Safe from Harm (19 page)

“No, you're right, Jess,” Gabe admitted. “I promised Chris I'd look after you and the kids. I haven't done such a great job lately. And I'm sorry for that. But I want to fix it. So anytime you need anything, you call me. I'm here.”

Her eyes welled up, tears slipping to her cheeks as she nodded. “Okay.”

“Honey,” Elle said gently to Jessica, “you mentioned a Bible verse that was on the note you received. Do you remember what it was?”

She sniffed and pulled a folded sheet of paper out of her shorts pocket. “I wrote it down.”

Gabe took the note and read aloud, “‘I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over.'”

“Sins,” Jessica echoed, her voice thick with tears. “Can you believe it? What the he—” She bit off her angry words and glanced over her shoulder toward the sliding glass door that led to her backyard, where the sounds of happy chatter and laughter could be heard. She resumed in a harsh whisper, “What the
hell
is this sick son of a bitch talking about? What
sins
would Chris possibly have committed against this person? He was the best man I've ever known! What
sins
could the kids or I have committed?”

Gabe took a deep breath and shared a glance with Elle. “Jessica, honey, the guy we think is behind this has some very extreme views on the government, law enforcement in particular.”

She looked at Gabe with a mixture of confusion and anger. “You know who it is? How?”

“I received a letter, too,” Elle told her. “But we only have suspicions. Nothing concrete.”

“It's someone from Derrick Monroe's crazy family, isn't it?” she demanded, her fear quickly replaced by fury.

Gabe sent another glance Elle's way. “I can't say—”

“Why haven't you arrested him?” she demanded. “Why are you letting him torture my family? For Chrissake, Gabe—Chris was your best friend! And you're just going to sit there and let this bastard treat us this way? Why aren't you
doing
something?”

“It's complicated,” Gabe assured her. “We don't have any evidence linking him to any of the harassing messages we've received.”

Jessica went completely still, staring at him in disbelief. Then her eyes narrowed, her lips trembling when she hissed, “Then find some.”

Elle cleared her throat. “Jessica, I promise—we're doing everything we can. Even if we find evidence linking him to these threats, if we don't do things by the book, he could walk on a technicality.”

Jessica began to shake with fury. “Screw ‘by the book'!” she spat. “How long has this been going on? How long have you known this bastard would be coming after my family?”

“We had no idea,” Gabe told her, keeping his voice level. “I never thought—”

At that moment, the sliding door slid opened and a little boy with dark hair and wide, brown eyes bounded inside, the Batman cape he wore billowing out behind him. “Mom! Are you coming outside yet? You're gonna miss the whole party!”

“I'll be out in a minute, Teddy,” she assured him, wiping at her eyes and forcing a grin for his benefit.

“Uncle Gabe!” the boy cried, running toward him.

Gabe swept the boy into a bear hug. “Hey, there, buddy. Happy birthday.”

“How come you haven't come over for a while?” Teddy asked. “Are you staying for my party? Mommy got me a Batman cake and there's even ice cream!”

“That sounds awesome,” Gabe told him, forcing a grin. “I wouldn't miss it.”

“Cool!” Teddy then sent a cheerful smile Elle's way and waved. “Hi, Miss Elle.”

But before Elle could even reply, Teddy turned on his heel and raced back outside to join the fun.

Gabe felt like the world's biggest asshole for staying away for so long. He didn't realize how much he'd missed Chris's family until that moment. Chris had been like another brother to him, and his children might as well have been Gabe's nieces and nephew. Teddy had grown like a weed since Gabe had been by to see them and had apparently lost a couple of teeth. And he'd missed it. Missed it all.

“I need to get outside,” Jessica informed them, shoving to her feet, her back straight, her chin held high. “And you're welcome to stay for the party, Gabe, for Teddy's sake. But then I want you to leave.”

Gabe was taken aback by her coldness toward him. He'd known Jessica for over a decade and had treated her like a sister the entire time. All he could manage was a startled look.

Elle, of course, was far more articulate. “Jessica, I know you're upset and frustrated. We all are. But Gabe's right. There's nothing he can do until we have a reason to arrest this person. All we can do is try to keep an eye on him and hope he slips up and gives us something to work with.”

Jessica glanced between the two of them a couple of times before laughing bitterly. “Oh my God, I'm such an idiot! No wonder you're taking his side—you two are
sleeping
together! I should've figured that out when you arrived on my doorstep at the same time.”

“That has nothing to do with anything,” Elle assured her. “I'm telling you the truth as deputy prosecutor.”

