AllFreeNovel
Share Us
21
Central Business District, New Orleans, Louisiana
THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1:35 A.M.
Gabe had taken only two steps toward the garage when he heard the quick tap of a car horn. Spinning toward the street, he saw their borrowed car—and Farrah getting out of the driver’s seat to wave them over.
Molly put her arm around Chelsea, urging her along. “It’s okay. She’s a friend.”
Gabe followed, poor little Harper’s arms wrapped around his neck so tightly that he was having trouble breathing. But he let her. She was eight years old, and she was terrified.
She was just recovering from the last bastard who’d touched her. Her own father. She’d already heard two gunfights—when her father shot her grandfather and when her father had been shot by her aunt, who’d been protecting her mother. Now this? How would she ever feel safe again? He hoped like hell for a miracle, for Harper’s sake. He knew few children her age and had no idea how their minds worked. Had no idea how much they could experience and... bounce back? Was that even possible?
Molly helped Chelsea into the back seat and Gabe handed Harper over as gently as he could. The child clung for a heartbreaking moment before leaping into her mother’s arms. Molly got in after them and Shoe jumped in, all on his own, quickly moving over their feet to be closest to Harper. By the time Gabe was in the front seat, the dog had laid his head on Harper’s knee.
Such a good dog.
“Buckle up,” Farrah said. “We’re out of here.” She pulled away from the curb as a call came through on her phone. She answered, putting it to her ear. “I got them. They’re okay. They came out down the fire escape.” She glanced at Gabe, with a slight shake of her head. “Made more noise than a herd of elephants. I could hear them over the car’s engine, but I didn’t see anyone around, so I don’t think anyone else did.”
Gabe winced. “Sorry,” he muttered.
Farrah just smiled, handing him the phone. “André wants to talk to you. Take a deep breath, Gabe. Everyone is okay.”
Everyone but the bodies they’d left behind and poor Lucien, Gabe thought with a flutter of fear now that they were away from the scene. He thought about the man he’d shot. How he’d fallen. How much he was bleeding.
He suddenly knew exactly how Xavier had felt Monday night. I might have killed someone.
In fact, it was highly likely he’d done so.
But he didn’t regret it. Not for a single moment. Because Molly was still breathing. “Hey,” he said to André. “Where are you?”
“In Molly’s apartment. I must have come up the stairs as you went down the fire escape. I nearly had a heart attack when I found the place empty. Do you have any injuries?”
“No. Thank God.”
“Ask him about Lucien,” Molly said from behind him.
“He’s fine,” André answered, evidently hearing her. “He’s still bleeding, but Molly got the worst of it stopped before you guys ran.”
Gabe should have known Molly wouldn’t leave her colleague injured without trying to fix him up. “Good. I’ve been feeling guilty for leaving him.”
“You did the right thing. Lucien can’t make it down the stairs without a stretcher. Don’t worry, I’ve got medics coming. Tell Molly that I found him on his hands and knees in her living room, holding his gun on that bastard she left hog-tied. He’d crawled in from the hallway.”
“I’ll tell her. What happened, André? Burke called the cops. Why didn’t they come?”
“Good question,” he said grimly. “I’m going to find out. And Mr. Tobin won’t be escaping again. I promise you that.”
Gabe really wanted to believe him. He knew that if it was at all under André’s control, it would be true. “Thank you. Where are we going?”
“Back to our camp,” André said. “I’ve called on a few guys I trust to stand guard. And Farrah’s become very proficient with a rifle recently. Don’t let her sweet smile fool you. That woman of mine is brave.”
“Never a doubt,” Gabe said truthfully. “Does Burke know where we are?”
“He will. I’m calling him as soon as I hang up with you. I’m waiting for my team to arrive to secure the scene. There’s quite a lot of blood here.”
“None of it ours. Just Lucien’s and the pr—” He cut himself off from saying pricks because there was a child in the car, and his mother had raised him right. “And the men who came after Chelsea and Harper.”
“I’ll need your statements soon, but for now take a breath and try to relax. I’ll make sure that Lucien gets to the hospital, but after that I have a lot of work to do. I may not call you for a while. And I’ll need to interview you and Molly sooner versus later. I’ll try to do it at our camp, but I may have to bring you two downtown. Can you ask her if there are security cameras?”
