by Val Tobin
In the frantic moments after she tore off into the desert with John racing after her, firing uselessly into the dark—go ahead, asshole, and use up all your bullets—Gabriel wasted a few precious seconds tugging at the handcuff around his wrist. Rationality eventually caught up to panic and emotion, and he searched the vehicle for anything he could use to break or unlock the cuffs. He tried the glove box first and found only documents related to the rental. Nothing to help him there.
As he turned his attention away from the dashboard area, his gaze fell on the front passenger seat, and he spotted the bobby pin. He almost missed it in the dark—would have if the moon hadn’t spilled enough light for him to catch the glint of metal. He curled his fingers around it and clasped it tightly.
He’d never had to open a pair of handcuffs with a hairpin before—never expected to have to and not under such pressure. From outside, gunshots rang out and shouts carried on the air, but the shouts, thankfully, were all enraged curses from John, which meant he hadn’t caught Ellen.
As long as John focused on her, they had a chance if Gabriel could escape these cuffs. He didn’t know what he was doing but intuited he’d have to straighten out the hairpin and get those plastic nubs off the ends. Unbending it was easy enough, but when it came to getting the plastic off the end, he had to use his teeth, and all this took time. He slipped the pin into the lock and realized after some fiddling that he needed to bend the end. He braced the pin inside the lock and pressed.
This was taking too long. Gabriel glanced nervously out into the darkness and could no longer see John. Good news and bad news.
Please don’t catch her. Ellen, run and don’t stop. It was a prayer, in a way. He didn’t say “God” and he didn’t bargain, but he meant both those things even if he considered himself an atheist. Who’d have thought I’m actually agnostic?
He twisted again, and this time, the bracelet on his wrist opened. He wasted another second or two recognizing he’d accomplished his goal, and then, he moved.
First, he checked the back seat. His reward was the cell phone John had left behind. Next, he threw open the car’s door and leaped into the night, running in the direction opposite to the one Ellen had taken. He bypassed the first few boulders he came to and took shelter atop a rocky dune shielded by a bit of scrub brush and some boulders.
Gabriel called 911.
***
The farther Ellen ran from the vehicle, the more she feared getting lost in the desert and dying there. Still better than what John had planned, but she slowly started to rebel against that fate as well. And she still had to somehow save Gabriel, because at some point, John would decide to let nature take her and go back to murder the man who, in his mind, had set all this in motion.
She ducked behind the next boulder she came across and waited to see if John would catch up to her. All her focus went to calming her panting breath so as not to give away her hiding place, but every time she held her breath to tamp down the noise, she started panting again when she resumed breathing. At last, with great effort, she settled herself enough to breathe silently.
Now that she listened, the desert came alive. Wind swooshed, making a sound like cars speeding along a distant highway. The occasional bird call reached her ears, and she concluded it must be owls because what else would be out at night? As a city girl, the only nocturnal creatures she was familiar with were raccoons and the odd skunk. She strained to hear the sound of pursuing footsteps or heavy breathing, but none came. Where was he? Had he already turned back? Terror drove her to her feet, and she started to head back in the direction she’d come, but she stopped herself before she took too many steps.
Listen first. Look first. She had to coach herself, or she’d scream out Gabriel’s name and get them both killed. Now that she wasn’t running in a panic, the cold seeped into her bones, making her shiver. Her legs ached. The shoes might’ve been built for running, but she wasn’t a runner, especially not across all this rock and sandstone.
Rocks loomed over her. In the daytime, the red rock formations must be breathtaking, but in the dark, she feared they hid either John or wildlife that wanted to attack and eat her. The wailing wind brought to mind ghosts, perhaps of those already secretly buried here. If John had his way, she’d join them soon.
The sirens, at first, were faint and background noise. When they finally registered in her brain, she jumped from her hiding place and slowly traced a path back in their direction. But she wasn’t stupid. If she wanted to get to the police, John would want to get away from them if he was still on the loose. She didn’t dare hope the approach of sirens meant Gabriel had caught John and called the police. Assuming could get her killed.
