Gabe: The Alvarez Security Series (39 page)

The mission. Who the fuck was he kidding? This was personal.
He could feel his heart rate increase and forced it back to normal.

“East side. Single window, light on. All other boarded,” came the sound of Jobe through the radio. Gabe and Vinny were closest to that side so they rounded the corner. Looking up they could see the lighted window. His eyes searched the nearby scaffolding for signs of activity.

Toward the left, he saw movement.
Jesus fuck.

“Sighting?” came Tony’s voice over the radio. Gabe realized he’d cursed out loud. Quickly covering his error, he said, “Roger. East side. Thirty feet up and twenty feet from back corner, on scaffolding. Looks to be two figures.”

Gabe felt Vinny at his back as he strained to see what was moving. Tony and Shane were on the inside with the police and Gabe heard three men had been apprehended so far.
No sign of Jennifer and Ross inside. Could that possibly be them out there?

As the larger of the two figures leaned over the side, he saw the mass of curls fall around her head and knew it was her. “Sighting on the scaffolding. Confirm Jennifer.” Right then, a small head popped over the edge of the platform as well.
Thank fuck, she’s got him.
“Confirm Ross.”

The rest of Tony’s men converged on the east side. Gabe was already beginning to climb by the time Tony made it around and grabbed Vinny, who was about to climb as well. “I need you back, trained on the window.” Vinny knew what that meant – he had been the best sniper of the squad. A quick nod was his response and he jogged to a place where he could see the window clearly.

Gabe continued to climb as quickly as he could. He wanted to shout out to her to warn them he was coming, but knew stealth was imperative. He could hear Ross’ voice carrying through the night air and wanted to warn him to not speak, but then heard Jennifer’s soft voice hushing her brother.
That’s my girl
, he thought proudly.

A shout was heard from above and he looked up toward the window where the light was pouring out. A lone figure was at the edge, with a gun trained down on the platform. A shot rang out and he heard a scream. Hanging onto the metal poles of the scaffolding, his heart leapt into his throat, the pounding threatening to choke him.

Jennifer had just moved Ross over to where she could tie him to the next diagonal pole when a gunshot zipped by and a scream ripped from her lips. Looking up, she saw Santo leaning out of the window with a gun trained on them. Another shot sounded as she tried to throw herself over Ross’ body to protect him, shaking so hard she was afraid of them falling off.

A final sound zinged through the air and she saw Santo fall from the window, tumbling down onto the scaffolding, his body banging lifelessly through the metal poles before going out of her sight.

Her heart beat wildly in her chest as she pushed up off of Ross.
More may be coming.
Ross did not move and as her eyes looked down the white sheet, she saw a dark stain.
Oh Jesus, he’s been hit.
Screaming his name, she tried to untie the sheet to see where he had been shot, screaming over and over his name.

Below her, Gabe’s heart stopped as he realized the reason for her scream. Calling out her name, he continued to climb as quickly as he could. Grab a pole, pull body up. Next pole. Next pole. When he was a few feet away from her platform, he called her name.

“Gabe!” she cried out hearing his voice. “Ross is hurt.”

“Jennifer, baby. Move over. I’m coming up.”

Unable to move away from her brother, she gathered him in her arms and scooted a few feet away, giving Gabe room to hoist himself up onto the platform. The sight of the woman he loved holding the brother they both loved, covered in blood, had the mission fly out of his head. He no longer cared about stealth, but about getting them out of there.

Taking his weapon, he shot at the plywood window-covering closest to where they were. “Rescue needed. Window nearest us partially shot out. East side, thirty feet from the southeast corner.”

He carefully tried to pull Ross out of her arms, but she would not let go. “Baby, you have to let me look at him.” Jerking off his goggles, he said, “Jennifer,” as sharply as he could. Her wild eyes looked up into his face. “Let me have him.”

Slowly his words slipped into her mind and she let her fingers relax one by one. Turning Ross over, Gabe sliced the tied sheet off of him and saw the gunshot wound. On a grown man it would have been more superficial, but on a tiny boy who was losing blood, it was much more serious. Slicing the sheet once again into a strip, he wound it tightly around Ross’ body, stemming the flow of blood.

