by Kari Shuey
Gavin returned to the room, an angry and disappointed look on his face. The same kind of expression he’d had at the beginning of the week.
“Windsor, give us a minute.”
Windsor shrugged. “I’ll be in the guest house.”
Abby’s body froze. Windsor was leaving her alone?
Chapter 34
Abby glowered at Gavin, her features flooded with distrust. He was keeping his distance, which was wise. If he got too close, she was prepared to use her nails, feet, and fists to get all kinds of DNA from him. As she shifted in her chair, she realized she didn’t have her phone in her back pocket. Where did she leave it? If she could get to it, she could call the police.
Gavin went to the sink, grabbing the washcloth she’d been using on her knee, and ran it under some water. Wordlessly, he reached up into the cabinet with the first aid supplies. He rummaged through the box of provisions and finally pulled out some antiseptic and a bandage. Abby watched all of this, the distinct feeling of Deja vu washing over her. She watched him, guardedly, as he approached her.
Gavin knelt down in front of her. “May I?”
“No. Thanks.” She snapped.
“You need to clean that properly. You know I can do it pretty well,” he pushed.
“Yeah? And why do you suppose that is? Deal with injuries often do you? Get attacked occasionally maybe? Or do you do the torturing?”
Gavin’s expression was first one of shock, but it quickly turned back into the angry disappointed look. “Sit still,” he ordered.
She studied him as he gently cleaned her road rash. He picked out the debris, poured the antibiotic solution on it, and prepped it for bandaging. Realizing the bandage would be difficult to put on with her jeans in the way, he stood up and retrieved some scissors.
“Absolutely not!” Abby said, and she attempted to stand up. He pushed her back down into her chair.
“They’re already ruined, Abby. You’re more important than your pants.” He started cutting the fabric from her ankle all the way up to just above the knee. Once her knee was wrapped, he inspected her hands, noting that her palms held some damage too. He cleaned them but did not bandage them. “I thought I told you the other day that you needed to be more careful.” His tone was somewhat demeaning, as if he were chastising a child.
“You can’t possibly be saying this is what you meant by that,” her response angrily dismissive.
“Tell me what happened.”
“No.”
“Abby, I need you to think about what I’ve been going through for the past month and maybe consider it’s not all it appears to be. Now, tell me what happened.”
“You want to know what happened!? You. You are what happened to me! Everything was great until I started working for you. I thought this would be just another job… but you – you wanted more. So, I gave in. I went against my better judgment and I gave in. And then when I find something that should have me rethinking all my life’s choices, I again choose to stay – even though I knew better deep inside. But I thought, ‘Hey, he’s a good guy, he had an alibi, it’s a decent job…’ I stayed again. And now… here I sit, against my will after being stalked and run down by a car. I’m assuming all because I found out about Janice and Mallory. So, Gavin… what do you have to say for yourself? You have any confessions you’d like to share? Maybe why you want to do me bodily harm?”
She realized as she told her story, Gavin progressively became whiter, the color draining from his face and his expression more shocked than anything else. “What!?” he whispered.
Doubt entered her thoughts – maybe he wasn’t the one responsible for the deathtrap she had been in earlier. His reaction was too organic to be rehearsed. But just because he hadn’t been the one to run her down in a car garage, didn’t mean his motives weren’t sinister.
Then his pale face transformed once again – full of rage. “Tell me what you saw. I need details,” Gavin gripped her shoulders and shook her slightly. “Please tell me you paid attention enough to give me something… anything.”
Feeling cornered, Abby pulled back and slapped him. “Don’t you touch me! You have no idea what I have just been through. And now you feel entitled to keep me hostage. If you actually care about me, you would let me leave.”
Gavin rocketed to his full height and towered over her. “Don’t you understand? You aren’t safe out there! If anything, today should have taught you that out there, you are a target.” He turned away from her and walked a few paces. He ran a hand through his hair and pulled at it aggressively. When he turned back to her, he looked like he could have been related to a wolverine. “Abby. Why can’t you just accept that I am trying to help you!?”
