Freeing Her (23 page)

It was time for him to start keeping track
of when she arrived at her office every day and what days she was
at the hospital. Then he needed to figure out where else she spent
most of her time—that’s when he’d strike.

# # #

Kolson showed up at the shelter an hour
early to retrieve Gabby. It was a small, non-descript building near
The Bellevue Hospital Center on the lower east side of Manhattan.
Like most shelters of this type, the location was kept secret and
the only way a person could find it was through phone screening.
Security was controlled and Kolson had to answer a set of
prearranged questions that he and Gabby had agreed upon. Once he
had been cleared, the receptionist ushered him into an office with
a glass window and told him he could wait for her in there. He
stood to the side and observed her at work. She was speaking with a
mother with a small child. The little girl was clinging to the
mother and both had bruises covering their faces and arms. Kolson
was sure they had them in other places too, hidden by their
clothing.

The young child kept peeking at Gabby, and
Gabby bent down to talk to her. It didn’t take long before the
child held out her arms for examination. The girl’s eyes were huge
in her swollen, discolored face. Gabby pushed the hair off her
forehead and then shone a light into her eyes. Kolson could see
traces of tears reflected in the light on the child’s cheeks and
Gabby took her thumbs and dabbed them away. Moments later Gabby sat
on the floor in front of the little girl and helped her remove her
shoes and socks. She then showed Gabby the bottoms of her feet.
Though Kolson couldn’t see what Gabby was seeing, the child winced
when Gabby touched her. The child sniffed constantly, as if trying
not to cry, but then Gabby patted her lap and the little thing
crawled into it and started bawling.

Kolson never imagined he’d feel such a
strong emotion toward a child he didn’t know, but this whole
situation opened a wound in him that he thought had been
permanently sealed. His guts twisted and his heart clenched. As he
watched Gabby hold that young girl in her arms, the deep admiration
he felt for her astounded him. He’d not previously understood her
role here, but now he did. And what was baffling to him was he
didn’t know how she did it, day after day, and kept her heart
intact.

He turned away, unable to watch any longer
and sat down, dropping his head into his hands. Kolson realized
that Gabby’s capacity for love was far beyond anything he’d ever
encountered. And it angered him that her family had abandoned such
a beautiful soul.

He was still sitting there an hour later
when she walked in.

“
Hey.” She eyed him for a
moment. “Are you okay?”

“
I’m fine,” he said
softly. “How are you?”

“
I’m good. You
ready?”

His penetrating stare pierced her, but no
words would come to him.

“
You sure you’re
okay?”

“
I saw what you did. With
that little girl. Your heart is so immense, Gabriella. You have so
much compassion inside of you.”

She tipped her head and said
matter-of-factly, “It’s what I do. What I love to do. To help
people.”

“
I can see that. But it’s
so much more than helping them. You give them a part of you …
what’s inside of your heart. I felt it from here … watching you. I
felt your love from inside this room.” He couldn’t tear his eyes
away from her. He wanted to tell her how fucked up her parents were
and that they were the ones who had missed out on being a part of
such an amazing human being’s life. And he wanted to tell her that
she was even more beautiful on the inside than she was on the
outside.

But he didn’t. Instead, he
grabbed and kissed her, showing her how he felt. Like she meant the
world to him. Like he wanted to hold her close and never let her
go. Like he wanted to feel her beautiful heart beat against his
chest and hear her breath next to his ear. Like he wanted to smell
her with every breath he took. When he released her, he took his
hand and tucked her hair behind her ear and simply said, “I think
your profession chose
you
, Gabriella, and it’s damn lucky
to have you.” Then he reached for her hand and proudly escorted her
to the car.

Gabby beamed as they walked hand in hand. No
one had ever said such lovely things to her. Yes, she knew the
people she volunteered for appreciated her, but this was
unsolicited, so it meant more to her than anything. Not only that,
Kolson had looked at her in such a soft way, it made her heart
melt. And that kiss was toe-curling and heart-stopping. But it was
also sweet, like he was trying to convey something to her. He had
such a way with his mouth, and he had certainly made her feel
special.

# # #

They met Case for dinner and when Gabby
finally spilled the details about Danny, Case could barely speak.
It took him a few minutes to collect himself, so profound was his
anger and sadness. His hand snapped the stem off the water goblet
he was holding, slicing into his fingers.

“
Fuck,” he
swore.

“
Let me look at that,”
Gabby demanded.

They went to the restroom and she cleaned
and wrapped it in some paper cloths and then bound it with
first-aid tape. It wouldn’t require stitches.

While they were in the restroom, Case asked,
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“
I didn’t tell anyone.
Kolson was the first.”

He surprised her when he jerked her into his
arms and held her so hard, she could barely breathe.

“
I’m good now, Case. Much
better, in fact, since I told him.”

“
What the fuck was wrong
with your parents?”

“
That ship sailed long
ago, and frankly, I’m sick of trying to figure it out.”

“
Understood.”

“
I just feel like such a
shit because I didn’t know.”

“
Don’t. I didn’t tell you
so how could you?”

Case shook his head and hugged her again.
“You know you can come to me any time, right?”

“
Yeah, I know.”

“
You really like this guy,
don’t you?”

She grinned. “Yeah.”

“
It shows.”

“
In a good or bad
way?”

“
Good. You’re grinning.
All the time. Never seen you like this.”

“
Oh. I don’t look
goofy-assed, do I?”

He laughed. “No. You look great.”

“
Really?”

“
Yeah. Let’s
go.”

When they returned to the table, Kolson
asked, “Everything okay?”

“
Yeah. He won’t need
sutures.”

Case added, “Sorry for the disruption.”

