Tapestry of the Past (32 page)

Peeking from between the bales,
Kalesia
saw a change come over
Morne
when he realized Gabriel was alone.

“How obliging of you, Mr. Steele. I was coming to find you next. You were the one person I feared might actually ferret out my identity when I learned that you were inquiring into Crump’s death. There was a good possibility that you might link the manner of death of those he killed back to my days in Army Intelligence. I really shouldn’t have given in to the impulse of resurrecting those days. I won’t make that mistake again.”
Morne’s
assurance grew. He gestured. “Very foolish of you to come unarmed.”

Gabriel’s gaze flickered off to one side, just the minutest movement but
Morne
saw.

“Oh, don’t worry about the woman. I shall find her later. She’s trapped. She has to get by me to escape. No, I’m much more interested in you, Mr. Steele. If you want to know the truth,” he confided with the air of revealing a state secret, “I’ve been fascinated by you for years. Ah, I can see you understand my meaning.”
Morne’s
innate cruelty surfaced and he taunted the younger man.

“Just as I’ve always fascinated you. Only you didn’t know my identity, did you?”
Morne
answered his own question. “Of course, you didn’t. I took extreme pains to conceal it.”

“I knew I’d left someone alive when that second packet arrived.” Gabriel appeared relaxed and at ease, just as if he were engaging in a conversation with a friend.

Kalesia
knew he was deliberately projecting that image, hoping to keep
Morne
convinced that he was no threat.

Morne
laughed and the sound sent a chill straight through
Kalesia
. “Oh yes, I’m very much alive. And I intend to stay that way. Pity it can’t be the same for you and your whore.” Gabriel’s jaw clench and she silently begged him to ignore the insult.

“You’re helpless to save your whore now,”
Morne
stressed the epithet, digging the knife in a little deeper. “Just as you were unable to save yourself twenty years ago. You were helpless, Steele, helpless to prevent the flesh from being sliced from your body. Oh, the screams. My ears rang for days. I wonder if you’ll plead and sob this time? I do hope so.”

“You compromised our mission and got the rest of my men killed,” Gabriel stated flatly.

From behind the bales,
Kalesia
wondered about
Morne’s
arrogant confidence. If he knew Gabriel as well as she did, he would have pulled the trigger then and there instead of continuing to boast. But the man had grown very confident over the years.

“It was necessary. Your team leader, Lt. Colonel Downing, might have let slip the details he learned of my activities with Major Chiang and the Golden Triangle and my new association with General Chavez. He overestimated his hold over me. My position in Intelligence made it ridiculously simple to get myself on the team as advisor. I, of course, notified the good general of the team’s objective. But you survived.”
Morne
looked aggrieved for an instant. “I had to be absolutely certain you were not aware of my involvement and, in case you were, whether you had managed to contact base.

“I really should have killed you then,”
Morne
conceded. “Just imagine my astonishment upon learning the woman had run to you for protection. To think that after all these years, your path again crossed mine…and was again a threat.” He waved the gun in a short arc and, in the late afternoon light, there was a flash of gold.

“I remember your ring.”

Morne
looked surprised. “This?” He raised his hand, highlighting the intricately worked dragon swallowing a tiger.

“Whenever I saw it, I knew a traitor was present.”

Pure fury twisted
Morne’s
face into an unrecognizable mask. “I knew you suspected something. There was a peculiarity about the way you would search the shadows.” His face smoothed out, a wide, politician’s smile replacing it. “It’s just as well I’d decided you were again expendable, now isn’t it? You might have recognized the ring when I began campaigning for president.”

“Your presence is definitely fortuitous. It will make the mop-up much more tidy than my original plan. You will kill your whore.” Noting Gabriel’s body tightened,
Morne
bowed mockingly and substituted, “Ms.
Brannigan
, for ferreting out secrets better left buried. You, in the process, will be fatally wounded while trying to make her death appear a suicide. Indeed, she will be found with the incriminating evidence clutched in her hand. While you, I’m afraid, are going to be thoroughly implicated in Crump’s murder. Having the murder weapon by your prostrate body will make the crowning touch. Nice and neat, no loose ends to come back and haunt me this time.”

