Chapter 2



Renee was sitting at the computer when she felt Gabriel's hands on her shoulders. She turned to face him with a smile. "Kevin and Meghan are at school," he whispered. "And Amie is sleeping. It's been two months. Please let me prove my love."

She seemed hesitant, but the look of yearning in his eyes undid her. She let him lead her over to the couch. Brushing her hair away from her face, he leaned in to kiss her. His lips were gentle and tender, yet full of passion. His hands moved to the buttons on her shirt, working slowly because his lips returned to hers after each button was freed. The shirt fell to the couch, and he ran his hands along her soft skin.

"Now let me do yours." She slid her hands under his t-shirt and lifted it over his head. Trailing her fingers across his chest, she could feel the small hairs prickle at her touch. He pulled her close to him, and she could feel his eagerness. Renee couldn't deny it; she wanted him just as badly.

He lowered her to the couch as his hands went to her jeans. She fumbled with the button on his and finally managed to undo it. His hands moved behind her to cradle her head. She pulled him closer to her, and their bodies moved in time with each other: slowly, tenderly, passionately.

A knock on the door brought them out of their horizontal dance. Jerking his pants on again, he went to answer it. A moment later Renee heard him call back to her as she zipped and buttoned her jeans. "Renee, it's Caitlyn."

She slipped into her shirt and buttoned it as she walked to the door. "Hey, Caitlyn. Come on in."

They walked inside, and Renee picked up a pile of papers from the computer desk. "Here's chapter one," she said, handing the papers to her friend. "I'm working on chapter two now."

Caitlyn sat at the computer and slowly read over the chapter. When she finished, she looked up at Renee and said, "This is wonderful, Renee. I wish I could write like this."

"You really think it's good, then?"

"Of course I do."

Renee smiled as she took the papers from her friend. She looked up as Caitlyn started talking again. "Colleen's going to be staying at my house this weekend while her parents are out of town, and she wanted to know if Meghan could spend the night."

"I don't see a problem with that." Renee looked over at Gabriel, and he nodded. "Yeah, it's fine."

"Colleen'll be very happy. I'll just pick Meghan up after school tomorrow, then?"

"Sounds good."

"Sorry for interrupting you two," she apologized with a grin as she walked to the door.

Once Caitlyn left, Renee turned back to Gabriel. He slid his hand behind her neck and leaned in for another kiss. Just as their lips touched, a wail from upstairs startled them. She pulled away and started up the stairs. Gabriel sighed in frustration and ran his fingers through his hair. They had been together for the first time in ten months and had been interrupted twice. A few minutes later Renee came back down the stairs, carrying their daughter. "She just wanted to let us know she was awake and hungry."

Gabriel took Amie in his arms. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

The baby just smiled at him. He held her while Renee went into the kitchen to make up a bottle for her. After she finished feeding, Amie fell asleep in Renee's arms. She put her back to bed.

*******

Kevin sat on the couch, watching tv after school the next day. Renee was in the kitchen, feeding Amie. He jumped up from the couch when he heard a crashing sound from the basement. "Uncle Gabriel's home!" He shouted excitedly as he ran to the stairs.

"Already? He just left fifteen minutes ago," Renee said, stepping out of the kitchen.

Kevin was already halfway down the stairs. Renee shook her head and returned to the kitchen. Another crash came from the basement, and she began to worry. The first one could have been the basement door. It was always loud. If Gabriel was home though, there was no reason for the second one. She picked Amie up out of the highchair, and taking her into the living room, placed her in the playpen. Then, Renee hurried to the basement steps.

"Gabriel," she called down the stairs. When there was no answer, she tried her nephew. "Kevin." There was still no answer. She hurried down the stairs but didn't see anyone. "Kevin, where are you?"

He didn't answer. Renee was getting scared now. She ran back up the steps and grabbed the phone from its receiver. Dialing Gabriel's cell phone number, she waited for him to answer. "Where are you?" She asked quickly when he did.

"At the bank. What is it? Is something wrong with Amie?" He asked, hearing the anxious tone in her voice.

"No, she's fine, but Kevin's gone."

"What do you mean, 'Kevin's gone'?"

"He heard a noise in your shop and thought you were home, so he ran down there. Then, I heard another noise and went down to check, but he was gone." Tears were threatening to come, but she managed to hold them back. Kevin seemed like her son even though he didn't call her Mom.

"I'll be right there."

When he arrived home, Renee was cradling Amie in her arms. He wrapped his arms around his wife and pulled both of them to his chest. They stayed that way until Amie started crying for air. Gabriel pulled away from them and said, "I'm gonna call Sara."

He hung up the phone five minutes later and turned back to Renee. "She said she can't investigate directly, but would contact someone in Missing Persons. And that she'd make sure whoever is in charge of the investigation stays in close contact with her."

They sat on the couch, and Gabriel put his arms around Renee once again. After several minutes, she asked, "Should we call and have Meghan come home?"

He thought for a moment then shook his head. "Let her enjoy herself for now. We can tell her tomorrow when Caitlyn brings her home."

"Maybe they'll find him by then."

Gabriel bent his head down and kissed the top of hers. He wished she was right.

*******

Kevin was scared. No, that wasn't true. He was terrified. His mouth was taped shut, and his hands were restrained in front of him with duct tape. He had no idea how long he'd been there, but it had been several days. He didn't know where he was and couldn't see outside. There were only two small windows in the front of the room. His captor was staring out one of them.

Tears rolled down the young boy's face from knowing there was no way to escape. He chided himself for thinking that. The heroes in the books he read wouldn't be having those thoughts, and they were always getting into these situations. Renee always told him that even though those stories weren't true, he could learn something from them. He tried to concentrate on remembering how they always got out of their problems. His attention, however, kept wandering to his captor.

