Chapter 4



Doreen Keely felt someone watching her as she walked to her car. She kept her body poised for attack as she slid the key into the lock. She heard the whisper as a pair of feet rushed toward her. In one quick fluid motion, she spun around and sent her foot into her attacker's stomach. The blow barely had an effect on the large black man. She stopped, shocked, when she saw who it was. "Hector, what are you doing here?"

"Catching up with old comrades," he replied, taking the keys from her. As his other hand came up to her neck, he added, "Denise and Emily are waiting for you." The needle slid easily through her neck.

When Doreen woke from her drug-induced sleep, she caught the scent of singed hair. She was still too sedated to realize it was her own. The next sensation was an excruciating pain spreading through her midsection. She placed her hand at the source of the pain and tried to sit up from the ground. The wet sticky feeling on her hand stopped her. She brought it away and saw it covered with blood. An almost evil chuckle got her attention.

Hector Mobius squatted in front of her with a box of matches in his hand. He struck one of them, studying the flame. "The heat of passion always fades," he said. "All that is left of the flame is ashes." He let it burn out then lit another one. This one he moved toward her left foot. He had already removed her shoes.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked, trying to remain calm as the flame moved closer.

"A knight's betrayal. A broken pact. A dishonor."

"I don't understand."

"You have no need to." A grin crossed his face when she tried to hold in a scream.

As soon as the flame touch her skin, she lost the battle. She twisted her foot, trying to stop it from burning, but Mobius held it firmly in his hand.

"Why don't you just kill me?" She asked through clenched teeth.

"This will get the message across with more efficiency," he answered as the match went out.

He held the third one to her right foot. It took all of Doreen's willpower and tenacity to keep from passing out during the torture. The smell of her seared flesh was almost too much for her. Mobius let the flame burn down then tossed the match to the ground and stood up. He drew a gun from under his coat, checking to make sure the chamber was loaded even though he knew it was.

"The bullet in your stomach would kill you after causing you to suffer a slow agonizing death if I were to give it the time. I do not have time for that, however." He stroked the barrel of the gun before continuing. "They will find you. They found the others. It will be too late for you though."

Doreen let her head fall to the ground as he aimed the gun at her chest and tightened his finger on the trigger.

*******

Jason tried to move his finger to scratch under his bandage where his wound was itching. Dakota gave him a warning glance, and he brought his hand back to the arm of the chair. Gabriel sat slumped in a chair, worry for his wife etched on his face. The doctor had come out to talk to them after his initial examination of Renee's arm. "Her arm's not broken, but she did dislocate it. We need to reduce the dislocation." That had been more than a half hour ago.

Amie slid out of the chair and walked over to him. She put her hands on his knees and waited for him to notice her. When she had his attention, she asked, "Momma otay?"

Gabriel lifted her to his lap and told her, "Your momma's gonna be fine. The doctor's taking good care of her." 'Doesn't mean I can't worry about her,' he thought to himself.

They waited fifteen more minutes before the doctor came out to talk to them again. "It took us a while to get the shoulder back in place because she couldn't relax. We gave her a slight sedative to relax her muscles and got everything back where it belongs. She's resting now. Which one of you is her husband?"

Gabriel stepped forward with Amie in his arms. "That would be me."

"You can go back and see her for a little bit if you'd like."

He handed Amie to Dakota and followed the doctor down the hallway to Renee's room. Her eyes were closed, but she opened them when he sat in a chair beside her bed. "Are you okay?" She asked.

He nodded, then laughed. "This seems backwards. We've switched positions."

She smiled at him. "Wait 'til I get out of here. I'll show you a position."

He grinned at her then brushed some hair out of her face. A moment later the door opened and Jason stuck his head into the room. "The police are here. They need to get your statement."

Gabriel nodded at him. "I'll be right out." He turned back to Renee and leaned over, kissing her forehead. "I'll be back. Get some sleep."

Out in the lobby, two local cops were waiting for him. "Do you know who attacked you?" The older cop asked.

"Yeah. His name was Danny Kief."

