Freeing Her (35 page)

“
But babe, that’s my love
for what I do. If there had been someone to do that for me, it
would’ve meant the world. And maybe made me stronger and better
able to deal with Danny. Who knows? Maybe I would never have tried
to kill myself. But that part about me being cheated and how you
should’ve ended things, I call bullshit. Let’s say you had. Then I
would be without you, and Danny would’ve won. I would’ve missed out
on meeting
the one.
You know, that guy who makes my heart stutter and my blood
sing.

“
So shut up and kiss me
because I love your mouth.”

Chapter
Twenty-Six

Sky, Ryder, and
Cara came by to see Gabby on Sunday, flowers in
hand. Gabby introduced Kolson to Ryder and the two of them left the
women to chat. When Case arrived, he was eager to join the men so
he could discuss the situation. Gabby was thrilled to spend time
with her girls. She was in need of a distraction.

“
You’re not working
tomorrow, are you?” Sky asked.

“
Kolson doesn’t want me
to.”

“
I agree. I think you need
to stay here with him for a while too,” Cara added.

“
I am. I really don’t want
to be alone now, either.”

“
Fuck. When I think about
what happened …” Cara shuddered.

“
Case has a team searching
for him now,” Sky said.

“
What do you mean?” Gabby
felt the blood drain from her head.

“
He’s at large. The police
can’t find him.”

“
What?”

“
You didn’t
know?”

“
No!” Gabby ran out of the
room to find Kolson. He was in the living room. He knew right away
by desperation etched on her face what was happening. Her nostrils
flared and her voice shrilled. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“
Gabriella, we didn’t want
you to worry. We’re keeping you safe, right here. Case has men
looking for him, as are the police.”

“
He’ll find me, I know he
will.” She rubbed her wrist, shivering.

“
You’re safe. I have men
in the lobby and the parking garage. He can’t get up here,
kea.”

Gabby blew out a series of short breaths,
trying to gain control. Kolson moved to embrace her, but she winced
at his touch. He didn’t let that stop him.

“
Let me deal with this.
Please. I’ll take care of you, I promise.” Her arms returned his
embrace. “Keep breathing, sweetheart.” He ran his hand from her
head down her back to her waist, and repeated the
motion.

Once he felt she was pacified, he explained
how they were going about trying to find Danny. “The police are
looking for him. Bear in mind he’s wanted for trying to abduct you
and for attempted murder. Those are serious charges.”

“
It was unexpected hearing
it from Sky the way I did.”

“
Understood. Come and
sit.” He guided her to the couch and sat next to her, holding her
hand. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“
Neither will I.” Case
stood before her. “Gabs, I have five guys out searching for him and
working with NYPD on this. We’ll get him. He can’t hide forever.
We’ve already found where he was living. So it’s only a matter of
time. But listen to Kolson. You can’t go into work. We’re locking
the place down. I’m telling all nonessential employees to stay
home. I don’t want anyone at risk.”

“
What about my
friends?”

Kolson answered her question. “I’m putting
them up in one of my other places in town. He won’t find them.”

“
What about you?” she
asked.

“
I’ll have protection. Now
that we know he’s a definite danger, we can take the appropriate
precautions. But Gabriella, please, you have to listen to us. You
cannot work. Cancel your week. This is imperative. That includes
your volunteer services too.”

“
I will. You’re right.
It’s too risky.”

“
Thank you. You’ve taken
twenty years off me.”

“
Kolson, what does that
make you now—twelve?”

“
Yeah. So, I like older
women. What can I say?”

# # #

After everyone left, Kolson and Gabby sat
together watching TV. “What if it takes months to find him?” Gabby
asked.

“
It won’t. They’ll flush
him out. He’ll get careless.”

“
I don’t know. He’s a
snake. Look at how he managed to destroy my life. You’re in for a
longer haul than you think.”

Gabby gave Kolson a lot to chew on. She was
right. Exactly how had Danny managed to do so much damage?

Kolson had only known one person who was
cunning and manipulative to that degree—his father. Not wanting to
add to her alarm, he said, “We’ll get him, kea. We will.”

Gabby wasn’t so sure, but she nodded
anyway.

# # #

Voluntary imprisonment was no fun for Gabby.
Two weeks later, she was ill-tempered and restless. Danny was
screwing with her head, even though she hadn’t heard a peep from
him. He had messed up a lot of people’s lives as she wasn’t able to
see patients or volunteer because of him. Her friends walked on
eggshells and everyone was grumpy.

Finally, she said to Kolson, “I’m going back
to work.”

“
No, you
can’t.”

“
I have to. I can’t stay
locked in here anymore. It’s killing me. I love you for wanting to
keep me safe, but I need my freedom.”

Kolson was quiet. “Fine. I don’t like it but
I’ll see what I can work out.”

And that’s when Gabby decided to take things
into her own hands. She’d had enough of Danny—she was completely
done with him. He’d controlled her life for sixteen years, but
tomorrow she’d be taking that back from him.

The next morning Kolson was getting ready to
leave for woke when a text message came through.

“
Damn.”

“
What is it?”

“
It’s Kade. He’s
resurfaced and wants money. The usual thing. I need to meet
him.”

Gabby thought for a moment. “Do you think
you can get him to talk to Case? Or to come here so I can talk to
him?”

“
I don’t know.”

“
Let me go with you. Maybe
I can talk to him.”

Kolson wouldn’t allow that. “It’s too
dangerous. If I show up with an entourage, he’ll run. And I’ll lose
his trust.”

Gabby freaked. “You can’t meet him
alone.”

“
Kea, I’ll be fine. I do
this all the time.”

“
Not with Danny on the
loose.”