“Why are you yelling at me!?” she shrieked back. “I almost died today! You’re not being very nice about it!”
Gavin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You’re right,” he said through gritted teeth. “What can I do to help you?”
“Let me go.” She said it so quietly she didn’t know if he would be able to hear her.
Gavin shook his head. “I can’t do that.” He whispered weakly. “I can’t.”
She stared at him in disbelief. Gavin was actually admitting he was holding her hostage. She wouldn’t be permitted to leave the premises. She would need to figure out a way to grab her keys from the counter and get to her car without him stopping her.
Gavin must have used his ability to read her, because he walked over to the island, grabbed her keys and put them in his pocket. “Don’t think you can go anywhere. I’m going to head out to talk to Windsor. We will be disabling the automatic gate. Coming and going can only be done with the remote.”
Like a hawk, Abby watched him walk out the back door. She waited until he was inside the guest house, and then she sprang out of her chair. Regretting that action, she realized she must have internally hurt her knee more than it appeared from the outside. She limped to the kitchen and hunted for her phone. She knew she brought it inside. Where was it? Abby started picking things up and moving things around before she finally found it under a dishrag.
Immediately she picked it up and dialed 911. Before she could hit the send button, Gavin ripped the phone out of her grasp. Abby whirled around and attempted to grab it back, but Gavin was taller, faster, and stronger. Without any trouble he shut it off. Holding it out of reach, he shook his head. “Abby, why do you have to make this more difficult than it has to be?” His voice held that menacing tone. She could tell he was losing his patience with her. She needed to tread carefully if she wanted to survive. “Sit. Down.” He growled.
Abby hobbled to the couch and took a seat.
“Now, Abby. I need to know if you remember anything about the car that chased you.” Gavin followed her and sat near enough she didn’t feel she could escape him.
Abby wasn’t proud of her immature attitude, but she’d had enough today. “Oh, gee Gavin… I don’t always get run down by a dark sedan… but when I do… I always stop to write down the description and license plate number.” The sarcasm dripped from her words like the blood she imagined would drip from his nose if she could get in one good hit.
He didn’t take the bait. “A dark, four-door car doesn’t give us much to work with. You’re sure you didn’t see anything else?”
“Oh. Come. On. Gavin! I was literally running for my life. I didn’t think to look!” She thought about mentioning that she mistook someone for Oliver, but he didn’t seem like the kind of guy to get mixed up in all this craziness. Besides, Gavin would latch onto that one – he didn’t really like Oliver too much these days.
He nodded. “I can understand that. I’ll see if they have any security cameras and have Windsor look into it. What garage did you park in?”
Abby gave him the address and told him it wasn’t likely they’d have cameras on the upper level, she’d only noticed them at the entrance. For a moment she forgot she was being held there, and she felt like he was really trying to help her. It ha
d been a devastating experience and she was still shaky. He must have noticed, because he made a move to come sit next to her as if to comfort her. But he thought better of it.
“Sir, Windsor had an idea he wanted to present you.”
A new voice, one she hadn’t heard before came from behind her. Abby glanced back at the back door and she was suddenly paralyzed with fear. The man in the doorway was the same one who had followed her on the street. Regaining her ability to move, Abby scrambled to the other side of the room. “What are you doing here!?” She looked at Gavin. “What is he doing here!? That is the guy who stalked me on the way back to the garage. I bet he was the one who almost ran me over!”
Gavin stood up, approaching her like he would a wounded animal. “Abby, I had him follow you when you left without explanation earlier today. He was protecting you. He’s the guy I use when I need someone followed or protected… occasionally he makes drops for me when I can’t be there in person. Meet Mr. Smith.”
