Caz must have felt the same. He gave her a knife and dug out one of his old arm sheaths from when he was a skinny teenager.
Watching her buckle on weapons had given Gabe an icy chill in his gut.
He hated how much danger she was in. She was…everything, and he’d go through anyone or anything that would hurt her. He felt the same about his brothers, but this was even more. She wasn’t a hotshot ex-military combat vet; she was a sweet, far-too-fucking-innocent, librarian.
And he loved her more than he loved living.
It would’ve been good to know exactly who they would face. Dennison said Spyros might or might not come with a team.
Gabe frowned. Once upon a time, he’d been on a SEAL team. They’d been as tight as men sharing blood and battle could be, but over the years, they’d scattered. It would’ve been good to have them at his back.
Then again, he now had his very first team—his brothers. His mood lifted. Considering the end of the parking lot fight, he knew Caz’s skills hadn’t declined.
If the town wouldn’t help, Gabe and his brothers would manage.
As Gabe walked over to the reception desk, Regina scowled and asked him, “What’s the world coming to when a murderer gets free like that?”
Ah, Audrey had told Regina about Spyros.
“I agree.” As a thought occurred to him, Gabe’s jaw tightened. Silently, he tucked an arm around Audrey and motioned for Regina to walk with them to the town meeting room.
Audrey glanced up. “You look even unhappier than earlier.”
“Eh, I was thinking Spyros and I have more in common than is comfortable.” Spyros worked on a team, much as Gabe had, and probably took pride in doing a good job. “He took money to kill people, and when I worked for the mercs, so did I.”
She gave him an incredulous look. “You took money to kill innocent women?”
“No.”
“Would you have?”
“No.” Not for all the money in the world.
“Spyros lacks any moral code. You have a very strong one. Being a mercenary wasn’t a good fit for you.” She went up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
Well. His mood lightened. Goldilocks was right. There were lines he wouldn’t cross.
Smiling, he kissed the top of Audrey’s head. She certainly had a talent for putting things into perspective.
As they walked into the meeting—late—he saw the place was packed, again. At the front, Dante was announcing that Baumer had been dismissed.
“That seems very high-handed of Chief MacNair.” His deep-set eyes flashing with anger, Parrish leaned forward, looking at the townspeople. “We’ve perhaps given an Outsider too much control over our town. What does a police officer from the Lower 48 know about Alaska and how we operate here?
“Oh, he knows.” Guzman snorted. “He can also track better than anyone I’ve ever met.”
Chevy rose, moving stiffly. “He saved my son. I’d say he knows a damn lot.”
“Knows how to deal with moose,” another yelled.
Dante’s wheezing laugh stilled the comments. “Gabe an Outsider? Bullpucky. He grew up in a dry cabin down by Seward. His father was a Green Beret buddy of mine. Our chief here was a Navy SEAL—yeah, served our country—and an Anchorage cop.”
A SEAL…Anchorage…dry cabin? Whispers ran around the room.
Jesus. Who knew the whiskered old man was so chatty. Gabe frowned at Dante.
Parrish scowled. “He worked in Los Angeles.”
Unfazed, Dante grinned. “For a bit. He fell for an Outsider woman who dragged him to the States to work. But now we got him back home, and we’re not going to let him go again.”
The cheers and hoots of agreement made Gabe freeze. Cheers?
Abandoning the Outsider argument, Parrish pointed to Gabe and shouted, “You fired Officer Baumer for no reason.”
It was time to lay some cards on the table. “You mean I fired your boy, Mr. Parrish?” Not reverend because he was sure no man of God.
Parrish stiffened. “Officer Baumer isn’t one of mine.”
“He lives in your compound. He’s yours.”
The man’s mouth compressed.
“Let me show you the reason he was fired.” Gabe nodded to Uriah who’d set up equipment to project the video on the white wall behind the council members. “For crime prevention, security cameras were installed in high-risk areas. Since medical clinics are high risk, there’s a camera in the parking lot here, behind our municipal building.”