A shout was heard from behind the plywood as it came crashing out of the window and they saw Tony’s face peering at them. Vinny was right behind and the two of them quickly ascertained the situation. Vinny’s arms reached out for Jennifer, but she was frozen in place.

Gabe, with Ross in his arms, moved closer to Jennifer. “Baby,” he said softly, relieved when he saw her eyes focus on him again. “I’m going to lay Ross down for a second and help you get to Vinny. Then I’m getting Ross out of here.”

Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at her brother in Gabe’s arms. With anguish crying from her every word, she pleaded, “Save him.”

“Promise, baby. I promise.”
Not again. I’m not losing this child tonight.

Gathering her strength, Gabe gave her a hand helping her to stand. Reaching her arms up, Vinny and Tony were able to easily grab her, pulling her upwards and through the window.

As he watched her disappear into safety, Gabe looked down at Ross once more, stunned to see his eyes open and peering straight at him. Dark eyes. Unblinking. Seeing. Knowing. Understanding. Gabe felt the tremors threaten to overtake him as he stood with Ross in his arms.

Ross then blinked and a little smile crossed his lips. “I knew you’d rescue us, Gabe. I knew you would.”

The tears held at bay spilled forth as Gabe pulled Ross tightly to his chest. Lifting him gently above his head, he felt his squad take the injured, but living, breathing child from his arms to safety. For a second, Gabe turned away from the building and looked out onto the star-sprinkled night sky. Sucking in a deep breath, he let the tears flow. For the children caught in war. For the innocents caught in crime. For little boys who would never live to see adulthood and for those who would. And for the little boy in his brother’s arms who would be in his heart forever.

“Gabe,” Tony’s voice came from above, bringing him back to the present. He quickly jumped up a foot, grabbed the window ledge and allowed his squad to pull him the rest of the way up. Grabbing Jennifer’s shaking body into his huge embrace, he enveloped her. Tipping her chin up so that he could peer into her eyes, he kissed her softly.

“Love you, Jennifer Lambert,” he said with a smile on his face.

Giving the first smile in hours, she agreed. “I love you too, Gabriel Malloy.”

With one final quick kiss, he turned and took Ross from Vinny’s arms. Heading out of the room, Gabe looked down at Ross and then turned to Tony. “Mission accomplished, sir.”

Tony, flanked by Vinny and Jobe, nodded knowing what this rescue meant to Gabe. “Mission accomplished,” Tony agreed.

S
herrie tapped lightly
on the hospital door before opening it, peering inside. She could not hold back the smile as she saw Ross sitting in his hospital bed, playing a video game with Jennifer and Gabe asleep on the uncomfortable sofa pushed next to the bed. Ross looked up with a grin on his face and lay his game down on his lap as Sherrie made her way over to him with her finger on her lips.

“Hey,” she whispered, her glance taking in the dark circles under Jennifer’s eyes. Gabe’s face sported stubble, shaving being the last thing on his mind. Her gaze went back to the little boy in the bed, still grinning.

“How are you?” she asked, handing him a new video game.

His eyes lit up as he said, “Thanks, Miss Sherrie. I’m doing fine. It only hurts a little, but sis won’t let me move around much.”

At his voice, Jennifer’s eyes shot open and she pushed herself to sit up. “Ross? You need something, honey?”

At Jennifer’s voice, Gabe also sat up, immediately alert. “What’d you need, buddy?”

Ross giggled as he replied, “Nothing. I’m just talking to Miss Sherrie. She brought me a game.”

Jennifer stood awkwardly, the nap on the uncomfortable sofa made her already achy body feel worse. “Sherrie,” she exclaimed as she moved to hug her friend, glancing at her watch to see how long she had been asleep.

Turning back to Ross, she reached to place her hand on his face. Gabe stood, moving to her back and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her close to his chest. Looking over her head, assuring himself that Ross was fine, he leaned down to whisper, “Babe. He’s okay. Promise.”

Tears sprung to Jennifer’s eyes as she tried to hold them back. The memory of that night was still too fresh.

The pediatric surgery waiting room was overflowing to testosterone capacity. While so much of it seemed a blur after Gabe had insisted that she be checked out, she remembered the sight of every seat being filled.

