Flee, page 21
Gage waited until she was at the top before he sat down again. He leaned forward and dropped his head into his hands, wishing things were different for them. Her life was complicated and dangerous, but he was willing to wade in. He’d never been willing before. Not with any of his exes. He’d kept them at arm’s length during their entire relationship and told himself it wasn’t right.
But with Dawn, it was right. He couldn’t explain how he felt, but listening to her upstairs, getting ready for bed and knowing he wouldn’t be pulling her close and sliding into her, made him want to tear his skin off.
It would have been less painful than watching her walk away.
The bedroom door closed, and the bed creaked when she sat down. Gage sighed and stood. He turned off the lights and confirmed the alarm was set and the door was locked, then he went upstairs and got ready for bed. Alone.
Trevor got out of the SUV and walked down the street. It was dark, quiet. No one was out, and no one was awake.
Perfect.
He moved up the driveway, past the fancy new vehicle that bitch who stole his inheritance bought with his money. She would pay for what she did.
But first, he needed to get back into the accounts. Get access back so he could make his money. She was going to regret cutting off his funnel.
Trevor nudged the window he unlocked when he was at the lawyer’s house looking for the will. He was careful not to touch a thing in the small dining room off the kitchen. It looked like a room no one used much, and the fact that the window was still open told him he was right.
He had Plan B, but he liked the element of surprise. Letting himself in the front door and turning off the alarm would send up flags and probably put his face in front of that group of idiots that called themselves professionals.
Professionals his ass. They were barely better than amateurs. Not only did they not lock the window, but they put the alarm panel within full view of the street out front. Anyone with a good enough camera could watch the code as it was entered to disarm the alarm system.
“Fucking morons,” Trevor whispered to himself.
The window slid open with no resistance, and no sound. It was a bit of a stretch to get into it, but the boss liked acrobatics in bed, and wherever else she let him take her, so Trevor was working out. Anything to make sure she stayed happy.
Trevor pulled himself up easily enough and got his upper body through the window. He had to maneuver a little to fit through the window, but he made it work and landed inside with little more than a thud that no one was likely to hear.
Just in case, he stilled and waited to make sure the house stayed silent.
After a minute of nothing, Trevor moved through the house, leaving the window open in case he needed to make a quick escape.
The kitchen was spotless, as it had been on his first visit. The lawyer was a bit of a neat freak, or he never ate at home. Trevor didn’t care. The point was to leave no trace, except the trace he wanted to leave.
The bathroom door was open, and the space was dark. The living room was lit from the streetlights out front, but no one was in the space. Trevor glanced at the alarm panel and debated turning it off, but touching it could alert the company that something different was going on. Best the leave that for later.
He crept up the stairs, his knife in his gloved hand and ready to use. Trevor knew the lawyer and the fat nurse were fucking. Had seen the lights come on in the bedroom in the back but nothing in the front. He would take his time with her when he had the chance, but first, he needed to get to her.
And get rid of the lawyer.
Trevor made it to the top of the stairs. He remembered the first time he broke into a house to kill someone. His heart pounded hard with every step. But he wasn’t a fucking pussy, and he slit the man’s throat without a second thought. And threw up down the street. But no one knew that. And no one ever would.
Trevor was no longer that scared dipshit kid. His hands didn’t shake. His heart didn’t pound. Murder was part of his job. And he was good at it. One slice and the lawyer would never tell a soul he was there.
Trevor took a step toward the bedroom. It was less than three feet away. The door was partially open. He could only see one person in the bed, but it wouldn’t take him long to figure out which side of the bed was the lawyer’s.
He pushed the door open just enough to see the whole bed when he heard a sound behind him.
A door.
The bed only had one lump. Which meant.
“Gage!”
The lump sat upright, his gaze searching before it landed on Trevor.
“Dawn, run!” he shouted, scrambling out of bed and rushing toward Trevor.
The door slammed behind him, but Trevor didn’t care. He’d get her after he was done with the lawyer.
The lawyer came for him. The weight of his blade was reassuring in his hand. Solid. Steady.
Trevor waited until the lawyer was close, then slashed.
A hiss told Trevor the blow landed.
He struck out again, but the lawyer dodged that one.
The lawyer moved forward, like he had a chance in the fight.
Trevor swung, and the lawyer blocked it, then swung his fist.
The punch caught Trevor off-guard. He took a step back.
And found air.
He was falling.
Down the stairs.
His hand hit the wall. The knife clattered to the wooden steps, bouncing with Trevor’s body down, down, down. Until both came to rest at the bottom.
22
“Is he dead?” Dawn breathed. She opened her door when she heard someone fall down the stairs. The relief she felt when she saw Gage standing at the top was unmeasurable.
Gage shook his head. “I don’t think so. We need to call the police.”
“They’re on the way.”
“Did you call Marcus or nine-one-one?”
“Nine-one-one. Mackenzie answered. She was going to send someone on duty and let Marcus know.”
Gage stared down the stairs and nodded. “Good. Thank you.”
“Are you okay?” Dawn asked, moving closer.
