Gabe

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  “Hurry up. Let’s just find it and get out of here,” a gruff voice said.

  Forgetting being quiet or locking the house up, I took off for the door, flinging it open and throwing myself down the steps as fast as I could. I was on the verge of hyperventilating by the time I got to my car. My keys slipped from my hands and I dropped to my knees to find them in the dark. I quickly looked over my shoulder and saw two men running out the front door. Panic surged through me. My fingers touched metal and I grasped at them, hitting the unlock button just as they hit the bottom steps. I started my car and threw it in reverse, slamming the pedal down as hard as I could. I had parked further up the driveway than them and had to pass them as I backed out. One of them grasped at the handle of my car, but just barely missed. My hands were shaking by the time I got out on the road and I was so fucking scared. I had never experienced anything like that before.

  Fumbling for my phone, I quickly pulled up my recent calls, just barely staying on the road as I pressed call.

  “Hey-”

  “Gabe! I just-there were two of them and I ran. I just barely missed them and now I’m driving-” I could barely get the words out and I knew I wasn’t making any sense, but I couldn’t control my body at the moment.

  “Isa, wait. Slow down and tell me what happened.”

  There were headlights coming up behind me in the rearview mirror. “Oh my God. They’re following me!”

  “Who, Isa? Where are you?” he asked urgently.

  “I’m-” I glanced around me, but I didn’t recognize anything at night. I had turned somewhere, but I didn’t know where and my mind was flipping out. “I don’t know, but they’re getting closer. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Isa, look for a landmark, anything that will give us some clue where you are.” His voice was forceful. I took a deep breath and forced myself to concentrate. There was a property up ahead.

  “Um, there’s a house up ahead on the-the uh, west side of the road. Um, one story with a large white fence around one side of the drive.” My voice was shaking so bad, I could hardly get that out. “There are no lights on in the house. Should I turn in there?”

  “No, just keep driving. How far back is the car?”

  “Uh, maybe…uh, ten car lengths.”

  “Isa, you have to drive faster. Put your foot down on the fucking pedal.”

  I did as he said, but I felt like I was losing control the faster I went. I was so scared that I thought I might throw up. I swallowed down the bile and tried to find somewhere I could go.

  “There’s a stop sign up ahead.”

  “Blow through it. Don’t you fucking stop.”

  I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me and kept going. “Gabe, I have no idea where I am. I don’t know…” I broke off, on the verge of tears as the car behind me came closer. “He’s close now, maybe three car lengths. What do I-”

  The jolt of the car had me screaming as the wheel started spinning in my hand. I couldn’t control it. I couldn’t stop the car from spinning.

  “Isa!”

  I could hear him calling me over the roaring in my ears, but then my car went off the road, down into the deep ditch on the side. My face hit the airbag as it exploded in front of me. Shoving it down, I unbuckled and pushed the car door open. I climbed the other side of the embankment and raced toward the trees in the distance. I turned my head just enough to see the car had just stopped ahead of mine and the men were on their way down to my car. I pushed faster, forcing my legs to propel me through the grass. My throat hurt with every breath of cold air I sucked in. I wouldn’t be able to last too much longer at this pace.

  When I reached the tree line, my palm brushed against a tree, just barely catching me before my legs collapsed from under me. I hid as much behind it as I could, peeking around it to see if they had come after me. I saw flashlights moving this way and pushed myself off the ground to move further into the trees. I was gasping for air, holding myself up by leaning against the trees as I moved. I wasn’t sure how far I had gone when I finally fell to the ground, completely exhausted. I knew I should put my head between my knees so I could get air, but I couldn’t move from where I was lying if I wanted to. My head was spinning and my stomach roiled. I closed my eyes until the worst of it passed.

  Staring up at the sky through the branches of the trees, I listened for any sounds that someone was close. Time passed slowly and the cold air started to seep into my bones, but I couldn’t bring myself to care at the moment. I really needed to work out more. Maybe cut back on the doughnuts and chips and start eating more protein. If I was lucky, I would make it back home and then have a nice, juicy steak with a loaded baked potato and asparagus. My mouth watered at the thought and I could almost smell it in the air.

  “Isa!”

  The faint calling of my name drifted through the air. I was pretty sure I was hallucinating, but then I heard it again. Forcing myself to stand up, I staggered back through the trees, hoping that I wasn’t being fooled by the voices. If it was the men that were after me, I would probably just let them take me so I didn’t have to walk back.

  I could see lights in the distance from vehicles surrounding where my car went in the ditch. Someone was really here. They were looking for me.

  “Gabe!” My voice was pathetically weak, so I cleared my throat and called again. I called multiple times until flashlights started coming my way, bouncing in the darkness. I slowly walked toward them, but after about twenty steps, I said fuck it and sat down on my ass. Gabe could come and get me.

  “Isa!” The beam from his flashlight caught me in the eyes and then he was in front of me, on his knees and tucking me in against him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, grateful to have him with me. My fingers clawed at his clothes. I needed to hold onto him. I wasn’t ready to let go yet, but he pulled back from me and started running his hands over my body.