Ellen slowed her pace and walked in the direction she expected the rental car to be parked, squinting to try to discern headlights in the distance. This turned out to be a useless exercise since the rolling dunes made seeing any great distance impossible. Each time she reached the top of the next dune or rock formation, she turned a full 360 degrees to see if any lights displayed at all anywhere on the ground. After what she estimated was half an hour, she realized she was lost.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Gabriel kept the connection to emergency services open so he could direct them to his location, but even so, they had to leave their vehicles farther out and search for him using flashlights. In the meantime, Gabriel’s biggest concern remained John and whether he’d caught Ellen or would stumble on Gabriel before the police arrived. He heaved a sigh of relief when he spotted the beams of the searching lights approaching and ran to meet them. What he wasn’t prepared for was for them to tell him he couldn’t help them find Ellen.
“He’s armed. He’ll kill her. Or he’ll use her as a hostage. Don’t you get it?” Gabriel shouted at the sergeant. By this point, a canine unit had arrived, and they were already scouring the area. The officers taking part in the search had heavy-duty flashlights to help them cut through the dark.
The man grasped Gabriel by the upper arm and guided him to a nearby officer. “I understand more than you know, sir. We’ll find her. Rhonda Miller already reported Ellen Haddigan missing, so we’d already started a search. The dogs will pick up the scent from the vehicle and track them both. A helicopter is on its way. It’ll get colder before it gets warmer, and I can’t stay here arguing with you.” He turned to the officer. “Escort Mr. Duncan to the cruiser and wait there with him.”
“At least let me wait at my car,” Gabriel argued. “If he’s going to try to get anywhere, it’ll be back to my car.”
The officer glanced at the sergeant, who shook his head.
“He’s armed, as you pointed out. I won’t allow a civilian to walk into danger. Go with the officer, Mr. Duncan, or I’ll have him drive you back to the station. That cruiser is as close as I’ll let you get to the action.”
Gabriel grasped the sergeant’s arm and said, “Find her. If anything happens to her ...” He shook his head. “I can’t lose her.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll find them.”
Gabriel allowed the police officer to lead him to the cruiser to begin who knew how many minutes or hours of sitting and stewing. As they reached the cruiser, somewhere out in the desert, a gun fired.
***
The sound of the gunshot echoed off the dunes, and chunks blew off a boulder behind her. Ellen froze and then turned in the direction from which she thought it had come but saw nothing.
Oh, God, she never should’ve run. Now, she’d die out here in the desert without helping Gabriel. Why did she always run away from every problem? She should’ve—what? Stayed there to be raped and murdered just to have John shoot Gabriel anyway? She should be grateful he’d fired. It gave her a direction to go, and the fact he hadn’t fired again might mean it’d been a lucky shot. He had as much trouble seeing her in the dark as she did seeing him. If she could sneak up on him, she might ... She might get shot, that was what she might do. She shoved visions of wrestling the gun away from John and
rescuing Gabriel from her head. She had to be smart.
She searched for a rock. Because what you want is to bring a rock to a gunfight. Even so, it would be better than nothing.
When she found a suitably sized rock, she crept in the direction from where the shot had fired. Tempted as she was to move quickly, she feared stumbling across John in the dark. He could be hiding behind a boulder or bush. She strained her ears to catch the slightest sound, whether of John or a wild animal.
In the distance came the mechanical whoosh of a helicopter approaching. When she turned toward it, she saw its white strobe lights and red navigation lights moving in her direction.
Relief flooded through her. The helicopter could mean Gabriel had escaped and called the police. Ellen jumped up and down and waved her arms.
Please, this way. I’m here.
An arm grabbed her from behind and squeezed her into a hard body. “Got ya!”
John.