The hysterics that erupted from within Abby surprised even herself. “You can’t be serious. Mr. Smith!? You have got to be kidding me! That is so absolutely cliché. Nu-uh. No.” Abby didn’t realize she’d grabbed a pillow at some point, but now she was hugging it to her chest – as if it would protect her.
By this point, Gavin had reached her and put his hand on the small of her back to lead her again to the comfort of the couch. “Abby, you really need to sit down. Your leg is clearly more damaged than it appears.”
Reaching the couch, Abby turned around and faced him. She held up her hands. “No. No. No. No. Gavin, stay back. I can take care of myself.”
“Really, is that what you call it?” Gavin stood in front of her with his arms crossed. Irritation curled his lips into a sneer. “Because all I see is a woman who needs more help than she realizes. You really ought to humble yourself and accept that you are not in control of this particular situation.” He looked up at Mr. Smith. “Tell him I trust his judgment, but I can’t leave her alone right now.”
As Gavin spoke, Abby studied the new man in the room. She knew he’d looked familiar when she noticed him following her. This was the guy who’d been in Mr. Perkins’ office a few months ago.
Mr. Smith nodded and disappeared.
“Abby, I’m willing to tell you anything you want to know. I just need you to promise you will do as I say.”
“I won’t do that Gavin. You should realize by now you have lost all semblance of trust from me. If you had wanted to maintain that trust, you should have thought twice before you chose to sic your henchman on me.” The pain in her leg beginning to drain her, Abby sat back down on the couch.
She could see the disappointment flitter across his features. “I know.” He knelt down and propped a pillow under her knee. He went to the freezer and grabbed a bag of frozen peas. Bringing it back to her, he sighed. “I’m so sorry Abby. I wish I had done things differently.”
“Me too,” she mumbled.
Gavin put the peas on her knee and moved back, giving her space. She could see he was in pain, but not the physical kind. He was hurting – and she had the sinking feeling it had more to do with her than she’d like to admit.
Chapter 35
Abby didn’t know when she closed her eyes, but apparently she was so exhausted she practically passed out. When she came to, she didn’t see Gavin anywhere. The peas were defrosted, and she was covered with a throw. The lights were dim in the kitchen, and the sun had set outside. It was dark. She craned her neck and could see the lights still on in the guest house. Her captors were still working on something. Abby sat up on her elbows and looked over at the clock in the kitchen. It was almost ten.
The men were likely thinking she was out for the night. Boy, they would be surprised when they returned to the house to find her gone. Abby tentatively shifted her weight so she could get off the couch and stand up. It was hard to put weight on her left leg, and she wondered what she’d done to it. It wasn’t broken, and a sprain wasn’t probable either. But the fact that she had to baby it made her think she had deeply bruised it or pulled some kind of muscle when she ran.
Abby started looking in the kitchen for something she’d found in the back of a drawer once. It was a clicker like a garage door opener, but it looked somewhat different. She couldn’t remember what drawer it was… nor if she left it there rather than putting it in a better place. Every few seconds, she looked up to make sure no one was coming for her.
Ah! Found it! It wasn’t the garage remote, but it looked like it opened something big… could this be one of the spare remotes for the gate? Next, she shuffled to her room. Where did she put those spare keys? Abby knew she had them somewhere… She dug through one of her drawers in the table next to her bed, and just about squealed with complete joy when she found the spare key to her car. Now she just needed to get to it and get out of there before anyone noticed.
Abby grabbed her coat and peered around the corner to the kitchen. No one had come inside yet, she just might be able to make this work. She limped to the front door and struggled with the weight of it. Pulling it open just enough to slip out, she didn’t even worry about taking the time to shut it.
The stairs were a difficult task. Abby had to take them one at a time and with each excruciating step, she rallied by reminding herself she was almost home free. The spare key to the car didn’t have the button fob to automatically unlock the door. As Abby fumbled with the key and located the hole to push it into, a rustle at the edge of the property startled her. The key dropped to the ground.
