She didn’t stop to look, she ran out the back door.
When she burst out onto the back porch, she saw Kevin playing by the big oak beside the garage.
“Run, Kevin!” she screamed. “Run!”
He glanced up, and she saw the fear in his eyes, then the terror as Vincent stumbled out the back door after her, doubled over.
Kevin spun and ran toward the cornfields, then disappeared into the tall stalks. Relief poured through her. She turned to face Vincent, to hold him back as long as she could and give her son time to run and hide.
But she turned too slow, and as she came around, Vincent’s fist caught her on the jaw. Stars exploded and pain shot through her head. She went down into the soft dirt, felt the crisp press of fall leaves on her cheek, smelled the thick scent of damp earth. Tasted the tangy warmth of blood in her mouth. Her arms and legs refused to move, though she screamed silently at her body to get up, to stop Vincent.
“Run, baby, run,” she whispered again, though she knew her son couldn’t hear her.
Gabe flew down the dirt access road beside the cornfield, then plunged directly into the field when the roof of the Witherspoon house came into view. He knew he couldn’t drive all the way up to the house; if Vincent Drake had found Melanie, then Gabe knew his arrival would put both her and Kevin in danger.
He drove another fifty yards into the center of the field, plowing through the rows of corn, then slammed on his brakes and jumped out of the cab.
His feet had barely hit the ground when he heard Melanie scream for Kevin to run. He heard the panic in her voice, and the sound turned his blood to ice. He started for the house, his heart hammering in his chest as he lunged through the cornstalks, then froze at the sound of thrashing no more than ten yards from him.
“You let go of me!”
At the sound of Kevin’s sharp cry, Gabe’s heart stopped. Jaw clenched tight, he pulled the gun from the waistband of his jeans and silently slid through the stalks of corn. His breath came in short gasps as he followed the sound of Kevin’s furious protests.
He came up behind them, saw Kevin struggling to escape the man’s hold on his arms. The sight of the guy manhandling the little boy made Gabe blind with rage. His fingers tightened on the cold steel in his hands as he lifted the gun.
“Let go of him,” Gabe demanded harshly. “Now.”
Still holding onto Kevin’s arms, Vincent spun at the sound of Gabe’s command. As he spotted the gun, his eyes widened, then he snatched Kevin closer to him.
“Gabe!” Dust rose around Kevin’s boots as he tried to wiggle free, but Vincent only tightened his hold.
“Well, well, if it isn’t one of Melissa’s friends.” Vincent smiled thinly. “She’s told me so much about you.”
“She’s told me all about you, too. You’re a vicious, cowardly bastard who likes to terrorize women and children.” Gabe gestured with the gun. “Now let the boy go.”
“Dear me, such compliments. My heart’s all aflutter.” Vincent’s smile widened, and he dragged Kevin closer still. “Well now, if Melissa, or Melanie, as you know her, has indeed told you all about me, then you know you better put that gun down before I give you a demonstration of my more admirable traits.”
Kevin cried out when Vincent tightly grabbed his shoulders. Dammit! Gabe knew the bastard would do whatever he needed to do to take Kevin and Melanie, even if it meant hurting a little boy.
At the sudden movement beside him, Gabe turned sharply, then saw Melanie appear, her eyes wide with terror. Gabe swore silently at the sight of her red jaw and open blouse. His rage turned murderous, and he knew that before this was over Vincent Drake would pay dearly for all he’d done to Kevin and Melanie.
“Gabe,” Melanie whispered hoarsely. “Do as he says. Please.”
Clenching his jaw, Gabe turned back to Vincent, narrowing his eyes as he tossed the gun aside.
“I don’t need a gun to take care of you,” Gabe said calmly, then glanced down at Kevin. “In fact, I don’t need anything to handle a scumbag like you. Even Kevin could take you down, you overblown bag of dirt, can’t you, Kevin?”
Vincent started to laugh, but as Kevin’s eyes met Gabe’s, they both understood what it was that he needed to do.
Kevin pressed his lips tightly together, concentrated hard, then looked down. Vincent didn’t even see it coming when the heel of Kevin’s boot came down solidly on the arch of his foot. Vincent howled at the pain, and startled, let go of Kevin.
Kevin ran to Gabe, but he pushed him toward his mother. “Get back to the house. Ian and my brothers are there.” When she hesitated, he yelled, “Now, dammit!”
Melanie snatched Kevin up in her arms and ran.
Gabe turned back to Vincent as the man reared up. With a roar, Gabe charged.