Kalesia
saw Gabriel shift his weight a bit and hook a thumb in his belt. He was watching
Morne’s
eyes, gauging the man’s intentions with the deadly accuracy of a born hunter.

“What about your informant in the sheriff’s office?” Gabriel reminded
Morne
.

“Ah, yes. Pompano. I am most disappointed with his performance. No matter,”
Morne
shrugged again. “He was scheduled to die regardless. I think an accident. Yes, a most tragic accident will do. I haven’t had much experience with accidental death. If his goes well, I may utilize it one more time.” He shrugged again. “Time will tell which method has the least complications. Now, Mr. Steele, despite my appreciation of your most excellent skills, you have left me no choice.” Coolly,
Morne
aimed.

Kalesia
panicked. Dear God, Gabriel was defenseless against a gun. She erupted from behind her barrier, all thought of personal safety abandoned. She snatched up a pitchfork and rushed
Morne
, screaming.

“No, you bastard! I won’t let you hurt him any more!”

“
Kalesia
, don’t!
Dammit
, woman!” Gabriel yelled as
Morne
, caught off-guard, turned and fired.

With the ease of years of training and practical use, Gabriel’s hand slipped to the small of his back. He threw the hidden knife and, in one smooth, continuous motion and launched himself at
Morne
before the man hit the ground.

Kalesia
looked down, astonished, at the stinging pain in her side. She couldn’t have been shot. There should be blood, lots of it. And agony. Not the sharp burn of a wasp sting.

An odd noise raised her head.

Gabriel’s hands were around
Morne’s
throat. The odd noise was a choked scream.

Good Lord. Gabriel was going to kill the bastard while law enforcement caught everything on tape!

Forgetting all about her injury, she hurried over. “Don’t,” she said in a low tone. “Don’t let him win.” Eyes fixed on
Morne’s
red, puffy face, his attention never wavered. Did he even hear her? She’d never seen him look like this. Not even when Pompano had broken into their room.

“I know you have every right. But not like this, Gabriel. Not in cold blood,” she whispered, anguish knifing through her. Dear God, what if she couldn’t stop him? He didn’t need another face haunting him.

“Please.” She put her hand on his forearm. The muscles bulged with the pressure he was exerting. Relief rushed through her when he spared her a glance.

“He tried to kill you,” Gabriel grated. She barely recognized the harsh voice. It was as deep and rasping as granite grinding against granite.
Morne’s
face acquired an odd blue tinge.

“But he didn’t.” Fear for Gabriel made her voice tremble. “Please. Let Harley handle him.”

“Shit. You aren’t going to let me, are you?” He sounded disappointed.

Her knees went wobbly. Lord, for a minute she’d thought he was going to ignore her. He glared down at the nearly unconscious
Morne
. From the expression on his face, it was clear he regretted capitulating.

Not being stupid, she circled his broad wrist and tugged, urging Gabriel to his feet. No one had to tell her that, given half a chance, he’d change his mind.

He came up in one fluid motion, ignoring the commotion of men bursting through the barn doors. He stood close to her. So close that not even a breath could come between them. The silver eyes burned with emotion. He reached out and traced the line of one brow with a shaking hand. A light, feathery touch that she felt to her soul.

The shaking spread from his hand, to his arm and then to his whole body. He yanked her to him and molded her body to his as if he wanted to absorb her. His arms were like steel as he held her, feet dangling off the straw-strewn floor. “I almost didn’t stop,” he rasped, voice dry as desert sand. “I wouldn’t have for anyone else.”

Her throat burned with tears. “I know.” And she did.
Morne
owed his life to her.
Kalesia
didn’t know how she felt about that. She wrapped her arms around Gabriel’s neck, letting the warmth of his body, the frantic beat of his heart, reassure her that they’d both survived.

“I thought I had lost you.” Another hard shudder racked Gabriel. “I love you.”

A misty smile curved her lips and
Kalesia
buried her face into the side of his neck. She inhaled the unique, earthy scent of the man she loved, letting the familiar scent steady her nerves. “I know.”