Her fist tightened around the rock, and she stomped on his foot while jabbing an elbow in his gut. When his arm around her loosened, she spun around and clobbered him in the face with the rock. Blood spurted from his nose. She snatched the gun from his hand and hurled it into the darkness.
She waved her arms, ran toward the helicopter, and jumped and screamed her desperation.
A spotlight from the huge bird flared on and pinned her, and a voice boomed out, “Stay where you are. Put your hands in the air.”
She obliged but spun around to make sure John wasn’t gaining on her. He was a faint blob, on his knees at the periphery of the searchlight. A police dog had him frozen in place, and two police officers had guns levelled at him. Ellen’s body shook with relief and shock and cold. She’d survived. Now to find Gabriel.
***
After spending most of the night getting checked out by paramedics and talking to the police, Ellen and Gabriel entered their new hotel room, relieved the nightmare was over. The police had cordoned off their original suite, gathering evidence against John, and the hotel manager had kindly relocated their possessions to another suite as soon as investigators allowed it. Since the room was an upgrade and none of their belongings had been lost in the shuffle, Ellen and Gabriel welcomed the change.
“I don’t think I’d feel comfortable staying there after everything that happened,” Ellen said as she stripped off her clothes and dropped them, piece by piece, on the floor. “I need a bath.” She shivered, feeling as if she’d never be able to get the chill of the desert out of her bones.
When Gabriel kept silent, she stopped and stood naked before him in the dim light from the single lamp she’d lit on the night table next to her side of the king bed. One hand still clutched the panties she’d removed.
“What is it?”
He remained motionless, silhouetted in the doorway by the light spilling in from the living room. His brow was furrowed, and his lips turned down in a frown.
“Ellen,” he began, but he fell silent. His expression grew anguished, and it sent spikes of fear through her heart.
Would he end their relationship now while she stood shivering and vulnerable before him?
“For God’s sake, what is it?” The words came out more frightened than she’d intended, but the truth was, he terrified her. She’d expected never to live through the night, and they had. Now, all she wanted was a bath and Gabriel’s arms around her, warm in their bed.
What had he been thinking while she ran from their would-be murderer? Did he think she’d left him to die? Was now really the time to discuss it? She wasn’t ready for that.
He moved into the room then and reached her side in two long strides.
“I know you’re tired.” He rubbed his hands along her arms. “And cold.”
He grabbed the terry robe she’d placed on the bed and put it on her, helping her slide her arms into it as if she were a child. “If I don’t get this out, though ... How can you pretend nothing happened?”
“I’m not pretending,” she said, astounded. “We survived. I’m relieved we did. I’m trying to take things one step at a time.” She buried her face in her hands. “I’m so cold. It was so cold out there. I was thinking a bath would warm me up. Was that selfish?”
Had something happened to him that she’d overlooked? She could be oblivious to others when she was uncomfortable. Why didn’t she think about how he felt? What he’d experienced?
He drew her into his arms, and she relaxed a little but then remembered how alone and abandoned she’d felt after their first night together when they’d parted ways for three long years. Yet, he’d had his reasons, and she understood them now. She had to trust what he wanted to say now wouldn’t destroy her life. Again.
“Of course not. I need to tell you, Ellen, I can’t lose you ever again. This isn’t a reaction to a near-miss murder attempt on our lives. I lost you for three years. Tonight, I almost lost you forever. I can’t bear the thought of a life without you in it.” He tilted her chin up with one finger and pressed his lips gently to hers.
After a moment, he broke the kiss. “I don’t have a ring to give you, but if you promise to marry me, I’ll buy you a stunning one. I’m not going to London. We’re staying here, and I’m going to do what I should’ve done all along: sell BRI, which I never should’ve bought, and buy a restaurant. I love you, Ellen. Marry me.”
Her breath hitched as she choked back a sob. “I was so terrified that if John stopped chasing me he’d go back and kill you. I couldn’t have faced a life without you either.” She smiled at him. “But a restaurant? Are you sure?”
