Authors: Patricia Coughlin
Borrowed Bride (27 page)
Sharp enough to cut through rope if need be.
But why risk it? If Adam tied them up and left them, the police would soon be there to free them. There was no need for anyone to be a hero. Was there? What was the sense of courage merely for courage's sake? If she tried something and Adam saw her, anything could happen.
The thought brought her up short. Who was she kidding? Anything could happen anyway.
“What the hell is taking you so long?” Adam demanded, sounding a lot more anxious than he had only moments ago.
“It's all tangled up in here,” she explained without turning around. “I think I've got it now.” She pulled on the rope and unwound it from around a hole puncher also in the drawer and gathered it in her hand. Only at the very last instant did she pluck the seam ripper from the basket and tuck it inside the tangle of rope.
She stood and shut the drawer with her foot.
“I guess that will do,” Adam said, frowning at the lightweight rope. “We need something to cut it, too. Scissors. Do you have scissors?”
“I'll look.” She spotted a pair in the cup holder on top of the desk. “Here they are.”
Holding the scissors in one hand and the rope in the other, she turned. Adam's eyes followed her as she walked back to him.
“Good. Now cut a piece. A piece long enough to tie a man's hands... and double it up so it's good and strong.”
Gaby had no idea how much rope was needed to tie a man's hands. She cut a piece about five feet long, praying that the seam ripper wouldn't fall from where she had it pressed between her palm and the bunched rope.
“Down there,” Adam ordered when she finished cutting and looked at him. He pointed with his chin to the end of the sofa where Connor was sitting and trailed along as she moved there. She noticed that he was frantically shifting his gaze from her to Connor to Toby, over and over again, and she prayed that he would be too distracted to pay much attention to the awkward way she was holding her hands in order to conceal the seam ripper.
“Lean forward,” he told Connor, giving him a little shove from behind. “Put your hands behind your back.”
Gaby saw Connor flinch and his shoulders tense and knew what it was costing him to be subjected to this without fighting back.
“Go ahead,” Adam said to her when he had his hands behind him. “Tie them. Tight. I'm going to check, and if I have to waste time making you do it over, someone's going to pay.”
He let his gaze slide to where Toby was cowering in the corner of the sofa, and her heart was suddenly in her throat. She never should have taken the seam ripper. If Adam caught her with it... Her hands were shaking so badly it took her two tries to get the rope looped around Connor's wrists and tie a simple knot.
And what if Adam tied her up himself? How would she hide it from him then? She concentrated on pulling the rope through without dropping it right in front of Adam. Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod. She pulled hard on the rope to secure the knot and glanced up to find Connor looking at her over his shoulder, his smile as reassuring as a familiar landmark on a dark, lonely road.
Without thinking, she pressed the seam ripper into his palm. For a second he didn't react.
“Are you done?” Adam asked.
Her heart pounded. Then Connor's fingers curled up and around the seam ripper, and she let it go.
“Yes, I'm done,” she said.
“Now tie his feet,” Adam ordered.
Gaby obediently moved around and tied Connor's feet. She was so nervous that tears stung her eyes and she avoided looking up at him.
“Now Toby,” Adam said when she was through. “Just tie his hands, though.”
She didn't ask why, intent on smiling and winking at Toby as she tied his hands as loosely as she dared, hoping he might be lulled into thinking this was some sort of grown-up game. Not until Adam had ordered her to sit and had put the gun down long enough to tie her hands and feet did it occur to her why he might want Toby to have his feet free to walk.
“All right, Toby,” he said when he was done, “come with me.”
“Where are you going with him?” Gaby cried, tugging at the rope that was already chafing her wrists.
“Upstairs,” Adam replied, shoving the scissors in his pocket.
Toby looked back at her with wide eyes. “Mommy...”
“It's all right, sweetie,” she said, struggling to sound reassuring. “Adam won't hurt you...will you, Adam?”
He looked down at him. “I'd never want to hurt you, Toby, you know that, don't you?”
Toby nodded uncertainly.
“Good. Then let's go.”
He pushed Toby ahead of him up the stairs.
“Oh, Connor,” she said as soon as they were out of sight. “I'm so scared.”
“Don't be. Adam isn't going to hurt a kid.”
“I wish I could be sure of that.”
“I'm sure. Trust me.”
“Do you have theâ?”
“Shh,” he said. “Yes.”
Toby preceded Adam down the stairs. Adam was carrying the cellular phone. “Sorry to leave you two incommunicado, but I'm counting on a little head start. I also took the liberty of borrowing the keys to your car, Gabrielle. I knew you wouldn't mind.”
“Where are you headed?” Connor asked, sounding as offhand as if Adam were leaving on vacation. Gaby marveled at his poise.
Adam's smile was enigmatic. “Let's just say it's my turn to leave the country. But fortunately I have a rather nice little nest egg put aside and I won't be forced to spend my days in some pit of a town in Mexico.”
“It doesn't matter where you go, you know,” Connor told him. “If the feds don't find you, the cartel will.”
“That's a chance I'll have to take. Say goodbye to Mommy, Toby.”
“No,” Gaby cried out, finally understanding why he wanted Toby free to walk. “No, Adam, please. Take me with you instead of him.”
“Sorry, darling,” he said as he dragged a sobbing Toby to the door. “You had your chance to fly away with me and you blew it. But don't worry. All you have to do is make sure I have four hours to get where I'm going, and I promise you I'll leave him somewhere where you can pick him up safe and sound. Remember, Gabrielle,” he said, looking straight at her. “Four hours.”
