Taken - Before her very Eyes (27 page)

“Don’t give me that shit. Percy
knew where John Scott had held me.” Summer took another step toward the patio
door. “That means you did, too. You know who’s behind this.”

“No—No. You got this all wrong.
They gave me the information with the orders.” Gavin stood and started walking
slowly toward the house. “The deal was simple. Silence John Scott and collect
the money.”

“Money! Is that what all this is
about? Money!” Summer couldn’t believe her ears. Dean’s own flesh and blood was
willing to sacrifice Dean’s life just to make a profit. “Why not let Sabrina go
after you had John Scott killed?”

“That’s what was supposed to
happen until Percy went all rouge on me, but now I’m stuck cleaning up his
fucking mess.” Gavin glanced over at the ambulance on the hill. “I hate to do
this. Well, not really hate. You did put me away for eight years of my life, so
I do owe you something. I just never thought it’d cost you so much.”

Summer saw the gun twitch and
knew what was coming. She dropped to the ground as the bullet ripped past her
head, slamming into the wall behind. She sprang toward the gun on the floor,
grasping it quickly between her fingers like she’d practised so many times on
the firing range and rolled, taking aim as she stopped, then fired every last
bullet in the clip.

Summer counted all fifteen
bullets as they zipped through the air, striking Gavin’s body with such
intensity that he staggered backwards with each impact. He stood there against
the bright blue sky, weaving to and fro in the gusting wind as blood began
appearing in patches all across his chest. He staggered a few steps toward the
house before collapsing to his knees and dropping the gun. His mouth was
moving, but no sound came out as he appeared to be choking on his own blood.

Summer quickly clambered to her
feet then ran out the doorway, straight to Gavin. She knew by the amount of
shots that had ripped through his body that he wouldn’t make it to the
hospital—and she had to find out what he was trying to say. If Gavin thought he
was dying, he might be more willing to name names than he was before.

Collapsing to the side, Gavin
landed with his fingers inches away from the gun, but Summer wasn’t concerned.
She knew with his injuries that he’d never be able to pick the gun from the
ground, let alone lift it and fire a shot, because she’d hit each mark she’d
aimed for, not missing one shot.

“Gavin,” Summer said, dropping to
his side and lifting his head, hopeful that she would divert the blood away
from his windpipe long enough to get him to answer a few questions. “Who put
you up to this? Who ordered my attack?”

“Eight years. Eight… fucking
years I waited.” Gavin took a huge breath and the blood gurgled in his throat,
causing him to choke. He spit a mouthful of blood down his chest, then clenched
his eyes tightly closed. “Dean’s… a lucky man. You… you were good that night. ”

Summer pulled back, letting
Gavin’s head drop to the ground as he drew his last breath before falling
silent. She felt dirty, so dirty after trusting this man to be so close to her
family. She heard the sirens as loud as ever and turned to see the paramedics
racing around the side of the house, pushing the stretcher toward her.

“No! Inside the house.” She
turned back to Gavin and shook her head. “It’s too late for him.”

Immediately the paramedics ran
inside the back room and began lifting Dean onto the stretcher. Summer walked
slowly back to the house, fearing the worst with every step. It wasn’t until
she stepped inside the doorway that she drew a full breath. She didn’t know
what she’d do if Dean didn’t make it through this. If he died right here,
surviving John Scott would’ve been for nothing.

“Dean?” She apprehensively
approached the paramedics, fearing the worst. “Dean, can you hear me?”

“He’s alive—barely. He’s lost a
lot of blood, but his vitals are still strong.” The paramedic turned to Summer.
“What the hell happened to him?”

“He came for me.” Summer felt her
chest heave and realized that Dean had never given up on her. Never forgot
about her for a split second. “And he saved me… this time.”

Dean’s eyes flickered open and
met Summer’s, and she was never so happy to see those chocolate eyes gazing at
her. It was almost as if everything bad that had happened between them was
gone. How could she have been so stupid to force him away from her life—and
Sabrina’s?

“Sabrina,” Summer said, dashing
out the mudroom door, into the garage. “Sabrina!”

“Settle down there, partner,”
Nate said, holding tight to Sabrina’s hand. “Anybody know who this angel
belongs to?”