“Right,” Jessica spat. “God, Gabe—this is so typical! When the hell are you going to grow up? Chris always talked about you like you were some kind of freaking
legend
, like you were his hero or something. Well, you know what? Chris was
my
hero. And now he's gone.”

Gabe reached out to her. “Jess—”

Jessica snatched her hand out of his reach and shook her head before storming off and slamming the sliding door behind her. Gabe got up to go after her, but Elle put a restraining hand on his arm. “Let her go. She's scared and angry, Gabe. She didn't mean what she said.”

Gabe shook his head on a sigh. “Yeah she did. And she's right. I'm my father's son, for shit's sake. When the hell did
he
ever give a damn about doing anything by the book? The man's a goddamned legend because he always gets his man, no matter what.”

“That's not fair, Gabe,” Elle assured him. “You're not the renegade your father was at your age, sure, but the climate has shifted. The kind of crap he and your grandfather used to pull wouldn't fly today. Not by a long shot.”

“Maybe not,” he agreed, “but I guarantee neither of them would've been sitting around with their thumbs up their asses while a murdered cop's widow received threats!”

Elle leveled a stern look at him, and when he tried to look away, she stepped into his line of sight, forcing him to face her. “You're not sitting around with your thumb up your ass, Gabe. You're still recovering from nearly being killed. There's a big freaking difference. Jessica's still grieving. But she had no right to say any of the things she did.”

Gabe shoved his hands deep into his pockets. “Yeah, she did. I shouldn't be here, Elle. I should be out there right now, hunting down Monroe's ass and making sure he confesses to tormenting all of us. Instead of…”

He bit back his words, realizing they would only make things worse.

“Instead of what?” Elle prompted gently. “Instead of spending time with
me
?”

Gabe ran a hand over his hair in frustration. “God no! That's not what I was going to say. Spending time with you…” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, bringing his anger and frustration back under control. Then he took her face in his hands, his thumbs tenderly caressing her skin. “Being with you is the only thing that makes all the rest of this bullshit bearable, Elle.”

The look in her eyes made him feel twelve feet tall, and she pressed her hands against his chest before coming up on her toes to brush a lingering kiss to his lips. “Then stay. Stay here. With me.”

Jeb Monroe had miscalculated. He'd fully anticipated receiving a visit from one of the Dawsons after his most recent messages to the dead cop's widow and the whore who was spreading her legs for Gabe Dawson. What more did he have to do to force them to play into his hands?

He frowned down at his workbench, where he'd laid out the various parts for assembling the guns he'd later sell to his neighbors a few miles down the road. The Feds could keep him from selling
completed
firearms without a license, but there was nothing that could keep him from cutting the metal on his own and partially assembling them to sell the parts to those he knew who also believed in the cause. Those tyrants in Washington could limit someone else's firepower, but he'd be ready when the revolution finally began.

“I'm going to town.”

He glanced up from his work at the sound of his daughter's voice, but then turned back to his the weapon in his hands. “You don't need anything. Supplies came in a week ago.”

He heard the girl swallow hard, knew she was working up her courage to defy him. “I need to buy…feminine things.”

He grunted, not bothering to lift his gaze. “Your brother will get them when he's in town.”

That should've been the end of the conversation, but she didn't turn to go. Instead, she heaved a frustrated sigh. “I am not a prisoner here. You can't keep me from leaving!”

He slowly raised his narrowed gaze to meet hers. The only thing that kept her from getting a hand across the mouth was the fear he saw in her eyes. She was terrified of him.

Good.

“You'd better check your tone, girl,” he growled. “Don't make me say it twice.”

She took a deep, shaky breath and let it out slowly. “Give me a job, then,” she said, her voice quaking. “The boys have gone to town for you. Why can't I?”

“Because the boys don't sass me every time they open their mouths,” Jeb drawled. “Now, I'm busy. Go tend to your chores.”

“They're finished,” she shot back, daring to raise her chin at him.

But when he slowly got to his feet, his patience at an end, he was gratified to see her shrink into herself a little, cringing.

“I can take her to town before dinner, sir.”

Jeb sent an angry look over Sandra's shoulder at his son Jeremy. “Don't believe I was talking to you, boy.”

“Sorry, sir,” Jeremy said. “I have to go anyway to pick up the parts you need before the hardware store closes. I can drop her off on the way and pick her up when I'm finished.”

Jeb stared at his children, inhaling and exhaling with long, measured breaths. He didn't like this one bit. It was one thing to send his sons to town without him, but his daughter… The girl was barely twenty-two and hadn't been around others much except at church. He'd never bothered sending any of the children to school—his wife had taught them all at home with a curriculum
he
approved, not with the government's indoctrination that passed for public education these days.