The door banged shut behind them.
“Four hours, my ass,” muttered Connor, twisting his shoulders and wincing as if in pain. Watching him, frantic, Gaby suddenly recalled his injured hand. He would never be able to get free with his hand hurting him, she thought. She should have held on to the seam ripper herself.
“Connor, can Iâ”
“No. I...” He gave a hard jerk with his arms, and his hands came free. “There.” He bent and worked frantically at the rope around his ankles.
From outside came the sound of the station wagon's engine, straining to turn over, the way it always did after it had sat unused for a few days.
The rope around his ankles gave and Connor lunged from the chair. “I'll be back for you,” he said, rushing past her.
“But...Connor, wait....”
He was already out the door.
Gaby heard the engine roar and catch, and her heart raced like a runaway train. She pulled at the ropes, seething with frustration, when the glint of metal caught her eye. The seam ripper lay where Connor had dropped it, on the floor about five feet away.
She quickly worked her way to the edge of the sofa cushion and slipped off it so her back was to the seam ripper. Leaning back so far it hurt, she fumbled around for it with her fingers, finally managing to locate it, position it so she could grasp it and pick it up.
It took several tries for her to get it pointed in the right direction. Her hand cramped with the effort, and sweat beaded on her forehead and dripped into her eyes. She couldn't imagine how Connor had managed this with his sore hand. He must have been working on it the entire time that Toby and she were being tied up and while Adam went upstairs to get the phone.
The ripper would slice through a few strands of the coiled rope and then slip before she would have to maneuver it back into position all over again. She heard noises coming from outside, but she couldn't tell what was happening. Finally she could feel what remained of the rope slacken and she followed Connor's example and gave a mighty tug. It took her a second try, but finally the last strands of rope gave way.
It was much easier to cut through the rope on her ankles, where she could see what she was doing. A minute later she was free and racing for the door.
She ran across the deck and down the stairs to the driveway.
About twenty yards away she saw Connor and Adam on the ground, rolling in a patch of dirt and rocks by the edge of the woods. At first Connor was on top, then Adam reared up and sent him flying onto his back, coming down on top of him with his fist flying toward Connor's face.
Gaby grunted and saw the gun lying on the driveway and realized Toby was alone in the car with the engine running all in the same instant.
She ran to the open driver's door. Toby was on his knees on the passenger seat, whimpering.
“Get out,” she said, reaching for him.
He shook his head. “Wolf said... Wolf said...” He was trying to talk around his tears. “...stay here.”
“All right,” she said, deciding Connor was right, that he was probably as safe there as anywhere. She reached to turn off the engine. “Stay there and I'll be right back for you.”
She slammed the door shut and ran to pick up the gun. It felt heavy and awkward in her hand. She grasped it with both hands, the way she had seen Connor do, and walked toward where he and Adam were still locked in battle.
At the moment Connor was on top. His hand was covered with blood, and red streaks covered his face and neck and what was left of the shirt that had been almost ripped off him.
Adam was bloodied, too, but thoughts of Joel and Toby and the sight of Connor's blood-soaked fist and battered face stopped her from feeling anything for him but hatred, powerful enough to make her overcome the cautious ways of a lifetime, raw enough to make her do whatever she had to do to stop him.
She lowered the gun until it was aimed directly at Adam's head.
“Stop,” she ordered. They kept fighting, oblivious to her. She stepped closer and shouted with steadily increasing fury, “Stop. Stop. Stop.”
Both men froze. They turned to look up at her just as a police car pulled into her view across the lake, headed their way and sending the torrent of tears she'd been holding back streaming down Gaby's face.
The two young state police officers, who'd thought they were there on a simple escort assignment, were first surprised and then thrilled to discover that they were going to be the arresting officers in what they knew was a very big investigation.
Adam didn't resist and he didn't look at her as they handcuffed him, read him his rights and led him like a beaten dog to the back of the police car. She wished he had. She wanted him to see exactly how much she despised him. Not for her own sake or because of the heartless way he had tried to use her, but for the pain and suffering he had inflicted on those she loved, on Toby and Connor. And most of all, for Joel's sake.
The officers offered to call for another car to drive her and Toby back to the city, but Connor insisted he was capable of doing it himself and was damn well going to do it. He made it clear he wasn't letting them out of his sight until he was absolutely certain they weren't in any danger from anyone.
Besides, he said to her alone as he helped her into the car, he had something important he needed to ask her.
Gaby gratefully consented to letting him take them home. Bloodied and bruised as he was, there was no one she trusted more.
As for Adam, she thought as the police car with him locked inside pulled out ahead of them, there would be plenty of times ahead for her to make it plain to everyone how she felt about him . . . at the arraignment, the trial, the sentencing. And she would be there for all of it, no matter how grueling, no matter how long. If for no other reason, she would be there for Joel.
During the drive home she spent most of her time and attention reassuring Toby and answering his questions. His grasp on the details of what had happened was hazy, and Gaby decided that for now it was best to leave it that way. He was adamant about one thing, however, that Adam was a bad man. She decided to leave that alone, too.
Marino called on the cellular phone. Connor spoke to him briefly, saying he would fill in all the details later.
The phone was ringing as they walked in the door at her house. Captain Marino again. Shortly later he, along with several other officers, came to the house to take their statements, sparing them a trip to headquarters. Gaby thanked them graciously for going out of their way, but the truth was there was no way she would have left Toby or dragged him out again to go answer questions for anyone.
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