"I need to get connected to the server at District Escort Service. See if I can find anything useful there."
"I hate to sound like a broken record here, but how do we do that?"
"With this." Zach held up a small thumb drive. "I need someone to plug this into Christy's computer. I'll need about ten minutes to access and hack into it to get to the data we need."
"I'll do it," Gabriel said.
"No. I'll do it," Cate added.
"You're not putting yourself in harm's way again," Gabriel argued.
"It makes sense for me to be there. It doesn't make sense for you to be there. Plus there are cameras. I can meet with her about the Haney situation. Tell her I no longer want to be an escort. While I'm there, you can call her and insist she help you. She'll step out into the hall to take the call, and I can put the thumb drive in. Easy peasy."
"She has a point, Gabriel," Sully said.
"She's not trained for this," Gabriel stated.
"It's putting a thumb drive into a computer. I'm pretty sure it doesn’t take an MBA to handle that." Cate rolled her eyes and focused her attention back on Zach. Reaching out her hand, she motioned for him to give her the thumb drive. Zach placed it in her hand and turned back to the screen.
"I need their code names. Emails. Correspondence. Anything I can use to trace who they are and what they're after. There will be connections. Everyone has patterns they follow, whether in the phrases they use or their habits, and most find it hard to hide them."
"It's settled, then. Cate will plant the device. Gabriel will call to distract Christy," Sully said, then eyed Cate with a look that Gabriel had only seen him give Isabel and Scarlett. "And then get the hell out of there. Got it?"
"Yes, sir," Cate said, with a tiny smile on her lips. The affection radiating from Sully's eyes was surprising. But Gabriel guessed it shouldn't surprise him too much. After all, Cate had weaseled her way under his own skin in less time when he'd met her five years ago. And she had changed his life forever.
They all stood—Isabel embracing Cate, Ethan clapping Gabriel on the back, Sully scooping Cate up in a big bear hug, and Lucas standing back grinning at Gabriel.
"What's that grin for?" Gabriel asked him.
"You."
"What about me?"
"You're in love with her."
"Pfft."
"Don't deny it. You love her. So, the question is—what the hell are you going to do about it?"
Gabriel dragged both hands down his face. "I haven't figured that out yet, man."
"Well, don't wait too long. We like her," Lucas said, slapping him on the back and exiting the room.
Cate looked up from her conversation with Sully, and their eyes locked. Fear, frustration, and fury passed over her features, one emotion after another. The fear and frustration, Gabriel understood. The fury he did, too, but what he didn't understand was why that fury seemed to be directed at him.
Women.
Chapter 22
Cate slipped the thumb drive into the pocket of her lacy white shorts. She topped it with a sleeveless black shirt and black espadrille sandals that tied around the ankle. She slicked her hair back into a low ponytail and wrapped a tendril of hair around the band to hide it. Big hoop earrings rounded off the ensemble, and Cate took in her reflection.
She'd learned to like these outfits that Christy's stylist had picked out for her. Maybe not the ones that revealed so much skin, but she'd learned through this process that she could look professional and still look sexy. Goodbye pantsuits and frumpy skirts.
Cate descended the stairs and found Gabriel sitting on the couch with Legs curled up in his lap. She was still furious with him for constantly interfering, for not thinking she could handle herself. Ok, so last night, she'd clearly needed his help. She wasn't saying she wanted to do things alone, but she did want to feel as if she was a valued member of the team.
And maybe a little of her anger had to do with the conversation she knew was coming with him.
As if on cue, he said, "We need to talk."
"So, talk," she replied. Sure, it was a little snooty, but defense was sometimes a girl's best offense.
"Fine, I will." He motioned for her to sit down. Sighing, she rounded the couch and sat as far away from him as she could. He eyed the distance and smirked. Damn him.
"Why didn't you tell me that you suspected Tariq was involved?"
"Because I wasn't sure he was."
"That's not what I asked, Cate, and you know it."
She jumped off the couch and started pacing.
"Because I knew you'd take me off the case. You don't understand, Gabriel." She turned and pinned him with a stare. "He started targeting American women because of me. Me!" Wringing her hands in frustration, she turned away and walked towards the window. She peered between the blinds and saw that the black car was still outside. Great.
"You don't know that," he started.
"I do. But even if it's not true, so many girls have been taken. And I have to help them."
She felt him come up behind her and relaxed when his hands gripped her arms. His touch had a way of calming her, of soothing the emotions that warred inside her.
"It's not your fault. You know that, right?"
Turning in his arms, she tilted her face up to meet his gaze.
"In here"—she pointed to her temple—"I do. But in here"—she touched her chest where her heart would be—"it's another story."
Gabriel pulled her close, and she tucked her head under his chin. Wrapping her arms around him, she breathed out, the tension leaving her body as if she'd had a good stretch.
"I get it. I understand." His voice was soft and low.
"No, you don't get it!" She pulled away, the anger at Tariq for what he would have done to her, and what he was doing to other girls, raging through her body. That, and the anger at what Haney would have done to her last night if she hadn’t found a way to escape, fueled her determination to make them pay.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to know that someone wants to rape you? Do you even understand what it's like to feel hopeless—knowing that someone will do what they want with you and there's nothing you can do about it?"
