Bailey: Independence #1

by Karen Nichols

  “Colin’s covering the club for me, with Jeremy’s help,” Gabriel said without answering the question. “I’ve sent a text to my admin and she’s covering things at the office as well as notifying Bailey’s friends that she’s alright.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Tre chuckled, clapped him on the shoulder and headed toward the front. “I’ll check in tomorrow morning and see how she’s doing.”

  “Thanks, Tre.” Gabriel moved silently into the room, the tray of food he’d brought with him set on the nightstand. He’d found a bottle of the soy chocolate stuff she drank as well as a carefully wrapped sandwich and a bowl of fruit.

  “Hi,” Bailey blinked and offered a drowsy grin. “I shouldn’t be tired. It’s barely dark outside.”

  “I think you left a good part of your blood on the floor of the club, pet,” he shook his head, running one palm over her temple.

  “It’s big enough for you to lay down, too,” she winced as she hitched herself to the side, groaning at the ache that tore through her. Using her hands instead of her body, she pushed herself against the left rail and turned to face him.

  “Bailey, I’m covered in…” but the look on her face, the wide hopeful eyes ripped right through him. “Alright,” Gabriel opened the buttons down the front of his shirt and stripped it off, leaving it lying on the chair behind him. The jeans weren’t too bad and would have to do for tonight.

  His sub needed him.

  His woman needed him, he amended firmly.

  He slid onto the surface of the bed, carefully waiting while she positioned herself against him.

  She was still far too pale and it presented him with the illusion that she was frail, almost delicate. He was afraid to close his arm too tightly around her until she pulled on his hand and snuggled against him with a low groan.

  “Bailey…”

  “I’m okay,” she lied, leveling off her breathing as the pain in her side subsided.

  “You get beat for lying to me, pet.”

  “I figured I have a few days before I’m in really bad trouble again.”

  “Oh, a few days at least,” he agreed, knowing it would be longer than that.

  Slowly the tension seemed to ease from him, the warmth in her palm as she hugged him soothing the mixed bundle of emotions that had been controlling him for most of the day. With night settling around them, he pulled another blanket over her and closed his eyes.

  Bailey drifted through the next twelve hours. She knew nurses and the doctor had been back a few times. She knew she moved as close to Gabriel as possible because she was suddenly really cold.

  Before noon, she managed to walk to the bathroom and back several times listening to Gabriel growl at her from behind when she growled back and told him to stay. He really hated that, she mused as she managed a light sink wash before returning to the bed. She wasn’t sure when he had disappeared long enough to change clothing and bring a few things from home. But she was really grateful for her own nightie and a pair of little socks and clean panties.

  Natalie Templeton sauntered into the room shortly before one on Saturday afternoon. It had been a very busy twenty-four hours. She paused at the door, studying the scene before her.

  Bailey sat in the center of the bed, facing away from him with the blankets pulled around her tautly. Gabriel had the metal chair leaned back on two legs, a book open on his lap and eyes focused on the print.

  “Don’t you two look all cozy,” she said cautiously.

  “She’s pissed because your husband won’t let her go home until at least tomorrow,” Gabriel said without looking up from his book. “And I shackled her.”

  “I…” Natalie wasn’t sure of the appropriate response to that one. “You’re not serious,” she said slowly, biting her lip when Bailey held up her right arm from beneath the blankets. Her wrist now sported a fleece lined cuff with a short chain attached to the lowered railing on the bed. “Well. I honestly don’t have a response to that.”

  “You could tell him this is imprisonment.” Bailey scowled at her.

  “Then I’d have to implicate my husband and I’m thinking that won’t end well for me,” Natalie laughed and pulled another chair from the corner, turned it and straddled the padded seat. “I’ve come to impart information we’ve gathered. I thought you deserve to know what we’ve found.”

  “Information about…am I in trouble because of Janelle?” Bailey felt the lunch she ate suddenly quake in her stomach.

