"What is your relationship with Ms Davis?"
"She's my friend." Zander replied glancing at Alexis. He could tell she was having trouble focusing; she was probably worrying about Kristina. It was all so unfair. After all that she had been through she should be at home enjoying time with her child, instead she was here.
"Can you please tell the court what happened on March 10 of this year?"
"I was supposed to have lunch with Alexis but she cancelled so I got worried."
"Was this the first time something like this had happened?"
"No, she had cancelled three other lunches with me, earlier in the month."
"Why were you worried this time?"
"Ned was the one who called me. He said Alexis was sick and she wouldn't be able to meet me for lunch. I knew something was wrong so I went to the Quartermains."
"Did you see MS Davis?"
"No, Ned had guards at the front door and they wouldn't let me in. I tried to go around the side, I thought I could climb in the window but there were guards everywhere."
"What did you do then?"
"I went to see Skye."
Zander knocked frantically on Skye's door and called her name. Though the two of them were not exactly friends he knew that Skye and Alexis were. More importantly he knew that Skye was the one person who could help him.
"Zander?" Skye asked wondering why he was there.
"Have you seen Alexis lately?" He asked without preamble.
"No, I was just on my way over to the house for a meeting and I was going to check on her. I haven't seen her in weeks."
"I think there's something wrong Skye, I need you to get me into the house, Ned has guards everywhere." Zander explained, clearly upset.
Without a word she grabbed her coat and the two of them went together in her car. On the way over they compared notes and realized neither of them had seen Alexis in almost a month.
Skye walked towards the door whispering last minute instructions to Zander, which basically amounted to keeping his mouth shut until they were in the house.
"I'm Skye Quartermain, I'm here for the ELQ meeting," she told the guard.
"What about him?" He asked glaring disdainfully at Zander.
"He's my assistant, do you have a problem with that?" She asked in her best spoiled little rich girl tone.
The guard merely shrugged figuring Zander looked harmless enough. When Zander and Skye entered the living room the rest of the board members had already arrived. Sonny, Jax, Alan, Monica, Edward and Lila were all focused on something Ned was saying and didn't notice the two newcomers until Zander spoke.
"Where is she Ned?" Everyone now turned to look at Zander, including Ned who looked decidedly scared.
"Whom are you referring to?" He asked with as much bravado as he could muster.
"You know damn well who, Alexis, where is she?"
"Zander, Alexis is upstairs resting, she's still got that nasty flu." Monica told the young man hoping to defuse the situation.
"Have you seen her?" Zander asked, still certain there was more going on.
"No, Ned said she didn't want to be seen by a doctor." Monica told him. She did not tell him that she had been worried about Alexis for a while now and her isolation from everyone.
Hearing this Zander turned and began to walk up the stairs ignoring Ned's angry demands that he stop. Within seconds the rest of the group in the living room was following Zander. None of them would ever forget what they saw when he opened Alexis' bedroom door.
Alexis was lying in the bed her face bruised, her eyes swollen shut. When he came closer Zander saw the bruising continued down her neck, a blanket covered the rest of her body but he was certain what he would find beneath the material. He could see that she was breathing and said a silent prayer of thanks. Without removing the blanket, she would not have wanted everyone to see her like that, he carefully lifted her into his arms as though he was afraid she would break.
"Zander, wait let me examine her." Monica said pushing past Sonny and Jax who both stood helpless, matching expressions of horror and guilt on their faces. They had been downstairs having a business meeting unaware of her condition. If not for Zander both would have left without knowing, would have left her at Ned's mercy.
"You want to help? Zander asked Monica incredulously. "Where were you when he did this to her?" He asked trying to hold back the tears that had begun the instant he saw her.
Skye couldn't believe what she was seeing and yet suddenly so many things made sense. Almost on instinct she went into the next room where Kristina lay in a crib and picked up the sleeping child, putting her in the nearby carrier before following Zander who was heading down the stairs, Alexis still in his arms. Seeing Skye with Kristina seemed to wake Ned from his trance.
"Where the hell do you think you're going with my daughter?" He yelled going after Skye.
He did not make it out of the room before two pairs of hands began their assault. Sonny and Jax, the image of Alexis' bruised and swollen face in their minds began to attack the man who had caused her injuries. Jax grabbed Ned's arms twisting them behind his back, leaving him defenseless against Sonny who struck him with repeated blows. He had never wanted to kill someone more than in that moment. It is likely that is just what would have happened had Ned's guards not intervened.
They had seen Zander and Skye leave with Alexis and Kristina and had come inside to see what was happening. It took four of them to pull Sonny away from Ned and another three to get Jax who had begun his own attack on Ned once Sonny was pulled away. Once both men realized they would not be able to get at Ned they went to the hospital to see Alexis.
Monica called the police to report Ned and then left the room without looking at him, despite his obvious injuries. She could not believe he was capable of such violence and yet the evidence was clear. If only she had insisted on seeing Alexis earlier. The truth was she had had her suspicions, nothing nearly as bad as what had happened, but still she had known something wasn't right.