Chapter 5





Renee sighed. "I always did hate shopping for clothes. Especially dresses."
Both Sara and Cara laughed. Cara told her, "Well, Renee, unless you plan on getting married in jeans you'll have to deal with it for a bit."
"Well, then can't we at least try to find a simple one. I don't care for fancy designs." She frowned at the dresses they were looking at.
Her two friends laughed again. "This one's not too fancy," Sara said pulling one off of the rack.
Renee took it from her and headed for the dressing room. A couple of minutes later she emerged with the dress on. She frowned and shook her head. Sara handed her another one.
The top had buttons down the front and it tied in the back. There was lace around the neck and the ends of the sleeves. It had a v-neck, but wasn't too low cut. The sleeves were short. They only came to right above her elbows. The skirt was plain. It flowed down to her ankles.
She stepped out of the dressing room and turned around in a circle for them. "That one looks nice on you, Renee," Sara said.

She nodded. "I like it."
"Now you need some shoes."
She rolled her eyes, but let them drag her to the shoe department.
*******
"What do you mean you don't have her yet?" Dakota Miffe was furious.
"We haven't been able to get her."
"I hired you a month ago and you still haven't accomplished a thing." He was close to screaming by now.
"She's always with those cops."
"I don't care. Just get her."
He turned around and stormed out of the building. The men watched him leave, then looked at each other nervously. "What should we do?" One of them asked.
"Find her and get rid of her," another one replied.
*******
Gabriel walked out of the store and took the box out of the bag. Renee will like this, he thought. He put it back into the bag. The claddagh ring was the perfect gift for her. He knew how interested she was about everything having to do with Ireland. In fact, some people might say she was obsessed. But Gabriel knew that it was just that she was passionate about the things she liked. He grinned to himself. He knew this very well.

He got in his car and drove back to Renee's place. She still wasn't back from shopping yet. Walking into the bedroom, he placed the small box on her pillow. He was sure it wouldn't take her long to spot it. Just as he sat down on the couch, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
The door swung open, Renee stepped in, and smiled at him. "Are my legs still attached?" She asked with a tired smile.
He laughed. "Yeah, they are. Guess it was a long day."
"Remind me to never go shopping with those two ever again."
"That bad, huh?"
"Let's just say I could have gotten done in a couple of hours what it took them half the day to do. And we have to do it again tomorrow when Morgan gets here."
He stood up and walked over to her. In a teasing voice, he said, "Poor thing. What can I do to make it better."
She grinned at him. They both knew what he could do. He wrapped his arms around her and their lips met in a kiss. When they finally pulled apart, she said, "That's a start."

He covered her mouth with his. Renee was lost in a state of pleasure. her hands moved behind his back and started to lift his shirt off. Their lips only parted long enough to get some air in their lungs and undress each other. Then, they fell to the floor.
She loved the feel of his bare skin against hers. She could feel the heat radiating from his body as they melted together. Their hearts beat a rhythm in their chests and soon everything else was forgotten.
*******
"Jake, where are you going?" Cara asked, sitting up in bed.
He turned around and smiled at her. "As soon as you get dressed, we're going to the station."
"Why?" She asked as she swung her feet to the floor.
"Because I need to go to work and there is no way I'm going to leave you here alone."
She decided that was best and started to get dressed. "Why are you going to work in the middle of the afternoon?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "This is just when Captain Richards wanted us to work this week."
They walked out to his car and drove to the precinct.
*******

The cold floor chilled Renee, bringing her awake. Gabriel was laying next to her with his arm over her. She rolled out from under him and sat up. Finding her clothes, she pulled them on and walked into the bathroom. A couple of minutes later she came out and went into the bedroom.
She saw the small, black box sitting on her pillow. Picking it up, she opened it, smiled, and walked back into the living room. Gabriel was sitting up and looking around. When he saw her, a smile brightened his face. He saw the box in her hand and said, "Happy St. Patrick's Day."
She laughed. "This is the first time I've ever gotten something for St. Patrick's Day."
"Do you like it?"
"I love it." She kissed him, then said, "And you."
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down on top of him. She pulled away, grabbed his hands, and stood up, pulling him to his feet.
They somehow made it to the bedroom. "Looks like I shouldn't have bothered getting dressed," Renee said as they fell to the bed.
*******

She stepped out of the car, walked up to the door, and knocked. She knocked two more times before the door opened. Gabriel stood there in his jeans, and his hair was sticking up in numerous places, betraying the fact that he had just gotten out of bed.
"Is this where Renee Mackenzie lives?" She asked, a blush starting to rise in her cheeks.
He nodded his head and said, "Yeah. Come in. I'll get her."
"She's not still in bed, is she?"
"Actually, she is."
She had a look on her face that told him she didn't believe him. "I have never known Renee to sleep in past eight."
He grinned guiltily. "Well, she's not sleeping."
She started laughing when she realized why Renee wasn't up yet. Then, she followed him inside and waited on the couch while Gabriel went into the bedroom. A minute later Renee came out in a t-shirt and jeans. She was pulling her hair up into a pony tail.

