Big Tex (21 page)

"I'm sorry and I love you too.  I've been going crazy since you left my office.  I don't like fighting with you, especially not over something that vindictive bitch did."  Willow told him.  "Oh, I had Stella throw out the old bedding and she had new stuff delivered this afternoon.  We're going to need to get the locks changed too so that psycho can't get in anymore."

"Good idea.  She must have come in when Micah and I went to the city on Saturday.  Maybe I should call the cops and file charges."

"I thought about that too, but I don't think the cops would do anything.  It’s not like she stole anything, or at least I haven't noticed anything missing.  Maybe we should just handle this ourselves."  Willow reasoned.  "One thing is for sure though, if we keep letting her get to us like this, then she will have won.  I refuse to let her come between us Brody."

"I know, I agree.  We can't let anything she does affect our relationship."  Brody told her.  "So, we got new bedding?  I think we better go break it in.  Besides, we still need to make up properly!"  Brody smiled seductively as he picked Willow up and wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.  He kissed her the whole time he carried Willow to their bedroom, on their way to having wild make-up sex.

*****

The next day, instead of going into work, Willow went to see Lisa.  She drove over to her house and knocked on the door.  A man with dark hair answered the door, half dressed.  Willow thought he was probably the man in the pictures with Lisa, but didn't ask.  Instead, she asked to speak with Lisa.

Lisa came to the door a few minutes after the man had left to go get her.  A smug smile spread across her face when she saw Willow standing there.  "Ah, I see you got the pictures, pretty entertaining I bet."  Lisa smirked.

"Yes, I got the pictures, but if you are trying to break me and Brody up, you'll have to try a lot harder.  You see, I have something of his that you never have had, or ever will have.  I have Brody's heart.  He loves me with everything he is and everything he has.  You will never have anything like that with him, so you need to just let it go.  Stay out of our lives, and stay away from Brody.  This is the last time I'm going to tell you!"  Willow warned her.

"You may think he loves you, but I know that he really loves me deep down.  It's only a matter of time before you see it."  Lisa said, confident in her beliefs.

"You know, you're more delusional than I thought.  Get some help Lisa, you really need it."  Willow said as she turned to leave.

"See you soon!"  Lisa yelled out to Willow as she was getting into her car.  'And the next time I see you, it will be the last.'  Lisa thought to herself.

*****

Later that week, it seemed as if everything had calmed down.  Willow and Brody had been busy all week, working on wedding plans.  Brody helped out wherever he could, and that made Willow's heart soar.  They picked out the flowers, the menu, and sent out invitations.  Everything for the wedding was starting to fall into place.

Work seemed to be going well also.  Friday morning, Willow had an appointment to meet with a new client.  They had specifically requested to meet with Billie Fox at the potential building site.  Willow was excited, as this would be her first design since she had moved to Texas.

Before Willow left the office, she told Sierra about her new client and that she'd be meeting with them, and if there was anything they needed her for, she'd have her cell phone with her.  After that, she headed to the Think Tank to say goodbye to Brody and tell him that she would be back at the office to meet him for a late lunch.  She grabbed her messenger bag that had a sketch pad and pencils, and left the office.

Driving out to the client meeting, Willow's stomach was filled with butterflies.  She figured it was because she was so anxious to get back to designing.  She blasted the music and sang along as she drove down the road.

As she was following the directions that the client had left for her, Willow started to get nervous.  She had made a turn from the major highway, and since that turn, the roads were fairly deserted.  When the road turned from pavement to dirt, she hoped she was getting closer.  She also hoped she'd be able to find her way out of there after the meeting, with all of the twists and turns she had to make.

The road finally came to an end at an old run-down warehouse.  Willow stopped the car and thought 'That building needs to come down first and foremost, but there is a lot of potential for the land here.'  She got out of the car and grabbed her messenger bag, slinging it over her shoulder.  She walked to the door of the warehouse and opened it, calling out "Hello?" to see if anyone was there yet.

Willow walked further into the dark warehouse, and was startled when she saw movement in the shadows.  "Hello?"  She called out again.  "I'm Billie Fox, is anyone here?"

