by Cerys du Lys
Gabby glanced up at him and rolled her eyes, giving Butch’s leash a tug, urging him to keep up with them. “Funny you seemed all right last night… and again this morning.”
“It’s all about motivation, baby.” He gave her ass a quick slap, smiling when she yelped and scurried away from him. Despite his joking and dismissive attitude he was still hurting, just not as badly as the previous day. Although he hadn’t been joking when he said it was a matter of motivation. It was amazing what a man could do when his cock took over.
There was a pull on his leash that stopped him. Turning, he groaned inwardly as he watched Oscar taking a gigantic shit. With reluctance he pulled the doggie poop bags from his jeans pocket and waited for Oscar to finish.
“Do you want me to get it for you?”
He glanced over at Gabriella who was grinning up at him, amused by his disgust.
“No… I’m fine. I can get my own dog’s shit. Thanks though.”
“It’s just that you’re looking a little…”
“I’m fine. I can do it.” Trying to keep the disgusted look from his face he gave her one last look before stepping forward and retrieving the steaming pile of shit. Oh my God. His stomach turned knowing he had a pile of shit in his hand. And the smell. He’d never smelled something so heinous, even Oscar’s farts didn’t compare with it.
“No more hamburger for you buddy,” he grumbled as he deposited the bag into a garbage can.
“You’ve never cleaned after a dog before have you?”
He turned back to her as he pulled a disinfectant wipe from his pocket, opened the packet and thoroughly wiped his hands with the wet wipe. “Never had a dog before, remember.”
Her smile widened, causing him to return her grin. “Germaphobe.”
He chuckled as he grabbed her hand and they continued on toward the beach. “I’ll have you know there isn’t anything wrong with cleanliness and an aversion to feces.”
As they approached the beach, her co-worker Tonya glanced up from the grill and gave them a tight smile. Tonya’s eyes paused on Colin an extra long moment, glaring at him.
“She’s giving me the stink-eye.”
“Huh?” Gabriella’s nose crinkled up as she looked at him. “What’s the stink-eye?”
“You know. The stink-eye. Like she’d love to rip off my balls and feed them to that dog-horse that I assume is hers.”
“Now you’re being silly and I’ll have you know her dog is a great dane, named Prince.”
“What did I ever do to her to make her hate me anyhow?”
“She doesn’t hate you.” Gabriella gave his hand a squeeze. “She’s just protective of me and she doesn’t know you.”
Or she senses I’m not all I seem, he mused. Yeah, he suspected that that was more like it. She didn’t like him the first day they’d met and he knew she hadn’t changed her mind.
“Once she gets to you know like I do, she’ll come around.” His eyes caught hers and he saw it – love. Her blue eyes shone so brightly with affection it nearly left him winded. He’d been sensing it lately – suspected it, but it was undeniable now. He didn’t know how he felt about her affection. He never allowed himself to be put in a position where a woman would come to the point of looking at him the way she was, mostly because he wasn’t even sure he could reciprocate. Gabriella was a good woman, she deserved someone who could love her back, not a man who had no idea how to love. Sure he had family that he held affection for, but it was a different sort of feeling.
It won’t be long before she expects you to feel it, a voice in the back of his mind informed him, and when you can’t feel it back she’ll be hurt and you’ll lose her.
Fuck, what’s wrong with me… She’s such a good woman. She was everything he could have ever dreamed of having in a woman: beautiful, smart, caring, witty. She was perfect. He felt something for her; devotion… admiration… but love?
And she deserves a hell of a lot better than a killer for a husband.
“About time you two showed up. We’ve got a few hundred hungry people and dogs and only myself and Kent manning the grills.” Tonya’s scolding broke into his thoughts.
“Sorry,” Gabriella quickly glanced up at Colin, her face flushing slightly. “We had a busy morning.”
Tonya’s eyes narrowed at she looked up at Colin. “Yeah, I bet.” She jerked her head toward the grill. “Come on. Let’s get these hot dogs cooked.”
