Love & Redemption

by Chantel Rhondeau

  Deciding to head to his left, Gavin had only gone three more steps when a faint scream came from behind him.

  He spun around, racing down the other tunnel.

  ***

  Shelley’s vision grayed around the edges as she fought unconsciousness. This must have been how Carlie felt when Stephen beat her. She couldn’t hold on much longer and felt her will to fight fading as her arms and legs became leaden.

  “Get away from my mommy!” Emma slammed her small body into Stephen, screaming at the top of her lungs the whole time.

  The impact loosened his grip, and air rushed to Shelley’s lungs.

  Stephen lost focus, turning to backhand Emma. Rage filled Shelley as Emma’s body hit the ground. With renewed energy, she yanked her right arm from beneath Stephen’s leg and formed her fingers into a stiff spike. She rammed her hand at his face, scoring on his left eye.

  “Don’t touch her again!” Shelley twisted desperately beneath him, jerking on her left arm in an attempt to free it as well.

  Stephen’s fist slammed into her face. Sparks of white light swum in Shelley’s vision, but she refused to stop. She wasn’t fighting for herself anymore. Stephen dared laid a hand on Emma. He wouldn’t get away with that.

  She poked at his eye again, missing when he jerked away. Her fingers jabbed into his mouth instead.

  Stephen bit down and she screamed with pain, but formed her fingers into a hook, grabbing at the fleshy skin around the side of his cheek when she yanked back. She was intent on ripping his face off if that’s what it took to stop him.

  He ripped away from her, cocking back his fist and punching her in the throat.

  Shelley gasped, struggling for air.

  Emma’s shrill scream drowned out Shelley’s gasping. Shelley glanced up in time to see her jump onto Stephen’s back. The girl used her fists to beat at his head. She might not be able to do much damage, but Stephen bucked his body wildly, trying to throw her off. He seemed to forget about Shelley.

  Taking advantage of his distraction, she raised her hand to his shoulder, finding the pressure point in the left. Shelley dug her thumb in with as much pressure as possible from her position on the ground.

  It was Stephen’s turn to yell with pain. He tried to hunch down and get away from her fingers, but Shelley pursued.

  Stephen finally shook Emma off and jumped to his feet, ripping Shelley’s hand away from his shoulder. “That’s it.” He swung his foot back and Shelley dodged, knowing he planned to land another kick to her face.

  She rolled to her stomach just in time, feeling the air move as his foot swooshed past her. Unfortunately, Stephen could walk faster than she could roll. His leg came down once again, slamming against Shelley’s spine. Biting back bile as nausea and dizziness flooded through her body, she tried to ignore the tingling shooting down the back of her legs.

  His heel came down again, striking lower on her spine and intensifying the tingling.

  So this is how it ends for me?

  Refusing to accept that, Shelley tried to turn back over, but the blows from Stephen’s feet started coming one right after the other.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Gavin burst into the room, the light hurting his eyes after his run in the darkness. The first thing he saw was Stephen standing over Shelley’s unmoving body. “No!”

  Without even thinking, he pointed Jenessa’s weapon at Stephen’s back. The gun jerked wildly in Gavin’s hand when he squeezed the trigger. The sound still echoed around the room when Stephen dropped to the ground, on top of Shelley.

  “He killed my mommy,” wailed a little girl who must be Emma. She was dirty and bloody, standing near a mattress on the floor.

  Gavin didn’t have time to wonder what the girl meant. He ran to Shelley, yanking Stephen off her.

  “You son of a bitch.” With a groan of pain, Stephen reached behind his back. “I’ll teach you a lesson.”

  “Gun,” Shelley yelled.

  Gavin barely had time to process what she said, but survival instinct took over. As Stephen pulled a gun from behind his back, Gavin fired another shot. This one went wide, missing the man. “The next one goes through your head,” he warned, pretending he meant to miss. “Toss away your weapon.”

  Glowering, Stephen obeyed, throwing his gun toward the doorway.

  Gavin wanted to check on Shelley, but he didn’t dare take his attention off Stephen. At least she was able to talk. “Are you okay, Shell?”

