“What are you gonna eat, Daddy?”
“I’ll grab something. Don’t you worry, princess. If I’m going to be longer than an hour, I’ll call you.”
Gabriel didn’t leave until his daughter and sister were safely inside the diner. Then he backed out of the parking space and headed for the small hospital.
The tension in the pickup didn’t dissipate with Jessie’s exit. Kira’s nerves were raw by the time they arrived at the emergency room entrance. The pounding in her head had increased, and her stomach roiled.
Gabriel assisted her from the truck. The movement awakened the aches caused by being tossed about. Again his arm went around her, and he supported some of her weight as they started for the entrance. With her headache so intense, the act of walking caused her world to spin. Inside he sat her in the first chair available and went up to the reception counter.
Kira rested her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, vaguely aware of the faint voices of Gabriel and the woman at the counter. But she knew the moment he was standing in front of her. She felt his presence deep inside and opened her eyes to stare up at him.
“They need your insurance card.”
“Okay,” she said slowly, trying to remember where she kept it. Everything was fuzzy. All she wanted to do was sleep.
“Is it in your purse?” Gabriel sat next to her.
“Yes.” She clutched her purse in one hand and needed to pry her fingers loose.
“Do you want me to look for it?”
“No, I can.” She straightened and opened her bag. Her eyes widened. Next to her gun and wallet was a scrap of paper—one she’d never seen before.
Chapter Three
Kira’s hand trembled as she gingerly pulled the yellowed scrap out of her purse. Bold letters cut from the newspaper, spelling, stop me, leaped off the page and struck her with their evil message. Stunned by the thought the murderer had been in her car only moments after she’d left it, she dropped the paper, the sheet floating to the emergency room floor.
Gabriel bent to pick up the paper.
“Don’t!”
His gaze snapped back to hers.
“It’s from him. The killer was in my car.” She heard the hysterical tone in her voice but didn’t care anymore if she presented a tough front. She wasn’t tough. She wanted to cry. She wanted to be held. She wanted to run away and hide until it was safe.
Gabriel took one look at her face and tugged her into his arms. She nestled into his strength, unable to pull away. She didn’t want to be alone, and for the first time, she had to admit she was afraid for the future, for Pinecrest, for herself. Tears glistened in her eyes, and she squeezed them shut, hoping she could hold herself together, not expose herself raw before this man who had every right to hate her.
“You need to call the police chief about the note.” He stroked his hand down her back, his voice and touch gentle.
For a few seconds, all she could think about were his fingers moving down her spine. “This isn’t the first one,” she said finally and pulled away from the comfort of his embrace. “I got one at the office four weeks ago right before the third victim, Rebecca, disappeared.”
“Do the police know?”
“Yes. Bill had his men all over the courthouse five minutes after I notified him.”
“Let me take a guess. No one saw anything.”
“Not a thing. It’s like the murderer can appear and disappear at will. Before the note, I received a phone call from him. He’d been upset about what he’d done to Marcie and Shirley. He told me specific details of the scene of Marcie’s murder. Then he asked me to stop him. The call couldn’t be traced, and his voice had been disguised.”
“My lawyer told me even before the bodies were found the police had been looking at my case again. Is that why I was released so quickly after the women were discovered?”
“Yes. One of the details wasn’t known to the public.”
"A detail only the killer would have known…” Gabriel ran his fingers through his hair. "He took my freedom away and nearly cost me my daughter."
Kira stared up at him. "And his call also freed you. When the killer provided that information, I was sure you hadn't killed Marcie, and Ruth Morgan's fight for full custody of Abbey hinged on your guilt. I asked the court to delay the proceedings while we looked into the new piece of evidence."
The hard edge of Gabriel’s expression attested to the intense emotions vying for dominance in him. “I owe you my freedom. What kind of game is he playing with you?”
“I’m starting to think he wants me to know he can get to me at any time. But then there are times I think he wants to be stopped.”
“What’s the police chief gonna do about it?”
“I carry a gun now.” She opened her purse to show him. “Of course, it didn’t do me much good this evening.”
“Do you know how to use it?”
“Yes. Bill gave me lessons. His officers drive by my house at night, and at least once an evening, they ring the doorbell and check on me.”
“You should have more protection than that, especially after what happened this evening.”
“There aren’t enough officers. Our resources are stretched thin just keeping up with this murderer, even with the sheriff’s help.”
“You still need to let the police chief know about this latest note. It seems like the killer is escalating. I’m gonna call Bill right now.”
Wearily Kira rested her head against the wall again, exhaustion and the continuing hammering against her skull making her eyes droop and her stomach nauseated. “As I told you earlier, you don’t have to. I will.”
“Yes, I do.”
The steel edge to his voice shouted she wouldn’t be able to change his mind, and she didn’t have it in her to argue.
Gabriel stood and walked to the counter, spoke to the receptionist, then took out his cell phone and placed a call. As the conversation progressed, his back tensed. Then his free hand ramrod straight at his side squeezed into a fist, and a scowl etched deeper into his features. There was definitely no love lost between Bill Shaffer and Gabriel Michaels. She wished she had the strength to make the call herself, but she found it difficult even to lift her arms.