Colin released her hand as they made their way to the grills. Once he had Oscar and Butch secured to a bike rack, he was about to grab some prongs when his phone began to ring. He hesitated, considering not answering. Thinking twice, he stepped away from the grill, pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked down at the display. It read Felicity.
He groaned inwardly when he looked up to see Tonya and Gabriella staring at him.
“I’m sorry. I gotta take this.” He turned his back and started to walk away, faintly hearing Tonya make a wisecrack about him pissing off before doing any real work.
With a sigh, he pressed the answer button. “Yeah.”
“Colin. It’s Felicity.”
“What do you want?”
“You gotta meet me, now. We got one of the guys who ambushed you. We need you here for the interrogation.”
“Take care of him without me. I’m busy.”
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. “It’s the one who stabbed you.”
The darkness within him began to stir, his heart rate accelerating. He wanted this guy. He wanted to see the life draining from him at his hand.
He looked back over his shoulder at Gabriella. The wind had picked up and her golden hair was whipping wildly around her head. Sensing him watching her, she turned her head and looked over at him, a wide smile spreading across her lips as she motioned for him to get back there.
Colin returned her smile.
“Come on, Colin. If we can get him to break before he dies it could blow open the case. He could finally get us Dominik once and for all.”
She’d said the magic words. Dominik… Dominik was his kill, the kill he’d been craving for months.
He glanced back over at Gabriella, who had now switched her focus back to the grill, and made his decision.
~*~*~*~*~
“There’s something off about him Gab, I know it,” Tonya insisted.
Gabriella sighed. “He can be a little anal about tidiness and work seems to be his main focus, but he’s a CIA agent. I think they’re all like that.”
Tonya threw the remainder of her hot dog to Prince and gave her head a shake. “It’s not that… it’s… I get an odd feeling about him.”
Anger began to fill her. Why couldn’t Tonya just be happy for her?
“Oh my God!”
Gabby’s brow furrowed. “What?”
“You’re in love with him…”
Her cheeks grew warm and she was sure they were turning a bright shade of crimson. “I… Ummm.” She speared a piece of lettuce from her Caesar salad with her fork and thrust it into her mouth, chewing violently, avoiding Tonya’s stare.
“Ohhhhh Gabby… There’s something not right with him. He’s got too many secrets. He’s not good enough for you. For all you know he’s screwing his partner behind your back.”
Swallowing her mouthful, she raised her eyes and glared up at her friend. How dare Tonya insinuate… “What if I do love him? He’s a good man Tonya, if you can’t see it, or if you’re jealous because I’m happy with an amazing man while your marriage is on the rocks and your husband is fucking around on you, it isn’t my fault.”
Tonya jerked back on her side of the picnic table as if she’d been slapped, but said nothing.
Dammit! As soon as the words came from her mouth she wished she could take them back. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. I’m so sorry, Tonya.” She reached out to touch her friend’s hand, but Tonya stood, grabbing her plate.
“Forget about it,” Tonya snapped. “I’m going to ge
t back to work.”
Damn and double damn. Me and my big mouth.
~*~*~*~*~
Colin was due back tonight, in a few hours actually, and Gabriella couldn’t be happier. When he left at the beach fundraiser, he’d said he was only going to be a few hours. That had been three days ago. But true to his word, he called every day.
The day after the fundraiser, she’d made up with Tonya, but their relationship was still a little rocky. They both pretended nothing was different, but she could tell her words still stung Tonya, and she wished with all her heart she’d be able to take them back – but she couldn’t. All she could do now was wait for Tonya to forgive her so they could move on.
But until that time… she had Colin.
Opening the front door of his house, she encountered something unusual – Oscar wasn’t there to greet her. Anticipating she’d be stopping by Colin’s after work, she’d dropped Butch at Colin’s house that morning. Butch didn’t come to greet her either. What the hell? Even when Oscar was outside, as soon as the front door was opened he’d come in to investigate.
