Between Two Worlds (28 page)

She wondered if she should pursue her idea about getting the Town
Council to rebuild the bridge. Gabriel made it seem like it was a worthless
cause. Maybe it was. Anyway, she had a strong feeling Donovan could make the
bridge appear anytime he wanted. She shook her head and chuckled. Did she
believe in leprechauns and magic and ancient curses? Was it possible for
Donovan and Samuel to hold some kind of supernatural powers? Of course not. Such
thoughts were ridiculous imaginings sprouting from an overtaxed mind
.
Nevertheless, she still believed the flesh and blood Donovan McKinney held the
key to her way home. It made her fume that he was frustrating her on purpose.

She walked next door and peered into the clinic window again. It
was dark. There were no sounds coming from inside. She glanced at her watch and
couldn’t imagine Gabriel would sleep in this long, even if he
had
stayed
up late to tend Jake Bowman. She rapped on the door again and waited. Nothing.
The hairs on her arm prickled.

Something didn’t feel right, so she hurried around back to check
the door that led into Gabriel’s bedroom. That was the way Donovan had carried
Jasmine in. As she turned the corner and walked down the alley, she had the
distinct feeling someone was watching her. She stopped and spun around. The air
was thick with tension. There were no horses neighing, no wagon wheels rolling
down the street, no kids laughing. It was eerie.

Being alone in the alley made her extremely uncomfortable. The
memory of Warren Hooper’s attack caused her stomach to churn. She raised her
fist to knock on the door. It creaked open. “Gabriel?” she whispered, poking
her head in. The room was pitch-black except for the crack of light coming in from
outside. Pushing the door open further, she said in a louder voice,  “Gabriel, are
you awake?” She took a step in and allowed her eyes to adjust to the dark
before remembering there was electricity in the clinic. When she touched the
lamp next to Gabriel’s bed and flipped it on, the room was bathed in a soft,
warm glow.

He was not in his bed although it
had
been slept in. Delaney
stepped to it and picked up his pillow and smelled it. Closing her eyes, she
breathed in his musky, masculine scent. Imagining his head lying on the pillow,
she pressed it close to her chest.

A noise from the front room startled her.

“Gabriel?” She tossed the pillow back on the bed and crossed the
room. The door leading into the exam room squeaked when she turned the knob.
She peered in and called his name again. A strangled moan came from the other
side of the room.  Delaney knew Jasmine was still a patient there. She took a
step inside.

Her head turned when a sardonic voice said, “We meet again,
bitch.”

Twenty-One

Delaney gasped upon seeing the bulky figure of Warren Hooper
standing next to the cot. A piece of tape covered Jasmine’s mouth, and her
hands were pulled behind her, bound with rope.

Delaney stood frozen to the floor and tried to still her racing
heart by taking a couple of deep breaths. Her eyes locked onto Jasmine’s. She
could tell the girl was scared to death.

“Let go of her,” she told Hooper. “She’s badly hurt.”

“Shut up,” he snarled. “I’ll twist her head off if I feel like
it.”

Jasmine’s eyes grew big and rolled back in her head. Delaney
thought she might faint in his arms. She ignored his threat and thought the
best idea would be to distract him.

“Where’s your accomplice, Warren? The one who broke you out of
jail?”

He growled. “That chicken shit got scared after he killed the
sheriff. He hightailed it outta town like he was a little boy about to be
whupped.”

“Sheriff Bowman’s not dead. If you give yourself up now, maybe the
judge won’t be so hard on you.” She didn’t think that was true, but her mind
spun. It was her intention to keep him talking so as not to inflict more pain
on Jasmine.

Hooper cackled. “Give myself up? You’re crazier than a bedbug if
you think that’s gonna happen.” He placed his hands around Jasmine’s neck, and
she whimpered.

“Don’t!” Delaney took a bold step forward. “Please let her go. If
you want a hostage, take me. If it’s money you’re after, I’m more valuable than
a whore.”

“I told you to shut up!” he barked. “What are you doing in here anyway?
You can’t keep your nose out of other people’s business, can you?” He turned
his head and spit a stream of tobacco juice onto the floor.