A figure made its way out from the shadows, and Willow froze.  "Well, well, well.  What do we have here?  Billie Fox, or should I say Willow?  Told you I'd see you soon."  The voice came from the shadow…the voice of Lisa.

"Why did you bring me out here Lisa?  I have more important things to do back at the office than to sit here and play your sick little games."  Willow said, annoyed.

"This is no game Willow!  I told you that I always get my man, and you have done nothing but interfere ever since the day you met Brody.  He's mine, when will you realize that?"  Lisa asked as she pulled out a small gun.

Willow's heart began to pound hard throughout every vein in her body.  Her mouth went dry as she looked at the gun.  "Don't do anything foolish Lisa.  You know that if you hurt me, Brody will never forgive you.  Let's be reasonable…we can talk about this!"  Willow pleaded.

"I'm done talking.  Goodbye forever Willow."  Lisa yelled as she pulled the trigger on her gun.  Willow's eyes widened as she heard the explosion of the gun.  She felt as if she was standing in the corner of the room, watching the scene play out in slow motion.  She heard the sound of the gun and saw the bullet fly towards her.  Then she felt the searing pain run through her body.  Her knees buckled and sent her crumbling to the ground as she watched the pool of blood form on the floor next to her head.  After seeing the blood, everything went black.  All she could think of before giving into the darkness was 'I love you Brody.  I need you now more than ever!'

Lisa saw Willow hit the floor and rushed to her car that she had hidden behind the warehouse.  As she drove away, Lisa reached for her cell phone and dialed a number by heart.

"Brody Harris."  Brody said as he answered his cell phone.

"Hey baby.  How are you?"  Lisa asked.

"Who is this!?"  Brody barked into the phone.

"Honey, you'll really need to get used to my voice.  It's Lisa, silly.  We need to talk."

"We have nothing to say to each other.  Leave us alone."  Brody yelled at her.

"You know, you really shouldn't take that tone with me.  I have something very important to tell you, and I know it's something you'll want to hear.  Besides, you don't need to worry about me leaving Willow alone anymore."  Lisa giggled.

"What are you talking about?  What's going on?!"  Brody started to get nervous.  He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"I'm outside your office right now, meet me out here and we can talk, ok?  Don't keep me waiting sugar."  Lisa purred into the phone.

Brody ended the call and yelled for Sierra and Micah.  When they came up to him, Brody looked as if he was going to pass out.  "Lisa just called, I think she did something to Willow.  I'm going out to talk to her right now, try getting Willow on her cell phone.  If you can't reach her, call the police and report her missing."  He said and ran out of the office.

Lisa was sitting on the hood of her car when Brody came outside.  A huge grin spread across her face and she rushed over to him to hug him.  Brody pushed her away and yelled, "What did you do to Willow?"

"We don't have to worry about her anymore.  She's gone and we can be together.  I did it for us Brody."

"What exactly did you do Lisa?  Where's Willow?"  Brody yelled as he took her shoulders in his hands and shook her.

"I got rid of her.  I killed her…I shot her.  She's gone and we can be together."  Lisa said innocently.

Brody didn't know what to say or do.  Willow couldn't be dead.  They were going to be together forever…he couldn't live without her.  "Where is she Lisa?  We need to see if she is dead."  Brody said, trying to trick Lisa into telling him where Willow is.

"Don't worry.  She's out where no one can find her.  There's no way she can live."  Lisa said with a proud smile across her face.

Brody has never hit a woman before.  It went against everything he ever believed in, so he was shocked when he found his fist slamming against Lisa's nose.  Lisa fell to the ground, hitting her head on her car on the way down, knocking her out.  Micah and Sierra ran out of the office just as she was falling.

"Brody, Willow isn't answering her phone.  The police are on their way."  Micah yelled, out of breath.

Brody slumped to the ground, holding his head in his hands.  "She's dead."  He cried.

"What?  What happened?"  Micah yelled, grabbing Brody by the shirt, pulling him up to look at his face.

"Lisa just told me that she killed Willow.  She shot her and won't tell me where she is.  She said no one will ever find her.  What am I going to do without her?  That bitch killed the only woman I ever loved.  She should have killed me too!"  Brody said, choking back sobs.

