Code of Silence (15 page)

“Hang on,” he whispered, gave the mare a light kick and launched into motion.

They ducked as they ran through the front stable entry into the open. Luke wrapped his arm around Gabriella to help her balance and kept the reins in his right hand. She said nothing but pointed in the northeast direction.

His fist clenched the reins. If she pointed without talking did that mean her throat was closing? Luke pressed his right knee into the horse, leading its canter in the right direction. The movement and the struggle to align his hip movements with the horse's movements pulled at his other wound.

The dizzy sensation returned.
Help me stay conscious, Lord. I need Your help.
If he were a lighter man he'd no doubt have passed out by now. He had all those double cheeseburgers and weight-lifting sessions to thank for his mass and the fact that he could probably stand to lose more blood than the average fellow.

They passed the alfalfa fields and weaved between trees. The lake was in sight now. He guided the horse on the grass, as close to the beach as possible. If they stayed on this course, then...there! He could see the house.

Luke leaned forward slightly, pushing the horse to go faster. Gabriella jostled in his arms for a moment, then drooped. “No, no, no. Hang on. Hang on, Gabriella!” She didn't move or respond.

The horse slowed to a trot until Luke pressed his leg into its side again. “We need to help her!”

All the pain from his wounds disappeared from his awareness. The only sensation—lava in his core—remained. He rode past the shed, the shovel on the ground... “Faster!” They rounded the corner of the house and onto the driveway. The horse trotted to the side of his truck. Luke jumped off the horse onto the top of his truck, dragging Gabriella with him, tucking her within the safety of his arms. His back hit the roof, but he moved before the pain could set.

He slid Gabriella off his torso and onto the hood of his car. Her face was a sickly shade of purple, her lips swollen, her neck covered in splotches. “I can't lose you. Gabriella, hang on!”

Luke sprinted to her car. He dove for the largest rock he could see near the lake's edge and smashed it into the passenger side window of her car. The glass shattered, sprinkling all around his feet. The car alarm pierced the still air around him.

He reached past the jagged remaining shards to the glove compartment. He pulled up the lever and felt it give way. “Be there, be there...”

Underneath an auto manual and the car registration he spied the corner of a green box. He grabbed it and ran to the hood of his truck as he opened the box. He yanked out the first injector, flicked off the yellow lid and stabbed the pen into the side of her thigh.

His own breathing ragged, he watched her face. “Please...breathe...”

She didn't move, she didn't flinch. “Come on...” He pressed the area that he'd injected, hoping that'd help the medicine absorb faster into her body. Though he had no idea if that would do any good.

Still nothing. He shifted her body closer to the edge of the hood, ready to start CPR. He reached for her wrist and pressed his fingertips.
Lord, please save her. Please!
Only twenty-four hours ago he'd felt her strong heartbeat and now...

What was that? He let go and repositioned his fingers an inch above her wrist, next to her thumb. A light pulse. He exhaled. He watched her mouth, parted. Her chest didn't rise and fall, though. Was her throat still so swollen she couldn't breathe?

Luke leaned over to start mouth-to-mouth. He cupped his right hand underneath her neck and used his left to tilt her chin up slightly.

Gabriella gasped. Her hands flung to her throat. Her eyes flashed open and stared into his. Her car alarm reached its automatic shutoff time. Only the sound of water sloshing the banks and the leaves shifting in the breeze remained.

Luke jerked back. His breath sounded like a garbled laugh. “You're alive.”

She nodded, but her whole body convulsed. He pulled her whole body into his arms, close to his chest, and dropped his head over her, his face touching her hair as she continued to shiver. He blinked against his blurry vision. “I need to get you to a hospital. I almost lost you.”

“Benadryl,” she whispered.

He straightened and sat her up on the hood. “Where?”

She pointed at her car. Luke held her shoulders for a brief second, making sure she was stable, and darted back. Nothing in the glove compartment...the center console! He found a pill bottle and cracked it open as he ran back to her. A few pills flew out of the bottle and to the ground from his jerky movements.

She flipped her palm over and Luke shook fifteen into her hand. She said nothing but grabbed two of the tablets and chewed them, flinching as she did. “Tastes horrible.”

Water. She needed water. Luke ran back to the bank and grabbed another rock. He crossed the small space to his truck.