“Where’s the doctor?” she asked, glancing around and fearing the
madman had harmed Gabriel—or worse. “What have you done with him?”

“I ain’t done nothin’ with him, yet. He was gone when I snuck in
here. Idiot didn’t lock the back door.” Hooper grinned, exposing a row of
stained teeth. “It’s too bad you showed up, though. This little girl and me
were just on our way out. I got some unfinished business with her. But it looks
like our plans have changed now.”

As if she’d gotten a burst of energy or found some grit, Jasmine
began wriggling beneath his strong grip. He released the hold from her neck and
roughly shoved her onto the cot, where she fell face-first into the mattress.
Delaney sprang to help her up. Hooper stalked forward and grabbed her around
the waist.

Before she had time to react, he’d jerked her arms behind her back
and wrapped a rope around her wrists.

“Let me go!” she screamed while kicking him in the shin. Hooper yelped
and backhanded her across the face, sending her flying to the floor. Delaney
landed with a thud on her shoulder and groaned. From the floor, she saw Jasmine
flip herself over on the cot. The girl’s eyes bulged with fear as Hooper stomped
over, knelt down, and lifted Delaney onto her bottom. Delaney tried to bite his
hand and cowered, prepared to be struck again. But he didn’t hit her this time.
He pushed her against the wall so that she was sitting up with her legs stuck
out in front of her. Then he stood up, spread his legs apart and glared at her.

Her cheek twitched from the sting of the slap.

His eyes glowed yellow, like a wolf’s. He ran a hand through his
greasy hair. It was obvious by the look on his face that she’d foiled his plan
and it confounded him. She could see the wheels turning in his thick skull as
he considered what he should do next.

Thank God she’d walked in when she did. She felt certain he’d
planned on killing Jasmine to keep her from testifying against him at the
trial. Now she’d put her own life in peril. What could she do to save them? It
would be more difficult for him to kill them both there in the medical clinic. Gabriel,
or someone else—a patient, or perhaps Donovan—was bound to come by soon.

Delaney didn’t see a gun on him. If he had a gun or knife, he
would have threatened her with it by now. He was dangerous, but she knew she
was smarter than him.

“What do you plan on doing with us now?” she asked. “You should
leave us and run. You’re a fool for hanging around here. Someone could walk in
any minute.”

His dark eyes burned with fury. “Don’t call me names, you piece of
trash.” He smiled, but it was the smile of a snake about to strike. “I just
might finish what I started with you in the alley that day. Teach you a lesson
you won’t forget.” His clumsy hands began to unbuckle his belt.

Delaney froze. She tilted and struggled against the hemp rope
tying her hands behind her back. They were bound tight. Deciding she had
nothing to lose, she screamed as loud as she could. “Help! Someone help us!”

Hooper strode over, pulled her away from the wall and pushed her
to the floor onto her back. Her head bounced on the floor as it hit. When he
climbed on top, his heavy weight pinned her legs down so she was unable to
move.

“Get your filthy hands off me!” she yelled. She spat in his face,
and he slapped her again. Tossing her head back and forth, she did her best to
avoid his blows. When her eyes connected with Jasmine’s, she saw the young
woman was frantically trying to get the tape off her mouth by rubbing her mouth
against her arm.

Hooper unbuttoned his pants with one hand and lifted Delaney’s
skirt with his other. She bucked against him like a wild pony.

“Hold still, bitch!” He raised his fist.

She closed her eyes. A lump caught in her throat. She feared this
time he’d start hitting her and he wouldn’t stop, and she’d end up beaten to a
pulp like Jasmine, or dead. There seemed to be nothing more she could do, but
she was determined not to let Hooper violate her. She’d go down fighting before
he’d have his way with her. She screamed again.

Then like a miracle, she heard footsteps pounding toward them. Had
Jasmine somehow gotten herself free? Or had someone else come into the clinic?
She felt Hooper being lifted off her. She opened her eyes and caught a flash of
red. Gabriel! He had Hooper by the collar. He spun him around and began
punching the daylights out of him.