“Really,” Jeremy said with a shrug, “it's no trouble.”

Jeb narrowed his eyes at the both of them. “Alright then,” he relented. “You go with your brother, Sandra. But I find out there's something more to this, you're both going to get the strap.”

Sandra gave him a relieved grin before turning and hurrying off to get ready, but Jeremy lingered a few moments, looking more than a little nervous. He shifted from one foot to other as if he had something to say.

“What is it, boy?” Jeb finally demanded, tiring of the boy's indecision. Mark and Derrick were never so wishy-washy. They acted—without worrying about the consequences. He didn't always agree with their decisions, but at least they'd had the balls to do what needed to be done.

Jeremy cleared his throat. “I think maybe Sandra is going to town to meet someone.”

Jeb's hand clenched into a fist, but he managed to say evenly, “And you offered to give her an escort down the road to sin, is that it?”

“No, sir,” Jeremy said quickly. “I thought I'd find out who it is. Figured you'd want to know who she's seeing on the sly.”

Something twisted in Jeb's gut—a strange mixture of irritation and relief. “She's not seeing anyone,” he spat, getting back to work. “When would she meet anyone? Only people she's around are at church, and I know all those boys—so do you. None of them would dare to touch a hair on your sister's head.”

Jeremy looked a little skeptical, giving away what he was thinking before he said, “I think there are a couple of boys who are more interested in the sins of the flesh than concerned about what might happen to them if they lead Sandra astray.”

Jeb's relief was quickly replaced by fury. He punched his fist down onto his desk and ground out, “Who are they?”

“I don't know,” Jeremy admitted, edging back toward the door. “But I've heard her talking to some of her friends when she didn't think I was listening. Some of the things they're telling her…”

Jeb nodded. “Well, we'll put an end to this. You tell me who you see her talking to, and I'll make sure they're dealt with.”

* * *

“Gabe?”

Gabe looked up from the plate of sushi he'd picked part, meeting Elle's gaze, his brows lifting by way of response.

Elle sighed. Clearly he'd been a mile away, as she'd suspected. “I'm sorry to say you haven't been a very lively date this evening.”

He reached across the table and took her hand in his and brought it to his lips, pressing a kiss to her palm. “Sorry. Just going over everything in my head, trying to piece it all together, figure out something we might've missed that would implicate Monroe.”

She loved his doggedness, had always admired his inability to back off when he was on a case. It was what made him one hell of a deputy. But she'd suggested coming to the sushi place near her office so they could have a quiet dinner after the party, just enjoy being together like they had at the fair.

“You're off the clock, Dawson,” she reminded him.

He gave her a terse nod. “You're right. What can I do to make it up to you?”

She gave him her best sultry look. “Oh, I think I can come up with a few things.”

Without missing a beat, he signaled the waiter for their check, making her giggle.
Giggle?
She was hardly in the habit of giggling, but, yep, that was the effect the man had on her. Well, that and other very naughty, pleasurable effects she couldn't wait to delve into once they got back home.

Gabe paid for their dinner and then clasped her hand, leading her out to the car. She shivered at the sight of it. Good lord, that
car
… Never in a million years had she ever dreamed of making out in a car, let alone making love in one. Or against one, for that matter. But she had a feeling there were lots of things she'd never dared to dream of before. And when they reached the car and he pulled her into his arms for a heated kiss, she had no trouble letting her imagination run wild.

When the kiss ended, he pressed his forehead to hers. “So where we headed?”

She grinned, ready to suggest they stay at her place this time around, but then she gasped and pulled back. “Crap! I almost forgot—I have to pick up something at my office. I have to depose a witness first thing tomorrow morning.”

“No problem,” he told her. “It's cooled down finally. Why don't we just walk to your office and get what you need, then I'll drop you off at your place.”

She felt the heat rising in her cheeks as she said, “Thanks, but I wasn't suggesting that we call it a night so soon. I just need a couple of minutes to grab a file.”

His grin spread slowly, his eyes darkening with desire. “Good thing,” he murmured, pressing a hand to the small of her back and guiding her toward her office. “Because I think a few minutes is about all I can wait.”

They didn't talk the few blocks to her office, nor on the stairs that led up to the third floor of the historic building that housed her office. He was silent as a grave as she rummaged around on her desk, looking for the file she needed, her thoughts so distracted she had to pause on several occasions just to remember what exactly it was she was looking for.