The man was tall with unruly blond hair and unnaturally blue eyes. He had a thin face with a cruel look to it. Every few minutes he would pace the length of the room, but he always returned to his post at the window. After several hours, he deserted this post and strode over to Kevin. Jerking him to his feet, he said, "It's time to go." He pushed the young boy in front of him and out a door on the side of the building. He pushed him until they came to the end of the dead-end alley.

*******

"Gabe, I really don't want to say this, but it had been a week," Sara told him. "The longer it takes to find him, the less likely we will."

"You have to find him, Sara." Gabriel's eyes were filled with sadness. It tore Sara's heart in half to see her friend like that.

"We're doing our best. I just wish I could be a bigger part in the investigation, but my boss is adamant that we're only in the background." Before she could say anything else, her phone rang. "Pezzeni." She listened to the person on the other end, and a vision assaulted her. Kevin cowering against a wall. Then, he was being pushed into the shadows of an alley. She snapped out of her trance and said, "All right. I'll be right there."

Gabriel glanced sharply at Sara when she hung up the phone, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. "I have to go. I'll call if they find him."

She hurried out to her bike then sped down the road. She stopped at the address she had been told to come to over the phone. She ducked under the yellow tape blocking off the alley. Danny was waiting for her. "They found him?"

He nodded his head slowly. She could see a gathering of police at the far end of the alley.

"Is he..." She couldn't even finish the question.

Danny nodded his head again. "I'm sorry, Pez."

"Oh no. Gabriel and Renee are going to be devastated. They thought of him as their son."

"Do you want me to go with you, Pez?"

"Thanks, Danny," she said, forcing a smile for him. "But I need to do this alone."

They watched as the small body was put in the back of the coroner's van. Then, Sara rode slowly back to Gabriel's house. She didn't want to break the news to her friends. When she arrived, Gabriel, Renee, and Meghan were sitting on the couch, and Amie was in her playpen.

"They found him."

"Thank God," Renee whispered.

"Where is he?" Gabriel asked, anxious to see his nephew again.

"Gabe, he...he's dead."

"No. He can't be."

"I'm so sorry, Gabe. You will need to come down and identify the body."

She walked outside to Give Gabriel and Renee some time alone. Meghan followed her. "Where's my brofer?"

Sara knelt down so she could look the young girl in the eyes. "Meghan, do you remember what happened to your parents?"

She nodded her head solemnly.

"Well, your brother is with them now."

"But you hafta be older before you can go there. He wasn't old enough."

She wanted to console the little girl when the tears welled up in her eyes but knew nothing she could say would help. A moment later Gabriel walked out of the house.

"Meghan, go back in the house. Renee will stay with you while I go with Aunt Sara for a bit."

When they arrived at the morgue, The coroner was waiting for them. He unzipped the bag and opened it enough for Gabriel to se the young boy's face. He nodded as tears moistened his eyes. "That's Kevin."

Sara put her arms around her young friend to comfort him, but he jerked away. Shaking his head, he nearly ran out to the car. She let him go. He needed to sort things out. Maybe Renee would be able to help him.

*******

The man kept the left side of his face turned away from the cashier. He was just glad no one else was in the store. "All I need is the peroxide and bandages," he growled at the lady behind the counter.

"Are you sure, sir?" She just wanted to make sure he had everything he needed, but this seemed to be upsetting him.

"Yes, I'm sure." He paid for the bottle of hydrogen peroxide and box of bandages then quickly exited the building.

He made his way back to his car where he could tend to his wounds. "Damn, that boy was a fighter," he muttered as he poured the liquid onto a bandage, which he placed over the three horizontal scratches on his face. Then he poured the peroxide over the bite marks on his left hand and wrapped a bandage around it.

He'd had to drag him down the alley to where no one could see them. Then, the boy tried to dart past him, but he grabbed his black hair and stopped him from escaping. After that, Kevin took a few layers of skin from his captor's face with his fingernails. He also took a chunk out of the man's hand with his teeth. Finally, Larry Schurz managed to get a hand around the young boy's neck. With a quick motion, Kevin's neck was broken, and he was on the ground, dead.

Larry hurried back to his car and stopped the bleeding from his face and hand. Then, he drove to the store to pick up what he needed. He had to get away as soon as he could. He'd come back for his original quarry later.

*******

Gabriel watched in stony silence as four men lowered his nephew's casket into the cold ground. Renee's face was tear-stained, and Meghan's was identical. Amie slept in her mother's arms all through the funeral.

Everyone gathered around Gabriel and Renee to offer their condolences. They accepted them in silence. Sara, Conchobar, Dakota, Jason, Darvi, Ian, and Caitlyn stuck around after everyone else had left. Dakota hugged Renee and let her cry on her shoulder. Ian sat on the ground beside Meghan talking to her quietly and soothingly.

Sara put her hand on Gabriel's shoulder. "He was just a boy. Just an innocent boy."

"We'll find the creep who did this, Gabe. I promise you that."

"When you find him, Sara, don't kill him."

She was surprised by his request. Sara figured he'd want this man dead with no questions asked. "Of course I'll try to bring him in alive, but why don't you want me to kill him?"

"Because I want to do it myself."

Sara couldn't say she was surprised by the words or by the anger she could hear in them. She had heard it many times before and always had to calm the widows, widowers, or bereaved parents. It was harder, however, when it was her own friend. "Gabe, leave that to us. You can't take justice into your own hands."

He gave her a hard look and said, "I can when it's my nephew, my son, who was killed." With that he stormed to the car to wait for Renee and Meghan.