Chapter 107: Time

Fuck that.

“You son of a bitch.” Howard was breathless. He may have had the pretty movie-star face, but he clearly didn’t keep up with his cardio. “How dare you! I gave you everything!” He pointed his gun at Gavin as he moved closer.

Now Gavin pushed himself to his feet, the look on his face saying that he wasn’t about to let Howard shoot him on the ground.

Every inch of me was tense as I waited. Just a little more. I heard the click as Howard prepared to fire. No more waiting. I jammed Gavin’s key into the lock, turned it, and hit the button.

With a soft whirr, the gears beneath the floor began to turn and the floor started to move. I saw surprise flash across Gavin’s face, but his reaction was brief. Howard’s was not. He let out a sound I could only describe as a squawk and nearly tripped over his own feet trying to move away from the widening gap. Gavin didn’t even hesitate. His fist hit Howard square in the jaw, sending the older man reeling backwards. The floor had opened enough that Howard fell into the water beneath with a splash. His gun landed on the floor several feet away.

I breathed a sigh of relief and ran back out to the floor. I threw my arms around Gavin and pressed my face against his bare chest. I could feel his heartbeat and concentrated on that steady sound. His arms wrapped around me, his hands moving up and down my back, palms hot through his shirt. My body started to respond to his touch. Even after all I’d been through, he could still have that effect on me.

“Help!” A gurgling cry from the pool pulled our attention from each other to Howard.

He was thrashing around in the water, going under, then sputtering as he resurfaced. “I can’t swim!”

“Too bad.” Gavin’s words were hard.

I looked up at him. I had to admit, part of me wanted to leave him there. If Gavin and I ran outside and just left Howard to drown, we could tell the cops that we’d just kept going. But it would be murder, and we were better than that.

“We need to help him.” I reluctantly stepped away from Gavin and started towards the edge of the pool. “We’re not killers.”

Gavin walked with me, though the expression on his face clearly said that he wasn’t so sure.

“Besides,” I added, “I think Howard deserves to make friends with all of the nice guys in prison who have issues with people like him.”

Gavin reached down and grabbed the back of Howard’s shirt. He lifted the other man over the edge and tossed him to the floor.

“Thank you!” Howard gasped. He staggered to his feet, a grateful expression on his face. “You won’t regret it. I’ll make sure it’s worth your while.” He started blabbering.

Apparently he hadn’t heard what I’d said about him making new friends in jail.

“I have plenty of money. I can make you each a full partner.”

I looked at Gavin and saw my own incredulity on his face. Was Howard serious? Did he think that saving his life meant we were going to let him go? That his money could pay us off?

“No hard feelings.” He held out a hand.

That was it. I took two steps forward and kicked him squarely between the legs. He dropped to his knees, mouth opening and closing, but no sound coming out. I swung my already damaged right hand and hit him as hard as I could, straight on the jaw. He fell to the floor, eyes rolling up. The dull throbbing in my hand and foot were overshadowed by the extreme satisfaction I felt with the damage I’d inflicted.

I turned towards Gavin and found him staring at me with wide eyes. “Guess I should never piss you off.”

I smiled. “That’s probably a good idea.”

8

“You call the cops while I call the airport.”

I gave Gavin a puzzled look. “The airport?”

His expression was grim. “I’m taking a little trip to the Middle East.”

I took a step towards him and put my hand on his arm. “You have a name. You have evidence. Let the authorities handle it.”

“He killed Camille.”

The pain in Gavin’s eyes made my heart hurt. I reached up and put my hand on his cheek. “I know he did, but if you go after him, you could lose everything.” I could see the war of emotions playing across Gavin’s face. I added, “That man took one parent from your daughter. Don’t let him take another.”

He closed his eyes and slowly let out a breath. “You’re right,” he said. He reached out and pulled me to him.

I stayed there for a moment, letting myself soak in the feelings of safety and security. I wanted to just stay there, but unfortunately, Gavin needed a doctor and Howard needed the cops. I took a step back, but slid my arm around Gavin’s waist. “Let’s get you sitting down. You’re bleeding all over the place.”

I helped him over to a chair and then did all the things that you don’t usually see the heroes do in a movie. Usually, the scene just cuts from them saving the day to the cops being there and taking the bad guys into custody – or body bags, depending on the film. Now I knew that in that in-between time, the heroes had other things to do. While Gavin made the call to the cops, I picked up Howard’s gun and fished his knife out of his pocket. He was still out.

I put the gun and knife within arm’s reach of Gavin, then ran upstairs to the room and retrieved a pair of handcuffs. They may have been lined with pink fuzz, but they were good enough to cuff Howard around the base of a table. Since the table was bolted to the floor, I felt pretty safe in assuming he wouldn’t be getting away any time soon.

Once I finished all of that, I returned to attend to Gavin. He’d pressed some napkins against both of his cuts, but they were already soaking through. I went back behind the bar and found some towels that I was able to tie around his wounds. They would do until the paramedics showed up. With that done, I started to sit in the chair next to him, but he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me onto his lap. I wasn’t going to complain, though I did make sure most of my weight was on his uninjured leg. Granted, the cut was in his calf, but it was propped up and I didn’t want to put any extra stress on it. It was a bit awkward, but I didn’t mind. I leaned back against him and wrapped his arms around my waist.