Concerned, Gabriella began to search the house. The bottom floor turned up empty. As she climbed the stairs to the second floor, she began to hear a faint scratching sound. Topping the stairs, she discovered the scratching was coming from Colin’s bedroom.
“Butch? Oscar?” she called out as she made her way to the bedroom door, which was slightly ajar. Pushing the door open fully she gasped when her eyes set sight on the dogs. Butch was digging at the floor in the closet while Oscar sat to the side watching.
“Holy shit!” She rushed across the room, grabbed Butch’s black studded collar and pulled him away from the closet. The dog protested, but eventually relented.
Before her was a gigantic hole in the floor. It would have taken Butch all day of digging at the wooden floor, but he’d managed to break through. Maybe he smelt food? She didn’t know; something caught his attention though. She leaned closer to the hole to see that it wasn’t actually the floor, but a door he’d torn apart – a door in the floor that was the opening to a secret compartment.
Kneeling down on the floor, she pried what remained of the door up and peered in. Inside were a couple of leather rolls – one big, one small – a metal box, a laptop computer and a large metal case.
Stop. Don’t look anymore. Close the closet door and step away, a voice in the back of her mind warned. She paused. What was in the compartment was hidden for a reason. She wasn’t supposed to see it, but her curiosity beat her conscience in the battle of wills as she reached in the hole and pulled the metal box out first.
Unhooking the latch, she pushed open the top to see an array of passports from various countries. Gabriella frowned as she grabbed the one marked Italy and flipped it open. The picture in the passport was of Colin, but the name read Gabriel Rozzo. Grabbing the passport marked France she slipped it open; again the picture was of him, but not his name. The same went for the other three passports – his picture, not his name.
Placing the passports back in the box, she picked a thick yellow envelope from the box, one of five envelopes. Opening it, she discovered several thick bundles of American $100 bills. Tens of thousands of dollars. More money than she’d ever seen in her life. Her frown deepened as she placed the envelope back into the box and closed the box.
Next she grabbed the larger case. It was heavy. Giving it a solid yank she pulled it up and placed it on the floor in front of her. She had no idea why, but as she unlatched the case her hands began to shake slightly. Her blue eyes widened as she stared down upon an array of guns. Six guns in total, including ammunition, scopes and silencers.
She fingered the cold metal of the silencer. She’d never seen a gun this close before and certainly never touched one. What was with scopes and silencers? What in the hell did he need those for? The only time she’d ever seen them used were in movies, with spies and assassins.
She gulped down the lump forming in her throat. Things were beginning to become clear. But they couldn’t be. Surely she was mistaken. All agents got kits like this, right? She closed the case and placed it beside her. Reaching back into the hole she grabbed the smaller of the two leather rolls. Quickly unrolling it she was confronted with dozens of syringes and vials of… she glanced at the writing on the side, but the words made no sense to her.
What in the fuck does he need this for?
Placing the leather roll of syringes and vials on top of the gun case, she grabbed the second leather roll. This one was heavy and she heard the clang of metal as she lifted it from its hiding place. Undoing the flap she slowly unrolled it, an ominous feeling overwhelming her as she did so.
She started to become sick to her stomach as knife upon knife came into her view. Knives of all sizes, shapes and she assumed purposes. Tears stung her eyes. What was Colin using these for? Did he use these? On people? Who could be so heinous that they’d deserve… she looked over at the roll of mysterious vials of God knew what and back at the knives.
What was he into? Did he… torture people? She shook her head violently, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. No… absolutely not. Colin wouldn’t do that. Not Colin. Not the man she loved. There had to be a reasonable explanation for all this... Had to…
Chapter 16
“You weren’t supposed to see those.”
