Chapter 5
Sara was slipping into her jacket when she heard a knock on the door. Jake was standing there when she opened it.
"What do you want, Jake?"
"To help."
She started to walk out of her apartment when Jake stopped her. "Where are you going? I want to help."
She thought about it for a minute, then accepted his offer. "I was going to Gabriel's shop. See if I can find anything there.
Meet me there."
He nodded his head and they both started out the door. He got in his car while she got on her bike, wondering what they
would find when they got there.
*******
After lunch, Javier took Renee and Gabriel on a tour of the ranch. As soon as they would walk into one of the barns, bay,
chestnut, gray, black, and brown heads would look over their stall doors. Renee had grown up around horses, her
grandparents had owned several on their farm, but that same feeling of peace always came back when she was around them.
She wanted this one day. It had always been her dream to have a place out in the country where she could have her horses
and dogs and be left alone just to write. Her friends and family had always made fun of her for it. Always saying she would
change one day. But she never had.
Gabriel looked over at her and smiled. He knew what she was thinking. They had talked about it before, but she told him
that since she had met him she didn't care where she lived. He could remember that conversation perfectly.
"I used to think I could never live in the city and when I did move here and it was really strange for quite awhile. But I've
grown somewhat used to it."
"So you don't want your own little place in the country anymore?"
"For right now I'm comfortable here . . . with you."
He was glad of that. He could see the same love in her eyes that he felt. But he was still afraid something would happen one
day that would take her away from him and he didn't think he could stand that.
They stepped outside and had to stop to let their eyes adjust to the bright sunlight. In front of them was a wide lake. The
two of them stood there just staring at the beauty of it. It sparkled from the reflection of the sunlight. They finally took their
eyes from it when they felt Javier put his hands on their shoulders.
"Are you ready to go back now?" He asked them.
"Si," they both replied.
They walked side by side as Javier led the way back to the house.
*******
Sara opened the door and the two of them walked inside. She went to his computer. Jake wandered around unsure of what
he was looking for.
An hour later, she had a better idea of the victim's connection to Gabriel. He had received several e-mails from him. It
seemed Gabriel was wrong about his family. This man claimed to be his brother. That still did not explain why he had come
when Gabriel was going to be out of town.
Jake had come up empty, so they headed back to the office.
*******
At dinner that night, they ate in comfortable silence. When they had finished dinner, Javier leaned back in his chair. Renee
picked up her glass of wine and took a sip. Gabriel smiled at her as she swallowed it.
Gabriel and Renee walked out and sat on the porch to watch the sun set. He put his arm around her shoulders and she
smiled at him. Laying her head on his shoulder, she watched the sky turn from red to purple then fade into the darkness of
night.
After awhile they got up and walked back inside. Javier was waiting for them when they walked back through the door.
"The two of you should probably go to bed since you have to get up early for your flight tomorrow."
They agreed and headed upstairs even though they didn't plan on sleeping. Renee followed him into his room which was
down the hall from hers. She closed the door behind her and they walked over to the bed. She stumbled over his suitcase in
the dark and started to giggle.
He wrapped his arms around her until she stopped shaking from laughter. Then, he guided her over to the bed. He put his
mouth over hers and they kissed hungrily. He started to pull away, but she put her hands behind his head and pulled him back
to her.
Untucking his shirt, she started unbuttoning it, starting at the top. He began to do the same with hers. Once she had finished
with the buttons, Renee put her hands under the shirt and started to slip it off. It fell to the floor and she slid her hands
behind his back.
Her hands moved up around the curves of his shoulders, behind his neck, and up into his hair. She twisted his hair around
her fingers and leaned in closer for another kiss. She pulled away and let her hands move down around his shoulders and
down his arms. He slipped his hands under her shirt and started to slide it off. She let it fall to the floor, then slid her hands
around his back. She could feel the heat radiating from his body.
They fell to the bed with their arms wrapped around each other. His hands moved up her back and behind her head. He ran
his fingers through her hair, then he put his head against her forehead and let it rest there. When he lifted it, he looked right
into her eyes and smiled. Then he pulled her to him and kissed her. Her hands started to move down around his shoulders
and down his arms, but he grabbed them and pulled her against him again.
