial Ham and slip my phone under the seat as I slide out of the Jeep. Morgan watches me and gets out on her side.

“Come on. Leave your bags.” He waves the gun around, and we start moving toward the building.

We step inside the doors. I’m starting to worry as I hear another set of footsteps. I turn to see George walking toward us. He also has a gun.

“Why did you bring the other woman?” George asks Professor Blackman.

“I couldn’t leave her out there to call the authorities. Use the poison on her, and we’ll deal with Presley as we planned.” Professor Blackman’s voice is void of emotion.

Poison? Oh my God. I look between the two of them.

“You are both the killers?”

“Wait, there are two of them?” Morgan exclaims as she steps closer to me.

I know she’s prepared to fight, but there are two of them, and they have guns. Carefully, I step back, closer to the classroom behind us. The doors are bulletproof. A lot of universities and colleges are converting to them. Morgan must understand my intent.

“Presley, why did you marry him? If you’d just stayed true to us, I wouldn’t have had to do the things I did,” George confesses. But I don’t get a chance to answer him.

“Oh, shut up, you whiner. I should have killed you when you balked about Leah.” Professor Blackman raises his voice as he moves closer, and my foot grazes a tank someone left in the hall.

The mention of Leah’s name stops me in my tracks. I knew the serial killer was responsible for her death. But the fact that these two men, who I knew, are the killers still shocks me.

“Leah trusted you. She liked you and counted you as a friend.” I turn on George. “We worked together almost every day. How could you let him kill her?”

“I didn’t want to kill her.” George looks directly at me.

His words shock me. I thought Professor Blackman killed her, but George just confessed he did it. He turns to the professor.

“You told me it would be easy. It took forever for her to die. She screamed in pain.” Tears start rolling down his face.

“It almost hurt Presley too much. She ran right to him . You said she’d come to me.

She didn’t, though. That’s why I told them.

” He pauses, and I don’t know what he means by “them.”

“I don’t care. I only cared about showing Presley our prizes.”

Prizes?

Blackman turns to me, and I feel Morgan shift behind me. I don’t want to draw attention to her, so I keep focused on him.

“Ever since the first moment I saw you, when you were still a young girl, I knew you were meant to be mine,” the professor says.

“I’d been taking care of the street walkers for years already, but it all changed with you.

I started protecting you, by getting rid of your enemies. ” He reaches for me, and I cringe back.

“Don’t touch me,” I scream as I smack his hand away from me.

“Leave her be,” George says as he aims his gun toward Professor Blackman. He moves to stand in front of me. “Let her go. She’s moved on. The FBI is on their way. I told them everything.” He stands taller, but his heroic actions are obviously too little too late.

“Then you must die, and like the others, they will die next.”

Professor Blackman fires his gun, and I scream as Morgan yanks my body away.

We fall backward, and I land on her and roll as she rushes for the door, slamming it closed.

She pushes the bolt into place, and I stand up.

Looking out the window, I see George on the ground, bleeding out, but he’s still moving around.

I watch in horror as Professor Blackman raises his gun to the window and fires.

Both Morgan and I cringe back, but the glass holds.

We watch as Professor Blackman starts arguing with George and leans over him.

“You’re going to die now too,” George yells, and Professor Blackman rears back with a syringe in his chest, the plunger pushed down. The puffer fish poison.

He yanks the syringe free and tosses it down before shooting George several more times.

“Come on.” Morgan grabs my hand, and we run across the room.

We exit out the back of the room and into a hallway. As we run toward the emergency exit, more gunshots ring out, and I scream when a bullet hits the wall near us.

“Freeze,” is yelled, and then more gunfire erupts. Morgan and I scream as the bullets hit the walls near us.

Ham

A s soon as I see my girl calling, I answer, but there’s nothing. I hear muffled voices, then clear as day, I hear a man say to leave their purses. I turn to Jackson and Tyler.

“Track your wives’ phones,” I tell them as I put mine on speaker phone. The voices are growing more muffled and quieter, as if they are walking away.

I open the Find My app and search for Presley’s location. She’s at the research facility and university.

“My wife is at the house still,” Tyler says and calls her.

“Mine is showing she’s across town.”

I look at it, and sure enough, she’s at the facility too.

“Goddammit. Come on.”

“Madi said Presley was called into work, and Morgan went with her to make sure she didn’t stay too long.”

As I’m about to jump into our new SUV, my phone pings with another incoming call. I recognize the number, so I merge the calls.

“Special Agent Harkness, you better tell me that you have the serial killer in your hands, because my wife was just called to the research facility, and something weird is going on. I heard a man tell her and her friend to leave their purses in the car. That’s where their guns are.”

“There are two of them, and we just pulled up here. One of them called, turning himself in and turning on the other. We are going in,” Harkness says, huffing and puffing, as I hear footfalls on pavement.

“Gunshot,” Special Agent Brownley yells, and I’m in motion.

“I’ll stay with the kids and call Walker to help,” Tyler says, but I don’t acknowledge him. I’m worried about my wife and Jack’s.

I take off fast and make it across the island in less than ten minutes. I don’t care if I get a ticket. I care about my wife and child. Jackson is in the passenger seat calling Morgan, but the phone keeps going to voicemail. Finally, she picks up.

“Jack.” Her voice comes across the line in huffs. “Get us some help. Professor Blackman and George are the serial killers.”

“Where is Presley? We are pulling up now.” I slam the car into park and jump out without turning it off. As I run for the entrance, I hear gunshots and pull the gun I’ve been carrying at my back.

I enter the building, spotting the FBI agents and a body on the ground.

“Freeze,” they both yell, and then their guns are discharging. My girl and Morgan are screaming. I rush around the corner and see the girls covering their bodies while the agents are standing over the professor.

I move toward my wife and lift her into my arms. I hold her to me, thanking everything above that she’s okay. She clutches at me and cries. I turn to see Jack has his wife in his arms too.

I’m never letting her out of my sight again if I can help it.

A n hour later, we’re sitting in a hospital room, getting Presley and the baby checked over. Both are fine, but I don’t want to leave until the doctor thoroughly checks her over.

“I’m okay, Ham.” Presley leans back in the bed. She has a few scrapes and bruises, but she didn’t get shot.

Both Professor Blackman and George are dead. Blackman died laughing that he would be famous. I wanted to kick him in the face, but I needed to get my wife out of there.

“Sprite, I’m not going to believe you’re okay until they’ve run every test to confirm it.

I can’t lose you or our baby.” I lean over her and kiss her forehead, trying to keep my emotions in check.

I thought the worst we would deal with was her sister, but to have a pair of serial killers come after her…

George left behind a detailed journal that explained everything.

It described how Professor Blackman had caught him in a compromising position with a sedated female student.

Rather than reporting the incident, Blackman used it as leverage, shaping George into the ideal partner—someone he could share his skills and knowledge with.

My gut churns at the thought of what they had in mind for my wife. The sick fucks considered her their ultimate prize. They’d planned to continue targeting and killing women who resembled Presley. Her marrying me accelerated their plans to go after her.

“Okay.” The doctor walks in, and I shake off my thoughts. “After looking over the ultrasound and checking all the other tests, Mrs. Martinez, I’m happy to tell you that both you and your baby are in good health.”

“Thank God.” I breathe a sigh of relief.