Chapter 7



Jake waited in the lobby while Sara went in to see Irons. Kenneth was sitting at his desk. Ian was standing behind him with his head bowed. Sara glanced at him then looked at Irons. "What do you know about Dakota Miffe?"

"He is an associate of mine."

She glared at him. "That does not answer my question."

He shrugged "He's a young man trying to make his way any way he can."

"He's a murderer!"

Sara spun around to see Jake standing there. "I thought I told you to stay out there."

He didn't take his eyes from Irons. "Didn't want to leave you alone with this slick snake."

Sara let out a sigh and walked over to him. "We might as well go. We're not gonna learn anything here."

They left, and Irons turned to Ian. "You are not to help them. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." He turned back to his desk. Realizing this meant he was dismissed, he walked out of the room. Once he was out of Irons' office, Ian walked down the hall and outside.

He knew that what he was about to do would get him in trouble, but he felt he didn't have any other choice. Sara needed help, and he could give it. He started down the street.

*******

The leader was straddling Renee when the door swung open. His head swung up and he saw his boss standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing?" He demanded. "I thought I told you to kill her."

"I was thinking about how to do that when he showed up." He pointed back at Gabriel.

"Why didn't you just kill both of them. Put a bullet in their heads. It's not that difficult."

"We were going to. Just thought we'd have a little fun first."

"I did not hire you to have fun," he exploded. "Now, get up and take care of them."

He reluctantly stood up, then jerked Renee to her feet. She pulled away from him and stood there glaring at him. He picked his gun up from where it was sitting and prodded her in the back with it. "Get back over there." When she was seated on the floor beside Gabriel, he pointed the gun at her head.

"You don't want to do this," she told him, her voice shaking with fear.

"Doesn't matter what I want. He's the one paying me."

He pulled the hammer back on his gun and wrapped his finger around the trigger. Renee looked at Gabriel, who was mumbling something she couldn't understand. She closed her eyes and waited for the sound of a shot.

*******

Sara walked up to her door, then out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ian step out of the shadows. "What do you want, Ian?"

"I know where your friends are."

"Does Irons know?"

"Where they are? Yes. That I am helping you? Probably."

"But you're doing it?"

"Yes."

"Then take me there."

"Yes, Lady Sara."

He started down the street and she followed him. About fifteen minutes later, they came to a warehouse. They walked inside and saw the three men standing around Gabriel and Renee Sara saw Miffe standing in the middle of the room and started toward him. Ian made his way to the other side of the room.

The man with his gun pointed at Renee heard him approaching and spun around. Ian swept his coat behind him and drew his guns. The man was knocked down by a bullet and didn't move.

The other two men were dead seconds later. Renee heard the first shot and opened her eyes when she realized it hadn't hit her. She saw Ian standing there. Then, she looked around and saw the three men laying on the floor. She sighed in relief, then turned to Gabriel.

Dakota Miffe turned around when he heard footsteps approaching him. His eyes widened with fear when he saw her. She pressed the tip of the blade over his heart and pushed it through. He screamed in agony as he fell to the floor.

Sara walked over to Renee and Gabriel. "How is he?" She asked gently.

Renee shook her head. "Not good. He needs to get to the hospital."

Sara nodded. "I'll call Jake."

After she had finished talking to him, she looked around for Ian, but he was already gone. She looked at Renee and noticed with a start that she looked extremely pale.

"Are you okay, Renee?" She asked, concerned.

Renee nodded, but Sara could tell that she wasn't. The younger girl turned around and vomited. When she turned back around, she was paler than before. Something Sara hadn't thought was possible.

"When we get to the hospital, you'd better have the doctor look at you, too."

Renee shook her head. "I'm fine."

Sara started to disagree, but stopped when she heard a car pull up. Jake walked in and saw them standing there. He walked over to them and helped Sara get Gabriel to his feet. They got him out to the car and Renee followed. When they got to the hospital, Jake helped a nurse get him into a bed. Sara had a nurse take Renee to a room, too. She protested the whole time, but they finally got her to lie down in a bed.

A couple of minutes later a doctor came in and examined her. When he was finished, he smiled at her. "You'll be fine. This is perfectly normal."

She looked at him with a confused look on her face. He noticed this and told her, "You're a couple of months along all ready."

"You mean?"

He nodded his head. "Is your husband out there?"

She shook her head. "My fiancé is in another room here. That is why I am here."

"Do you have anyone else here with you?"

She nodded. "Two friends. Jake McCarty, goofy-looking blond and Sara Pezzeni, long, brown hair."

He left and a couple of minutes later they came in. Both of them had smiles on their faces. "The doctor told us," Sara said. "Congratulations."

She returned their smile. Then asked, "How is Gabriel?"

"You have a one track mind," she said shaking her head. "We haven't heard. But, don't worry. He'll be fine."

"What about Cara? Did you find her?"

