"My name is Jacob Randolph," Jacob said to Alex over the phone. "The man you're threatening works for me. He's my adopted son. Any harm that you cause him hurts me too, and I won't stand for it. If you know anything about my Ghosts, you know that you should release him and beg for forgiveness."
His voice dropped to a cold whisper. "Otherwise, I'll come to Baltimore and take you out myself."
"What makes you think you're a threat to me?" Alex said, smiling. "You're not the first Ghost I have tangled with."
"You misunderstand me, boy," Jacob growled. "I'm not just any Ghost. I'm the Ghost. My people are all over the world. There is nowhere I can't get to you, your friends, or your family. Don't play games with me. I advise you to release Jonah immediately. If you don't, you and everyone you love will die."
He paused to let his threat sink in. "Do you understand me?"
"I understand you," Alex said disdainfully. "Baltimore's lovely this time of year. You'll love it."
He slit Jonah's throat, and the phone dropped out of his loose hand onto the deck with a thud as his body slumped over.
"See you soon," he said.
Jacob listened to Jonah whimper as he died.
"That was a mistake," he roared. "You'll be dead in a week." He then hung up the phone.
Alex ignored Jacob's threat. From the moment Jonah had kidnapped Rose, Alex knew that he had to die. Otherwise, the people around him would never be safe from the Chamber of Commerce.
With Jonah dead, Alex left Rufus to clean up the mess and went home.
***
Alex crawled into bed and idly wondered where Debbie was. He heard the front door open and a clatter from the kitchen and smiled.
Debbie came into the room with take out.
"Chicken soup is usually for colds, but I figured it might help with stab wounds," she said with a laugh. "You look like crap. Here. Eat." She passed him a carton of steaming soup.
He laughed. "I could get used to this. It's not every day beautiful women bring me breakfast in bed." He put the carton on the nightstand and reached for her. "But I can think of something else that might make me feel better," he said. "And, coincidentally, it's also a great way to thank you."
"Tempting," she said, laughing, "but consider these doctor's orders. Eat. Now." She thrust a spoon at him and winked. "It's medicine."
"I don't wanna," he whined theatrically. "It's salty and hot. Besides, I don't need medicine. I am the medicine."
"It's not hot, you big baby," she retorted. "I let it cool. And as for the salty problem, I brought ice cream." Her eyes sparkled. "Now eat, please," she repeated.
He crossed his arms and pouted. "No."
"Not even a sip?" Debbie pursed her lips. She climbed onto the bed and straddled him, pinning him in place. She leaned in, letting her hair fall into his face. She smelled like sandalwood and jasmine.
Alex realized he didn't have to pretend not to be hungry. Not for soup, anyway. He rose to kiss her, but she tapped him on the forehead with the spoon she still held.
"Nope," she said. "Not until after you eat."
Alex grinned and grabbed the carton. He chugged the soup like he was dying of thirst, making Debbie laugh, and then put the empty carton on the nightstand.
"I'm finished," he said in a low growl. "Where's dessert?"
"A promise is a promise," Debbie said with a smile, and she leaned in to kiss him.
He put his hands on her shoulders and held her there, looking into her eyes. "You said you brought ice cream," he said sternly.
Debbie laughed and went to get his ice cream. She came back with two spoons, and they cuddled up to eat. She playfully spoon-fed him, making airplane noises.
"I'm starting to worry that you think I really am a child," Alex teased. "I can see you being a great mom. You would rule with an iron fist, at home and at work."
"And what will you be doing while I rule home and work?" Debbie asked mischievously, smearing a dab of ice cream on his nose. "Does that mean you have to do whatever I say?"
"I'll always do whatever you say," Alex mumbled.
"I see," she said and kissed him. "Oh, wait!" She leaned back with a start. "What am I doing? You just got stabbed. Did I hurt—" Alex cut her off with a kiss.
"You could never hurt me," he said. Then he kissed her again.
***
The next morning, Debbie woke Alex and told him to order something for breakfast while she took a shower.
"Use my phone," she said, tossing it to him. "Get something from one of the places on my favorites list. I'm starving."
He ordered their food and then opened her photo album and swiped through her pictures. There were a lot of selfies, he noted with a smile, and she looked more and more beautiful in each one.
He stopped short when he stumbled across a recent selfie she had taken at a park. She was smiling in the foreground, but behind her were random passersby going about their day. Alex recognized one of them, and he felt his heart sink.
Debbie came back to the bedroom wrapped in a towel, lazily drying her hair with a hair dryer, and dressed herself for the day.
"Get dressed, lazybones," she said with a playful smile. "Food is on the way."
When she noticed the stony expression and deep frown on his face, her smile faded.
"What's the matter?" she asked, worried. He held up the phone and zoomed in on the picture's background to show a man and a woman in a passionate embrace. Even in the pixelated close-up, the woman in the photo was instantly recognizable.
It was Caroline Hall, Joe's mother.
Alex had met Caroline while he was in college. They had never spoken much. She was always just leaving on one errand or another during Alex's rare visits to the Hall home. He remembered that she was beautiful in a distant, icy way. But the man in her arms wasn't Joe's father Neil, and Alex had never seen him before.