Gage swayed, like he was having a hard time staying upright. When he stumbled and nearly fell down the stairs himself, Dawn gasped.
“Are you hurt? Gage!”
“Get my phone. There’s an alert button on the app for the alarm. It’ll bring that team here, too.”
“Not until you let me help you.”
Gage looked up at her, his eyes dark and glassy. He was hurt worse than she realized. When he nodded, she knew it was bad.
Dawn positioned herself under his arm, but when he winced, she moved to the other side. He let her drape his arm over her shoulder, and he worked to stand upright instead of the severe lean against the wall.
He shuffled his feet slowly, barely supporting his own weight. Dawn tried not to panic at the amount of his weight she was carrying. It meant he was weak. Losing blood, most likely. Fast.
Dawn got him to his bed and lifted his shirt. A deep gash on his side had already soaked the sheets under his body. “Oh, God.”
He grunted, not offering much in terms of aid or words.
Dawn ran to the bathroom and grabbed a clean towel from the cabinet. She hurried back to the bedroom and pressed the towel against his side as she heard the first sirens.
“Thank God,” she whispered. Tears filled her vision, but she knew they were going to be okay.
Someone pounded on the door, but Dawn couldn’t leave Gage to let them in. They would have to let themselves in somehow.
A second later, the splinter of wood told her they’d done exactly that.
“Police Department!”
“Upstairs!” Dawn yelled back. “He needs an ambulance!”
Footsteps rushed toward her. A man came into view, but in the dark she had no idea what he looked like.
“Is anyone else here?”
“Not upstairs. The man at the bottom of the stairs attacked us. He got in somehow. I got up to use the bathroom and saw him coming in here. Gage told me to run, so I went back into the other bedroom and Gage fought with him, but Gage is hurt. He needs a doctor.”
The police officer listened and checked the closet and bathroom before moving to her room while she spoke. When he came back in, his gun was in the holster. “An ambulance is on the way.”
“Is Trevor dead?”
“I thought you said his name was Gage?”
Dawn nodded to Gage. “He’s Gage. The man at the bottom of the stairs is Trevor Davis.”
More footsteps sounded on the stairs, and the cop turned to see his partner.
“House is clear.”
“Thank God he didn’t bring anyone else.”
“Who didn’t? Did you attack this man?” the second cop said.
“No! He’s… No. Why would I do that? The man at the bottom of the stairs did this. He broke in and tried to kill Gage. Probably me, too.”
The officers exchanged a look. The second one shook his head, and the first turned to her. “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but we have no idea what you’re talking about. There was no man at the bottom of the stairs when we came in.”
“What?” Dawn breathed.
“The only people in the house are you and the man who’s bleeding. And us.”
“No,” Dawn whispered.
Before anyone could say anything else, the alarm screeched, telling all of them and half the neighborhood there was an intruder.
Gage’s phone rang, but Dawn ignored it. Rose Protection Agency would be there soon, and so would Marcus and the FBI and half the city. But until that happened, Dawn needed to make sure Gage didn’t lose anymore blood.
“Where’s the ambulance?” Dawn snapped.
Just as she asked, someone else appeared on the stairs. This one was a paramedic.
“What happened? And can we turn that alarm off?”
Dawn explained what happened and let the paramedic push her out of the way. Dawn went downstairs to silence the alarm with the cops on her heels as a second paramedic hurried upstairs.
“You can’t leave, ma’am,” one said.
“I’m trying to get the alarm to stop screaming,” Dawn said, punching in the code and not getting anything to work. She tried again, and it finally fell silent.
Except for the ringing.
Dawn moved toward the stairs to get Gage’s phone, but one of the cops pulled a gun on her.
“Stop!” he shouted. “Hands up!”
Dawn froze. Her eyes went wide. She stared at the cop, her gaze locked on his gun.
“You need to stay away from the man upstairs.”
“Do you think I stabbed him? I told you it was Trevor Davis!”
“No one else was in the house, ma’am.”
Dawn moved toward where Trevor had ended up, a spot she stepped over. All the lights were still off, which made it hard to see anything.
“Freeze!” the cop shouted again.
Dawn’s emotions boiled up and over. She was scared and angry and being accused of trying to kill the man she loved instead of helping him. All she was doing was trying to survive, and instead of helping her, the police officers were accusing her of the worst thing imaginable.
“Are you going to shoot me? You really think I did this? Who called nine-one-one? I was helping him! Why would I have a towel pressed to his side if I was the one who stabbed him? Huh? What is wrong with you? You’re going to kill me because you can’t pull your head out of your fucking ass and look for evidence!”
“What’s going on here?” another voice boomed.
Everyone turned to see Captain Marcus Patrick, followed by Agents Lorelei Sloane and Adam Johnson. Not far behind them were Walker and Zeke.
“Thank God,” Dawn whispered, then she sank to the ground, all her fight leaving her.
The cop heard her fall and pointed his gun at her again.
Dawn didn’t have the strength to fight him. If he was going to shoot her, she was going to just have to die.
“Officer! Holster your weapon!” Marcus shouted.
The cop looked between Dawn and Marcus.