Parrish frowned and the color drained from his face.
“Earl Baumer was fired because of this…” Gabe waved at Uriah to start the video.
The room went silent as the video showed Baumer and four other men crossing the parking lot. Their faces were easily identifiable…as were the weapons they carried. They all put on their ski masks. When Baumer pulled brass knuckles from his pocket, gasps ran through the room.
As the five men flattened themselves against the wall, Uriah said loudly. “The fools were there a long time. Seems they didn’t realize how many hours a day our chief puts in.” He fast-forwarded.
The time of day showed on the screen as Gabe stepped out of the building. The man with the club swung. Gabe dove forward—and the brawl began.
The video stopped. Voices protested.
“It gets violent,” Uriah said, “and we have minors in the room. After the meeting, I’ll play it for any adult who wants to see the rest.”
The objections died.
A man yelled, “Besides Baumer, at least two of those bastards are in the PZs. Parrish, did you sic them on our chief?”
Our chief. Seems he had been claimed by the town. The warmth around Gabe’s heart expanded.
Parrish was busy denying everything, doing damage control, spinning for all he was worth. Asshole. This’d shut him up for now, but the fight wasn’t over. Parrish had too much invested in the area to leave.
The noise increased. People were getting too riled up.
Gabe moved to the center of the room. Dammit, he wished Parrish and his PZ people weren’t present—but they were, and this was the only chance Gabe had to reach almost everyone in town. “I have a request that’s a bit unusual.”
He waited as the noise died down, then Tucker shouted from the back, “Let’s hear it, MacNair.”
Mentally, Gabe crossed his fingers for luck. He pointed to Audrey who sat in the back beside Regina. “Most of you know our librarian. When she arrived, she told us her name was Julie because she was hiding from a Chicago murderer by the name of Spyros.”
Hearing her name, she jerked straight.
“You’ve seen her trying to make a living, working in Dante’s grocery, at Bull’s Moose, and now running our library.”
The buzz of approval made him smile.
“When they caught Spyros, she told a lot of us the story, and that her real name is Audrey. However, last night, Spyros escaped. You might have seen it on the news?”
Those that had caught the story began sharing it.
Gabe waited for the racket to die down. “Audrey was the one who, when fighting for her life, deprived him of that eye.”
Gasps.
The man closest to him muttered, “She’s tougher’n she looks.”
Gabe grinned at the variations on “Way to go, girl!” Some of those old sourdoughs—male and female—were damned bloodthirsty.
“The FBI figures Spyros and his team will come after Audrey.” Gabe hated the way Audrey’s face paled. “I’d like you all to watch for them. I don’t want heroics. These are skilled hitmen, and they’ll kill anyone in their way. What I’m asking is that you keep your eyes open.
“How will we know?” Felix called. “The town is full of fishermen.”
It was salmon season, dammit. “True. But these men are predators. And one man is missing an eye. If you get an off feeling, call the line to the station direct, no matter what time. It’ll get relayed to me.”
Uriah tapped a key on
the laptop, and the number for the station came up on the projection.
Just about every person in the room pulled out a phone or pen and paper to record the number.
Gabe stared. Swallowed. Then had to clear his throat. “That’s it. Thank you all.”
After Mayor Lillian ended the meeting, Gabe grabbed Audrey as she was leaving.
Her eyes narrowed.
He kissed away her cute frowny-pout and pulled her close. “Sorry, sweetheart. I know you don’t like being the center of attention.”
Before she could speak, Guzman stepped in front of them. “But she’s such a pretty center of attention.” He gave Gabe a level look. “Tucker and I’ll stay close to town for a while. Watching. You’ve got back-up if you need it.”
Gabe shook his hand.
Several more people came forward to say essentially the same thing, including every member of the search team who’d looked for Chevy’s kid.
By God, he liked this town.
Maybe, maybe together they could keep Audrey safe.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
At Lillian’s house, as Audrey climbed out of Gabe’s car, she still couldn’t get her mind around the townspeople’s response.
