Kayla had hoped Alyssa and Alex would get along, but neither seemed willing to back down.
He saved my life. She thought as they all made their way out of the station. And I really like him.
"I know you think you're a tough guy," Alyssa said, flashing him an insincere smile. "But I wonder just how tough you really are."
An expensive car screeched to a stop in front of them, and a young man wearing designer clothes stepped out from the driver's side.
"Kurt!" Alyssa shouted with a squeal as she ran to throw herself into his arms.
Kayla greeted him politely, while Alyssa wrapped herself around him and whispered in his ear. As he listened to her, his eyes hardened, and then he looked at Alex and scowled. He didn't seem inclined to make trouble, though. After he, Kayla, and Alyssa got into his car, he tapped at his phone and watched Alex in the rearview mirror.
"I don't know what Alyssa told you, but please just let it go," Kayla said. "Alex saved me last night, so please don't make a scene and embarrass me." Kurt had a nasty temper, and she was worried he was going to hurt Alex.
"Don't worry. I won't," he said. "I'm not going to lay a finger on him, but it sounds like he needs to be taught a lesson. He upset Alyssa and claimed she was ill, so now he has to suffer a little as a reminder to not be so cocky."
Alyssa rolled her eyes. "I get that you're into him, Kayla, but the guy's just weird," she said. "Besides, he refused to apologize to me. You don't have to protect him, you know. He's not a little kid."
She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Alex standing alone at the curb. Her pretty features twisted into a sneer. You'll regret the way you behaved with me, she thought.
"What are you going to do to him?" Kayla asked, looking worried.
"Not a thing," Kurt said. "I just texted a couple of friends. No cab driver will agree to pick him up, and none of the ride share companies will come for him either. If he wants to leave the station, he'll have to walk!"
Kayla felt helpless. She wanted to say something, but she knew there was nothing she could say that would make a difference. Alex seemed like a good guy, but he was stubborn, and Kurt was determined to take him down a peg or two. She really wished Alex had just swallowed his pride and apologized.
"Just ignore him," Kurt said. "Can we get out of here and find a place to eat? I'm starving." He smiled to himself, his eyes flicking back to look at Alex in the mirror. Despite what he had told Kayla, he had arranged for some people to deal with Alex, and they should be arriving soon.
A van pulled up in front of Alex. Then the side door slid open, and four or five men climbed out and walked toward him, cigarettes hanging from their mouths and baseball bats in their hands.
Alex sensed their hostility. "What do you want?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at them.
"You've offended the wrong person," said one of the men. "So, now we're here to teach you some manners." He blew a cloud of smoke into Alex's face. "And we're really going to enjoy it." They started walking toward him with grim smiles.
Alex sighed and took a defensive stance, but before the fight could begin, a sleek limousine pulled up, and an energetic older man with silver hair stepped out of the car and called to him.
"Alex?" he asked politely. "I'm Jesse Lambert. I'm so sorry I'm late."
When they heard the Lambert name, the men approaching him froze. They hastily dropped or hid their weapons, and then they started fidgeting, knowing they were in trouble. The Lambert family owned most of Philadelphia, and they were incredibly powerful, so threatening them was a very bad idea.
Jesse shot them a cold glance, but otherwise ignored them and ushered Alex into the limousine, while his driver spoke quietly into a radio. As they drove away, a black SUV pulled up behind them. Alex watched three large men exit the car and confront his would-be attackers, who meekly climbed into the van. One of the men from the SUV then climbed into the driver's seat of their van, and both vehicles drove away.
Alex was curious, but he didn't really care about the fate of the men. "Tell me what I'm doing here, Mr. Lambert," he said. "What's the situation?"
"We've brought you in to take a look at Keira Lambert," Jesse said. "During a site tour of one of the family's construction projects, someone threw a bottle at us. It broke and released a gas that no one's been able to identify. It all happened so fast that we never even saw who had thrown it. Keira lost consciousness almost immediately and hasn't woken up since. We've had her transferred to the Lambert estate to keep her comfortable and avoid the press. There's practically a whole mobile hospital set up at the house. She's also safer there. Until we know who did this—or why—we're taking security very seriously, as your new friends from the train station are finding out."
He sighed, shaking his head. "Her mother has rounded up every expert she can find, but they haven't made any progress. Keira is still in a coma, and her doctors have found signs of brain damage. You could be our last chance to save her."
As he looked at Alex, he frowned. He's just a kid, he thought skeptically. He certainly doesn't look like a medical genius, but it's not like we have other options, so we may as well let him try.
As they drove, he pointed out some of the city's sights and talked a little about how the Lamberts had been there since before the Revolution. A city with this much history made for a visual treat.
"That's the local museum," Jesse pointed out. "And over there is a gallery that specializes in modern art."
Alex nodded politely.
They passed dozens of beautiful old buildings sitting in the shadows of modern skyscrapers, some of them still under construction and several of them owned by the Lambert family. There was an entire city block near a small park that was surprisingly bare. The land was overgrown with weeds, and there was no sign of construction, which struck Alex as odd.
"That seems like prime real estate," he said. "Why isn't there anything on it?"
Jesse smiled. "We actually own that lot," he said. "It used to be part of the park. The family bought it more than a hundred years ago, before the business district swallowed up the area. They never built anything on it. When Keira was a child, she liked the wildflowers and trees here, so her parents gave it to her as a birthday present."
He smiled indulgently. "But you're right. If she wanted to sell it, she'd make millions. The family's been fending off developers for years, especially now that the district is growing so fast. There's even been an offer for more than a billion dollars from the Murdoch Group. They tried to push the buy through the Lambert's corporate arm, but since the property is in Keira's name, she gets the final say."
"The Murdoch Group?" Alex asked, suddenly very interested.
"That's right," Jesse confirmed. "The Murdochs are from Baltimore too. Do you know Steven Murdoch?"
"We've met," Alex said, wondering if Steven was up to something.