Chapter 19

I couldn't understand why Steph had passed out. I was sure that she was okay when we emerged from the water after leaving the tunnel.

"She's passed out. Let's get her downstairs"

Now I was worried because it just wasn't like Steph to pass out. Yes, the way that we had escaped the house was traumatic and probably frightening, but Steph wasn't one to allow something like that to affect her. Following Gabe down the steps and along a short hallway I watched as he laid her down on a bed. I was soon by her side trying to take a visual of her condition.

"She's shivering. Let me get her dry and warm. Do you have any clothes that she could use?"

If Gabe was surprised by what I'd said he never showed it, instead he handed me some clothes and then closed the door leaving me alone with Steph. Pulling her wet jeans down and over her hips had me noticing that she'd lost weight, but it was as I pushed the hoodie up that she was wearing over her stomach and rib cage that I was drawing in a quick breath. At her waist, on her side was what looked to be a dressing that had been held in place with tape. Removing it I was seeing red and puffy skin with a wound that was obviously infected.

Her skin was dry now but felt hot, too hot, so I finished removing the hoodie and T-shirt that she was wearing and pulled a dry T-shirt over her head and arms. That wound was badly infected so maybe that was why she was shivering. She had a fever that was making her ill. After pulling a sheet up to her waist I was soon out of the room looking for Gabe. He was in the galley and looked up at me as I approached him.

"She has a serious infection in a wound. Why the hell didn't you get her to a doctor?"

I was furious with his lack of attention to Steph.

"Wound? I had no idea that she'd been injured"

From the expression on Gabe's face and how he responded to what I'd said I actually believed that he knew nothing of Steph's injury.

"She told me that it was just a scratch and not to worry about it"

Came from the young girl who appeared from the seat behind the cupboard, her comment surprising the both of us. Not really concerned with any excuses or oversights I gave my opinion of what I wanted to happen.

"She needs it cleaning out and then antibiotics"

Hoping that Gabe would now appreciate how serious I thought her injury was. He was soon carrying a large bag and walking past me into the room where Steph was. I watched as he placed the bag on the floor and then sat next to Steph on the bed carefully palpating the wound on her side.

"Find the bottle of surgical spirit and wipes"

Pulling the bag across the floor I opened it to find an array of medical supplies. Now why would Gabe have a first aid kit like this. It was very similar to what Bobby would have as a field kit. Finding the spirit and wipes I held them out as Gabe pulled on latex gloves and then watched as he very carefully cleaned around the wound.

"Tweezers, it looks like there's something in here"

I watched as he squeezed the wound and bent low with the tweezers. I was holding tightly to Steph's hand and sweeping my other hand down her hair and cheek. Whatever Gabe was doing was obviously hurting her as she moaned and flinched, her body trying to move as he continued to delve.

"Shit, she has a large sliver of wood in here. No wonder the wound's infected. Hold on, nearly there. Got it"

I watched amazed at the piece of wood that he held up to look at. It was close to three inches long and about an inch at its widest point.

"There's a bottle of wound irrigation liquid in there and a syringe"

I knew the drill having been both a recipient and observer of the procedure. I laid an arm over Steph's chest to keep her from moving and once Gabe had finished cleaning the wound was ready to hand him a clean dressing.

"Cannula. There should be a bag labelled with an antibiotic"

I have to admit that Gabe knew what he was doing as he pushed the cannula into a vein just below Steph's elbow. The bag was attached and fastened to a hook above the bed before he stood up and looked down at her.

"I didn't know that she'd got hurt, she never said anything or complained"

"She never does"

Was all that I said because I knew that Steph would always ignore an injury in the hope that it wouldn't entail a trip to see Bobby or worse the hospital. She hated it. After the rubbish was cleared away, I stayed at Steph's side unable to look away from her face. After all these weeks of me being away and then her being missing I felt myself relax. She was here now, with me and I swore to myself that was where she would stay. I spent an age just looking at her, watching as her chest rose and fell, drinking in her face as she lay there quietly. I was so relieved that I'd found her, or that she had reached out to me but much as I didn't want to, I ended up thinking about Gabe. He seemed genuinely concerned for Steph and with helping her. How the hell was I supposed to turn him in to the FBI when he'd basically saved our lives?

Feeling that Steph seemed more settled as she slept, I quietly got to my feet and pulled my wet clothes off, replacing them with some dry joggers and a T-shirt that had been left on the bed. The cabin that we were in held a double bed with a set of cupboards filling one wall, all in the dark wood that was associated with a boat. The portal to the side of the bed was covered over, making it impossible for anyone to look inside.

I left the door open and made my way to the galley, the wet clothes in my hand, suddenly feeling very tired. As I entered, Gabe handed me a mug of strong black coffee and nodded toward the bench that sat behind a table before taking the wet clothes from me. The bench where earlier the young girl had been sat on was now empty. Gabe sat down opposite me but neither of us said anything. Maybe like me he wasn't sure what to say.