Last night, Rescue had volunteered to keep Audrey safe, and people kept repeating the intention today.
Earlier, in the coffee shop, a man patted his holstered pistol and said he was carrying today in case those bastards came after her. He assured her he was ready to “perforate” them. Two men and a woman had laughed in agreement and stood to show her their weapons.
She’d come very close to bursting into tears.
In Chicago, fleeing for her life, she’d had no one to turn to.
In Rescue, all day, people had offered her sanctuary with variations of: Those bastards will never find you at my place; it’s off the road. Come and stay with me.
God.
The feelings inside her were so big, so overwhelming, she had no way to express them.
Gabe felt the same way about the town’s response. As they walked up the sidewalk to Lillian’s, she took his hand. He squeezed her fingers with a smile.
How could she feel so frightened…and so blessed?
He’d held her hand when she called Dennison to say she wanted to be bait. After a long pause, the Special Agent had reluctantly agreed. Then he’d shared that the Chicago police hotline had received reports of Spyros and his men at a gas station. The hitman hadn’t headed for Alaska yet.
The sense of relief was overwhelming.
Nonetheless, Gabe had still insisted on giving her guards. Just in case. Because he loved her.
How could she argue when he said stuff like that?
Gabe bent to give her a long, lingering kiss. He followed the sweetness with a stern look. “Call me when you’re ready to leave.”
She wouldn’t do anything to add to the worry in his expression, so she smiled up at him. “Yes, Mister Bossy Chief. I’ll be good.”
Her reward was the slight relaxing of his jaw. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
“I’ll keep her safe, Gabriel.” Lillian stood in the doorway.
Gabe’s kisses were awfully potent. Audrey hadn’t even heard the door open.
Gabe smiled slightly. “Thank you, Lillian.”
As he headed back to his car, Audrey noticed two men leaning against a parked pickup.
Her muscular guards nodded at Gabe, then smiled at her and Lillian.
“Come, child.” Lillian led her through the house to the back. “There’s gardening to be done.”
Good. She needed something to occupy her hands. “I know. It seems wrong to have fun while those men are stuck out there, just wasting their time.”
“Protecting you is not a waste of time.” Lillian positioned a folding chair next to the garden cart beside the row of carrots and sat down. “Let me teach you the fine art of thinning—also known as the slaughter of innocent seedlings.”
Even as Audrey laughed, a tremor ran down her spine.
Kneeling in a garden row an hour later, Audrey sang along with Lillian as she harvested lettuce and beets. The song by Hobo Jim—and what a name—was a melancholy ballad about a fisherman who hadn’t returned to his woman.
The woman was probably imaginary. Even so, the sad tune had Audrey choking up. Because she couldn’t bear it if something happened to Gabe.
Romance books were all about the wonders of falling in love, the sex, even the fighting. Didn’t they ever mention how a woman could fold at just the thought of losing the new center of her universe?
Gabe was her center.
As Lillian took up a haunting descant to the melody, and the song turned even more sorrowful, Audrey blinked back tears.
Catching her friend’s worried look, she tried to smile. What had Lillian done when her husband died? How had she survived?
As the sun disappeared under encroaching clouds, the world grew darker. Colder. Audrey couldn’t take it. “It’s starting to sprinkle. Let’s get everything inside, and go warm up.”
“Good idea.” A man’s voice made Audrey scramble to her feet.
Earl Baumer stood in the open garden gate.
Audrey gasped. “What are you doing here?”
“Came for you.” He lunged at her.
No time to draw her weapons. Dodging, she stuck out a foot and tripped him, then sprinted toward the side of the house. Her guards were in front.
She’d reached the corner when she heard, “Stop or I’ll kill her.”
His yell made Audrey look over her shoulder.
No.
She skidded to a halt and grabbed a tree to catch her balance.
Earl had Lillian pinned against him, her back to his chest. One hand gripped her white hair as he held a knife to her fragile neck.