Sara glanced at Jake, then looked back at Renee. "She's dead," she said in almost a whisper.

"No. She can't be." Renee refuses to believe it.

"I'm so sorry, Renee."

She looked into Sara's eyes and saw that she wasn't joking. Tears started to roll down the younger girl's cheeks, but she furiously wiped them away. A nurse poked her head into the room. "Miss Pezzeni, the doctor is done with your other friend and would like to speak to you."

She nodded, then turned to Renee. "I'll let you know what he says."

Sara followed the nurse down the hallway. She saw a doctor standing outside of Gabriel's room. "I cleaned up his wound and the cuts on his face," he told her. "Also, I gave him something for the fever. He is sleeping right now and needs to rest. He should make it though. It's a good thing it didn't take any longer to get him here or else he probably wouldn't."

"Thank you, doctor."

He nodded and walked away. She walked back to Renee's room and told her what the doctor had just told her. Once she was sure Renee would stay where she was, she walked out to the waiting room.

*******

"You disobeyed me, Ian. You told me you wouldn't help them, then you went out and did it. Didn't you?"

"No, sir," Ian replied, raising his head and looking Irons directly in the eyes.

Irons slapped him and said, "Do not lie to me, Ian."

Ian glared at him and said, "I told you that I understood that you did not want me to help them. I never said I would not help."

"Did not want you to? I forbade you from doing it." He let out a disgusted sigh. It was directed as much at Ian as it was at himself for losing his temper. "Get out of here."

Ian turned around sharply and walked out of the room.

*******

Renee woke up and looking out the window, saw that the sun was setting. She swung her feet to the floor and glanced around the room. Then, she remembered where she was and that Gabriel was in another room in the same building. She walked out of the room and down the hallway to the lobby.

Sara saw her coming toward her and stood up. "He's still sleeping," she told the younger girl knowing that was what she wanted. "His fever's going down. The doctor's sure he'll recover just fine."

"I want to see him."

Sara saw a nurse and called her over. After talking to her for a minute, the nurse turned to Renee and said, "Follow me, Miss Mackenzie."

She left her in the room alone with Gabriel. Renee pulled a chair over and sat down. He looked like he was sleeping comfortably, so she didn't want to wake him.

He shifted in his sleep and moaned. Then, he started mumbling incoherently. She heard her name, but couldn't make anything else out.

Renee took his hand in hers and squeezed it gently. "You're going to get better," she told him. "You have to. We're going to have a baby and I need you here."

He moaned again, then started to open his eyes. He looked around and saw Renee sitting beside him. "Where am I?" He asked groggily.

"In the hospital. You have a fever. I wasn't sure that you were going to make it for awhile there."

He smiled at her. "Well, I'm still here. Where's Cara?"

Tears started to cascade down her face. Gabriel pushed himself up with his good arm. "What happened?"

Renee raised her eyes to look at him and tried to blink away the tears. "She's dead. He killed her."

Gabriel's face went pale. "Where is he?"

"He's dead, too. Sara got him."

"Good."

"You need to get some sleep," she told him.

He nodded and closed his eyes. Renee smiled at him. She would tell him her news later.

*******

The next morning Renee was asleep in a chair in Gabriel's room when the doctor walked in. He touched her arm and she came awake with a start. She yawned, then smiled at him.

"His fever's gone and the wound is healing nicely. And there doesn't seem to be any other problems, so you can take him home when he wakes up."

"Thank you, doctor."

He nodded his head. "Have you told him yet?"

She shook her head. "No. I thought I'd wait until we got home."

He nodded again, then left them alone. Not too much later, Gabriel started to wake up. When he opened his eyes, he saw her and smiled.

She smiled back at him and asked, "Do you want to go home now?"

"Of course."

"Sara brought you some clean clothes."

She handed them to him and waited for him to get dressed. Then, they walked out to the lobby and met Sara and Jake there. "You two ready to go?"

They nodded their heads, and the four of them walked outside. Jake drove Renee and Gabriel to her apartment while Sara rode her Buell to the precinct to see Captain Richards.

They rode in silence in the backseat of the car. Renee was trying to think of a way to say what she had to tell him once they got home. She wasn't sure how he would react, they had never really talked about it. He could tell something was bothering her, but didn't want to ask her about it until they were alone.

When they had arrived and were alone together, Gabriel turned to her and asked, "What's wrong? You've been awfully quiet. Something's on your mind."

"Nothing's wrong, but we do need to talk."

They sat down on the couch. Renee took a deep breath, then looked at him. She decided that a direct approach would be best. "I'm pregnant."

He stared at her in shock. "What? How?"

She giggled. "If you don't know how, then . . ."

He started laughing too. "Well, I do know how it happened. Just took me by surprise." He wrapped his arms around her and stood up, lifting her to her feet. He hugged her and said, "I love you."

Her hands moved around his back, and she whispered, "I know."