They both flew into the cornstalks and went down, fists flying. Gabe brought his arm back and swung, connecting with Vincent’s nose. He bellowed in pain, then swung his own meaty fist and caught Gabe in the jaw, sending him backward.
Gabe rolled, then sprang to his feet, arms stretched out wide. “Come on,” he jeered, wiggling his fingers. “Let’s see how you do when you’re face-to-face with a man.”
Hatred glistened in Vincent’s eyes as he lifted his head. Blood spurted from his nose. With a shout, Vincent came at him.
Gabe welcomed the attack, and landed a solid, powerful fist in Vincent’s soft gut. The air whooshed out of his lungs, and he went down on his knees. Gabe slammed a fist into the man’s jaw, which sent him flying backward. Vincent’s head lolled to one side as Gabe grabbed him by his jacket and raised him up. He hit him again and this time, Vincent went down, limp and lifeless.
Gabe was reaching for him again, had his arm already poised to strike when Lucian came up behind him and said quietly, “Gabe, he’s out. It’s over.”
Gabe blinked several times, stared at Vincent’s battered face, then shoved the man back to the ground. Vincent didn’t move.
“He’s still breathing,” Gabe said through clenched teeth, then looked at his brother. “You have Melanie and Kevin?”
“We have them.” Lucian put a hand on Gabe’s shoulder. “You all right?”
Gabe nodded slowly. “I’ll be better when this slimeball is behind bars.”
“The sheriff is on his way.” Lucian glanced down at Vincent. “We’ll need to take him back up to the house.”
Lucian smiled, and Gabe felt just a little of the tension ease.
They each grabbed a leg and pulled.
Melanie watched Gabe step out onto the front porch, his face bloodied, his shirt torn and dirty. Her knees nearly crumpled at the sight of him, and she hugged her son tightly to her to give her strength.
She’d hoped, prayed, that he would have come to her right away, but he’d come back more than twenty minutes ago from the cornfield with Lucian, both of them dragging a moaning Vincent. Twenty minutes had felt like a lifetime. She desperately wanted to run to him now, but she knew her legs wouldn’t make it, wasn’t certain that he would even want her. She’d sent him away, hadn’t trusted him, and she knew how much that had hurt him.
Callan stood beside her; he’d brought her out here on the porch, away from all the chaos in the kitchen where Gabe and Lucian had dragged Vincent and tied him in a chair. Callan and Reese had found her stumbling out of the cornfield earlier with her son in her arms. Callan had gently taken Kevin from her, then Reese had simply scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the house. Lucian had already gone into the fields to help Gabe, and Ian hadn’t been far behind. Sirens screaming, the sheriff and his deputy had arrived ten minutes ago and were busy taking statements inside.
Gabe’s eyes were intense as he stared at her now, his brow furrowed. When Kevin caught sight of Gabe, he pulled away from his mother and ran to him, threw his little arms around Gabe’s legs. Melanie couldn’t stop the tears sliding down her cheeks.
Gabe picked Kevin up and held him fiercely to him. “You okay, partner?”
>
Kevin nodded. “I did what you taught me, Gabe. I stomped on his foot real hard and made him let me go.”
“You were great.” Gabe smiled at Kevin. “Even Batman couldn’t have done a better job.”
Kevin beamed at that. “Will that bad man go away now and leave us alone?”
“He won’t ever bother you or your mommy again. He’s going to go to jail for a very long time.” Gabe looked at Melanie, his expression grim. “Based on the way Vincent is spilling his guts in there, thanks to Ian’s persuasive questioning skills, Louise may be spending some time behind bars, as well. Even her money and connections won’t get her out of this one.”
In spite of everything, Melanie felt a twinge of sorrow for the woman. Louise may have brought this on herself, but in her own twisted way, she had loved Kevin, just as she’d loved Phillip. She was an old woman who would never know her grandson, and for that, Melanie was truly sorry.
Melanie watched as Kevin wrapped his arms around Gabe’s neck and hugged him. She wanted so badly to do the same, but she still wasn’t certain what he was feeling right now, what he was thinking. She only knew she couldn’t bear it if, after everything they’d been through, he turned away from her now.
“Would you like to go show Callan how your twirlybird flies?” Gabe pulled the toy out of his back pocket. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to talk to your mommy for a little bit.”
Kevin hesitated, but when Callan held out his hand, the boy smiled and snatched up the toy, then took Callan’s hand and pulled him out into the front yard.
Her throat thick with tears, her chest tight with a mixture of hope and dread, Melanie clasped her hands in front of her and faced Gabe.
He still hadn’t moved toward her, hadn’t touched her. And she needed him to, so much that she ached.