Gabriel jerked back as if he'd been struck. Emotions that Cate didn't understand crossed his face, one after another.
"You don't know what you're talking about!" He took a step towards her.
She didn't back down. "I absolutely know what I'm talking about. Do you know what that man would have done to me last night, Gabriel? Do you know what he wanted to do? What Tariq would have done if you hadn't found me?" She took another step towards him, wanting him to see clearly how badly she wanted Tariq to pay.
"Do you have any idea how that would change someone? Any clue how much damage would be done?"
"Yes! I do!"
"You can't possibly understand—"
"I understand because it happened to me!" he yelled, his face mottled red with anger, his breathing coming out in quick bursts. His fists were clenched at his sides, and his eyes were shiny with what Cate assumed were unshed tears.
She reared back. Confusion and questions were trying to gain purchase in her brain.
"What?"
"I understand, Cate, because it happened to me."
Nausea curled in her belly like a snake waiting for the right moment to strike. She swallowed hard.
"I don't understand. What happened to you?"
"Sit."
Cate sat, her heart pounding in her chest. Gabriel turned away, facing the fireplace.
"I was ten years old. My mother was a whore. I don't mean that in a derogatory way so much as the actual truth. She slept with men in exchange for drugs, alcohol, and food."
Cate had no idea what it was like to have a mother like that. Her father had worked hard to provide for them, and her mother had been a stay-at-home mom, always doting on her and helping her with her schoolwork. What would it have been like to have had a mom like Gabriel’s?
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"One night, one of the men she'd been sleeping with decided he wanted me. He tried to force himself on me. I fought him, and he got angry and left my mom, resulting in the worst night of my life."
He turned back to face her. "So yeah, Cate. I get the hopelessness and the anger."
"I’m sorry, Gabriel. I didn’t know." She looked down, ashamed of her assumption and sorry for bringing it up. Her mind flitted to the encounter with the man and Gabriel at the party the night before. Pieces of the puzzle started to fit together, and she understood the haunted look she’d seen on his face.
Gabriel turned away again as he continued. "Our bread and butter had just walked out the door, and my mother was furious. She was always resentful of having to take care of me. Told me I wasn't worth it. That no one could ever love me."
Gabriel turned to her then, the tortured look on his face contorting his features. A sense of foreboding came over Cate. Something terrible had happened to him. Something she couldn’t even fathom and wasn’t sure she even wanted to know anymore.
"Filled with rage and as high as a kite, she pounded me with her fists. Over and over, as I struggled to get away, but I was disoriented from the blows. She jumped on me, squeezing my throat until my vision blurred. Desperate to get away, I grabbed an ashtray off the coffee table and hit her in the head with it to keep her from choking the life out of me. She died instantly."
Cate gasped. She’d known that what Gabriel had gone through was bad. She hadn’t realized how bad.
"Gabriel, you were ten years old. You didn't mean to kill her. It was an accident," she tried, hoping that she could make him see reason.
He shook his head, as if to shake off the memories.
"What happened doesn't change who you are." She stood, laying her hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off.
"Of course it changes who I am. My mother told me every day of my life that I wasn't worthy of love or affection. She was right, and I proved it by killing her to save my own life."
"It was an accident—" Cate argued.
"Doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm damaged."
"I can help you," she begged. "Isabel, she could help—"
"I'm beyond help, Cate. And if you knew what was good for you, you'd stay far away from me."
With those words, Gabriel walked out the door. Cate sat down heavily on the couch, sickness, despair, and compassion struggling for purchase in her mind. Gabriel was wrong. Everyone was worthy of love. Especially him.
Chapter 23
Gabriel stormed out to his car, memories of that night flooding his mind. He tried to push them away. Tried not to deal with them. But they wouldn't leave him.
He drove to the park facing the Arlington Memorial Bridge, and sat at a picnic table on the river shore. With his head in his hands, he let his mind wander to that night. The night that Gabriel's innocence and hope had died, leaving a cynical shell of a man in its place.
"Your first client will be here any minute, boy. Get in that room, and don't come out. I'll send him in when he gets here."
“Him?” Gabriel thought. Bile climbed up the back of his throat until finally, he couldn't hold it back anymore. He ran to the toilet, throwing up what little he had left in his stomach.
He sat there on the bathroom floor, memories of his training session with Jean playing through his mind. He hadn't wanted to learn. Hadn't wanted to participate—but she'd forced him.
Food had been scarce at Jean's apartment. Just as scarce as it had been at his mom's. The police had come and questioned Jean about his mother's death. She'd instructed him to tell them that an intruder had tried to kill them both. With the bruising around his neck and his age, the police had no reason not to believe him. They'd given a false description of the intruder, and Jean had been granted temporary guardianship of him, a nice little stipend each month her reward.
Of course, Gabriel never saw any of that money.
Hopelessness was a daily companion to Gabriel. But never had it been so close as when he heard the bedroom door open and then close.
Fear made every hair on the back of his neck stand at attention. Gabriel thought he might get sick again.