"Is Gabe your real name?"

I asked seeing the surprise in his face as I asked him that.

"Yes, I suppose. I was named Gabriel, but Millie never could pronounce it when she was a kid and shortened it. I have other names that I use. My life is very complicated"

No shit, was the thought that flashed through my mind remembering how difficult it had been to track him. I felt that it was time to be honest with the man. Hell, he'd helped us when he could easily have left me to be blown up in that house.

"Mat Duncan?"

I said as I watched him. I was surprised when instead of seeing a reaction he dropped a very effective blank face. Now what the hell was he hiding.

"A man in a wheelchair always gets priority and no one takes any notice of them. How do you know?"

I toyed with what lies I could tell him or what facts I could omit, but in the end, I decided that if I wanted to understand this man then I needed to be honest with him.

"I've tracked you from New York to Trenton. Train to Harrisburg and then a flight to St Louis"

"You! You're the one following me? Why?"

His question threw me because I hadn't expected him to be aware of us tracking him. I was waiting for him to be annoyed and angry or even amused that I knew so much about his travels. Confusion just wasn't what I was expecting.

"Look, I know of you. Captain Carlos Manoso, Army Ranger, who is contracted out to the government. But all I was doing was going home. I know I wasn't supposed to but to have you sent after me is ridiculous"

Okay, it was probably me who was looking confused now, even though I tried to keep my face blank. How did he know so much about me and what did he mean when he said he wasn't supposed to go home.

"I had to get Millie away from there. Our Ma died a few years ago and our grandmother insisted that she stay where she was born. I set up a way for grandma to talk to me and when she told me what was happening and how afraid she was for Millie, well. I went to her"

"Why destroy those cabins?"

He sighed as he sat back probably debating what he should say to me.

"Those Mexicans, they were threatening people. Make our drugs for us or else. Hell, I know the locals have been cooking meth for years, but only for their own use. I put a stop to it and then left with Millie, the boy and Stephanie"

Which was not the explanation that I was expecting. José Diego wasn't responsible for the destruction because they were competing against him, he was annoyed because one of his sources had dried up.

"How is Steph with you?"

Because that meant that Steph and Danny had been in that area around Ozark. Hell, I'd been there. Was she still there when we were? Is that why something felt so wrong when we were leaving? Why the hell would they go there?

"My sister. She started chatting with this boy on the internet, some chat line. Telling him that she needed to run away. Stupid kid turned up to rescue her. He contacted Steph in the hope that she'd be able to get them to safety"

I took a drink of the coffee as I mulled over what he had said. There were a lot more questions that I had for him and no doubt he was full of questions for me as well. At least Morelli hadn't been with her. Now wasn't the time to pursue those questions because I needed to sort through what I'd been told. I was also bone tired and needed to be with Steph.

"I need a couple of hours to sleep. Are we staying put?"

Not knowing if Gabe intended to pull up anchor and move or to stay where we were.

"We'll leave in the morning when there'll be boats about on the water. It'll give us cover to leave. A boat leaving in the middle of the night would cause suspicion"

He was right. Hide in plain sight because anyone leaving the area would be bound to arouse suspicion and have those men looking. Those men. Now who the hell were they? They had seemed organized, from what I'd seen, but how the hell had they found that house? Now wasn't the time to deliberate that so I rinsed my mug in the sink and walked toward the hallway.

It was the sound of an engine that brought me awake suddenly. Steph was tucked into my side and seemed cooler, so maybe the antibiotics were doing their job. I felt rested for the first time in weeks and knew it was because Steph was laid next to me. Seeing that the bag was empty I very carefully pulled the IV from her arm and pressed a small piece of dressing over the site before taping it. I didn't want her to wake up and try to remove it herself. The movement of the boat was obvious as I made my way through the galley and up the steps onto the deck. Gabe was busy steering the boat with Millie stood next to him. She turned as she saw me, but her question was directed at Gabe.

"Can I go sit with Steph now?"

A question that had Gabe turning to see me.

"Go on. Don't wake her if she's asleep"

Stepping up to Gabe I was looking around me. The water looked far more appealing in the daylight and not as wide as I'd thought last night in the dark. Gabe was right, there were other boats on the water, and I could hear kids playing along the banking.

"Where are we headed?"

"We can lose ourselves on the creek for a few days but I'm not sure about taking her out into the Delaware"

I wasn't either and knew that it would depend on the tides and possibly bridges and how they opened to allow boat traffic through. Staying on the boat probably wasn't such a bad idea, it would give Steph time to recover, as long as no one had the bright idea of how we'd escaped.

"Who are you and Steph in danger from?"

I watched as Gabe lifted up his hoodie and then pulled it up and over his head. That was when I caught sight of his tattoo and I suddenly had a hell of a lot more questions for him. He must have seen me looking at the bone frog tattoo that was over the top of his arm. I knew its significance, on return from a combat deployment to honor a fallen SEAL, the team members would get that tattoo.