“I’ve never done what I wanted, always tried to please my old man. My brother can run the company—he’s always wanted to. I have to chase my dream, not his.” He covered her face with kisses, muttering, “Tell me you’ll back me. You’ll marry me and be my controller. We’ll do this together.”
“Is that really what you want?”
He pulled away and tilted her chin up. “I want to marry you. I love you.”
“And the restaurant? You want that too?”
“I thought we’d die tonight, Ellen, and after regretting I hadn’t married you three years ago, I regretted never following my dream. Not my father’s—mine. Life’s too short to spend it building his empire. He has other people who’ll help him do that. I have to try. Tell me you’ll help me. Tell me you’ll marry me.”
“Oh, Gabe, I love you too. Yes, I’ll marry you.” His excitement infected her, and she envisioned the two of them working together, married, happy. She grinned. “On one condition.”
He tilted his head to the side and gave her a dubious look. “What’s that?”
“I get to help you pick the ring.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
A rose-gold band with honeycombed diamonds and a round solitaire diamond caught Ellen’s eye in the Bloor-Yorkville jewellery shop through which she and Gabriel browsed. They’d had lunch nearby, and after two months of searching high and low for the perfect engagement ring, she thought perhaps they’d finally found the right one. She waved to the salesperson, a tall brunette with sleek, glossy hair and a trim figure under her tailored navy suit.
“May I try this one, please?” Ellen’s cheeks flushed with excitement, and she had a sudden urge to dance and spin around the store. This is the one.
Beside her, Gabriel laughed, a deep hearty chuckle that sent more shivers of excitement up her spine. He draped an arm around her waist and pulled her in close as the saleswoman slipped the ring out from below the glass counter and offered it to Ellen. She accepted it and slid it on her finger.
The fit was slightly loose but not so much the diamond didn’t sit right in the middle of her finger as long as she kept a steadying thumb pressed against the band. She held her hand out and studied the result from different angles.
“It’s beautiful,” she breathed. “Gabe, isn’t this beautiful?”
“Everything looks beautiful on you.” He kissed her cheek. “But this one matches the sparkle i
n your eyes the most.”
“Oh, yuck. Listen to us. We’ve become sappy and syrupy. I swore I’d never sound like this.” But she grinned at him to show him she loved it. His words warmed her insides, and his gaze, always affectionate and kind, said more than mere words ever could. Yet the surge of joy and gratitude evaporated as her thoughts turned to Zach and to Rhonda and Max.
Zach had sold his condo to pay back what Francesca had stolen. Three conspirators had been in on it, each playing a role in the thefts and in funnelling the money to accounts they held. John had goaded Francesca into it, and she’d pulled in Katrina. While the guilty should be punished, Zach continued to pay for what his wife had done.
Rhonda and Max were also collateral damage: they’d split up, and Rhonda swore she’d never trust another man. She insisted Max had betrayed her—had betrayed Ellen as well by exposing her to John. Nothing Ellen said in his defence swayed Rhonda. She ended the relationship and insisted it was for the best.
“John almost killed you,” Rhonda had explained to Ellen the night before. “Who you hang out with says a lot about you.”
“Max didn’t know. The police investigated. They cleared him.”
Rhonda shook her head. “Max planned to partner with him. That’s why they were at the convention. How could he have not known?”
Ellen had no answer to that. Rhonda had a point. The two men had been best friends, as close as Ellen and Rhonda were. If Rhonda were involved in something illegal, Ellen was sure she’d at least suspect. And murder? No way could her friend hide a side of her capable of committing murder.
“What’s wrong?” Gabriel’s voice drew Ellen back to the moment.
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
But he gave her a squeeze, indicating he refused to accept the response. “Tell me. Is it the price?” He checked the sticker in the case. “It’s a little more than we agreed to spend, but for the perfect ring, I’m willing to go over budget.”