Abby couldn’t help the cry of frustration that was released from her mouth as she collapsed to find it. The pain in her knee shot through her leg and up her body. Her cry of defeat morphing into one of pain. Fingers clawing at the pavement, dragging from side to side until she finally heard metal scraping. Abby grasped the key and stood up. She glanced over her shoulder at whatever it was she had heard in the darkness.
As if in slow motion, a whizzing sound came whistling toward her. She’d never heard that sound before. Abby turned again slightly just as a burning fire grazed her arm. The glass of her driver’s side window shattered.
Abby screamed and ducked, wrapping her arms over her head. More whizzing and more shattering ensued. Bullets flew through the darkness towards her and she fell to the ground, thinking if she could crawl under the car, she might have a chance. But before she got completely flattened, strong arms encircled her, lifting her up. A groan was heard, and the familiar scent of Gavin’s aftershave filled her nostrils. Someone from behind the car was returning fire. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he rushed her inside the house and kicked the door closed behind him.
***
Gavin almost angrily threw her down on the couch. “What were you thinking!?” he demanded. “Are you crazy? Or are you just dumb?” Gavin threw his arms down and started pacing.
“Gavin! Easy!” Windsor cautioned. He and Smith had returned from giving him cover. Smith’s gun still in his hand, both breathing heavy. “She was just shot at, give her a break!”
Ignoring him, Gavin continued shouting, “Abby! What don’t you understand about your life being in danger!? I’m trying to fix this, but I can’t if at every turn you try thwarting my attempts!” He froze when he heard her whimper. Turning around, he stared at her.
“I don’t know.” Abby mumbled. “What is happening to me? I’m so confused.”
Gavin rushed to her side and knelt down. “Are you hurt? Did you get shot?” He started inspecting her legs and moved up to her torso. Gently removing her coat, he looked up and down her arms. Noticing blood, he hastily retrieved the first aid supplies. Cleaning her up, he gazed at her. “We have to stop meeting like this.” Tears were still streaming down her cheeks. “You’re lucky it’s just a graze.” She flinched every so often as he disinfected the abrasion. “Now do you believe me? Because that would make my job a heck of a lot easier.” Gavin reached up and wiped a few of the tears with his thumb. He was rel
ieved when Abby nodded. She squeezed her eyes shut and a few more tears escaped.
“I’m sorry, Gavin. I didn’t know. I feel so stupid!”
“No, no you’re not, Abby. This is far from being a normal situation. You were just going with your gut instinct.” Gavin attempted to comfort her. It broke his heart to see her so shattered. “What matters is that you are safe.” For now.
He was startled when Abby threw her arms around him in a death grip. “Thank you so much.”
She pulled back when he winced. Groaning, he released himself from her arms. She gasped and tears started brimming at her eyes again. Windsor approached, Smith stayed near the door.
“Gavin, how bad is it?” Windsor inquired.
Standing up, Gavin rolled up his blood-soaked sleeve. Wincing at the pain, he inspected the wound in his forearm. “It looks like a through and through. Grab me the alcohol, Windsor. You’re going to need to flush it for me and wrap it up.” He chanced a glance in Abby’s direction and was dismayed at her emotional condition. She wasn’t handling any of this well. Two attempts on her life and she was definitely the worse for wear. Sucking in a sharp breath, Gavin clenched his jaw as Windsor dressed his injury.
“Did you see the shooter?” Gavin asked through gritted teeth.
“No sir. When they retreated, Smith attempted to get a good look at the car – chased it down the road, in fact. The vehicle never came past the gate, we assume the shooter jumped the fence. Smith got a plate number and I’ve reported it to the police. They’ve assured us they will keep a look out – and they will be wanting to take a statement… It’s unlikely the shooter will return to the premises tonight – it’s too risky when we’re on high alert.”
Gavin snorted. “If they didn’t complete their assignment, you can bet someone will be back to finish the job.”
“Do you need anything else?” Windsor asked.