by Rachel Dylan
“Why would we negotiate with you? You could always hold that list over our heads.”
“That’s your problem not mine. And just because I’m a practical girl, I’ve made arrangements. If anything happens to me. And I mean anything, that list will be made public immediately.”
The man sucked in a breath. Would he believe her?
“We’ll consider your offer.” The two skulked away.
Now she had to deal with her even bigger problem. Gabe.
“Did you really think you could sneak away without me knowing?” he asked. He guided her down the hallway. “What about us being a team?”
“I knew you’d never go for my idea. Even if it was a solid one.”
“And what have you really accomplished besides making them mad?”
“I think I’ve accomplished a whole lot.”
“Yeah, except the part when they challenge you and you don’t have the list. Or they decide to take their chances and kill you anyway because you’re too much of a threat.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you forgetting that they’ve already tried multiple times? This has to stop, and it’s the best way.”
“No. I’m getting you out of here, now.”
She stood, hands on her hip. “You can’t make me. What are you going to drag me out of the courthouse?”
“If I have to, yes, I will. It’s too dangerous, Hope. Let’s go.”
“I’ll leave now, but I’m not leaving Maxwell. Understood?”
He frowned but then nodded.
***
Hope didn’t have much to say to him. She’d insisted that she would be back in court tomorrow. There was nothing he could do but go with her and try to keep her safe.
Sam had given up his quest of keeping her away, but basically told her, no, it was her decision.
Driving up to the courthouse, he had to say something. “This roller coaster we’ve been on will end at some point. And I still hope that we can talk about moving forward together.”
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about that. And I just don’t see how we could make it work. I live in New York. Your life is here.”
“I can move.”
“You’ll what?” she said softly.
“Yes, I will move.”
“I thought you said you wanted to stay here. Get married, have kids, all that. Here in Maxwell.”
“I did. But if the choice is between losing you and leaving here, I’ll move.”
“Wouldn’t you be resentful?”
“I always thought I would be. But that was before you. You changed it all for me, Hope.”
She didn’t respond and threads of fear pulsed through him. Had he moved too fast? Been too open about his ever growing feelings?
“Let’s get through this, Gabe. Then we can figure all of that out.”
He’d have to take that for now. She didn’t tell him no way.
Parking his new rental in the town square, it was time for another day in court.
“I need to go to the conference room for a meeting before court starts today.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“All right.”
“Which conference room?”
“Sam’s message said room B.”
They walked down the long corridor into Room B.
“Looks like we beat him here. He wanted to talk over the cross examination of the next Cyber Future witness.”
They sat at the table and she pulled out her laptop and started clicking. After a few minutes, a loud noise started blaring.
“That’s the emergency alarm. We need to get out of here,” he said.
“Are you sure that’s what it is?”
“Yeah. I’ve been here during the drills before.”
He went to the door and pulled but it didn’t budge. “The door won’t open.” His pulse raced. The door was heavy and fortified from the courtroom renovations. Room B had been the designated room in case of emergencies and the door was made of extra strong metal materials. He felt like such an idiot. They’d totally been played.
“Oh no,” she said.
“This is a trap.” Just as he said it, his phone started to ring.
“Yes,” he answered.
“I assume Hope is there with you,” the male voice said.
“Who is this?”
“Just making sure you two were where you were supposed to be. Listen to me. Have Hope turn over the file, or I will detonate the device that is currently under the conference room table.”
“A bomb?” he asked.
Hope’s mouth dropped open at his words.
“Yes. You have ten minutes. They start now.”
He didn’t have a second to waste. “Listen to me, Hope. I need you to help me. Use this flashlight app on the phone and shine it up on the table.” He crawled up under the table to see what they were dealing with. He was thankful for those extra classes he’d taken with the bomb squad, but he was far from an expert. He let out a sigh of relief and prayer of thanks when he saw the device taped up under the table.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I feel like I have a better than fifty percent chance of disarming this thing. But if I mess up, it will detonate.” He pulled his small pocket knife out of his jacket.
“I have faith in you, Gabe. What is our timeframe?”
“They said you have ten minutes to turn over the list or they blow us up.”
“Then you better get started.”
“I could use a prayer right now.”
“Even if I turn over the list, they’re still going to try to kill us, aren’t they?”
“Yes,” he said quietly. “But keep that light shining on this device, and I believe I can do this. I also need you to let me know my time.” He looked at the blinking timer on the bomb. “I need a five minute countdown, because we’ve already used time. I don’t want to focus on the timer, I need you to do that for me.”
Gabe prayed as he worked. Taking extra care to focus on cutting the right wires.
“Two minutes left,” she said.
He only had one more wire left to cut. This was it. He had to choose the correct wire. If this was the wrong choice, they were going to die. Please, Lord. I need your guidance now. He took a breath and cut the wire. The timer beeped and stopped at one minute thirty-two seconds.
“It’s done,” he said.