“Earl Baumer, you are a sodden-witted bull’s pizzle.” Lillian’s face was tight with pain. She looked at Audrey. “Run, child, you—”
Her voice cut off as Earl dug in the point of the knife. A thin trickle of red ran down her white neck.
“You might get away, Audrey, but the old lady’ll be dead.” Earl’s voice was ragged and strained. His reactions were…unpredictable, and Audrey’s nerves tensed.
He stared at her. “Can you live with that, slut?”
Everything in her screamed run.
Lillian’s mouth formed the word. Go.
Audrey hesitated, fear raising the hairs on her nape. Yet she couldn’t survive if she ran and Lillian was hurt. “I’ll go with you.”
“Come here.”
No choice. Hands in fists, Audrey crossed the yard back to the garden.
With a shout of victory, Earl grabbed her and shoved Lillian away.
The older woman staggered and tripped over her chair. Her head hit the wooden garden cart with a ghastly thump.
She fell, limp.
“No!” Audrey yanked Caz’s knife from the arm sheath. She slashed at Earl’s restraining hand, cutting his wrist.
With a shout of pain, he let go—and then punched her arm so hard that her fingers went numb. The knife dropped.
Before she could jump away, he backhanded her. Pain exploded in her face, and she reeled back, stopped from falling when he grabbed her shirt. Blackness flickered at the edge of her vision
“Stupid slut.” As she struggled, he yanked her arms behind her back and cuffed her. Gripping her shirtfront, he dragged her to the front of the house.
Tears streaming from her eyes, she looked frantically for the two men who’d volunteered to watch over her.
No one stood at the pickup. Audrey’s breath froze in her lungs.
“Oooh, did the bitch lose her guards?” Earl’s mocking voice made her freeze.
“What did you do to them?”
“Heh. Stupid bastards were watching for a guy with an eye patch, not me.” He grinned. “I went over to talk—and then tasered them. They’re tied up in the truck bed. It’s good the old biddy lives on such a quiet street.”
Her brea
thing restarted. The men were alive.
Oh, God, Lillian, are you all right?
Earl yanked her over to a big SUV.
You won’t get away with this. She didn’t say the words because he might. How could she escape? Her knife was gone. She couldn’t reach the pistol strapped to her ankle.
Opening the sliding side door, he started to shove her in.
Edging sideways, she braced a shoulder against the doorframe and kicked him violently between the legs.
With a high whining scream, he dropped to his knees, holding his crotch.
Yes!
Someone inside the SUV grabbed her handcuffs and the back of her T-shirt.
Screaming and struggling frantically, she was dragged backward, scraping her shoulders and her head on the doorframe. She fell onto her back, landing painfully on her handcuffed arms.
A boot came down on her belly hard enough to knock the wind from her.
“Look at this. Spyros is gonna be in a better mood now.”
Heart hammering, Audrey stared up at the man who sat above her.
Buzz-cut blond hair, busted nose, thick New York accent. He’d been with Spyros in her apartment.
The fired police officer hadn’t grabbed her just to get revenge on Gabe. Earl was working with Spyros.
Oh, God.
“But Spyros is in Chicago. He was seen there.” The words burst out in a stupidly futile protest. As if her wishing could make it true.
The New Yorker’s ugly grin held open menace. “Not so, cunt. He boarded a private jet a half hour after we got him loose. The people who called the hotline about spotting us at a gas station? They got paid really well.”
Spyros was here. Here.
A boulder of fear weighed down her chest as she fought to inhale.
“You can’t kill her in my ride.” After wrapping a cloth handkerchief around his slashed wrist, Earl jumped into the driver’s seat. “I don’t want any of her blood splashed around in here.”
“Don’t worry. The boss wants to take his time.” The New Yorker dug the heel of his boot into Audrey’s stomach, and a whine of pain broke from her. “He’s gonna leave her body—what’s left of it—someplace nice and public in Chicago.”
Not a Hero Page 28