“Nate? But… how?”

Nate bent down and lifted Sabrina
in his good arm. “You know how hard it is to find an ambulance out here? Shit,
I had to wait a half hour for this one. And besides, there’s no way I’d leave
you all by yourself with that maniac on the loose.”

Summer walked to Nate’s side and
kissed his cheek, then plucked Sabrina from his arm. “Thanks. I knew I could
count on you.”

“So, where’s that bastard at?”
Nate pulled his gun out and walked ahead of Summer. “Cause if you didn’t kill
him, then I will.”

“Percy’s already dead.”

“Makes the trial a lot shorter
that way.”

“Gavin killed him.”

“Son of a bitch! I never
should’ve told them where you were headed.”

“It’s okay, Nate. He would’ve
found him sooner or later. Percy was working for him.”

Nate stopped and spun around on
her. “That little fucker! What did I tell you?”

“Gavin’s dead, too.”

Nate placed his good arm around
her shoulder and escorted her into the garage. “I’m sorry. I knew he was dirty,
but I would never have suspected that he’d be in this deep.”

“Me neither.” Summer stepped
through the mudroom and into the kitchen where Dean was being hooked up to an
IV drip. His colour was returning and he was starting to look a little better.

“Gavin admitted to contracting
out John Scott’s hit and he was behind the kidnapping too.”

“But why?” Nate furrowed his brow
and shook his head. “Why his own flesh and blood?”

“He was bad.” Summer set Sabrina
down on the side of the stretcher and watched as she touched Dean’s cheek,
bringing a bright smile to both their faces. “Bad enough to sacrifice his
family to get ahead in life.”

Nate tipped his head to the dark
shape outside on the walkway. “That Gavin?”

Summer nodded and watched as Nate
followed the bloodstained pathway to the lifeless body. He bent before him,
feeling for a pulse—a nasty habit that cops and paramedics couldn’t break even
when they knew there would be no chance of survival—then searched through Gavin’s
pockets, retrieving his phone and wallet.

She knew what would happen next
and wasn’t disappointed when the phone vibrated in her pocket, then began to
ring. The ringing stopped almost as fast as it had started. Nate punched a few
more buttons on the phone, then dropped it into his pocket and made his way
back into the kitchen.

“That’s some nice shooting you
did there.”

“Not really. I never should’ve
shot to kill. I should’ve aimed for the arms and legs.”

“You know that’s not procedure.
He was armed.” Nate glanced at the hole in the wall behind Summer. “And your
life was in danger. You did the right thing. Eliminate the threat and protect
yourself. That’s the first rule of survival. I would’ve hated to come here and
find you lying in a pool of blood all because you wanted to try to rehabilitate
him. Gavin’s already had eight years in prison, plenty of time to rehabilitate
himself. If after eight years he hasn’t changed his direction in life then no
amount of time would do it.”

Nate grabbed Summer’s hand, pulling
her away from the stretcher and out into the bright sunlight of the back yard.
“You might not like what I’m about to tell you and you might want to shoot me
in the balls, but I don’t care what your reaction is. I think you deserve to
know the truth.”

“What the hell are you talking
about?” Summer pulled free of his grip and stood staring him directly in the
eye. “You know something that I don’t?”

“No.” Nate held out his hands.
“Nothing like that.”

“Then what? What could you
possibly know that’s so important you had to pull me away from my daughter?”

“Remember Detective Grimshaw said
he’d run John Scott’s DNA earlier?”

Summer nodded.

“Well, I took a peek at that
report and couldn’t help but wonder if he was the father of your child, so I
searched your medical reports and had the lab—”

“You bastard! You had no right
to! You—”

“He’s not a match. There’s no way
he could be the father. Even without running a full DNA match, we know he isn’t
the father.”

“And Dean?”

“I’d say it’s a good chance.”

Summer balled up her fist then
raised it, looking at Nate’s bandaged shoulder. “If you weren’t already hurt,
then I’d hurt you myself.”

“That’s some gratitude. Besides,
I still have a good arm.”

Summer raised an eyebrow and slugged
him in his good arm as hard as she could, barely moving the big lug. “Thank
you, Nate. But if I ever catch you digging into my personal business again,
I’ll kick you straight in the balls.”