“
No problem. I can imagine
how you felt, knowing how close you are to Gabriella. We’d like to
discuss her options with you. He’s stalking her now and we need to
make a case against him. Given your professional background, we
thought you would know best how to go about doing it the right
way.”

“
There are a couple of
problems that I see, but that doesn’t mean we’re at a complete
roadblock. The first thing, what you mentioned earlier, is that no
police reports were ever filed. The second is that Danny was a
minor when this started, but, and this is huge, he turned eighteen
and was still molesting you. So that won’t be an issue. I recommend
you get full body X-rays to document all the fractures you’ve had.
You already know this will be necessary, along with a psych
evaluation. You have enough contacts that it shouldn’t be a
problem. Forensics can look at the radiology report, too, to add
anything to it, such as an approximation of how old each fracture
is. When you have that paper trail created, then we start to make a
case. In the meantime, I want to investigate this dude.”

Kolson interjected, “Don’t bother. My
security team has already done it. And he’s a real piece of
work.”

Gabby looked at him, brows arched.

“
I know I should’ve told
you. I started it after that day he accosted you close to your
office. You were so shaken up, it concerned me enough that I also
put Sam on your tail for protection, but you know that. I never
expected Danny to find out where you lived, though.”

“
Would it be possible for
you to share with me what you have on him?” Case asked.

“
Absolutely. I’ll have Tom
Barrett, the head of my team, email everything over to
you.”

“
Great. So, as soon as we
gather everything and I read through it, I’ll figure out who I need
to get this stuff to at NYPD.”

Gabby sat without saying a word.

Kolson reached for her hand and it felt like
ice. “Gabriella? Are you okay?”

“
No, I’m not okay. This is
going to lay my life open like a book. For you two to know is one
thing, but for everyone else, that’s an entirely different
matter.”

Kolson squeezed her hand. “You’re right. But
if Danny does something stupid or threatens you, we’ll be ahead of
the game. This is for your protection, Gabriella.”

She nodded, but Kolson could tell she was
still uneasy.

Case reached over and patted her arm. “One
other thing, Gabby. It would be a good idea for you to cut back on
your volunteer hours.”

“
No! I love doing
that!”

“
I know, but it exposes
you to him, and it’s too risky.”

“
Why can’t he just leave
me alone?”

The waitress delivered their food, but Gabby
no longer had a desire to eat. Instead she sat and stared at her
plate. Case looked at Kolson and he nodded.

Gabby wasn’t safe in her office, either, and
both men knew it. The problem was going to be persuading her to
move, when her funds didn’t allow it.

“
Gabby,” Case began, “You
know your office leaves you exposed to him. Would you consider
moving into my building? I can work something out with you. And
most importantly, you’d be safe.”

“
I can’t … can we talk
about this later? My head is swimming.”

“
Anytime. I have two empty
rooms and a conference room that can be used if you need it.
There’s a receptionist up front and, well, you know the drill.
You’ve been there. Just let me know if you’re
interested.”

“
Thanks, Case. You know I
love you for looking out for me.”

They finished dinner and the two men agreed
to talk again in a few days. Gabby promised Case she’d consider his
offer to move into his office.

The ride home was made in silence. Kolson’s
car, a sleek Mercedes sedan, pulled into the underground garage.
The area where he parked, exclusive and reserved, had an added
layer of security to access it. Once parked, Kolson checked the
area before they exited the vehicle.

“
Is this how I’m going to
have to live from now on?”

He looked at her thoughtfully before
answering. “No, I’m only being extra careful. Don’t want to take
any chances. Once I’m sure he’s not around, I think it’ll be fine
for you to come and go as you please, as long as you take a
driver.”

But as he spoke, Gabby got the feeling he
was holding something back. “You don’t really feel that way, do
you?” She turned to face him, but in the dim light, she couldn’t
read his eyes.

“
You doubt me?”

“
Not doubt. I think you’re
holding something back.”

“
Come. Let’s go inside.”
He ushered her to the elevator and used the security pad to enter
his code. They rode in silence, but Gabby’s mind churned with
thoughts of what Kolson was doing and how he was handling
this.

When the elevator doors opened, they headed
to the den, but Gabby ran right into the wall of Kolson’s back when
he suddenly came to a halt.

“
Hello, brother.
Surprise,” a deep raspy voice that Gabby didn’t recognize spoke. “I
hope you don’t me letting myself in.”

Gabby peeked around Kolson’s shoulder. A
tall, dark and menacing-looking man stood in the center of the
room. Not menacing as in run for cover—menacing as in sexy as all
hell … hang-on-to-your-panties menacing because this man would
certainly be going home with them. Coal-black hair and eyes the
color of jade, he no doubt had left a trail of broken hearts
wherever he went.

He grinned and winked at Gabby. “You don’t
have to hide. I promise not to bite.” He extended his hand. “I’m
Kestrel Hart. And you are?” His danger level increased
exponentially with his grin.

“
Kestrel, you know you can
let yourself in any time. But what are you doing here?” Kolson’s
tone was exasperated.

“
Are you going to be rude
to your guest, Kol, and not introduce us?” he asked.

“
I’m Gabby Martinelli.
Nice to meet you.” She shook Kestrel’s hand. It was smooth and warm
as he clasped hers. She returned his smile and found herself
charmed by him. Though he was quite the handsome thing, he wasn’t
nearly as attractive as Kolson, in Gabby’s opinion. When he
released her hand, she automatically reached for Kolson’s and he
took it, lacing his fingers with hers. That gesture wasn’t lost on
Kestrel.

“
So?” Kolson
prodded.

“
Yeah, right. I’m here to
run interference for Mom.”

“
And?”

“
Don’t shoot the
messenger.”

Gabby felt Kolson’s hand tighten on hers.
“Go on.”