"Well find her, don't worry.  Willow won't leave you."  Micah said as the police pulled up.

Micah and Sierra went over to the cop car and told them the story.  The cop called for backup and went over to Lisa's limp body.  "What happened here?"

"She is the one that admitted to shooting Willow Fox.  Brody knocked her out to keep her here until you guys showed up."  Micah explained.  He looked over to Brody who was now pacing back and forth on the sidewalk, talking to himself and running his hands through his already messy hair.

Brody ran over to the cop.  "She has that OnStar thing in her car.  Can we track where she is using that?  We need to get to her and make sure she's ok."  Brody yelled at the cop anxiously.

"Good thinking.  Yes, we can trace where her car is.  As soon as we get her location, I can head out there and have an ambulance follow me.  Let's just hope it's not too late!"  The cop told them.  He called in the information and the tracking company gave them a location.

"I'm going too.  I need to be there for her!"  Brody told the cop and jumped in the passenger seat of his car.  Micah and Sierra jumped in the back, and they set out to find Willow, leaving the other cops at the scene to deal with Lisa.

The tracking company stayed on the line with them to give them directions on how to get to where Willow's car was.  An ambulance followed just behind the speeding cop car.  Everyone was hoping that they would make it on time.

As they sped down one of the dirt roads, Brody sat up straighter in his seat.  "There it is!  That's Willow's car!"  He shouted.  The police car came to a skidding stop just next to the car.  Brody swung his door open and ran to the warehouse, followed by Micah, Sierra, and the cop.

When they got to the warehouse, no one could see anything since it was so dark in there.  The cop took out his flashlight and started scanning the large, open area.  Off in a far corner, his light hit something.  Brody ran over as the cop kept his light on the figure.

"Oh my god!  Willow!!"  Brody yelled as he saw her.  Blood was all over the floor where she lay.  He knelt down next to her, and took her hand in his.  It was ice cold.  "Nooooo!!"  He yelled.  She couldn't be dead.  Why did this have to happen?

Chapter 17 The Big Prize

"Someone get over here and help her!"  Brody yelled with tears streaming down his face.

The EMTs from the ambulance ran over and tried to move Brody out of the way so that they could work on Willow, but he wouldn't let go of her hand.  They moved him so that he stood on the other side of her and let him hold her hand from over there so that they could get closer to her body.

"There's a faint pulse, but she's lost a lot of blood.  The bullet entered her left shoulder, just below the clavicle.  No point of exit is found."  The EMT shouted

"She's alive then?  She's alive!"  Brody shouted.  He started caressing Willow's hand.  "Darling, if you can hear me, stay with us.  Please don't go, I can't lose you.  I love you so much, so you got to fight to stay with us.  I'll do anything I can, but you need to fight to live.  I'm right here for you, I'm not going anywhere."  Brody began murmuring next to her ear while the EMTs were preparing her for the gurney.

After they laid her on the gurney, they ran to the ambulance and slid her in.  Brody jumped in and rode with them to the hospital, with Sierra and Micah in the cop car leading them there.  Brody turned to one of the EMTs working on Willow and asked, "Is she going to make it?"

"I'll be honest, she's lost a lot of blood, so I'm not sure.  I think she's going to be touch and go for a while."  He said as he checked her blood pressure again.

Brody kept his hold on Willow's hand and began praying.  He prayed to God, and he prayed to Lauren, asking them both to watch over Willow and keep her alive.

As soon as they reached the hospital, they rushed Willow away into one of the operating rooms to try to remove the bullet and stop the bleeding.  Brody wasn't allowed to go in, and reluctantly let Willow's hand go, just after he told her again how much he loved her and needed her.

Brody sat in the waiting room and cried.  Sierra and Micah tried to console their friend, but he wanted to be left alone.  Sierra sat curled up in Micah's arms as they cried for their friend too.  The cop that had brought them out to the warehouse to find Willow was waiting with them to hear Willow's status before heading back to the police station.  The other cops had taken Lisa into custody, and found the gun that she had used on Willow on the back seat of her car, with her fingerprints all over it.