“Now!”
The cop finally put his gun away, and Marcus grabbed him by the collar. “You pulled your gun on an innocent civilian? What were you thinking?”
“She said there was another man in the house, but we didn’t find any evidence of that.”
The light in the hallway came on, illuminating the entire space. Including the blood on the floor.
“You mean like that evidence?” Adam asked with a sneer.
“We… I…” the officer said.
Marcus grabbed the other officer and dragged both of them out of the house.
Adam moved toward Dawn and offered her a hand. “Is Gage okay?”
Dawn shook her head, tears falling freely. “He’s upstairs. Trevor was here. He got in somehow. He stabbed Gage, and Gage pushed him down the stairs. I… I thought he was dead.”
Lorelei took off up the stairs, announcing herself to the paramedics and offering assistance.
“They’ll take care of him. Are you okay?”
Dawn nodded. “Gage told me to run. I couldn’t really go anywhere, but I went into my room and called the police.”
“That was all you could do.”
Lorelei and the paramedics stomped down the stairs, with Gage strapped onto a backboard.
“Oh, my God,” Dawn breathed.
“He’s alive. Meet us at the hospital,” Lorelei said, directing her words to Adam.
Adam nodded.
“You might want to change before you leave here,” Lorelei told Dawn.
Dawn looked down at her clothes and realized she was still in the tiny shorts and see-through tank top she’d slept in, and both were covered in blood. She moved to cover herself with her arms, but Adam gave her his jacket.
“Thanks.”
“If it helps, I didn’t notice until Lorelei said something.”
Dawn pressed her lips into a smile.
Lorelei and the paramedics left, and Zeke and Walker came in.
“What did you find?” Adam asked them.
“Window into the dining room was open. He must have gotten in through there. Wasn’t broken so I’m guessing it was unlocked.” Zeke looked at Dawn. “Do you remember locking it?”
Dawn shook her head. “I think I’ve been in there once since I came here.”
“He could have left it unlocked the last time he was here. Just waiting,” Zeke said.
“That’s a scary thought,” Dawn said.
Zeke nodded. “It is. But he’s gone now.”
“Yeah, but she can’t stay here. The cops kicked in the door. It’s not secure,” Walker said.
“I know. We’ll get you in a safe house for the night and go from there,” Zeke said.
“I want to see Gage,” Dawn said.
The three men exchanged a look. One that said they were all going to try to talk her out of that idea.
“We all know Trevor was here for me. Gage was protecting me. I’m not going to let him lay in a hospital bed alone. Not when it’s my fault,” Dawn insisted.
Zeke and Walker shrugged.
Adam nodded. “Fine, but Lorelei’s going to be pissed.”
“I don’t care what she thinks,” Dawn said.
“She’s a good agent,” Adam said. “Best partner I’ve ever worked with. I know that protection detail getting pulled was a major fuck-up, but she got her ass handed to her for ordering them to watch you in the first place.”
“Why?”
“Because it wasn’t allowed. She didn’t care. Our boss ripped her a new one, and when Dr. Walden’s body ended up on your doorstep, she had the restraint to not tell him I told you so. She wanted to, but she knew that wouldn’t get you the protection you needed. She is on your side,” Adam said.
“I guess that’s good.”
“Go change. Then we’ll all go to the hospital. She did tell you to meet her there.”
“I thought she was telling you that,” Dawn said.
Adam shrugged. “Not real clear. We can play dumb.”
Dawn snorted and knew none of those men were anywhere close to dumb, but she appreciated the idea.
Gage scowled at everyone who came into his room. He did not want to be in the hospital. He knew he lost a lot of blood and was lucky, but he felt fine after they gave him blood and fluids and stitched up the gash on his side.
The pain killers probably helped, too.
There were a lot of conversations happening without his involvement, and that pissed him off more than anything else. He didn’t like people making decisions for him. Ever.
Marcus finally walked into the room. Gage scowled, but he was at least grateful to see a friendly face.
“How are you feeling?”
“Pissed off. What the hell is going on out there without my input?”
Marcus sighed. “We’re putting you into protective custody. Around the clock.”
Gage shook his head. “No. Not happening.”
“You no longer have a choice. You’re injured, and you’re in danger.”
“He’s not after me, and we all know it.”
“Actually, we don’t,” Marcus said.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Rose Protection Agency said he got in through a window in the dining room. Unless you’re in the habit of leaving that window unlocked, we believe he left it unlocked when he was at your house a month ago.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No. Which is why we think he might be after you, too. At that point, Dawn wasn’t staying with you. There was no reason for him to plan to come back to your house except for you.”
“Fuck.”
“Rose Protection Agency is already working on where they’re going to take you guys. They’re going to be in charge, and Lorelei is the only one who’s going to know where you will be.”
“I fucking hate this,” Gage said. “Wait? You guys? Dawn agreed to this?”
“Lorelei and Adam are talking to her right now.”
“She’s not going to go for it. She ended things with me last night. Said she needs to focus on her kid. There’s no way she’ll be okay with going into hiding. Especially not with me.”