Kolson assured her he’d be safe. He changed
into jeans and a T-shirt and left to meet Kade.

Now Gabby was committed more than ever to
her plan. She knew the window of opportunity was slim. Lydia would
arrive at nine o’clock and if she didn’t find Gabby here, the alarm
bells would ring. That meant Gabby had to be long gone by then.

Kolson kept two handguns in the apartment.
He’d told her about them the night they came home after the attack.
She retrieved the revolver from the bedside table and held it in
her hands, testing its weight. She rummaged through the drawer,
hunting for extra bullets. Because she wasn’t very familiar with
guns, she prayed she wouldn’t have to use it, but if she did, she
hoped she would do so accurately.

Dropping the gun into her purse, she ran to
the bathroom, pulled her hair into a ponytail, and snatched a
baseball cap out of Kolson’s closet. The guards would be in the
lobby and parking lot, combing the area, so she decided to take the
elevator to the second floor, and then the stairs. She would use a
side exit to leave the building, aiming to give them the slip.

When she got to the stairs, guilt and
anxiety riddled her, making her speculate over how wise this
decision was. These actions could have grave consequences … not
only with her life but if she succeeded, they could ruin what she
had with Kolson. But Danny had left her no other option.

Staring at the exit door in front of her,
she took a deep breath and made that final choice.

Now or never. Do or die. It’s gonna be me or
you, Danny. It’s going to end one way or another.

Leaning on the release bar, she cracked open
the door. It led to a side hall that no one used, though she knew
there would be men around. Familiar voices floated through the air.
The breeze blew a strand of hair that had escaped from her
ponytail, but her ears were trained on all sounds. She heard
someone say they were making a coffee run.

Quietly, she pushed the door open enough so
she could slip through and sprint for the exit. When she cleared
the building, surprise rained over her. Now she had to get the hell
out of there. Fast. She hailed the first taxi she saw and told him
to take her to Grand Central Station. Then she sent a text
message.

Meet me under the clock at Grand
Central.

Then she waited. Fifteen minutes passed and
she was getting out of the cab when a call came in. It was from an
unknown number. It wasn’t the same number she’d sent the text
to.

“
You must think I’m a
fucking idiot,
precious
.”

She paid the driver and walked inside.

“
No. You’re anything but.
No one knows I’m here
.
”

“
Make it Penn Station—34th
Street entrance. Lose the phone.” The call ended.

She hailed another taxi and headed to her
next stop. He didn’t tell her exactly where to meet him, so she
walked inside and waited. Then her phone vibrated.

“
You don’t follow
directions very well. You didn’t lose the phone.”

She looked around the terminal, hunting for
him.

“
If I had, you wouldn’t be
able to call me.”

“
That wouldn’t matter. Now
lose the fucking phone.”

Gabby turned around and was stunned into
silence. Danny’s hair was matted with filth and his beard had grown
some so Gabby barely recognized him. His clothes were torn and
ragged and he looked like he’d been living on the streets for
months.

“
Let’s go.” His long,
thick fingers dug into the soft flesh of her upper arm. He gripped
her so hard, she feared he might snap her bone in half.

“
You’re hurting
me.”

“
That’s the least of your
worries now. Move it. You wanted this meeting. Now you have it.” He
towed her alongside and she stumbled to keep up.

“
Where are you taking
me?”

“
To my lovely home. Where
else?”

“
But you’ve been
…”

“
I’m running from the
cops, thanks to you, you stupid cunt.”

They went down a flight of steps. Commuters
scurried around, not paying them the least bit of attention. How
brilliant of him to stay right here in New York, where he could get
lost in the millions of residents in this city.

They walked along another platform and
slipped through a recessed door. Down another flight of steps they
went, deeper into the bowels of the earth. Gabby now realized how
foolish this harebrained scheme of hers had been. She should be
home with Kolson right now, safe and sound. She wasn’t, however.
She was with Danny as he dragged her along behind him.

But she firmed her resolve to end this.
Suppressed fury replaced her fear, a fury that ran deep in her
veins for everything he had stolen from her.

Soon they came to another tunnel where
trains obviously ran. Gabby shivered to think how far away she was
from safety. She could die down here and no one would ever find
her. No matter. This was her chance to finally put a stop to
this.

They rounded a curve and off to the side was
an indentation where she spied rumpled clothing, remnants of food
and other items indicating someone had been living there. As she
took in her surroundings, Danny reached out and knocked her to
ground. Gabby fell to her hands and knees, hard.

“
Now, cuz, what can I do
for you?”

Turning her head to look up at him, she knew
this was the end of the line. Danny was either going to kill her
and live the rest of his days as a homeless man, or go to prison.
She was going to carry out her plan, or die trying.

“
This is the end, Danny.
For us.”

He laughed. Hard. “Are you
serious? This is what you wanted? You came all this way, risked
your life to tell me
that
?”

“
Yes. And I’m not going to
play your sick games anymore.”

“
What the fuck is that
supposed to mean? ‘I’m not going to play your sick games anymore.’”
He’d imitated her in a whiny voice.

“
Just what I said.”
Luckily, her purse had landed right in front of her and her body
obscured his vision of it. While they talked, her hand reached
inside and met up with cool steel. She wrapped her hand around the
gun and pulled it out. Standing up and aiming it at Danny, she
said, “You’ve fucked with me
way
too long. I could never understand how you
managed to convince my parents that I was the one who told the
lies. But I’m not going to take it another minute. Because I don’t
believe prison deserves the likes of you, you motherfucking
asshole.”

Danny’s eyes registered
surprise and then he shot her a salacious grin. “You loved the way
I fucked you,
precious
. You wanted me to do that. Then
you
lied about it.”