Vinny had walked over, squatting in front of her and Gabe and confessed, “I’m so fuckin’ sorry, bro.”

Her eyes shot up in confusion and before she could speak she heard Gabe say, “No reason man. You got that bastard.”

“But not before he got a shot off. He was fuckin’ hidden behind the window frame and I took the first shot I could, but too late.”

Gabe stood, pulling his twin up with him, holding him by the shoulders. “You fuckin’ got him, bro. You got him. You saved Jennifer and you saved Ross. They owe their lives to you, man.”

The two men, separated by only a heartbeat, stared at each other. Vinny slowly nodded and pulled Gabe into a hug. The men felt a presence at their side and realized Jennifer was trying to wrap her arms around both of the massive men. Each taking an arm to pull her in close, the three of them embraced, no longer trying to keep the tears at bay.

Patrick and Maeve, who had entered the waiting room witnessing the exchange between their two sons, joined in the embrace. Patrick moved over to stand with Tony and Jobe while Maeve could not seem to let go of Jennifer.

“You worried you weren’t giving Ross enough,” Maeve said softly. “But tonight you proved that whether a sister or a mother, you’ve got what it takes to give him everything he’ll ever need. I’m so proud of you.”

Henry and Cora arrived, anxious and full of questions. After hugging Jennifer and Gabe, assuring them that the other residents wanted to be there also, they slid to the side next to Vinny to find out about the evening’s events.

Matt and Shane had arrived and talked to Tony’s crew privately while their wives, Annie and Lily, sat with Jennifer, along with Sherrie. Gabe came back over as soon as the surgeon came through the doors, pulling Jennifer closely to his warmth.

“He came through just fine. The bullet went through the side of his abdominal wall, only passing through some muscle. No internal bleeding. No internal injuries. He’ll stay here a day or two on IV antibiotics and pain meds, as well as fluids, then will be able to go home. I’d say he’ll be back to low activities in a week and resume normal activities in about six weeks.”

Jennifer felt her legs weaken and Gabe’s arms were the only thing that kept her upright. He gently set her back down in the chair as he asked the surgeon, “When can we see him?”

“He’ll be out of recovery in about two hours and taken to a room. You can see him in recovery in about fifteen minutes. I’ll send a nurse for you.”

Jennifer covered her face with her hands as she cried unabashedly. Gabe tried to soothe her, but his words only made her sob harder. Finally he picked her up, turned and sat back down with her in his lap as he simply held her to his massive chest, enveloped in his strong arms. Rubbing her back gently, he murmured words of love until her tears were finally spent.

By the time the nurse arrived to take her and Gabe back, she had regained some semblance of composure. Looking around at the faces of the friends and loved ones, she smiled knowing no apology was necessary.

And now, she was in his hospital room, still trying to process the events. The door opened and in walked Tony and Jobe, followed by Monty. Her eyes flew to his quickly and her breath caught in her throat as he approached her.

“Why…what are you…” she tried to question.

“I’m sorry, Jennifer. I’m one of the good guys, I promise.”

Her face registered surprise, and then doubt, as she stared at him.

“I’m actually FBI and was on an undercover assignment as Senator Reno’s assistant. I was a dick to you because I was trying to keep you away, if possible.”

Seeing her look of incredulity, Monty explained his investigation of Senator Reno’s involvement with the local crime boss.

“He was working against me?” she asked, voice shaking with anger.

“Not at first. I truly think he and his wife were supporters of yours…it was just when that building was needed and pressure was put on him by Gambelini, well your cause became collateral damage to the Senator.”

“I…I don’t know…what to say,” Jennifer replied, trying to process his words. “I…thought you didn’t like me.”

Monty brought her hand up to his lips, placing a kiss there and said, “I assure you Ms. Lambert, I have nothing but the highest regard for you. I was trying to keep you out of the line of fire that was growing.”

A growl from behind her reached her ears at the same time that a muscled arm circled, pulling her hand back gently from Monty’s. Gabe linked his fingers with hers as he tucked her back into his side. Monty grinned and stepped back behind Tony and Jobe, who approached Ross’ bed. They stood on the opposite side from Jennifer and Gabe, allowing room for Vinny, who came in with Patrick and Maeve.