Gabriella's eyes widened. “What are you—”

He turned his head, closed his eyes and slammed the rock into his own car window. The shattering glass pricked the top of his hand as the siren's repetitive wail filled the air. He flicked the window fragment off his hand, hauled himself up onto the running board and reached into the back of the cab to grab three water bottles with his right hand.

Gabriella's soft eyes followed his every movement as he presented the water to her. She accepted one with a shy smile, closed her eyes and lifted the bottle. Her left hand rubbed her throat downward as she sipped. She set the bottle down and inhaled. “Thank you,” she mouthed.

He didn't blame her for not shouting over the wails. Two minutes seemed like a lifetime to wait until his own alarm shut off. Thankfully the vehicles were relatively new, so they were set up not to last long enough to negatively impact the batteries.

Luke exhaled a sigh of relief as the car stopped wailing. “Still hurts?” He gestured to her throat.

She shivered and nodded.

Luke placed his hands over her arms, ready to pick her up again. “Are you cold?”

“No. It's the pen. Makes me shaky and hot for a while. It means the medicine is working.” She took another sip. “And the allergy medicine I swallowed should help prevent a repeat. Until I can get to a hospital.”

“I'll get the horse.”

SIXTEEN

G
abriella reached out a hand and placed it on his chest. “No. What time is it?”

Luke's face fell. “I should've known.” He stepped back to his car and leaned into it. “The car says it's quarter 'til four.”

Fifteen minutes until their time was up. Her head throbbed, making it hard to concentrate. “Well, hopefully help will be coming soon.” She gestured to both cars. “You sure tried to alert anyone in hearing distance.”

He raised an eyebrow as he approached and suddenly he was right in front of her. “Not ready to laugh about it yet.”

She searched his darkened eyes. He'd faced his fear for her. He risked his own safety to rescue her. He'd stayed with her, in harm's way, despite many chances to leave her on her own. Luke would never treat her heart carelessly. How could she have ever imagined differently?

Fear. She didn't want to hurt anymore. Every bone in her body felt full of cement, every muscle ached, her throat stung, but it wasn't that type of pain she feared. She reached out absentmindedly to his chest, to his own heart.

Uncertainty flickered across his face as his gaze moved to her hand. But now wasn't the time. Time... “We have to head for the gate,” she said, pulling her fingers back.

His shoulders dropped, but he didn't argue. “What did you have in mind?”

She unzipped the bag and pulled out Rodrigo's gun. “I need you to hold onto this.”

He raised an eyebrow but accepted it. “I set the other guns down in the stables.”

That was news to her. Gabriella really didn't want him to have to use it for protection, but it was better than nothing. “We need to walk down closer to the gate. The trees get pretty thick on the north side.” She pulled out her mother's gun and tucked it behind her. Except if they searched her and found her armed it might make things take a turn for the worse. She couldn't risk her aunt.

“Take this one, too,” Gabriella said and handed it to him.

Luke frowned. “I don't understand.”

“I'm hoping you will keep an eye on me.”

He scoffed. “I'm going with you.”

“Yes. And then you're going to hide.”

Luke's forehead creased.

“You have a family,” Gabriella pleaded. “The last thing I want is for them to have more leverage. If they find out about you, if they know you're a witness, then they might seek out your parents, your brothers...”

Luke held up a hand. “I get it. I don't like it, but I get it.”

“And if things don't go as planned—”

“Then I'll do my best to have good aim.”

A soft laugh escaped past her lips. “Let's pray we don't have to go that far.” She jutted her chin forward. “We need to hurry.”

Luke hobbled forward. The strain it must have put on his injuries to ride her to safety, to save her. Gabriella couldn't imagine the amount of suffering he was enduring. She adjusted the deposit bag so it rested on her left hip. She stepped to his left side and lifted his arm gingerly.

He glanced down and rested his injured arm around her shoulder. Gabriella slipped her arm around the back of his waist. “Lean on me so your hip doesn't have to strain so much.”

Luke sighed. “We don't need to put any added strain on you, either.”

“We're quite a pair,” she admitted, pushing forward. “At least I have the extra EpiPen with me, just in case.”

“I think I have a new fear of bees, as well,” Luke admitted.

An involuntary shiver coursed down her spine.

“Sorry,” Luke said. “That was insensitive of me. Are you okay?”

“Mmm-hmm. Let's just keep moving.” Gabriella led him into the line of trees. The two-mile roundabout driveway's center point was the house. She figured they had at least three-quarters of a mile to go before she got to the gate.