"Navy SEAL special forces, a lifetime ago. Did my time and a few special ops before diverting to a different life"

The more time that I spent with this man the more I questioned what I thought I knew about him. We had men working at Rangeman who had been a part of that division. How could an ex SEAL turn into, basically, a terrorist, party to people being killed through his explosive devices.

"The answer to your question is that Stephanie is a very astute woman, but she doubts herself. She sees and hears things but only afterwards does she see their significance. I think that she still has some things to figure out first"

In one sentence Gabe had described Steph exactly. She was astute and had incredible intuition but with the constant criticism that she'd had to endure from her mother and then Morelli she doubted those instincts. That doubt fueled her to prove herself, not wanting to look incompetent if she was wrong. She was rarely wrong but would put herself into danger trying to work things out by herself. If I was hearing right, then Gabe was sure that Steph had unwittingly come across something.

"As for me, well I have a few ideas there. I doubt destroying those buildings down in Ozark was taken very well and Steph having been there won't go unnoticed, but there are other things that are bothering me that I need to find out about"

Okay, I could agree with the first idea that he'd had. Drug bosses were infamous for holding a grudge and might well see Gabe as a threat that needed to be got rid of. Though I had no ideas on what else Gabe was looking for.

"I'm going to be stopping further down, you can get off there"

I looked intently at Gabe because I had no intention of leaving Steph, not when she was hurt and in danger. I'd just found her and had no intention of leaving without her. Gabe didn't give me any further explanation for what he'd just said but he must have known that I wouldn't leave her.

"Look. People will be looking for you and that just complicates things"

Shit, maybe he was right. Tank and Santos would soon realize that I wasn't around and then there was my car that I'd parked on Bridgeport Road. I had places that we could hide out. Then realization dawned on me, Steph hadn't wanted to contact Rangeman which implied that we had someone inside the building meaning that it might not be safe for her there. Plus any safe houses would be compromised. Damnit.

"I can't leave. Steph will think that I've abandoned her"

Hoping that would sway what Gabe was thinking.

"A man, woman and a child is easy to deflect attention from. You, not so much. If you're that worried about her then I have a couple of burn phones down below. You can keep in touch with her"

I got the feeling that Gabe wasn't going to move on his decision and whilst it was the most logical thing to do a feeling of guilt swept through me. Steph had reached out to me, and I didn't want to let her down. I had the feeling that Gabe was blaming me for the assault on the house, so he probably didn't trust me.

Gabe was intent on steering the boat and he'd obviously decided that he wasn't going to say any more on the subject. I went back downstairs to where Steph was, finding her still asleep. She was less restless than she had been during the night, and I was sure that her fever had broken. Kneeling down by her side of the bed I swept my hand down her head and cupped her cheek noticing how she seemed to lean into my hand. I felt as though I was betraying her by leaving. She'd asked me to go to her and now I was leaving her on her own without knowing anything about what had happened to her.

"Babe. Me being with you is probably putting you in danger. I'm going to go back to Trenton and see what I can find out to sort this mess up. I want you to know. Te amo incondicionalmente y estoy lista para nuestra algún día"

Saying what I did in Spanish was probably a cowardly way to say it but inside I knew it was the right thing to say. It spoke from within me, something that I rarely did. I knew that being with me would have its problems. I'd always told myself, and her, that my life didn't lend itself to being so involved with a woman. Maybe that was why I spoke in Spanish so that she didn't understand what I'd said, but finding her had broken down some of my resolve. Maybe she wouldn't want the danger that came with me, maybe she would be happier with the life that she'd been brought up to aspire to. I hoped not but I wouldn't push her. It was her choice to make but at least I'd give her the choice and walk away if that was what made her happy.

"Gabe told me to give you this phone"

I turned at the sound of the voice behind me and looking up I was seeing Millie at the doorway, chewing her bottom lip in a way that was so reminiscent of what Steph would do when she was nervous. As she walked into the room, I noticed that she had two phones in her hands, one that she held out to me. I took it and then watched as she went over to Steph and curled Steph's hand around the other one.

"They only have one number in the contact list. I know how she feels about you, so I'll tell her what you said to her. I'll let her know that you leaving wasn't what you wanted to do, but that Gabe thought that it was for the best"

Looking and listening to Millie I was seeing a young girl older than she seemed. How much had she been through to make her old beyond her years.

"Keep her safe for me and tell her"

"I will"

Interrupted what I was going to say, making me wonder what she had heard and how much she had understood.

Thirty minutes later I was dressed as I had been when I'd left Rangeman, in jeans and a hoodie. As I walked, I was going through in my head what story I would use when asked where I'd been. I was fifty miles from Trenton so needed to get back into the city before making myself known to anyone. I'd walked away from Steph and that was sitting heavily on me. Plus I'd left her with a man who was wanted by the FBI. Shit what the hell had I done?