  “Absolutely not,” Natalie answered instantly. “Between the phone recording and the excellent video coverage of the club, it’s pretty much a lock. We’ve gone through both apartments, office spaces and personal effects. My ex-partner has been sent to a facility on the other side of the state for observation and incarceration until she’s deemed competent to stand trial.”

  “Gabriel said you have my phone. I’m glad it helped. They…it was all about revenge for…” Bailey sighed, her head shaking. “I guess I don’t get the urge for that kind of behavior. They killed innocent people…and didn’t seem to care.”

  “I’m not sure either one of them is what we’d call stable,” Natalie said quietly. “I had Fields on admin leave because when I started back-tracking her transfer, things weren’t quite as up-front as they appeared at first glance. She transferred from San Francisco where she had been living with her sister. Seems her sister was involved with a pretty high end BDSM club. However, her choice wasn’t…it definitely was not limited to lined, soft cuffs…” she searched for the right words, looking at Gabriel as he set his book aside and moved to sit behind Bailey on the bed. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against his chest.

  “Making a guess at your expression, her sister liked the pain aspect of BDSM, which made her a masochist.” Gabriel said confidently, enjoying his redhead snuggled back against him. Somehow she’d managed to wash her hair and confine it into a taut coil at the back of her head and the scent of the drying shampoo filled his senses along with the natural scent that was hers. It filled a place inside him that he never realized had been lacking. Somehow she’d managed to reach him with a very single emotion on the scale in ways he never thought possible.

  “Yes. She was a sub, but on the pain end. Several people testified to that after her death. It was logged as death by misadventure. The guy she was with, though, never came forward and no one knew his name to give police. Casey was livid. Three weeks later, the owner of the club was found dead in his very expensive home. No witnesses and it looked like an accident,” Natalie let her arms dangle over the back of the chair. “She found people in various positions and used them, blackmailed them, and got the transfer she wanted out of California. She met Janelle in your club,” her gaze shifted to Bailey. “She was casing it for her next victim. You.”

  “She wrote about you and how you were out to get her for Garrett. She was convinced that you were a pawn for him, doing as he ordered,” Natalie said, the genuine surprise on Bailey’s face making her nod. “She wrote about a class you taught at Immersive Games that her mistress evidently had to attend three times before she was certified on the software she needed to know for her job. Janelle also kept a journal and it definitely detailed her paranoia, and you were the main topic for the last several months. It was their intent to solve both their problems by implicating Garrett in your death. Then they had plans to move onto Las Vegas where Casey had already been gathering information about a club there. Her journal reads like an avenging angel on a mission. How Casey talked her way through interviews for the transfer is beyond me.”

  “How did Belinda get in their way?” Bailey felt Gabriel tense behind her, her fingers twining with his and squeezing tight.

  “Both journals read almost the same. They felt she would be a perfect spring board to further push Garrett in front of the police. What they didn’t take into consideration, was the people at the anniversary party you attended that night.” Natalie shook her head slightly. “Having the head medical
examiner as an alibi threw their plans out the window and seemed to actually send them around the bend. That’s why she crashed your club and tried to grab Bailey the next night.”

  “She wouldn’t let me tutor her,” Bailey said softly. “I offered when she seemed to have such a hard time grasping the new changes to the software. She said…” she closed her eyes, frowning at the memory. “She said she knew I was a favorite pet of the boss. I really didn’t know what she was talking about. I thought she was talking about my direct boss… That was about three weeks before Halloween.”

  “She found the costume and Casey found a backdoor way into the club through your cleaning agency. That’s how the writing paper and coin vanished from your desk, Gabriel.” Natalie shook her head. “They’d been working on putting this together since that first training class failure. They took a chance that you’d ignore the invitation.”

  “And I walked right into the center of their plan.”

  “And if you apologize for that, I will shackle you for the whole month you’re on sick leave,” Gabriel told her sternly.

  “From things written in their journals, after the first mistaken identity, it seemed to…to almost excite them that they were getting away with murder,” Natalie’s voice hardened. “There seemed to be a sense of a thrill about the whole thing that…I can’t even begin to comprehend.”

  “They’re the ones you can’t plan for,” Bailey said quietly. “I still feel bad for the people who were murdered, but I know there was nothing I could have done to stop it.”