She pulled her arms from his grasp and put her hands on his back. She let them slide down his sides. Then, they moved to the button on his jeans. Just then they heard footsteps coming up the steps. They froze for a second, then Renee leapt to her feet. She took three large steps to the other side of the room. When she turned back around, Gabriel tossed her shirt to her. She slipped it on and quickly rebuttoned it. Gabriel was only a second slower.
They were completely redressed when a knock sounded on the door. Gabriel walked over to the door and opened it.
"I wasn't sure if you would be sleeping or not, senor Bowman. I just wanted to make sure you didn't forget the stone."
"Thanks. It's already packed in my suitcase." Actually, he had forgotten about it, so it was a good thing Renee had
reminded him before they went to his room.
"Good. Buenos Noches then, senor and senorita." He nodded at Renee, the turned and walked away.
She looked at Gabriel and smiled. "I should probably head to bed now."
He nodded his head, then stepped closer to her and kissed her. "See you in the morning."
She kissed him again, then went down the hall to her room.
*******
Sara was closing the door and slipping out of her jacket when she saw someone in the shadows. "Nottingham?"
"Yes, Lady Sara."
"What do you want?"
"I have information for you."
"About what?"
"Your case."
"Well," This game had gone on long enough for her. "What do you know?"
"The victim was your young friend's brother."
"How can that be? Gabriel told me he didn't have any brothers. And they have different last names." She had thought of the
same thing, but didn't want to think Gabriel had lied to her.
"He was adopted."
"Which one?"
"Your friend. When he was still very small, he was taken from his family and the Bowmans adopted him."
"Well that could explain it," she said mostly to herself. "But why didn't he tell me?"
"He didn't know until two years ago. He didn't care though. He felt that his family was the one that raised him."
She nodded her head. "I understand that. Do you know anything about who killed him or why?"
"No, Lady Sara."
"Thanks anyway. If you learn anything else, please let me know."
"I will."
*******
Renee and Gabriel were carrying their suitcases down the stairs when they heard a furious pounding on the front door.
They looked at each other, wondering who it was. Javier walked down the hallway to open the door so they continued
downstairs. Just as they were setting their suitcases on the floor, they heard a commotion at the other end of the hall. "Get
out of my house." Javier's usually gentle voice sounded harsh now.
"Not until I get what I came for."
"Well, since you're never getting it, you're going to be standing there for a long time." He started to close the door, but the
other man stopped him. Gabriel, sensing trouble, motioned for Renee to stay where she was while he quickly walked
forward.
"It would seem, Senor, that you are not welcome here." Renee heard Gabriel tell the man.
"This is none of your affair, Nino."
"I'm afraid it is. I've done business with this man, ate his food, slept under his roof. So, any trouble of his is trouble of
mine."
She swore under her breath. One day his loyalty was going to get him killed.
"You're foolish, Nino. Get out of my way so you don't get hurt."
Gabriel didn't reply. He just stood in the doorway.
"Are you deaf or just stupid?"
"I was wondering the same thing about you."
The door was blocking her view of the man, so the next minute all she saw was Gabriel falling back against the wall. She
started to run forward, but before she could reach him, he had started to the door again.
She now had a better view of this man. He was very large with a lot of muscle in his arms and shoulders. Gabriel glared at
him and didn't notice Renee coming toward them. When he finally did see her out of the corner of his eye, he turned his head
to look at her.
He didn't see the man's fist coming at him until it was too late. It caught him right on the chin. He fell to the floor, his legs
giving out like the bones had melted.
Renee ran forward, forgetting for the moment how much larger this man was than her. She was almost to the man when she
saw Gabriel struggling to his feet. Changing direction, she walked over to him and helped him stand. Then, she turned back
to the other man and asked, "What is it that you want?"
He looked down at her. "There is a stone that should be in my possession."
"Well, you'll never get it."
"And why is that, senorita?"
Her smile lacked amusement. "Because he doesn't own it anymore."
The man glanced at Javier then at Gabriel. Realizing who must have it now, he walked over to Gabriel. "Give it to me. I
should have it."
