Chapter 7



"Gabe, you are not going after him. Seth would not want you to get yourself killed."

"I cannot just sit back and watch as he slowly dies The man behind this is not gonna get away with it. I'm gonna make sure of it."

"This isn't gonna save him. The only thing it will accomplish is getting you killed. Please, Gabe, don't do this," Renee pleaded with her husband.

"I have to. Do you think he's gonna stop? He won't. I won't let him hurt anyone else I care about."

"What about you? Don't you care if you're hurt?"

"Not as much as I do if you or the kids were to be hurt or killed. Listen, Renee, I have to do this."

"No, you don't!" Renee screamed. "You just want revenge. Damn it, Gabriel, do not even give me any of that duty crap. Seth would not expect you to do this. If you just let the law handle it, he would not hold it against you."

"I would. I can't fail him, Renee."

"You wouldn't be failing him! Gabriel," she said, taking a step toward him.

He stepped away. "Renee, you won't stop me. Seth has been in that coma for a month. Even Jamie is losing hope of him ever coming out of it. If he dies, so does Dante."

"Why are you so damn stubborn?" Renee asked, breaking down into tears.

"It's the only way I know to be." His face took on a sad, concerned look. "Renee, take the kids and go to Ian's. You'll be safe there. I am going after him."

"No, Gabriel. I won't leave. I'm staying. I made a promise to always stay by your side, and I mean to keep that one."

"If you stay, you'll be killed."

"If you go after Dante, you'll be killed. I don't see that stopping you."

"And you call me stubborn. I don't want you or the kids in danger."

"What makes you think he won't come after us there sometime when Ian's gone?"

"He's after me to get at Sara. He won't come after you if you're not here."

"What if he comes after one of us to get at you? Don't put that past him. And I can take care of myself. I am not just some weak woman."

"I would never forgive myself if you were killed. I can't let that happen to you."

"It's not your decision in the end, now is it? And it wouldn't be your fault."

"Renee," Gabriel's voice was firm. "I will not let you be killed. Why can't you understand that?"

"Because when I married you, I promised to stand beside you through sickness and death, through the good times and the bad, no matter what. Does that mean anything to you?"

"Of course it does. But you have to leave. I will not have you hurt."

"Damn you, Gabriel. You are not listening to a word I'm saying. It is not your decision if I'm hurt or not! You talk about loyalty. That's the reason you're doing this. If I were to leave you, what would that say about my loyalty?"

"It would say nothing. I know you're loyal. Can't you just do this?"

"No! I will not leave, damn it."

"Renee, you have to. Get out now! Take the kids with you. Just get out of here!"

"Fine, Gabriel. If that's the way you want it, you can burn in Hell!" She screamed this last bit and ran out of the room.

She rounded up the kids and their things and left the house, slamming the door behind her. When he heard the car's engine roar to life, he sank to the floor, burying his head in his hands.

*******

Tears rolled down Renee's cheeks as she drove away from the house. She hadn't meant what she said. Why did she always let her temper take control? Now he would think she hated him. 'I don't, Gabriel,' she said silently. 'I really don't.'

The road began to blur before her. She tried blinking the tears away, but they kept coming. She pulled over to the side of the road, stopped the car, and rested her head on the steering wheel. What was she doing? She couldn't just leave him. Wiping away the tears, she pulled out onto the road again. She'd take the kids to Ian's, then return to her husband. At least they'd be out of danger then.

When she walked into the mansion with the kids, Renee heard voices coming from the study down the hall. Telling Meghan to keep an eye on the others, Renee started that way. She knocked on the door and walked in when Ian answered. Ian, Danny, Jake, and Sara were sitting in the room. "Where's Dakota?" Renee asked Ian.

"She is upstairs with Darvi and the kids," he replied. "Why?"

Renee started for the door, not answering his question. Sara's voice stopped her. "Renee, what's wrong?"

She turned again. "Nothing, Sara."

Once Renee left the room, Sara stood up from her chair. "I'll be back," she told the three men and followed Renee.

She caught up to her just as she reached the kids. Renee saw her and told Meghan, "Take your cousins upstairs."

Once the kids were out of sight, Sara confronted Renee. "What happened, Renee?"

"Nothing," Renee repeated her earlier claim.

Sara didn't believe her. She hadn't been crying for no reason. And she wouldn't have brought the kids here well after their bedtime if nothing was wrong. "What did he do this time?"

Renee shook her head. "He hasn't done anything yet."