He heard the man unbuckle his belt, the clinking of the metal a sound Gabriel would despise for the rest of his life. He heard the whooshing of the fabric as his pants hit the floor. And then the man stood in the doorway to the tiny bathroom where Gabriel sat on the floor.
And that's when hopelessness turned into desperation. A desperation so great that Gabriel resigned himself to this fate.
The man that stood there was the same man that had tried to rape him just a couple of weeks earlier. The man who'd caused his mother to try to kill him, ending in her own death at his hands. The man who'd taken away what little Gabriel had and left him with this life that was far worse.
A sinister grin split the man's face as he jerked Gabriel up by the arm, dragging him to the bed.
The man beat him before he raped him. Beat him so badly, Gabriel didn't actually remember much of what happened after he was lifted off the bathroom floor. For that, he was grateful.
The days went by in a blur, one day fading into the next. His injuries healed, and when he was strong enough, he left Jean's place and never looked back.
Gabriel sucked in air as if his lungs had stopped working during his journey down memory lane. He'd run into Sully the night he had run away from Jean's apartment. Sully had invited him to stay with him for a few days. Not wanting to be a burden, Gabriel had floated from house to house, always leaving more than he'd taken.
It was strange how the life he had lived then was so different from the one he lived now. He had more than enough food, money, and clothes. He had lodging and friends. And yet, his life still seemed empty somehow.
Gabriel realized that it felt less empty when he was with Cate. She made him feel like he deserved love, happiness, and a life free from evil. She made him hope. And that hope was a scary thing.
What if she woke up one day and realized he wasn't worth it? That she was too good for him? What if she found someone better? More deserving?
He couldn't live with that. It's why he'd walked away five years ago. Deep down, he'd known. Known she would never have left without saying goodbye if she'd had a choice. But he'd been too scared to face his demons.
Could he face them now? For her? He wanted to.
Taking his phone from his pocket, he dialed Isabel.
"Hey, Izz. I need a favor," he said.
"I thought you'd never ask." He could hear the smile of sincerity in her voice. "Meet me at the warehouse in fifteen minutes. We'll use my office."
He clicked the phone off and went back to Carlotta, putting her into gear and tearing off towards home.
And for once, he felt something like hope take root and the seeds of joy sprout and stretch towards the sun.
* * * *
Christy Knox didn't seem happy to see Cate when she walked into her office and sat down on the cushy, zebra print chair. Cate had kept her phone off since last night and had only switched it on long enough to ask Christy for a meeting. When she had, she'd seen that she had twenty missed calls from a blocked number.
Several text messages threatened retribution for Cate’s having run out on Haney last night, as well as presenting desperate attempts to get her to see reason. Between the threats and the fake niceties, Cate felt it was safe to say that Andrew Haney had lost his marbles.
It was certain that Christy had received an earful as well, if the pinched expression on her face was anything to go by.
"I need to resign," Cate started.
Christy only lifted one eyebrow and then sat back in her chair, steepling her fingers in front of her face.
Cate continued. "See, I don't have what it takes for this kind of position. I thought I could do it, but I just can't."
"Cut the crap, Cate."
Cate's own eyebrows rose. Christy had used her real name. Not Katelyn. Cate.
"I'm no
t an idiot. Anyone can look up your picture on Google. Cate Bradshaw, journalist extraordinaire. I mean, really, did you think that giving the fake name of Katelyn would throw me off the scent?"
Cate felt like an idiot. She'd just hoped that no one would care enough to look too deeply. Pretty stupid of her.
"I just didn't think—"
"Precisely. You didn't think. And you underestimated the people you'd be working with." Christy stood and crossed in front of her desk.
"I accept your resignation; however, I don't think it's going to be so easy with Andrew Haney. His obsession has become alarming. I suggest you get some help."
Cate couldn't believe Christy was helping her—giving her advice that might lose her a client. The shock must have been evident on her face, because Christy said, "I’m not a monster, Cate. I always look after the well-being of my girls, even ones that haven't been completely honest with me." She smiled, and guilt ate at Cate. She hadn't thought through how her actions might impact someone else.
"Thanks, I appreciate the warning." Christy nodded and stood to go back to her seat when her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID, then eyed Cate over the phone.
"Gabe. To what do I owe the pleasure?" That quirky eyebrow went up again, and Cate knew that Christy had her suspicions about Cate’s relationship with Gabriel as well.
"I see. Yes, well I—no. No, just a moment, let me step outside." She put her hand over the phone and said to Cate, "I'll be right back."
Christy closed her office door, and Cate sprang into action. She rounded the desk and looked for the computer tower. There was none. The edgy computer was an all-in-one deal, and Cate searched for the USB port.
She spotted several ports on the back of the computer and stuck the thumb drive into it. It stuck out like a sore thumb—pun intended. As she stepped away from the computer, she knocked into the mouse, making the screen come to life.
A message box popped up on the screen, and Cate got her cell phone out to call Zach.
"You did good," he answered.
"It's in. But it's that all-in-one kind of deal, so the thumb drive is more prominent than I thought it would be."
Castle Investigations Box Set Page 45