"No," Gabriel said defiantly.
He reached up to grab Gabriel's throat, but Javier stepped forward. He grabbed the man's arm and pulled it down. "Get out
of my house."
The man just looked at him, then decided it would be best to leave things alone for now. Once he had driven off, Javier
turned to the two of them and said, "The two of you should be leaving now so you don't miss your flight."
They nodded their heads and walked back to pick up their suitcases. As they were walking out the door, Renee stopped and
said, "Gracias, senor, for letting us stay here and treating us as friends."
"You're welcome, senorita. It has been a pleasure. And keep the senor out of trouble."
She smiled at him. "I'll try to. It's not an easy job though."
When they arrived at the airport, they thanked the driver, then started to the terminal. They noticed that there were very
few people around. This seemed odd, but they just shrugged the feeling off. When they had almost reached the building,
three men came from around the corner of it. Renee recognized the man Gabriel had confronted as one of them.
She grabbed his hand and they started walking faster. Before they could reach the terminal, the three men were in front of
them, blocking their way. Gabriel stepped in front of Renee and stood straight, facing the men. "Get out of our way," he told
them with more nerve than he felt.
The man they had met before, who seemed to be the leader of the group, just grinned at him. Then, he looked at the two
men with him and they started forward. Gabriel and Renee started to run around them. One of them ran right at Gabriel and
tackled him to the ground. The other man came up behind Renee and grabbed her arms.
The one who had tackled him hauled Gabriel to his feet and held him with his arms pinned to his sides. The leader walked
over to him. He threw a punch into his midsection. Gabriel nearly doubled over in pain from the blow. He straightened up
and glared at him. Renee was struggling with the man who held her. Gabriel threw a glance at her that told her to stop and
she immediately did.
He threw a couple more punches to the same spot. Then, he hit Gabriel numerous times in the face. His lip was split, his
nose was bleeding, and he had a cut above one eye, but he still looked at this man with defiance.
The man who was holding him let go of his arms and he fell to the ground. The leader walked over to their suitcases and
opened up one of them. By chance, he had found Gabriel's. The box holding the stone was on top of his piles of clothes. He
picked it up and walked back over to Gabriel. He kicked him once in the stomach, then started to walk away. On the way, he
stepped on Gabriel's hand, crushing the bones. He let out an exclamation of pain.
He walked over to the other men, one of whom was still holding Renee, and talked quietly with them. Then, he walked
over to Gabriel, grabbed his shirt front, and lifted him up. "I'm taking the senorita with us, but you're staying here."
As he walked away, Gabriel struggled to his feet. Seeing this, Renee tried to break away. She managed to free one arm.
With it, she hit her captor on the side of his head. His grasp involuntarily loosened and she slipped away and ran over to
Gabriel. She put her arm around his shoulders and helped to steady him. The men were coming back over and Renee looked
around frantically for help. Just as the men reached them, she saw some people approaching from another direction. She
started yelling to get their attention.
Two of the men in the group came over to see what the trouble was. When the three men saw help coming, they took off.
"What's the matter here?" One of them asked when they reached Renee and Gabriel.
"Those men attacked and stole something from us," Renee explained to them.
The other man started running after the retreating men, while he aided Renee in helping Gabriel to the terminal. The other
one intercepted them, handing the box to Renee.
"Gracias, senor."
Once they were inside, he started to examine Gabriel. When he had finished, he looked at Renee and said, "He'll be fine. I
think he has some bruised ribs, but nothing worse. His hand needs to be bandaged though."
He took some things out of his suitcase and started to fix him up. Renee looked at her watch, then started cursing under her
breath. The man looked at her, shocked. "What is wrong, senorita?"
"We missed our flight."
"I will go see when the next one leaves. Where are you headed?"
"New York."
When he came back, he was smiling. "The next flight leaves in three hours."
Renee thanked him, then thought of something else. "What about those men? What happened to them?"
"They are in the custody of the airport security. They will not hurt you again."
Renee sighed with relief and thanked him again. A couple of hours later, she helped Gabriel board the plane and they were
headed home.