"He's gonna go after Dante, isn't he?"

Renee nodded her head. "I tried to stop him. Told him Seth wouldn't want him to. He wouldn't listen." She broke down into sobs again. "Said he had to. Had to keep his safe."

"Renee, you stay here. I'll go talk to him. See if I can knock some sense into that thick head of his."

Renee showed her a weak smile. Dakota came running down the stairs just as Sara left the house. "Are you okay?" She asked her friend.

Renee nodded her head. "My temper got the best of me."

"It always does," Dakota said with a soft smile as they walked upstairs.

Renee sat on the couch, and Dakota brought her a cup of hot chocolate. "I put the kids to bed."

"Thank you, Kota." She took a sip of the hot liquid then broke down again. "He hates me," she whimpered.

Dakota was beside her friend in an instant. "No, he doesn't. Don't say that."

"Yes, he does. He made me leave. He didn't want me there."

"He just wants you and the kids to be safe. You know that. He loves you. He'd die if anything happened to you or the kids."

"But I told him." She stopped for a moment. "I told him to go to Hell. I didn't mean it. I was just so angry."

"He'll understand, Renee. He loves you too much to hold angry words against you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. Now stop worrying about it."

*******

"Gabriel," Sara called, stepping through the front door.

He walked out of the kitchen and stood in the middle of the living room, facing her. "What?" He asked, acting angry.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, young man."

"Yes, mom," he replied, the sarcastic note hanging in the air.

She glared at him. What was happening to her friend? "Sit down."

He returned her glare. "This is my house."

"I said sit down. Someone needs to knock some sense into you."

They continued their staring match for a few more moments, then Gabriel gave in. Sara sat beside him. "Why are you doing this?"

Gabriel's eyes burned when he replied, "He killed Seth. I'm going to make him pay for that."

"Gabe, Seth is not dead. You don't know that he will die."

"The doctors are losing hope that he'll survive, Sara."

"That doesn't mean you have to. Gabe, he's going to make it. And you can't go after Dante."

"Oh, don't even give me that 'no taking the law into your own hands' bullshit, Sara. You would do the same thing, and you know it."

"Gabe, he'll kill you. If you can even find him. We still haven't found him. What makes you think you will?"

"I have to, Sara. I can't let him get away with this."

Sara stared at him for a moment. Damn, he was stubborn. "Give me the gun."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm sure you have a gun in the house. You wouldn't be planning on going after him unless you did. Now give it to me."

His jaw locked in stubborn silence, but he wouldn't look her in the eye. "Fine. I'll find it." She searched through the house and finally found it locked in the cupboard with the alcohol. "Nice place for it," she commented.

Gabriel shrugged. "I didn't want the kids finding it."

"Should have hid it from yourself as well." She paused and looked at her friend. "I'm going to take this. I could get you in so much trouble for having a gun with a license, which I know you don't have. But, I won't. However, if I learn you get your hands on another gun and are still planning on going after Dante, I will lock you up until we find him." She started for the door. "Now call your wife so she stops worrying."

Gabriel sighed. Once Sara closed the door behind her, he walked to the phone and lifted it from the receiver.

*******

"Well, Seth, the doctors told us talking to you might help. That you can still hear us. I don't know if that's true, but I hope so." Tears formed in Renee's eyes as she talked. "Gabriel's being stubborn as usual. He finally agreed not to go after Dante, but he still doesn't want us around him. He's afraid we'll be hurt."

"Momma." Amie looked up at her mother.

"What is it?" Her daughter sat on the bed, her small hand in the larger one of her great-grandfather.

"He sad. He want to come back, but he can't."

"What do you mean, honey?"

"He crying. He try fighting, but he tired."

Renee just stared at her daughter. "How do you know this, Amie?"

"He telling me." The look on Amie's face told Renee she was being serious.

Renee looked down at Seth's slack face. His mouth seemed to twitch in a smile. His fingers tightened around Amie's for a brief second, then his whole body went limp. Tears ran down Renee's cheeks as the line on the machine beside the bed became a steady straight one. She gathered Amie in her arms and held her close as the doctors rushed into the room and left them in the hall.

They still stood there like that when Dr. Granur came out of the room twenty minutes later. He didn't want to meet her eyes. "We couldn't save him. I'm so sorry, Renee. We tried, we really did."

She nodded her head. "I know, Jaime. I know you did."

'But how do I tell Gabe?' She asked herself.