After Gabriel finished talking on the phone, he spoke to the receptionist again. She came around the counter, retrieved a wheelchair, and rolled it to Kira.
“We’ll get your information later. I hear you had a nasty ordeal this evening. Dr. Addison should be here shortly.” The woman wheeled Kira to the second of the two examination rooms and glanced back at Gabriel. “Thank you. I’ve got it from here.”
“Kira, I’ll hang around for Chief Shaffer.”
“You don’t have to. I’ll be all right here.”
“It happened on my land. I’ll wait.”
“What about Jessie and Abbey?”
“I’ll call them and let them know I’ll be a little late. The police chief should be here soon.”
* * *
Gabriel settled into a chair in the waiting room that gave him a view of the entrance to the exam room then took out his cell phone again and called his sister. “Jessie, I’ll be later than I thought.”
“Why are you staying at the hospital?” his sister asked. “Have you forgotten what that woman did to you?”
His grip on the phone tightened as he remembered the past months. “Not for one minute, but I want to see the police chief about what happened at the ranch this evening.”
“What did happen? Why do you want to talk to him,” she paused then whispered, “and not the county sheriff?”
“Where’s Abbey?” he asked, still not wanting her to know what had really happened this evening.
“She saw a friend and went to talk to her for a minute. So why Chief Shaffer? From the beginning, that man had it out for you. Remember he’s buddy-buddy with the Morgan family.”
“Someone shot Kira’s front tires.”
“Good.”
; Jessie’s anger came through the connection loud and clear. He understood his sister’s feelings toward Kira. Her life, as well as his, had been turned upside down because of the trial and his conviction. “Not so good, Jess. The person responsible, I believe, is the killer running around Pinecrest. That’s why I’m gonna talk to the chief. He’s running the murder investigation.”
“How do you know it’s the killer? I’m sure prosecutors have a lot of enemies,” Jessie said as if she were at the front of the line.
“Not ones who leave messages.”
Silence fell.
“Jess, are you there?”
“You really mean he was at our ranch?” Fear weakened her voice.
“Yes. I don’t want Abbey to know what happened. Her nightmares are bad enough without adding this latest concern.”
“But we aren’t safe. On top of everything else, that woman brought the killer to our ranch.”
“She doesn’t control his actions. No one in Pinecrest is safe with him out there. Stay in the diner, and I’ll be there in a while.”
When Gabriel disconnected with Jessie, he turned to see the police chief entering the emergency room. Gabriel stiffened, mentally preparing himself for the confrontation sure to take place.
Bill Shaffer stalked to him, a frown slashing across his face. He was only a few years older than Gabriel.
The chief narrowed his eyes, his large bulk barely contained in his blue uniform. “Kira may think you’re innocent, but I still think you’re as guilty as sin. You made Marcie miserable.”
Stay calm. Lord, help here. “Chief Shaffer, you’re entitled to your opinion.”
“Where’s this note that was left in her purse?”
Gabriel gestured to the scrap still on the floor where Kira had dropped it.
Bill took out a handkerchief and picked up the note by one corner. He read the bold black words, his frown strengthening into a scowl. “He’s taken a fancy to Kira.”
“It looks that way. Now what are you going to do about it?”
The chief’s pale gray eyes widened. “Concern for the assistant DA?” Sarcasm dripped from the question. “For all I know you could have put this in her purse as payback.”
Gabriel inhaled a composing breath. “That man was at my ranch. I’m concerned for my family and, yes, for any woman in this town.”
Bill removed a plastic bag from his pocket and put the note into it. “We’ll check for latent prints and any other leads it might give us.”
“And?”
“And pray like the dickens we find this man before he strikes again.”
“In other words, you don’t have many leads.” Gabriel ground his teeth together. How had he become the police chief? Marcie’s mother handpicked him. That was how. Members of Bill’s family worked for Ruth Morgan for years, and his father had been the police chief before him—both pawns for Ruth.
Bill’s jaw clamped down as he balled his hands. “There isn’t much to go on. Where’s Kira?”
“In the exam room. I believe Dr. Addison is in there with her.” Gabriel indicated which room with a toss of his head.
The police chief moved to the door of the room and planted himself in the entrance with his arms folded over his barrel chest.
Gabriel needed to leave before the chief decided to take him down to the station for further questioning just to irritate him. He had done what he could for Kira Davis. Now he needed to see to his family.
On the drive to Al’s Diner, Gabriel wrestled with his feelings of impotency concerning the investigation of the murders. The killer had involved him on more than one level. He’d been a victim in a lot of ways, but also the man had brought the crime to his doorstep. How could he remain aloof after what happened the past eleven months? He couldn’t shake the thought he needed to help Kira. He needed to find the murderer.
When he pulled into a parking space in front of the diner, he watched his daughter and sister through the large picture window, talking and laughing at something Al was saying. Because of Abbey and Jessie, he was torn between helping and staying as far away as possible from the investigation. He was just a rancher with a daughter and sister to protect.