  “Not really.” She moaned softly and out of the corner of his eye, Gavin saw her sit up. “I’ll live though, thanks to you and Emma.”

  “Mommy?” Emma ran to Shelley’s side. “I thought he sent you to Rose and Mom.”

  Shelley’s arms went around the girl and she kissed her head. “No, sweetling. I’m okay. We both are.”

  Only if Gavin got them out of here before more S.A.T.O. agents came down to the cellar. He didn’t know how bad Stephen’s injury was from the first bullet, and he didn’t really care. Considering the gun jerked and Stephen was still conscious and glaring, Gavin figured he must have missed anything vital. He couldn’t take his gun off him, or Stephen might attack them again.

  “Gavin?” Shelley’s voice was calm, but commanding. “Bring me the gun. Stephen knows I’m a way better shot than he is. He doesn’t stand a chance. You can go get help.”

  Walking sideways without ever taking the weapon off Stephen, Gavin slowly made his way back to Shelley. He handed it over when Emma moved out of the way. “I’ll be back soon.”

  Shelley nodded. “Take Emma with you.”

  Gavin grabbed the child’s hand without argument, but Emma dug her heels into the ground, refusing to move. “I won’t leave Mommy.”

  Gavin was still confused who Mommy was, since Emma’s mom died a long time ago, but Shelley didn’t seem to be.

  “Emma, go with him. He’s a good guy,” she told the girl.

  While Emma still tried to decide, soft thuds of footsteps sounded outside in the hallway.

  “Shit.” Gavin stepped in front of Emma, wishing he dared shield Shelley, but she had the weapon. “Shoot them,” he told her. “Don’t give them a chance to draw their weapons.”

  ***

  Shelley watched the doorway, shaking with the pain sitting up caused, but determined to save them all.

  Nick Kendall appeared around the doorframe, gun drawn. “Freeze.”

  Exhaling in relief, Shelley lowered her gun. “Thank g—” she glanced at Emma behind Gavin’s back, “goodness. We thought you were S.A.T.O.”

  Nick walked into the room, followed by Jenessa and Ken Travers.

  Ken took handcuffs from a pouch on his belt and walked to Stephen.

  Once the cuffs were on him, Shelley carefully placed the gun against the ground and collapsed backward. “I’ve never hurt so bad, even when I was shot. My back keeps spasming.”

  Nick glanced down. “Looks like Stephen knows that feeling. Ambulances are on the way.”

  Shelley didn’t feel charitable enough to hope Stephen didn’t bleed out before they reached them.

  Ken turned away from Stephen, leaving him under Jenessa’s watchful eye. He walked to Emma. “Hey, hon. You okay?”

  Shelley watched Emma’s face, trying to tell herself not to be jealous that the girl would now forget about her. After all, her uncle was here. Knowing that Emma’s dad set this whole thing up and planned her murder, Emma would probably have to live with Ken now. Shelley sure hoped he was a better uncle than he was a husband.

  When Ken reached out his arms for a hug, Emma took a step back, avoiding him.

  “Hey,” he protested. “It’s me, Uncle Ken.”

  “I’m not leaving Mommy.” Emma crossed back to Shelley and sat on the floor next to her. “Rose went to be with Mom, but she said I’d get a new mommy. Do I have to go back to Daddy’s house? I don’t want to.”

  While Emma’s loyalty touched her, Shelley sighed. What a tangled mess. “I think you’ll live with Uncle K
en. Isn’t that right?” She raised an eyebrow at Ken, wondering if they had yet figured out Brent was in on the plot to kidnap and murder Emma.

  Ken nodded once, confirming that he knew. “She won’t go back to her dad’s. He’s otherwise detained.”

  Before anything further could be said, people piled into the room. A few broke away to help Stephen, but the rest swarmed Shelley and Emma. They strapped Shelley to a backboard and headed for the door, not leaving time for further conversation.

  The musky dampness of the walls closed in on her and Shelley took a deep breath as two men on either side of the board carried her through a long, cramped tunnel. She’d survived the worst life could throw at her. A tight space and her claustrophobia had become unimportant.