She smiled, but she felt the trembling in her lips. “Thank you.”
His mouth thinned. “You don’t have to thank me, Melanie. Or should I call you Melissa now?”
Her heart sank. He was angry, very angry, she thought, based on the tight set of his jaw. How could she blame him? After everything he’d done for her, and the way she’d treated him?
“I prefer Melanie,” she said softly. “That’s who I am now. And I do have to thank you. You’ve given me and my son back our lives.”
Her words tightened the knot of fear already twisting Gabe’s gut. She could leave now, he realized. Go back to her old life, her old job that she’d loved so much. Have all the things she’d left behind in California.
“And what does that mean?” Gabe asked carefully.
Her brow wrinkled with confusion. “What does what mean?”
The adrenaline was still pumping through his veins, and he knew he needed to keep his distance or he might frighten her with the raw need he felt for her right now. He wanted to crush her against him, bury his face in her neck, feel the beat of her heart against his.
“What does it mean?” he asked impatiently. “What will you do now?”
Her gaze flicked up anxiously to his; her hand curled into a fist on her chest. “What should I do?”
He shook his head. “You tell me, Melanie. This time, you have to tell me.”
Her soft gray eyes sharpened, then she lifted her chin and said firmly, “I want to stay in Bloomfield County, Gabe. With you, if you still want me.”
Relief poured through him, almost brought him to his knees. Slowly, carefully, he moved toward her, gently took her in his arms and held her against him. “If I want you?” he said hoarsely. “Good Lord, woman, are you completely blind? I want you so much it hurts.”
She sagged against him, and he felt the warm dampness of her tears through his shirt. Tenderly he brushed her hair back with his fingertips, let her have her cry, though every sob ripped through him like a knife.
After a few minutes, he pulled back, wiped her tears away with the pad of his thumb, then tilted her chin up and frowned. The red welt on her jaw turned his gut inside out, and he struggled to tamp down the rage that threatened to explode once again. He’d deal with that emotion later, he told himself. Work out his frustration on a punching bag in the weight room at Sam’s gym in town.
“I love you,” he whispered, and though he’d never said the words to any woman before, they felt right. “Marry me. You and Kevin. Please marry me.”
There were fresh tears in her eyes now, he prayed they were tears of joy. When she laughed suddenly, then threw her arms around his neck, he released the breath he’d been holding.
“Oh, yes, yes, I will, we will. Oh, Gabe, I love you, too.”
He held her for a long moment, too overcome to speak, then eased away from her and looked into her eyes. “Vincent told the sheriff he bribed someone in the phone company to run a trace on area codes until they found a match with Raina’s phone number. There was a record of the call you’d made from my cell phone, the one I overheard upstairs. That call led him here.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, pulled her tightly to him again. “Oh, baby,” he whispered, “I’m so sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I died a thousand deaths on the drive over here, knowing that he’d tracked you down and you were here all alone.”
She put her finger to his lips, shook her head. “No, Gabe, it’s me who should be sorry. I was afraid to trust you, even though I knew I loved you, I was still afraid. I know now that you didn’t want to control me or take over my life, you just wanted to help me, to take care of me and Kevin. I let Phillip and Louise blind me to what real love is, which is trust and sharing and respect. Can you ever forgive me?”
He smiled, answered her by drawing her close for a long, tender kiss. They were both breathing heavily by the time he pulled away.
“There is still one little question,” he said softly, brushing his lips with hers.
“What?” She curled her fingers into the front of his shirt.
“Where we’ll live.”
“Anywhere,” she murmured, pressed her lips to his neck.
“I know a great place for sale.” He ever-so-gently touched his mouth to the red spot on her jaw. “But it has a lot of bedrooms, so we’d have to have a lot of kids to fill them.”
She pulled away from him, her eyes bright with moisture. “Oh, Gabe,” she breathed. “Do you mean, do you think…. Oh, Gabe!”
He caught her as she jumped into his arms and smothered his face with kisses. Kevin ran up then to see what all the commotion was about and Callan watched, a big grin on his face, as Gabe scooped Kevin up and swung both the boy and his mother off their feet.
At the sound of horns honking, they turned and watched as both Cara and Abby approached the house in their cars.
His family was all here, Gabe thought as he set Melanie back on her feet. He slipped an arm around her waist, then placed a hand on Kevin’s shoulder.
All of his family.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-1739-3
GABRIEL’S HONOR
Copyright © 2000 by Barbara Joel
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† Secrets!
* Hearts of Stone
Gabriel's Honor Page 20