Abruptly, Gabriel set her on her feet. He shoved her away to arm’s length, his fingers miniature iron bars as they curved over her shoulders. “What the hell do you mean you know? I didn’t know it until minutes ago.” He sounded more than a little put out that she hadn’t met his declaration with more appreciation.

Kalesia
met his scowl with confidence. “You stopped short of killing
Morne
because I asked. You wouldn’t have unless you loved me.” To forestall any further argument, she stood on tiptoe and placed her lips on his.

His mouth clung, his tongue sliding between her lips. All too soon, Gabriel lifted his head. “Just what was that stunt all about?” he demanded, eyes blazing with a mixture of rage and anguish.

“What was all what about?” It had been too good to be true. She should have known he wouldn’t let her get off scot-free.
Kalesia
braced herself for a few hot and heavy minutes. Gabriel did have the right to be somewhat upset, she decided, feeling generous. Must have been nearly as frightening for him when
Morne
fired at her, as it had been for her when
Morne
had aimed his gun at Gabriel.

“Don’t play the innocent with me,
Kalesia
,” he warned, warming, she thought, all too easily to his theme. “You could have been killed. I had
Morne
under control. You took a stupid risk charging him. You could have gotten us both killed. Don’t you care about your life?” he ranted. “A few moments more and Harley and Wolf would have been here. In any case, I had matters under control.”

“That’s why he was getting ready to shoot you?” she asked, sarcasm leaking through her decision to be generous. He wasn’t the only one who’d had a scare,
Kalesia
thought, indignant. The Lord as her witness, if she lived to be a thousand, she would never erase the sight of
Morne’s
finger tightening on the trigger.

“I had a knife.”

“Well, bully for you. A knife against a gun. What good is that?”
Kalesia
threw her hands up in outraged disbelief. Impossible man!

“I had an offensive strategy in mind. Which, I might add, you totally destroyed. It was a stupid stunt,
dammit
. I really ought to make sure you can’t sit for a week this time. You deserve a beating for what you put me through tonight and by heaven, I’m going to enjoy every minute of it,” Gabriel informed her, his voice growing louder and more irate as spoke.

That fast,
Kalesia
grew tired of hearing how foolish she’d been to try to rescue him. The man was like a one-song record. Besides, that stinging in her side was turning into pain. Yes, it most definitely classified as a pain now. She bit her lip to hold back a tiny moan. Damned if she’d tell him when all he could do was yell at her.

Kalesia
was aware she was being unreasonable but didn’t care. She had a right,
dammit
.

She ground her back teeth together. How the hell did men manage to look so damn stoic when shot? It must be a defect in the male mentality, she decided as the agony in her side swelled.

Ignoring the furious pacing in front of her,
Kalesia
lifted her shirt to inspect the damage.

It took Gabriel a couple of paces before he sensed he’d lost his audience. Damn woman. This time she’d gone too fucking far. He meant it. This time he’d turn her over his knee and blister her ass. And, damned if he wouldn’t enjoy every second of it, he vowed stopping back in front of her. Ready to continue berating her, something in her pose made him pause. His rage evaporated and his heart slammed into his ribs.

That crimson splash on her shirt was blood!

Gabriel swayed with the impact.

He swooped in and swept her off her feet. The startled looks on the deputies and agents barely registered as he damn near ran past them. He had to get her to the hospital. For the first time in years, Gabriel prayed.

“What’s wrong, Gabe?” Wolf broke away from the knot of men, lengthening his stride to catch up with Gabriel’s hurried pace.

“
Kalesia’s
been shot,” he said, his jaw locked in an effort to suppress his agony and rage. “I’m taking her to the hospital.”

“I’m not going to the hospital.” Both men ignored her.

“Shot!” Wolf opened the barn door wider, barely getting out of the way before Gabriel barreled through the opening. For all his hurry, though, Gabriel was extremely careful not to jar
Kalesia
.

“I wish someone would listen to me,”
Kalesia
muttered, sounding peevish. “I don’t want to go to the hospital.”