Elle's thoughts were so distracted, in fact, she didn't even hear him when he came up behind her and put his hands on her hips. She started, making him chuckle as he pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder, covered only by a thin strap of her sundress.

She moaned softly as she leaned back against him and rested her head on his chest. “Keep doing that and I'm going to be in trouble.”

His hands slipped around her waist, pulling her flush against him, feathering kisses along the side of her throat before whispering in her ear, “I'm up for a little trouble.”

“What?” she gasped. “Here?”

When he responded by slipping his hands beneath the straps of her sundress and sliding them down her arms until it began to peel her dress off, she sidestepped out of his reach and pulled the bodice of her dress back up to cover her bare breasts. “Gabe!” she said with a chuckle. “If we get caught, I could lose my job!”

Grinning, she shook her head and turned back around to grab the file from the top of her desk, but clearly that was a mistake. The next thing she knew, his strong hands had slipped beneath the hem of her dress and were sliding lightly up her legs.

She shuddered, her breath catching in her lungs at his touch. “Gabe,” she gasped as his hands reached her thong.

He hooked his thumbs under the elastic and slid her panties down her legs until he reached her ankles. Then he gently lifted one foot and then the other, divesting her of the scrap of an undergarment. “Should I stop?” he murmured as his hands drifted back up her legs.

She knew she should. She opened her mouth to tell him so, but all that came out was a loud moan as one hand slipped between her legs. His finger delved insider her, caressing gently, tenderly.
Maddeningly
.

“Oh God,” she gasped. She bent forward, bracing herself against her desk as the pleasure of his touch overtook her.

He withdrew slowly and a moment later, cool air hit her skin as he shoved her dress up around her hips. In the next moment, she felt his tongue on her, delving between her folds, tasting and teasing as his fingers resumed their caress.

Her breath quickened as her release rushed up on her, and she no longer cared about someone walking in, didn't care about the fact that she was violating pretty much every office policy imaginable. Her thoughts were only for the maddening pleasure that had her writhing and panting and shuddering with a loud cry that filled her office.

She'd not even finished before Gabe had managed to put on a condom and thrust into her. Her moan blended with his guttural groan.

“God, yes,” she panted as he began to thrust, hard and fast, all gentleness having vanished as his skin slapped against hers.

His hands grasped her hips, his fingers digging into her skin where he clutched her tightly, the pressure adding to the intensity of her pleasure as the world began to spin.

His tempo increased as her muscles spasmed; then he thrust once more, long and deep, with a hoarse cry. She thought he would withdraw, but then he was thrusting again, his breath hot on the back of her neck, and a moment later they were shuddering together for a second time.

Finally, he pressed a kiss to her shoulder, to the back of her neck. “Sorry. I had a few ideas of my own.”

She rolled her hips against him with a breathy chuckle. “Gotta say, lover, I think I like the way your mind works.”

He brushed feathery light kisses along the back of her neck again before finally withdrawing, then snatched several tissues from a box on the corner of her desk and handed them to her.

When she'd discarded the tissues, she let the skirt of her dress fall back into place and started to pull the straps back up over her shoulders, but he stilled her hands. “Allow me.”

He bent, taking her breast into his mouth and teasing the already-hard bud before switching to the other. Then with a resigned sigh, he pulled her straps back up to her shoulders. “I've got to get you home. These clothes are just getting in the way.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him long and deep, assuring him she was thinking the same thing, then pulled back, giving him a grin. “Why don't you go get the car and come back to get me? I don't think my knees could carry me the few blocks back to where you parked.”

He chuckled, the sound sending a shiver of need through her. “I'll meet you downstairs in five minutes.”

* * *

Gabe tossed his keys up and caught them midair, not bothering to hide what had to be a stupid-looking grin. Hell, as happy as he was at that moment, he could've skipped down the sidewalk, tossing fucking flowers up in the air or some ridiculous shit.

Even being away from Elle now in the few minutes it was going to take for him to walk to the car and pull it around to pick her up was too long. All he wanted to do was hold her in his arms, feel the incredible warmth of her body pressed into his, and never let her go.

He gave himself a quick mental shake, wondering what the hell had happened to him. He'd never felt like this with anyone—not even Audrey.

But Elle, what he felt for her… Well, hell—it defied explanation. He almost felt like if he even tried to put it into words, whatever came out of his mouth would just cheapen what he was really feeling because he wouldn't even be able to come close.

The intensity of it made him want to run down Main Street, whooping and shouting and thumping his chest, but it also scared the shit out of him. Because she was
it.
At least for him. But he had no guarantee that she felt the same way, no matter what she might've admitted to when she was half-asleep.