She smiled brightly. "Hello, Morgan. I see you've met Gabriel."
"Yeah. Are you ready to go?"
"No. I just got out of bed."
"I heard."
Renee laughed and headed back into the bedroom. "I just need to get changed."
A couple of minutes later she came out in a pair of tan slacks and a green blouse. Her hair was combed with the sides pulled up. Gabriel walked over and wrapped his arms around her. "You look wonderful," he told her.
She smiled at him and said, "I'll be back sometime today. I hope." She said this last with a grin.
He kissed her, then she pulled away, picked her purse up from the table, and walked to the door. She turned around and smiled before walking out the door.
Once she had left, he walked into the kitchen and made some coffee. When he had finished drinking it, he walked into the bathroom and turned on the water to take a shower.
*******

Renee and Morgan met Sara and Cara outside of the mall. They walked inside together, talking and laughing. A couple of hours later, they came back out. "Does this mean we're done?" Renee asked.
They laughed. Morgan replied, "Yes, Renee, we're done." She shook her head. "We might be cousins, but no one could accuse us of being sisters."
"They used to think we were twins," Renee reminded her.
"Yes, they did. But now we don't even look alike."
Sara looked at her watch, then said, "I've got to get to work now."
They said goodbye to her, then Cara, Morgan, and Renee got into Renee's car and drove away. Renee pulled up in front of her apartment, and the three of them stepped out.
"I need to be going now," Morgan said.
"Okay. See you in August."
Morgan got into her car and drove off. Renee and Cara turned toward the building. They started to walk up to the door, then saw men coming toward them from three directions.
They broke into a run and saw the apartment door open. Then the men grabbed them. Gabriel stepped outside, and one of the men started to shoot at him. He grabbed his arm and stumbled back through the door.

He got to his feet and looked out the door. A car was speeding away. Renee and Cara were gone. He sank to his knees and put his head in his hands. The pain in his arm brought him back to his senses.
He looked at his arm and saw that the bullet had cut a furrow along his arm right below his shoulder. Blood was running down his arm. he grabbed the edge of the door and pulled himself to his feet.
Walking into the bathroom, he took off his shirt and looked around for some bandages. Once he found some, he placed them on the sink counter, got a wet washcloth, and cleaned the area around the wound. Then he filled the sink with hot water and carefully bathed the wound. He knew this wasn't going to be enough to keep infection away, but it was all he could do for now. Once a bandage was in place, he walked into the bedroom and slipped into a clean shirt. He tried not to move his arm too much, because when he did it sent a dagger of pain all through it.
He walked to the door and saw that he had dripped blood on the floor. Deciding that he would worry about it later, or never again depending on how things went in the next couple of hours, he shut the door behind him and started down the street.
*******

"This is ridiculous," Renee said from the backseat of the car.
Cara tried to warn her to be quiet, but one of their captors was quicker. "Just shut up before you get hurt." A menacing glare from him backed up the command.
She shut her mouth, leaned back against the seat, and closed her eyes. She tried to block everything out of her mind. Instead she thought of Gabriel. She had seen him get hit by that bullet and fall back into the house. At the thought of him in pain, tears threatened to come.
She opened her eyes and looked at Cara. She could see the fear in her friend's eyes and wanted to do something to ease it. They had been like sisters for most of their life and had always felt what the other was feeling. She gave her a weak smile.
It seemed an eternity before the car finally stopped. The door opened and someone pulled Renee out by her coat. She stumbled, then stood up straight. The men pushed them ahead of them into a large, empty building.

Renee stumbled and cried out in pain when her knee struck the hard floor. She rolled over and held her leg. Her pants leg had ripped and blood was oozing from the cuts on her knee. She glared at the men, but they just laughed.
Cara sat down beside her and asked, "Are you okay?"
She nodded her head, then tears started to roll down her cheeks.
"What's wrong?"
"Ga-Gabriel is h-hurt," she managed to say between sobs. "He was shot. W-what if he's . . . " She let the sentence trail off.
"He's not," she told her firmly. "I haven't known him long, but something tells me that he's too stubborn to die without a fight."
She squeezed Renee's hand then let her cry, knowing that was what she needed to do right now.
******
Sara walked up and knocked on Renee's door. No one answered. She knocked again, but there was still no answer. She turned the door knob, then pushed it open. "Hello," she called as she stepped inside. There was no answer, only silence. She glanced down and saw blood on the floor. Suddenly she was given a vision by the witch blade. She saw some men grab Renee and Cara. Then she saw Gabriel fall back into the house after being hit by a bullet. The last thing she saw was him walking into a dark shop.
She snapped out of her trance-like state, turned and quickly walked outside. She didn't know where to start looking, but she had a feeling that Gabriel was about to get himself into more trouble than usual.