Gabriella yelped at the sound of Colin’s voice and leapt to her feet, the roll of knives dropping to the floor. She spun around to see him standing in the doorway, holding a bouquet of roses for her. He seemed larger than the last time she’d seem him, more ominous, despite the flowers. Or maybe it was the items she’d discovered that were altering her view of him. She didn’t know.
She licked her lower lip, words at a loss for her as she stood staring at him, her body trembling. He took a couple of steps into the room and she took a couple of steps back, keeping her distance from him. Noticing her reluctance to allow him to come closer, he stopped progressing toward her.
“We need to talk.”
Gabriella looked down at her feet, at what she’d discovered. “I…I… ummmm. How? What? I don’t…”
“I won’t hurt you, Gabby. Please don’t be scared.”
“I’m not.” Liar, a voice in the back of her mind screamed.
“I’m not sure what you’re thinking right now, but let me explain before you jump to any conclusions.”
“I’m not even sure what I’m thinking.” She looked down at the items once again. “What is this stuff?”
He took a few more steps toward her, and she forced herself to keep her ground. He was Colin – her Colin. He wouldn’t hurt her. Just as he said, it was a misunderstanding. One he’d straighten out.
“It’s for… work.” He reached out and placed his hands on her upper arms, his gaze locking with hers.
A slight, nervous sound came from her, which she wasn’t sure was a laugh or not. “So it’s your CIA torture starter kit,” she joked, but when his dark eyes became darker she knew she’d hit a nerve. Or the truth.
“That –” he groaned. Releasing her shoulders, he took her hand and led her over to the bed. Gabriella noticed Butch had no interest in the chaos he started, but instead flopped onto the floor and stretched out.
Normally when Colin took her hand it made her feel secure, but not today. “You’ve killed people?”
He nodded.
“And you’ve used that stuff... on people?”
He frowned and with hesitation nodded.
She fought to keep from pulling away from him. This is Colin. My Colin. It’s the man I love, nothing has changed.
But things had changed. The veil was beginning to lift and she was getting a glimpse of the man hidden behind the man.
“Who?”
Colin’s frown deepened. “Who?”
“Yeah. Who have you killed?”
“Gabby I –”
She huffed, fighting the tears threatening to emerge. “It’s classified, right? Can’t tal
k about it, right?”
“Pretty much.” He sighed, thrusting a hand into his hair. His eyes darted over to his secret possessions all spread out on the bedroom floor. “Just give me a second.”
She nodded and watched him grab the computer from the compartment and bring it over to her. He quickly started it up. She leaned into him, curious to see what was on the screen.
“What I’m going to show you would get me fired. Maybe killed. And could put you in danger, so you can’t breathe a word of this.” He looked up and caught her eyes. “Ever. To anyone. I need to know you’re clear on this.”
Her nervousness toward him dimmed as her curiosity got the better of her. She nodded with vigour, “I’m clear.”
He sighed as he opened a file folder. “This is who I’m hunting.”
“Who is it?” She examined the photo a moment before lifting her gaze to meet his.
“He runs a sex trade organization. His men abduct young women, girls really. Girls anywhere from thirteen to twenty and sells them to the highest bidder. The ones who don’t get a price he’s happy with, he keeps for his personal sex houses.”
She frowned.
“If they don’t submit right away they’re broken.”
“Broken?” The term seemed so ominous.
“Yeah, they’re tortured, drugged, whatever it takes until they’re a shadow of their former selves.” He clicked off of the man and started to flip through pictures of teenage girls. “We suspect he’s abducted these girls over the past year.”
Oh my God, there’s so many.
“You can’t be serious!” But the look in his eyes let her know that he was deadly serious.
“My God.” Those poor girls. And their families… She couldn’t even imagine what their families were going through.
“I need to get him, Gabby. And when I do…” She saw a glint in his eyes, a gleam of anticipation. Excitement, like a child would get on Christmas day. But, this time it didn’t scare her. She was beginning to understand.
“So…” she nodded toward his serial killer kit on the floor. “It’s a necessary evil, to deal with an even greater evil.”