Delaney rolled onto her side and watched with wide eyes as Gabriel
pummeled the man with both fists. Hooper grabbed his gut, then his head. Blood
ran from his nose and mouth. He fell to his knees and toppled onto his side. He
didn’t even have a chance to defend himself. Gabriel continued to beat him
senseless, even when Hooper was down.

“Gabriel! Stop! You’re going to kill him!” she screamed. She
kicked her feet, spinning on the floor like a slow windmill, but it was no use.
Her energy was gone. She couldn’t get herself up. She realized Hooper was
unconscious and no longer a threat to anyone. Even so, she watched in horror as
Gabriel dropped to his knees and raised his fist high in the air, ready to kill
the man.

“Gabriel! No! Don’t!”

Her sharp words snapped him back to reality. He was panting, and
sweat dripped from his brow and ran down his face. His chest heaved. Delaney
could almost see the adrenaline pumping through his veins with the force of a locomotive.
He lowered his fist slowly.

“Gabriel,” Delaney cried. “Please. Come to me.”

His head swung in her direction. He slicked back the tendrils of
hair that had fallen into his eyes.

“Please. Untie me,” she begged. It felt like her lungs were about
to burst.

He nodded and, just like that, his demeanor switched from rabid
animal back to the calm, sweet man she’d come to know. He crawled to her on his
knees and pulled a small knife out of his pocket to cut the ropes binding her
wrists.

When she was released, she threw her arms around his neck and
pressed her cheek to his. He held her tight for a few moments. “Are you all right?”
he asked, still panting from exertion.

“Yes. We must help Jasmine,” she said.

He lifted Delaney to her feet and then strode to Jasmine and gently
removed the tape from her mouth and released her from her bondage. He didn’t
get a chance to check her wrist burns before she tossed her arms around him and
hugged him. Too traumatized to speak, the tears freely fell from her round
eyes. Delaney stumbled to her and pulled her into her arms.

“Are you okay?” she asked, smoothing back Jasmine’s hair from her
face.

The girl nodded.

Gabriel peered down at the man on the floor. Hooper was holding
his head, moaning softly. Gabriel reached down and hauled him to his feet by
the back of his shirt and slammed him into the hardback chair. Then he tied his
hands in front of him with the same rope Delaney had been tied with. Hooper’s
head hung limp.

“Do you think that’s necessary?” she asked. “You beat the crap out
of him. I don’t think he’s going anywhere.”

Gabriel knotted the rope tightly. “Until he’s behind bars again,
I’m not taking any chances.”

~ * ~

Since Sheriff Bowman was in bed recuperating from the head injury,
he’d appointed a deputy to handle the re-incarceration of Warren Hooper, who
now had trespassing, attempted kidnapping, intent to murder, and attempted rape
added to the list of charges against him.

In a strange twist, Gabriel ended up tending to Hooper’s wounds he
himself had inflicted upon the man before he was remanded back to jail.
Prompted by the oath he’d taken upon receiving his physician’s license, he’d
cleaned and bandaged Hooper’s face and wrapped his ribs, but did so with a
clenched jaw.

Later that day, Jasmine told Gabriel she wanted to go back to the
White Dog Saloon.

“I’d like you to stay another day or so,” he said. “Especially
after what happened. You should get all the rest you can.”

She insisted on “going home.”

“I can’t force her to stay here,” Gabriel whispered to Delaney,
who stood back, not voicing her opinion this time, except to reluctantly agree.
“I’ll walk her back to the saloon,” he said. “Will you wait here for me? I
won’t be long.” His hazel eyes raked over her.

“Of course I’ll be here. This is where I work, isn’t it?”

They smiled at one another. “Be right back. He offered his arm to
Jasmine, and Delaney walked them to the front door.

“Take care, Jasmine.” She couldn’t hide the sorrow from her voice.
She hated to see the young girl go back to selling her body. The next time a
man decided to take out his rage on her, she might not be as lucky as she’d
been this time. She placed her hands gingerly upon the young girl’s shoulders.
“If you ever need anything, please be sure to let me or Dr. Whitman know. And I
mean anything. We’re here to help you in any way we can. Do you understand?”