  After the EMS people loaded her onto the waiting ambulance, Gavin and Emma piled in with them. Ken was nowhere in sight to help his niece, but Shelley didn’t worry about that, holding out her hand to take the girl’s and offering her a smile.

  “Everything’s going to be okay now, sweetling.”

  Emma smiled back, holding an ice pack to her cheek with her free hand. “I know, Mommy. You saved us. That was a good trick we played on the bad man.”

  Gavin’s eyes narrowed and he mouthed ‘mommy?’ clearly confused.

  Shelley winked. “I’ll explain everything later. Thanks for coming to the rescue. Looks like this is finally over.”

  Though she thought that would be a relief for him, the worry lines on Gavin’s face grew deeper. He turned to stare out the back window of the ambulance without replying.

  Chapter Forty

  Two weeks later, the crowd in Shelley’s hotel room was overwhelming. She lay on the bed and everyone fussed over her. Her mother and Carlie sat in the room’s two chairs, swapping stories to catch each other up on parts of Shelley’s life they had missed. Luckily, she’d warned Carlie to pretend Gavin was her husband for her mother’s sake.

  However, considering the way he’d acted ever since that night in the cellar, Shelley wasn’t sure Gavin still wanted to be her husband. In the chaos of the past couple weeks, Shelley hadn’t had a chance to speak with him seriously or alone. He said he was kept busy with the training program Nick set up for him, learning to shoot a gun and some self-defense techniques to be more effective as a field agent. While she understood the logic of better training for him, part of her realized Gavin used it as an excuse to avoid her. The problem was, she couldn’t figure out why.

  Unless it was the usual reason. He changed his mind about being together, just like the other men she’d been with.

  Nick and Jenessa walked into the room, pulling in extra chairs from Jenessa’s room and placing them near the doorway. Even though Shelley hoped Gavin would sit beside her on the bed, he hopped onto the vanity counter.

  Nick took his seat. “It’s good to have you out of the hospital.”

  “You’re lucky she is.” Carlie glared at him from across the room and brushed short blond hair from her eyes. Even though she acted mad, Shelley could tell she was trying not to smile at her fiancé. Carlie just couldn’t stay angry with Nick. “If you’d let something happen to her, I’d never forgive you.” Carlie turned to Janet. “She’s the sister I always wanted. Did she tell you that? You raised one heck of a great woman. She saved my life.”

  Janet had the grace to blush, considering she didn’t have much to do with the few good qualities Shelley managed to acquire. Then again, she showed up as soon as she found out Shelley was hurt. That had to count for something.

  If the lurking suspicion Shelley had about her ongoing health problem was right, it might be a good thing to have her mom close.

  Shelley hadn’t told anyone yet, but for the past several days she felt increasingly sick, throwing up at random smells or just about anything. She didn’t think anything of it at first, figuring it was the pain medicine, but then her period didn’t start yesterday. She had always been regular before. While it could be the stress of her captivity, she talked to the nurse, who took a blood test and promised to call with the results as soon as they came in.

  In the meantime, Shelley switched to only taking plain Tylenol for her pain, stopping the narcotics immediately. No one seemed to notice or think it odd, even though Shelley felt terrible pain and her back still spasmed from all the kicks to her spine. She also needed surgery on her knee in a few weeks, once her preoperative tests were complete. That might have to wait.

  Nick winked at his fiancée, not fearing Carlie’s anger. No one seemed to notice Shelley was acting odd, and she tried to focus on the people around her and not her health concerns.

  “Time for business,” Nick said, turning his attention to Shelley. “It’s pretty bad news. We only caught Stephen. Everyone else cleared out before we found out where you were.”

  While Shelley didn’t want to think about Stephen anymore, it couldn’t be helped. “Will he live?”

  “He got out of the hospital before you did. They took him to Rikers Island while he waits for a trial. The evidence against him is solid, and Brent Walker’s singing like a canary to save his own ass.”

  Shelley snuck a glance at her friend. Carlie’s face did pale slightly at the mention of Stephen. It would have been easier for them all if Gavin was a better shot. Dead men couldn’t get free and cause problems later.