"Can you describe him?"

"Average height. Blond hair. Blue eyes. His face seemed to be scarred. Think he was a fighter at one time."

"Couldn't have been too good of one if his face was scarred," the younger cop commented.

"That's not what my body says."

"Do you know why he attacked you and your wife?" The senior cop took over the questioning again after sending a glare at his partner.

Gabriel nodded his head. "He blames me for his brother's death." At the detective's questioning look, he explained, "Last year his brother kidnapped my niece who me and my wife adopted over two years ago. He was sentenced to over fifty years in prison. Sometime in the last year he was killed there. The one who attacked us blamed me for that."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Bowman. We'll be sure to contact you when we find him."

"We will probably be home by then. Here's our number," he said, scribbling a number down on a piece of paper.

"Thank you once again, Mr. Bowman."

Once they left, Gabriel returned to Renee's room. She was asleep, so he sat down beside the bed and watched her.

*******

Michael paced the length of his living room. Why was he so stupid? Renee had been trying to give him a chance to fix things after he had been screwing them up for the last fifteen years. Well, he had done it again.

Now she had been hurt because he pushed her away. He sank onto the couch with his head in his hands. It was all his fault. If she hadn't been so upset with him, she wouldn't have left. That man wouldn't have attacked them. She would still be here, safe.

He stood suddenly and grabbed his keys from the table. He had to see his daughter.

*******

Sara and Danny stood in the pelting rain while the CSI team tried to salvage as much of the evidence as they could before the rain washed away the trail they had to follow to catch the killer. As she stared at the covered body, a vision of flashing images assaulted Sara. The woman at her car. Her body, still unconscious, stretched out on the ground. A bullet entering her chest. Her attacker leaning over her with his knife.

"Sara." Danny's voice cut through and brought her out of the trance. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Hold on a second." She walked over to one of the men gathering evidence and asked, "Did you find any bullet casings?"

"Yeah. One. But she was shot twice."

"Thanks," she said before returning to her partner. "He's getting sloppy."

"Why do you say that?"

"Left a clue this time."

"Maybe he wants to be caught."

"Why would he want to be?"

"Don't know. If I could read his mind, he'd be locked up by now."

"He will be before long."

*******

Gabriel looked up from the bed when the door opened. His face paled with anger when he saw Michael standing there. "What are you doing here?" He demanded.

"Dakota called and told me what happened. I wanted to see my daughter."

"She's resting. She doesn't need you to stress her out."

"I know you blame me for this. I do too."

Gabriel shook his head. "I don't. I'm sure she doesn't either. She just doesn't need the stress you cause right now."

"Gabe." He turned when he heard her say his name. "It's okay."

Michael stepped forward and said with sincerity, "I am sorry, Renee. I shouldn't have pushed you away. If I hadn't been such an idiot, you wouldn't be here now. Then, I made things worse and drove Dakota away as well."

Renee shook her head. "Making her go away was probably the best thing you've done in years. If you hadn't, both of us would probably be dead. They got there just in time."

She pushed herself up from the bed and held out her good arm to her dad. He wrapped his arms around her gently, and she put her uninjured arm around his back. "I need to stop letting my pride get in the way of my thinking," he said in apology.

"Well, I inherited my pride from you. Not too sure about the thinking though."

A nurse stepped through the door. "Mrs. Bowman, the doctor said you may be released now if you are awake. And since you are awake," She smiled at them, "guess you may be released now."

"Thank you," she said, swinging her legs to the side of the bed. Michael tried to help her to her feet, but she pulled her arm away from him. "I can do it myself."

"And you got your bullheadedness from your mother."

"Thank you," she said. Even though Renee knew her father hadn't meant it as a compliment, she took it that way. "Now, let's go home."

Gabriel held the door for her as she walked out into the hallway. Amie saw them coming and ran to her mother. "Momma!"

Renee lifted her daughter with her good arm. "Hey, baby. You ready to go home."

Amie nodded her head then laid it on her mother's shoulder. Gabriel picked up the twins, and they all walked out to the cars.