She pulled him up from under the table and hugged him. “Thank you, Gabe. Once again for saving my life.”
“It’s not over yet, Hope. Once they figure out that we disabled the bomb, they’ll try something else. We’re still locked in here. There wasn’t any time to call Caleb before, but now I will. He’ll have to help us get out of here.”
Just then a loud boom rocked the building, and he hit the floor hard busting open his lip. He tasted blood.
“Another bomb,” he said. “Stay down, Hope.” He crawled over to the door and pushed again. The bomb must have loosened it because it came open.
He ran over to Hope and grabbed her off the ground. “Let’s move.”
Smoke billowed through the hallway filling his lungs. Then a rapid succession of shots rang out. He dove toward Hope, covering her with his body. And then he felt the burning pain in his shoulder, before the world went black.
***
Blood poured onto Hope, and she heard herself scream. Gabe had been shot. She had to get him out of there. Flames started to move closer to them. Gabe’s body was heavy, but she willed herself to drag him down the hall. She grabbed up under his arms and tugged him making slow progress. Lord, I need your strength right now. Please help me save this man.
She kept going and then she heard a man’s voice ring out. “Hope, Gabe!”
It was Caleb.
“Over here,” she yelled as she choked on the smoke.
A minute later, Caleb was standing over her. “He’s been shot. Can you carry him? I can walk on my own.”
When they approached the sid
e exit, she waited until Caleb was out with Gabe before she followed. The only person she truly felt like she could trust right now beside Gabe was Caleb.
Had Sam really been the one to lure her there to that room? Or had his email been hacked?
A medic was working on Gabe. Caleb turned to her. “He’s going to be fine. It looks like a lot of blood, but the bullet went straight through. I’ve seen plenty of wounds like that during my tours.”
Yes, she remembered that he was in the military. “I don’t know if we can trust anyone.”
“I’ve got the two Cyber Future executives in holding.”
“Sam is the one who sent me the message to get us to that conference room. Or someone using his email.”
“I haven’t seen Sam today.”
Her stomach dropped. “He has to be in on it then.”
“I’m sorry, Hope.”
“What about Nola?”
“He’s with Lee. They’re not technically being detained but they’re not going anywhere until we figure this out. I’ll put a BOLO out for Sam.”
She walked over to Gabe lying on a gurney, an EMT close by. She grabbed his hand. “Gabe, I know Caleb said you were going to be fine, but I need you to be okay?”
“Ma’am, I’m sorry. We’re about to transport him to the hospital.”
She nodded.
Caleb put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m going to need you to stick with me. For your own safety. We’ll head to the station and try to sort this all out.”
***
Gabe woke up with a pounding pain in his arm and a hazy memory of what had happened. “Hope.” It came out as only a whisper. His throat burning with dryness.
“I’m right here, Gabe.”
Thank, God. He opened his eyes and saw her. Her hair hanging down, her eyes filled with tears.
“How long have I been out?”
“Overnight. They gave you some meds for the pain so that probably had something to do with it.”
“And what about everyone else?”
“The Cyber Future executives are in FBI custody. Nola and Lee are being questioned. And Sam is still MIA.” She paused. “I just can’t believe that he was involved in this. It was like he had it planned all along.”
“You think he did?”
“Yes. It all makes sense now, in a twisted way. Having me be the one to step into the trial because of my connection with Nola. I think this has been a Sam operation from the beginning. He was working with and against the Cyber Future guys. Nola just happened to be part of the game. But not the one behind the attacks on me.”
He closed his eyes trying to process this all. “So what’s Sam’s angle in all of this?”
“Well, that remains to be seen. I think he might have used me as the fall girl, and he’s the one who has the list. So he was double crossing the Cyber Future guys. The bigger issue is whether Nola and Sam are working together and if Lee knows.”
“That’s pretty ingenious. Make the competition think that you’re working with them, and have them do the dirty work. In the end you are gone, he has the list to do whatever he wants with, and he’s perfectly in the clear. All suspicions are either on you or Nola.”
“Yeah, and right now, no one knows where he is. He could be in another country by now. He has the money from his years of being a partner, the connections, everything.”
A knock sounded at the door. Gabe looked over and weakly smiled. “Ben.”
“How’re you doing?”
“I’ve been better, but told it could’ve been much worse.” He paused and looked over at her. “Hope Finch this is my boss at the FBI I’ve told you about, Ben Cook.”
“Nice to meet you.” She outstretched her hand. “Although I wish it were under better circumstances.”
“Me too, Ms. Finch.”
“Please call me Hope.”
He nodded. “I wanted to give you an update. We’re on the manhunt for Sam Upton. I also have Steve working the case too. We will find him.”
“And how far does this thing spread?” he asked.
“The Cyber Future guys have lawyered up, but they are clearly looking to cut a deal. So we’ll see how the district attorney wants to play it. But I’d be in favor of making a deal if we can get to the bottom of this.”