  That brought her full circle to worry some more about Emma. She hadn’t seen the girl since the day after their rescue, but she sure hoped Brent wouldn’t get free either. “Brent’s going to prison, right, even if he’s talking?”

  Nick nodded. “He’s going to a low-security facility for twelve years. Even if he gets released early, he’ll never get his daughter back.”

  That was the important thing. Emma was safe. Shelley already missed the little girl, but she wasn’t hers to keep and nothing could be done about that. “So, what happens now? I assume Paul’s plotting to get the diamonds back. Do you have any leads of where he might be? Are my parents safe in their house?”

  “We’re watching your parents’ house, just the same as we keep an eye out for S.A.T.O. in Sayle. They’ll be okay, I promise. As far as where Paul went, I have a few ideas.” Nick glanced at Gavin. “I have some jobs for my newest agent, for sure. He really proved himself out there.”

  Shelley forced a smile, trying to act pleased for Gavin. He looked happy about the prospect of more work, so what else could she do. Part of her wanted to blurt out the news about the test she waited on and beg him not to be an agent, but he didn’t seem to want her anymore, so what would it accomplish?

  “Don’t worry about missing your husband too much.” Carlie winked, correctly interpreting Shelley’s silence. “I’m healing real well from my surgery. As soon as you’re back on your feet, we’ll open the new Carlie’s Creations and you’ll be plenty busy.”

  Feeling as if her smile was chiseled onto her face, Shelley turned to her friend. “That’s great.”

  “Yep,” Gavin agreed with a sullen tone to his voice Shelley wasn’t used to hearing. “Your life will get back to normal. Almost like this whole trip never happened.”

  What did he mean by that? Shelley needed some alone time with Gavin when he couldn’t escape. Her faith in their relationship was fading fast.

  ***

  Nick announced that Carlie had enough excitement for one day, traveling all the way to New York and then sitting up visiting. “It’s time we went to our room and got rest. Shelley needs to rest too.”

  Gavin glanced at the door, wondering if he could make his escape when they did. He wasn’t ready to talk to Shelley. Right after they rescued her, things changed. Gavin couldn’t help but worry. Shelley needed a man around full time, not just one who’d come through town once in a while when he finished a job.

  She’d made it clear in the beginning that she wanted someone to love her unconditionally. Someone she could count on to be with her always.

  He had planned to be that man, to refuse the job with Nick and do whatever it took t
o make a living while being with Shelley. However, the more he thought about it, the more he knew neither one of them could live that way. He would eventually feel bad that he wasn’t doing more to contribute to their financial situation, and even if Shelley tried to deny it, she’d never be happy with that in the long run either.

  The only solution was to go to work for Nick and let Shelley go. If she was still tied to him while he worked for Paul, there was a chance they would take her again at some point to get whatever Paul wanted. Gavin couldn’t put her at risk like that. He would continue searching for a way to be with her, but in the meantime, he shouldn’t tie her down. If she found someone else before he found a solution to his work problem, he’d have to accept that.

  His heart contracted with pain as he contemplated that course of action again. He wished there were another way.

  Around him, everyone said their goodnights and Gavin stood. “I’m going to let your mom stay with you tonight, Shell.”

  The room went quiet at his words. Everyone turned to look at him.

  “You don’t want to stay?” Shelley asked. “This is my first night out.”

  At the same time, Janet said, “Don’t be silly.”

  “It’s fine,” he said. “I’ll take the room next door that we rented for her. You guys need some time together.”

  “Gavin...” Shelley’s eyes clouded over, looking suspiciously misty. “I guess if you think that’s best.”

  No, it isn’t, he wanted to scream. He forced a smile. “I do. Enjoy your time together.”

  Carlie and Nick exchanged a long look, and then Carlie sat back down. “I think I’ll stay for a bit longer.”

  It appeared everyone in the room knew what Gavin was saying—that they were over. Shelley literally looked sick. In fact, she was pale.

  No one said anything and the silence became unbearable. “Okay, then.” Gavin tugged at the collar of his t-shirt. “I guess I’ll go.”