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“Because I need to go to Costco this afternoon,” Dante informed him. I had to fight back a laugh. I literally couldn’t picture a less likely thing for that super tough gangster to do.
His brother’s frown deepened. “I know. I’m supposed to go with you.”
“Well, then we can take my car.” Dante flashed him a big smile.
Vincent shot him a look. Then he took two keys off a leather fob and handed them to me as he said, “The tank’s full. Keep it as long as you need it.”
I murmured, “I can’t believe you’re both doing so much for a stranger.”
“We might have just met you, but we consider Gabriel family,” Dante said, “and family means everything to us. By the way, he should have come to us sooner with that Simeck situation.” He really should have. I wondered if he had any idea what his friends were capable of.
I told them, “Thank you both for everything, including the use of your car and giving me the satisfaction of turning the tables on Mason Simeck. It felt pretty great to have the last word.”
Gabriel was going to be so relieved when he found out Simeck wasn’t a threat anymore. Now I just had to find him and tell him.
Chapter 11
I’d been driving around San Francisco for about an hour when I finally gave in to an idea I really hadn’t wanted to consider. I chewed my lower lip for a few moments, and then I pointed the big, black SUV toward one of the worst parts of the city as I whispered to myself, “I really hope I’m wrong about this.”
I’d have assumed the shiny, high-end SUV would draw a lot of people to it in my old neighborhood. There was always someone looking for a handout around there, and people in expensive cars were an obvious mark. The top-of-the-line Land Rover had the opposite effect, though. Everyone gave it a wide berth when I pulled to the curb, as if they’d learned vehicles like this one spelled trouble.
The night Gabriel and I had visited this neighborhood, he’d shown me where he used to live. I took a moment to look around me and find the right building. Then I climbed out of the SUV and locked it with the push of a button.
There were a lot of people loitering on the sidewalk, and they watched me closely as I walked up to the building. Because I really didn’t feel like being hassled, I took a page from Dante’s playbook and kept my game face on.
My only plan was to ring everyone’s buzzer in that building and ask if they knew Gabriel, in the hope of finding his ex-roommate. I never got that far though, because as soon as I reached the foot of the stairs, I spotted him curled up in the shadows beside the front door. He was barefoot and hugging his knees to his chest, and when I said his name, he looked up at me with a startled expression.
He said, “You shouldn’t be here.” His voice was thin and shaky.
I replied, as calmly as I could, “Come with me, Gabriel.”
He looked like a frightened child when he shook his head. “Just leave me.”
As much as I wanted to run up those half a dozen stairs and grab him in a hug, I felt like I’d spook him if I did that. So I said, just as calmly but with a little more insistence behind it, “Please get in the SUV. I’m not leaving without you.”
He hesitated for a few moments, but then he picked up his shoes and followed me. I unlocked the Land Rover and held the door open for him, and I was relieved when he climbed into the passenger seat.
I hurried around the front of the SUV, slid behind the wheel, and locked the doors behind me. Then I glanced at him as I started the engine. His hair was tangled, and there was a smudge of dirt on his face. He put the shoes in the footwell and wrapped his arms around himself, and I asked, “Are you hurt, Gabriel? Do we need to go to a hospital?”
“No. I’m okay.” It came out as a whisper.
I reminded him to fasten his seatbelt, then drove us out of that neighborhood and asked, “Do you want me to take you to Sawyer and Alastair’s apartment?”
“No.” His voice was so soft.
“Do you just want to drive around a little?” He nodded and turned his head to stare out the passenger window.
Something was very wrong, but I had no idea what it was. I drove aimlessly with the only plan of putting as much distance as possible between ourselves and our old neighborhood, and after a while he asked, “How did you know where to find me?”