Her view drifted to across the asphalt. The lake glistened with the reflection of the sun bursting through the gray clouds. Her thoughts rested on her aunt. Would Benito make good on the deal and let her walk away?

Tears pricked her eyes. She squeezed Luke closer. She hated to lose him so soon after finding him, but in her heart, Gabriella knew she would do whatever it took to stand between Benito and her aunt.

“What are you thinking about?” Luke asked.

“Possibilities,” Gabriella whispered.

“Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely...”

Gabriella tilted her head up to find him looking down at her. “I'm thinking about one who is all those things.”

Luke stopped. “Gabriella...”

She rose up on her toes and kissed his cheek, relishing the comforting touch of his hand on her back, even the stubble on his face against hers. “I never would've gotten this far without you,” she whispered. She stepped away from him. “I think you should hide now.”

His jaw firmed and as she took another step away, he reached for her hand. Their gazes stayed locked on each other for the briefest of moments. He closed his eyes. “Lord, help us, please.”

After a lifetime of growing up in church and attending a Christian college, it was probably the simplest yet most heartfelt prayer she'd heard. She squeezed his right hand in response, then left him in the forested area. The moment her feet hit the asphalt she felt exposed despite the fact Luke stood guard, watching. The sound of twigs, and birds and crickets... The skin on the back of her neck tingled. The air seemed to crackle with electricity.

Only a few more feet, and she would be at the electronic gate. To her left, gargantuan boulders stood. The one in front had the name of the ranch engraved, but it stood as a reminder: focus on the rock, her Lord, her Savior, the most honest, the most true and pure thing she could think on.

Two black vehicles pulled up on the side of the road, parallel to the gate. Gabriella's heart sped into overdrive. She forced her lungs to take slow, rhythmic breaths, but a dizzy sensation passed. She stumbled and reached for the control box. The metal lid scraped against the rest of the box, setting her teeth on edge. Whoever sat in the darkened windows of the sedan could see her, could shoot her at any moment.

Whatsoever things are true...

Gabriella typed the access code into the keypad and heard the telltale click of whirring motors. She stepped back as the gate swung open. The sedans backed up at a diagonal, as if ready to pull into the driveway.

Gabriella turned on her heel, trying not to seem eager, but she needed to be in front of the vehicles so that Luke would be able to see her. If she walked just a little further, the driveway was at enough of a curve no one would be able to see them from the road.

She speed walked without the telltale arms at a ninety-degree angle. Her legs tightened and sped forward. She stepped into the middle of the driveway and held a hand up. The sedans angled and parked in a V shape.

The passenger doors on the right sedan and left sedan opened at the same time. The same slick-dressed men in suits stepped out—Benito on the right and the one who would give her nightmares on the left. Benito nodded to the bag on her hip. “I hope that's what I need.”

“It is,” she said. “And I have even more to offer,” she added. Gabriella tilted her chin up. “As long as we reach an agreement.”

Benito placed his hands together and raised them up until his fingertips were just underneath his chin. He laughed a hollow chuckle. “Is that so? I knew you were Renata's girl through and through the moment I saw you.” He dropped his hands and shrugged, as if he were just humoring her. “What you got for me?”

“First, my aunt.”

“Take off the bag and show me you're not carrying.”

Gabriella hated taking the bag off her person, but she lifted it over her head, lifted her shirt just enough to show her waistband and spun around. Benito nodded at the man to the left.

He opened the passenger car door. Slumped in the seat in the blue quilted bathrobe Gabriella had given her for Christmas, Aunt Freddie lifted her chin slightly. Her eyes met Gabriella's, and she straightened. Good. That meant Aunt Freddie understood what was going on.

“She's no threat to you,” Gabriella called out. “I told you, she has dementia. Let her go.”

Aunt Freddie looked up at the ceiling of the car and around, a bit dramatic for Gabriella's taste, but that meant Freddie understood and would act the part. If only Aunt Freddie didn't actually struggle with dementia, but at least she had her lucid moments, like now.

The gunman left the door open but stood in front of her aunt, blocking her view.

“So what else you have for me?”

Gabriella shook her head. “No. I give you the evidence, and you give me my aunt before we discuss further.”