Nate smirked and nodded.
“Understood.” He placed his arm around her shoulder and led Summer inside the
house to where the paramedics stood, sneaking glances at them.

Dean pulled his shaky hand from
Sabrina and set it down on Summer’s hand. “You… did it. You got Sabrina back.
That’s all that matters.”

Summer blinked away a tear at the
pained look on Dean’s face. “No, that’s not all that matters. Keeping you alive
long enough to see our daughter grow up is what matters.”

Dean’s hand slid from Summer’s,
landing against the slight bulge under her shirt. “B—oth our children.”

She couldn’t tell if the tears in
his eyes were tears of happiness or sadness, but either way he was willing to
accept this child inside her as his own, no matter if it was his or not. “You
really think it’s ours?”

Dean nodded as the paramedics
pulled his hand from her stomach and strapped his arms down. “Time to roll,”
the paramedic said, kicking off the brake and wheeling the stretcher out the
patio doors.

Nate snatched Sabrina from
Summer’s arms as they passed and carried her to the back of the ambulance. A
minute later the stretcher was loaded inside and Summer took Sabrina back, then
waited to climb inside.

“You coming?” Summer asked,
seeing Nate take a step back from the ambulance.

“No. You go on ahead. I’ll wait
and catch a ride back with Jones.” Nate glanced at his watch. “He should be
here soon. But, then again, he might have gotten lost like usual.”

“Come on, Nate,” Summer begged.
“There’s plenty of room.”

“No, I’m fine. The bleeding’s
stopped and besides, you need some family time. I think it’ll do you a world of
good right about now.” Nate waited until they were inside, then slammed the
door closed. “Don’t worry,” he yelled. “I’ll stop at the hospital for my
tetanus shot when we get back!”

With the bright sunlight
streaming through the tinted windows, bringing a warmth to Summer’s chilled
body, she watched outside as a police cruiser soared past, racing to the scene
of the shooting. She couldn’t help but wonder what could’ve driven Gavin to
orchestrate such a destructive plan just to get revenge. It wasn’t like he’d
sold his soul to the devil for eternal life. He’d risked his brother’s life and
his own niece’s safety in the process, with little risk involved for him.

Summer closed her eyes and saw
all the pieces falling into place. It all seemed so easy to read now that it
was over. Gavin’s dying words—those last muttered syllables he’d croaked out
before dying—those words she would’ve missed if she hadn’t gone to his side.
It’d been him that night. John Scott had only been a means of distracting her
from her real attacker who’d sat beside her husband in that office as if he was
a concerned sibling.

Summer fought to control a shiver
that snaked through her body. Nate had been right all along about Gavin. Maybe
she was too naive? Maybe that was one of her faults, looking for the good in
people instead of damning them to Hell, like old Nate. She opened her eyes and
saw the smiles on Dean and Sabrina’s faces and knew she had nothing to regret
about her way of thinking. She’d hate to go through life always suspicious and
always looking for the bad side of everyone.

Summer caught Dean’s wink and
realized that even though his eyes were so similar to Gavin’s, there was
nothing but good inside those chocolate eyes. She knew Dean would never be
capable of anything bad in his entire life because even when she’d lost
confidence in him, he continued to give until she came back around.

The smile faded from Dean’s face.
“Gavin’s dead?”

Summer nodded and felt the tears
fighting to get free. They weren’t tears for Gavin, but for Dean’s loss of his
only sibling. “He was behind the whole thing. Your attack. The kidnapping. John
Scott’s murder.”

“But why?” Dean tried to shrug
his shoulders but stopped immediately, winching in pain. “Why would he do it?
It makes absolutely no sense.”

Summer knew if she said Gavin had
done everything as revenge for putting him behind bars then Dean wouldn’t ask
another question, but she didn’t think she could say those words—that Gavin was
the person who’d abused her that night. That knowledge would surely eat away at
Dean for the rest of his life knowing that he trusted Gavin and that trust was
broken.

“Gavin said he did it for money.
There was a contract on John Scott’s head and he took the job for the money.”

“But who would put a contract out
on John Scott?”