  “Are you hurt?” he asked urgently.

  “No, just out of shape. You’re going to have to carry me back if you want me to sleep in bed with you tonight.”

  His chuckle rumbled through his chest as he lifted his flashlight once again and started looking over me. “Holy hell, woman. You scared the shit out of me. I don’t think my heart has been pumping right since you called.”

  “You should really get that checked out. I don’t want you to die of a heart attack before you carry me back.”

  The flashlight glanced over my face. “You hit your head.” He started poking and prodding me and I shoved his hands away.

  “I’m fine. It was probably from the airbag. The only thing that’s hurt are my legs from running so much. I think your buddies need to develop some rocket boots or a jet pack. That way if I ever have to get away again, I don’t have to do anything physical.”

  “Or you could come to Reed Security and train.”

  I jerked back in surprise. “Gabe, are you saying you want me to exercise?”

  “Yeah, Isa. It’s something that at least twenty percent of people do on a regular basis.”

  “Ha, well, if eighty percent don’t, then I think I’ll stick with what everyone else is doing. Safety in numbers and all.”

  He shook his head and shoved his hands under me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on tight. My legs were still shaking from the exertion and all I wanted was a hot bath to soak my sore muscles. When we got back to where my car was in the ditch and I really looked at my car, I started to cry. The fear and desperation came back full force until I was sobbing uncontrollably. Gabe sat down with me on the ground and rubbed my back, trying to calm me down. I could hear Sam talking to Gabe, but I didn’t listen. I just wanted this day to be over.

  “Hey, let your brother see you. He’s pacing over here like he’s ready to kill someone and I really don’t want that to be me.”

  I wiped my face and sat up in Gabe’s arms. As soon as Sam saw me, he yanked me out of Gabe’s arms and held me tight to his body. “I was so fucking scared. I think you took ten y
ears off my life.”

  “You would have been more scared if you had seen me running. I’m shocked that I was able to get away. It was pathetic, really.”

  “You’re not going anywhere by yourself anymore. Do you understand me? You’re not allowed to drive the kids anywhere or even go to the grocery store. And when you’re home, you’ll have the alarm set at all times.”

  “Yes, Dad.”

  “Don’t give me that bullshit, Isa. I’ll call him up and tell him what just happened if you give me any crap.”

  “Ugh, please don’t do that. Then they’re going to want me to go home for a visit.”

  “Yeah, it would probably do you some good.”

  “I have a job. I can’t just leave.”

  “Yeah, we’re gonna have to talk about that before you go back to work. I don’t want you anywhere near that property or your job until we find out what the fuck is going on.”

  A man walked up behind Sam, but I couldn’t see who it was in the dark. “We went through the car. Her purse is there but they took her license.”

  “Crap. Do you know how much of a pain in the ass it is to wait in line at the DMV?”

  “Isa, if they have your license, they know where you live. You’re not going home.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Gabe

  “HOW’S SHE DOING?”

  I had just put Isa in my truck and told her I’d just be a few minutes more. Cap had been handing out assignments since Isa’s call. He had wasted no time calling in teams to aid us in the search for Isa and the fuckers that had been after her. He’d sent Alec’s team over to the house to secure the property for the night. We needed any evidence they’d left behind. Sean Donnelly had been called and was heading over there to work the crime scene. Our guys were just additional security.

  “Hey,” Cap said again, bringing me out of my thoughts.

  “Uh, she’s a little out of it. I think it’s finally hitting her that she just barely escaped.”

  The police lights flashed by Isa’s car and the guys that were working the scene were chatting it up, pissing me off that they weren’t working harder to collect any evidence.

  “Calm down. I can see you glaring at them. I’ll call Sean and he’ll have a talk with them.”

  “You shouldn’t have to call in anyone. They’re officers. They should be taking this seriously.”

  “I know that you’re pissed right now, but you need to back off. You know that everyone deals with shit in their own way. You don’t know what’s going on over there, so, calm the fuck down. Take Isa to your house and make sure she’s alright.”

  I didn’t like that he was making light of this, but the rational side of my brain told me that as soon as I got Isa out of there, he wouldn’t hesitate to kick some ass if they weren’t doing their jobs.

  “Gabe!” Isa was running toward me with panic all over her face. “The kids. I didn’t even think about-”

  “Hey, they’re fine. Vanessa has them and they’re staying the night over there. She thought it would be best to stick to their schedules. She told them that they were having a sleep over because she needed their help with the baby.”

  She sagged with relief as I pulled her into my arms. “They don’t have anything with them for daycare and school tomorrow and who’s going to get them ready in the morning?”

  “We’re going back to your house and we’ll pack what they need and grab some stuff for you. We can stay in your brother’s guest house for the night, if that would make you feel better.”

  She nodded, her brows scrunching together in worry. “We’ll be going back to my house tomorrow, right?”

  “No,” Cap intervened before I could say anything. “It’s not safe. Until we know who was after you, you need to stay somewhere else.”

  “Are we in danger?”

  “Baby, we just don’t want to take any chances. They took your license and we don’t want to take the chance that they’ll go looking for you at home.”