He climbed from the cab of his black F-150 and made his way inside the diner that looked like a dive from the outside, but the interior was clean and the food was delicious. Al Nelson had gone to high school with him, a year behind him, and had always loved to cook. No one was surprised when he bought the old café.
Gabriel slipped into the booth next to Abbey and across from Jessie and Al. “How’s it going, Al?”
“Not bad. This is the quietest it’s been all day.”
“Gabriel scanned the diner and noted the five other groups still eating even though it was after nine. Most places shut down early in Pinecrest. “Is the kitchen still open?”
“For you, yes. What’s your pleasure?” Al hoisted his tall, thin body from the booth and stood by the table.
Gabriel almost laughed at the word pleasure. He’d had so little of it lately. “Your special is fine by me.”
“One beef stew coming up then. Jessie, it was good to see you again. Don’t make yourself so scarce. And Abbey, my gal, don’t let Bobby think he’s getting to you. Smile that pretty smile of yours and walk away. That’ll get him.”
“Bobby?” Gabriel asked as Al left them alone.
“Oh, he’s just a boy at school.”
“And?”
“He likes to tease me.” Abbey picked up her glass with a chocolate milkshake in it and knocked back the last few sips. She grinned, her mouth ringed with a brown froth. “Don’t worry, Daddy. He does it to all the girls.”
“So has Al been entertaining y’all?” Gabriel decided to drop the subject of the boy until he got home and could question Jessie alone about Bobby.
“He saw us when he came into the diner and just stopped by the table to say hi.” Jessie placed her wadded up paper napkin on her plate, half her meal untouched.
“I thought he was the cook.” Gabriel leaned back in the booth.
“Most nights, but he now has someone to help him since the diner’s been so popular around here. Ever since his wife left, he’s actually taken off more time.”
“Good. I know he used to work practically twenty-four/seven.”
Jessie began fidgeting with her wadded up napkin, tearing off shreds of paper and littering the table in front of her. “Kinda like someone else I know.”
“Daddy, can I get some gum from the vending machine over there?”
“Sure, sweetheart.” He dug into his jean pocket and withdrew some coins. When she was gone, he said, “That’s part of being a rancher.”
“You do have a ranch hand who can help out more.”
“I worked hard to buy that land. No one can take care of it as well as me.”
Jessie slid a glance at Abbey who started back toward the booth. “No one is more aware of what you sacrificed to have your own ranch. At least Al realized he was heading for a meltdown before it was too late.”
Gabriel bit back his reply as Abbey slid in beside him. And all his hard work might be for nothing if he couldn’t turn around the losses from this past year.
* * *
Kira lay back on the raised bed, the pain in her head leveling out. The antiseptic smell brought back bad memories. The last time she’d been in the hospital was when her husband had hit her so hard he’d cracked several ribs.
“Kira, what in the world got into you to go to the Michaels’ ranch in the dark, alone?” Bill paced the small hospital room, his hands clutching his white cowboy hat so tightly that the material would crinkle when he finally did release his grip.
“It wasn’t dark when I arrived.” She’d tried to explain to the police chief, but he wouldn’t let it go. Bill didn’t like Gabriel, still felt he was somehow responsible for Marcie’s death, but then Bill cared about what Marcie’s mother thought. Bill’s mom had been Ruth Morgan’s best friend. Whereas Gabriel had been the outsider
, the boy from the wrong side of the tracks.
Bill stopped at the window and stared out into the dark. “What did you think you would accomplish?”
“Peace of mind.”
He spun about surprisingly fast for such a large man. “You did nothing wrong.”
“Tell that to my conscience.”
“Kira,” he moved to the side of the bed, “what if he’s in a partnership with the killer?”
“Not the man I saw today. He isn’t that good an actor. Let’s face it. The evidence he was convicted on can be explained away if we had looked at other suspects. We homed in on him and didn’t look any further. Marcie was found with the other two victims. She died the same way with one bullet through the heart. There were multiple stab wounds before she died and postmortem. They all had the stop me note stuffed into their mouths. The same person did all three murders.” She paused, her strength fading fast after that fervent outburst. “He’s innocent. His conviction was overturned. Move on, Bill,” she added in a softer voice.
“I don’t like the man. He should never have married Marcie.”
“Is that what this is all about?” She dug deep for energy because she needed to make sure the police chief didn’t hound Gabriel. The least she could do was make sure he was left alone.
Bill frowned. “Marcie could have done better. You know that.”
Kira remembered Marcie’s mother yelling at her daughter when she found out she and Gabriel were married. “No, I don’t. In spite of his poor beginnings, Gabriel has done well for himself until we threw him in jail. Now, I suspect, all he wants to do is put his life back together.”
“What is it about that man that causes the women to go all soft around him? It even happened back in high school when he was getting into trouble.”
Kira nearly laughed at that question, but the serious look on the police chief’s face stopped her. There was an air of mystery and relentlessness about Gabriel that was intriguing, as though no one had really touched his heart, his soul. In spite of what happened to him, she knew he would rise above and succeed. But then she recalled the vulnerability she glimpsed in his eyes that made a woman want to comfort and hold him, to be that person to get under his skin and truly become a part of him.
Deadly Noel Page 4