  Natalie watched Gabriel tenderly kiss Bailey’s temple.

  “I think it’s part of the job description. I spend hours on end thinking there was something, anything, I could have done to stop another murder.” She sighed and stood up, putting the chair back in place against the wall. “I’ve cleared the club, Gabriel. The prosecutor has all the photos and witnesses we could possibly need. Trust your doctor, Bailey and take it easy. If you need anything, give me a call. I’m going to find my husband and see about those shackles and a really long nap.”

  “Good luck, Lieutenant,” Gabriel said with a laugh, knowing his friend Tre might just find it appealing.

  “Am I allowed to feel sad, Gabriel?”

  “Feelings are, pet, you might want to deny them but they have a nagging way of taking control when you least expect it.” Gabriel opened his arms when she pushed against the bed and raised the wrist with the cuff on it.

  “Restroom, please, Sir.” Bailey sighed and pushed herself very slowly and carefully to the edge of the bed. Her feet touched down on the floor and she stood for a long minute before straightening her shoulders and walking toward the private bath. No, she’d never be able to deny her feelings, she thought as the door closed.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Bailey woke up just a little bit fuzzy. Gabriel had made her take the pain pill and the last thing she remembered was a warm, friendly kiss before everything spread into the prettiest night sky she’d ever seen.

  So when she opened her eyes and there was a rainbow of color floating at the bottom of her bed, Bailey quickly closed her eyes again and dragged in a deep breath. Alright, she thought, one more try.

  “I saw you peeking, girlfriend.” Patsy tied the dozen large and sparkling balloons to the bottom of the hospital bed. “You had us all so worried.”

  “Patsy…god, I hate pills. Where is that bossy…boss…”

  “Bringing you breakfast and a parole,” Gabriel said drolly, stepping around the mass of balloons with a tray in his hands.

  “I gotta get up.” Bailey shoved the blankets to the side, relieved Patsy dropped what she carried to the bed and moved to her side. “Thanks. Did you bring a hairbrush?”

  “Of course. Someone has to help you tame that mop,” Patsy teased with a laugh. “I brought your shampoo and shower soap. Gabe told me you were leaving after breakfast, so he asked me to come help you. He’s really sweet on you.”

  “Remind me to never, ever get shot again.” Bailey closed the door on the light chuckle behind her. Ten minutes later, she was standing beneath the hot shower, palms on the tiles and water soaking her. The hints of coconut in her crème rinse and the almond bath soap managed to drown out the antiseptic smell by the time she shut off the water and sunk onto the bench wrapped in a towel. She had another wrapped tightly around her head when she opened the bathroom door and peeked out.

  “It’s safe. He went to get all the papers signed.” Patsy came to her side, hands floundering a little. “Tell me what you need, girlfriend. I don’t want to hurt you. Your desk was so packed with flowers and balloons! I told them to send them to your apartment, but Gabe redirected them to his house. He said you won’t be back for a few weeks.”

  “It’s just a little hole…” Bailey grumbled, wincing as Patsy helped her slide her arms into the tunic she’d brought with her. Putting on a bra right now was definitely out of the question and for once she was grateful she didn’t have enough to jiggle as she walked. Panties and a pair of loose khakis came last before Patsy went to work combing out her hair and binding it into a long braid down her back. “You make it so pretty. Thanks.”

  “Anytime.” She flopped back on the bed, rolling to her side to watch Bailey push food around on the plate. “You have to eat.”

  “Why has everyone become my mother?” Bailey lifted the glass of juice and drained it with a long sigh. “I don’t usually eat in the mornings, you know that.”

  “Food will help you heal faster,” Patsy said patiently.

  “I lost my whole weekend,” Bailey said quietly. “I think I slept through most of it. And every time I closed my eyes, I saw that woman at the bottom of the stairs because my boots wouldn’t catch on the smooth carpeting. And…and I see the detective raising her gun to shoot Gabriel and I can’t make them get out of my head.”