* * *

Luke strained his ears from his hiding place behind a mature oak tree. One of the thugs turned his way, and Luke tucked his head behind the bark. No shouts, no gunfire...hopefully he hadn't blown it for Gabriella. He looked down at his feet, careful where to step as he peeked around the opposite side of the tree. From this vantage point he couldn't see what was happening as well. He could see the backside of Gabriella's head, but that was it. How was he supposed to keep her safe without getting a visual on the gunmen?

Twigs crackled up ahead. Luke strained his ears and squinted into the shaded woods. A large animal...deer? No, horse. That's where she went after his truck's siren had gone off. Another animal trotted up. Two?

Dread built in his stomach. The second horse had followed. But how? Luke replayed the events in the stable over in his mind. His adrenaline had been at an all-time high, but he distinctly recalled closing the back gate and front gate. The second horse would've had no way to get out unless...

Luke leaned forward. One of the horses also had a saddle and the reins...were tied to a tree! So the one that trotted up had to be the horse they had ridden, but the one tied to the tree...

Luke looked around, frantic. There, across the driveway, at the bend, hiding among the boulders along the lake. Rodrigo crouched down, a weapon in his hands and a murderous look in his eyes. He advanced slowly, methodically along the lake, heading toward the gate...and his eyes weren't set on the car. He planned to murder Gabriella before she could give Rodrigo up...or the existence of the treasury coin stash. And there went any chance of Gabriella using Rodrigo to guarantee the mafia left the property without killing Gabriella and Aunt Freddie.

Luke had never before wished that he and his brothers had more shooting practice than the unofficial nail-gun contests they'd rig up on their dad's construction sites.
I need good aim, Lord.
Don't let him get her.

Rodrigo crept closer. Any second and he'd have his target. Luke pulled out the gun from his waistband and lifted it. Rodrigo darted behind a boulder the size of a small car. Had he seen Luke? Or was he hiding from one of the mafia men?

Luke wanted to call out to Gabriella. He couldn't see Rodrigo anymore. For all he knew, Rodrigo was taking aim at her right now.

Luke slipped around the tree to where he'd almost been discovered. It couldn't be helped—he had to have a better view. Rodrigo's shoulder poked between two of the boulders, then dipped down again.

Luke studied the trajectory of where he imagined Rodrigo lay. Rodrigo would be able to shoot Gabriella. If not there, then in a foot or two, and Luke had no way to get a clean shot.

His right leg gave slightly. He steadied himself against the bark and fought off the lightheadedness. Only one option presented itself, but it would require speed and most of all courage and strength that he didn't feel.
Lord, help me.

Luke shoved the gun back in its place, tightened his left fist and hit the tree. It hurt enough to spike his adrenaline. Before he could second-guess himself, before it was too late, Luke left his hiding place and hurdled over the fern in front of him. His shoes hit the moss and slipped slightly.

“Hey!”

Luke disregarded the voices yelling and launched himself to the asphalt before he lost all balance. He pumped his arms, running at a sprint. Gabriella spun around, her long brown hair cascading around her in an arc, her brown eyes wide. Her mouth parted open in horror.

“Rodrigo,” he shouted. Luke pointed to the boulders with his left hand as he made the gesture to get down with his right arm.

Gabriella ducked as the crack of a bullet split the air. “Get down, Aunt Freddie,” she screamed as she cradled the top of her head with her arms. Awareness crossed Benito's features but morphed into rage.

“Get him,” Benito yelled. The drivers' doors opened, and two more gunmen jumped out of the sedans, their weapons aimed at the boulders. Rodrigo popped up and fired off a couple of rounds. One driver fell back. The other howled, shot in the shoulder. The gunman in front of Freddie steeled his aim, and Rodrigo ducked back underneath the boulder.

“Give it up, Rodrigo. You will never be in charge.” Benito also had his gun aimed at the boulder.

Rodrigo jumped up again, except his gun pointed directly at Gabriella. Luke dove in front of her as gunfire crackled all around him.

“No,” Gabriella cried as he fell against her.

And then silence. No more gunfire. Luke rolled onto his back, onto the asphalt, and instinctively reached for his aching shoulder, which was bleeding more than before. Pain registered all over his body, but was it worse than before? He hadn't felt the telltale ripping of flesh like the other two times. Was it possible he wasn't hit?

The man who'd been in front of her aunt crouched down and approached the boulder just past them. He looked back at Benito, ignoring Gabriella and Luke. “I got him, boss.”

Tears welled in Gabriella's eyes as she hunched over him. “Are you okay? Please be okay.”