  “But, I’ll still be able to go to work, right?”

  I glanced at Cap, who gave a slight shake of his head. “We’ll talk to your boss about this tomorrow. Maybe you can work in the office for the time being, but I don’t want you leaving on your own. I’ll take you to work and pick you up until we know it’s safe.”

  “I don’t understand what they could be after. They talked about getting something and getting out. It was like they were trying to find something at the house, but there wasn’t a whole lot left there.”

  “In the morning, Sean will be able to tell us if his guys find anything. There’s not a whole lot they can do tonight,” Cap reassured her.

  “Didn’t you say that there was a large hole dug in the backyard when you first went out to look at the property?”

  “Yeah, and there was that man that wanted to buy the house to fix it up. When I told him that I was having an inspector come out to judge if the house was salvageable, he seemed a little worried. I don’t know. I could be reading into that, seeing things because of what happened.”

  “Do you think you could sit with a sketch artist and describe the man?” Cap asked.

  “I could try,” she sighed. “It’s been a while. I’m not sure that I’d remember enough to get a good sketch.”

  “It’s a start, baby.” I wrapped her up in my arms. She seemed to be getting tired and I wanted to get her home before her energy gave out. “Let’s go get some stuff for you and then we’ll head over to Sam’s.”

  “We’ll talk tomorrow.” Cap slapped me on the shoulder and walked away. I led Isa to the truck and drove back to her house. When we got there, Jackson and Chance were waiting outside.

  “We secured the house. Everything’s good,” Chance confirmed. I nodded to him and grabbed Isa’s hand to take her inside.

  “This is so strange. I thought when I left Matteo that I was-” She stopped on the way back to the bedroom and chewed on her lip in thought.

  “What is it?”

  “Do you think the kids would be safer with Matteo?”

  “I can keep you all safe. I would never let anything happen to those kids.”

  “I know,” she smiled weakly. “I just don’t want to take any chances.”

  “I have great security at my house. Besides, I don’t think those men were after you specifically. They were looking for something, which means that we need to figure out what they wanted. If they come after you, it’s more likely that they think you have whatever they want.”

  She nodded and continued on to their rooms. I grabbed a couple of duffels and helped Isa pack up things for the kids. She packed her own things and then we headed for the door.

  “We’re going to set up security here tomorrow,” Chance said as we headed back to the truck. “If they come here, we’ll catch them on camera. Anyone that comes on this property will trigger an alert to Reed Security.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  When we got to Cazzo’s, Isa was anxious to check on the kids. She followed Vanessa back to the room they were staying in while I talked with Cazzo.

  “Okay, so what didn’t you want to say while Isa was around?”

  Cazzo pulled up a chair at the kitchen table and sat down with a sigh. He looked worn out and I could tell he was still shaken after what happened. He had been with me when Isa’s call came in. Neither of us were really able to think straight in that moment. If it hadn’t been for Cap handing out orders, we would have torn up the town looking for her.

  “She shouldn’t be alive. The way her car went into that ditch, it should have killed her. She was lucky. You know what that means.”

  I nodded. “They didn’t care if she lived.”

  “Right. If they had wanted to take her, they would have tried a different tactic for taking her.”

  “What the hell could they be looking for?”

  “I’m guessing it has something to do with the previous person that lived there. Cap’s pulling all the information that he can. Becky’s digging th
rough his financials as we speak.”

  “We need to find whatever they were looking for before they do. They probably figured that they could find whatever it is they were looking for, and figured Isa was collateral damage. If they don’t find it, they’re going to come after Isa again.”

  “But it wouldn’t do any good. Isa’s just the realtor. It’s not like she would have mementos from the house,” Cazzo said.

  “But if they think she’s found something and might have taken it, who knows how far they would go to get it back.”

  Cazzo leaned forward in his seat. “I know you love my sister. You promise me right now that you’ll do everything possible to keep her safe. I know she’s going to want to go home with you, so I won’t push for her to stay here. But if anything feels off, you call me immediately. I don’t care if it’s just a gut feeling.”

  “I promise. I’d never let anything happen to her or the kids.”

  We broke apart when footsteps sounded down the hall. Isa looked relieved and tired. Vanessa gave us the key to the guest house for the night. There was no way Isa was leaving her kids for the night.

  “I think you need a shower.”

  “Are you saying I smell?” She smiled as she wrapped her arms around me, yawning into my chest.

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying. You ran a marathon out there and now you smell like sweat.”

  “Well, we can’t all have your naturally amazing body odor.”

  “Is that even a thing?”

  She shrugged. “I’m not sure, but you never smell bad when you sweat. If anything, it just makes me want to lick you all over.”

  “Is that right?” I kissed her, but pulled back before we could take it any further. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  She rolled her eyes as she looked up at me. “Yes, Gabe. I promise, I’m fine. The only thing that’s bruised is my ego…and my face. It’s embarrassing how out of shape I am.”

  Grinning down mischievously at her, I ran my hand down her back until I was cupping her ass. “I think starting tomorrow, we should create our own exercise routine.”

  “What would that entail?”