  “It’s been all over the news,” Patsy told her with a sigh. “You’re probably better off in here where the press people can’t get to you. Everyone wants to know about you.”

  “No, they really don’t. And I don’t want to talk to any of them,” Bailey said firmly, lifting a piece of toast and chewing without tasting a thing.

  “You won’t have to,” Gabriel said, long legs carrying him into the room with a nod at Patsy. “I see you managed to get her eating.”

  “Years of practice,” Patsy admitted with a shrug. “I’ll take these over in my car. I have the others loaded in there. Thanks for inviting me.”

  “I think Bailey needs a few hours of lounging at the pool and hot tub and you’re welcome anytime, Patsy.” Gabriel looked around the room, packing things into the small square bag Patsy had brought with her. “I have some plastic sheets for you to put on the wounds on both sides, Bailey. To keep it dry. But Tre says light exercise in the pool would be good for you and the hot tub will ease away the bruises.”

  Bailey ate the last of the fruit on the tray, watching him do a quick check of the room before moving the case to the door.

  “It was nice of you to let her come over, Gabriel,” Bailey smiled at the slight hint of embarrassment on his face. “You’re really a softee.”

  “You do realize you’ll heal eventually, right, pet?”

  “Yes, Sir,” she answered with a cheeky grin.

  “Your chariot,” the day nurse came around the corner, sighing at the scowl from Bailey. “Procedure. And you might think you’re pumped with energy, but it’s a big world out there and you’ll get tired really fast for a few days.”

  “And the appropriate answer is, yes, ma’am,” Gabriel suggested with a wink of amusement in his eyes at the waiting nurse.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Bailey said, walking to the wheelchair and sinking to the seat.

  “The parole isn’t final yet,” he teased, lifting the case and walking along at the side as they left the hospital for the waiting SUV. He had it warming beneath the wide cover. He’d watched Tre loosen the bandage and show him how to keep it clean and dry so he knew i
t was safe to put his hands on her waist and lift her into the seat before tossing the case to the back seat.

  Bailey hated that they were right but let her head fall against the cool glass. A light rain was falling and it barely looked daylight, despite being almost ten in the morning.

  “It’s not very pretty looking…bullet holes,” she said after buckling the seat belt.

  “No, it’s not. But it will heal. The bruises will fade, Bailey,” Gabriel told her firmly, his palm sliding along her thigh.

  “You know I’ll go crazy sitting around not working,” she said after a few minutes.

  “You also know at least for the first week, I’m working from home.” Gabriel met the stunned look on her face. “Janet has already rearranged things for me. You will be reading, sleeping, swimming and recuperating. I’ll get whatever you want from your apartment and have it brought to the house for you. You can get caught up on projects and pretend it’s a vacation.”

  “I…” she pulled both lips between her teeth and kept staring. She knew his serious face and this was definitely it. “You’re serious. You can’t stay home. You’ll hate it! You’ve already…you told me how important work is to you, Gabriel. And…really…I understand that. I can sit around and watch TV and sleep without you taking time…”

  “And you don’t believe you’re just as important, just as vital to me as work?”

  “I…” she had the sub’s path to answers mapped out in her brain. Trust. “People have relationships and don’t…don’t…I trust you, Gabriel. More than I ever thought possible,” she whispered in the quiet space of the SUV. “I don’t want you to regret your choice. You’ve changed your…what you believe has changed in two weeks’ time…” she worked to find the right words, the right path. “I am so afraid of saying the wrong thing,” she breathed raggedly, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes.

  Gabriel began speaking after a thoughtful nod.

  “Every one of my friends told me repeatedly how my hard line of it being all about the play and sex was insane where you were concerned.” He glanced over at the tears she was working hard to keep from falling. “They saw it long before I did. Maybe the intensity of what we feel when we’re together; maybe it was being able to relax and laugh and just be me for once when I’m with you…I don’t know what it is that shifted things inside me, Bailey. What I do know is I’ll never want to go back to that person again and it might be selfish, but you’re my key and I’m not willing to let you go without a fight. Maybe another part is I see tomorrow in your eyes, not just a couple hours.”