“And whether Nola and Lee are involved,” Hope said quietly.
“There’s no doubt Nola is up to something, but the evidence tying him to this particular crime plot is more at the accessory level. He probably stole that chip without knowing what was on it. Before he could determine the contents, it was stolen by Sam.”
“That’s consistent with what Nola told me,” Hope said. “Sam used him.”
“Yes. It was a convenient cover for his subterfuge. He probably knows that Nola’s hands are already dirty, so it was the combination of having Nola and you, Hope, that let him do his work.”
“Sam gets the list, and I get killed.”
“Basically he thought he’d created the perfect crime. But there’s no such thing,” Gabe said.
“And we don’t know what Sam was planning to do with the list. But he must’ve been responsible for taking it from the file room once Nola gave it to me.”
“Has he gotten a lawyer too?” Gabe asked.
“Of course. But Lee is encouraging him to cooperate,” Ben said.
Gabe closed his eyes.
“We should let him get some rest,” Hope said.
“Yes,” Ben said. “I’ll check back in later.”
“You should sleep,” she said.
“All right. But don’t go anywhere.”
“Don’t worry. You’re not getting rid of me that easy.”
***
A week later, Hope was throwing the ball to Zeke in Gabe’s back yard. Gabe was bouncing back quickly, but ball throwing was against doctor’s orders.
“Hope,” Gabe yelled from the porch. “Mom just dropped off some lunch if you’re hungry.”
“Maybe in a little bit.” She looked at Zeke practically smiling with the tennis ball in his mouth. “All right, Zekester. I need a little rest.”
She walked up to the porch and took a seat beside Gabe. The weather was in the fifties. And Hope loved the feeling of the fresh air.
“I thought you two might be out here.” Caleb walked around the back yard and through the fence. Ben was with him.
“We’ve got news,” Ben said. “And we wanted to deliver it in person.”
Zeke ran to greet his favorite pet sitter Caleb.
“Have a seat.” Gabe motioned to the chairs on the porch.
“We got him,” Ben said. “Sam Upton is in FBI custody. Tracked down at the Canadian border.”
Her heart thumped wildly. “Really?” Was this nightmare actually over?
“Yes. It’s him, and he’s begging for a deal. So we should know everything soon.”
“What about the ties to organized crime in California?” Hope asked.
“Now that the FBI has the list, we’re launching a full-fledged investigation to every executive on that list. The ties to organized crime run deep, but since the individuals have been put on alert, there’s no risk to you any more, Hope. It will also be on the news soon that Sam Upton is the criminal behind this massive list. It’s one of the biggest white collar and organized crime investigation that the FBI has ever seen. It will probably be ongoing for years.”
“Wow,” she said.
“Nola is being held on accessory and theft charges, but we’ll have to see if it sticks. We’re also examining fraud charges based on what you were able to tell us, Hope, about the lawsuit with Cyber Future on the breach of contract. And the Cyber Future guys are taking a deal that the district attorney cut.”
“Thank you for everything you’ve both done,” she said.
“No thanks are necessary. We’ll keep you posted on any further developments.”
A few minutes later, Hope sat beside Gabe with Zeke lying by their feet.
“We should talk a
bout when I’m going back to New York,” she said. She dreaded bringing it up, but it was inevitable. Although she had a surprise for him, would he still feel the same way about her?
“Yeah, about that. Remember when I told you that I’d go back with you? I meant it. So if you go, I’m going too.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“But your job, your house, everything.”
“Don’t you want to go back to work at the firm?”
“I thought I did, but after everything that happened with Sam, I’m thinking of looking for another firm.”
“Really?”
“And actually, I’ve been offered a job.”
“That’s awesome, Hope.”
“Well, will you be as excited if I tell you that it’s here. At the Trent Law Firm?”
His dark eyes widened and then he smiled. He pulled her up from her chair and wrapped his arms around her. “Seriously?”
“Yes, Gabe. I want to stay here with you if….”
“Wait, just wait.” He shook his head. “You’re invading my territory.”
“How so?”
“Because you know that I love you. I love you more than I ever thought possible. Being with you has given me a different perspective on my priorities.”
“I feel the same way,” she said softly. “You know all about me, Gabe. I’ve opened up to you more than I have any other person in my entire life. You see me for the real me—all my flaws and baggage. But you don’t judge. I can’t imagine going back to New York City and leaving you here.”
“Share your life with me, Hope. I want to plan a future with you.”
“A future?”
“Hope Finch,” he asked. “I know you’ve been through a lot in your past. And I will totally understand if you want to take things slowly. But for me, Hope, there is no one else. I don’t want to rush you. We can take it one day at a time, but I don’t want to make plans and set goals if you aren’t in that picture. How do you feel about that?”
Zeke barked.
“I’d have it no other way.”
When he pressed his lips to hers, she finally understood the meaning of unconditional love.
