Chapter 18

Gabe sat beside Renata, sick at the beating George Russell's man had inflicted on her. Her face was swollen and battered, quickly turning black and blue and with a line of stitches along her left cheekbone. She was hooked up to sensors and an IV, with a cast on her left wrist, and splints on all the fingers. She had a catheter in, for the time being, and when he peeked under the bed, he could see that her urine contained a fair amount of blood. He swore silently, wishing with all his heart that he had beaten her attacker to death. And he wished even more that he could take George Russell out and beat him to death, slowly and with a lot of finesse.

Renata's eyelashes fluttered as she struggled to wake. He took her undamaged hand and stroked the back of it gently. "Gabe…" she murmured, "you're here. What happened?"

"That asshole beat you. You're in the hospital, and you're going to be okay. Don't worry, just rest and get well."

"No. What happened? Did they…get them all?" Her face showed a flicker of impatience at his answer.

He had to chuckle softly. "They sure did. It looks like they got every one of them. It's all over the news. In Portugal, too. Half of Washington is in jail tonight."

A look of peace and satisfaction settled on her battered face. "Logan?"

"The whole country got to see him hauled off in handcuffs."

"What about Drake and Ashleigh?" A little frown crossed her brow.

"No. He didn't have time to follow through with his blackmail on them. They're free and clear." Gabe had checked, knowing that she would want to know.

Renata let loose a long sigh. "Good. Then my work is done."

Gabe leaned closer. "Your work is completely done. You don't have to worry about any of it anymore. Once you get well, you can go to the farm and spend the rest of your life there if you want."

She smiled a little. "Horses and trees and acres of green grass. It's heaven."

"Renata. There's something else I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

He hesitated before he spoke. "It's Tomas."

Her eyes flew open wide and she said, "Did something happen? Did you find something out?"

"Don't be upset. It's good news. You know the notes that were being left on Logan's desk?"

Renata said, "Yes, what about them?"

Gabe looked right into her eyes and said, "They were from Tomas. All this time, he's been working toward the same thing you have. He didn't know that was what you were doing."

"How do you know this?" Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

Gabe stroked her chin with the lightness of a feather. "Because he's here."

"Oh, my God. Where is he? I need to see him." She was getting agitated, and Gabe looked closely into her eyes.

"You have to stay calm, or the doctor won't let him come in. Take a second, calm down a little."

Tears rolled from her eyes, but she nodded, struggling to relax. "Okay, okay, I can do it. Oh, Gabe, my brother is really here?"

Gabe turned and motioned at the window of the intensive care room. "Be calm; take a breath."

The door opened and Tomas walked in hesitantly. His sister's eyes lit up with fierce joy and she breathed, "Tomas, it's really you."

He crossed the room in three strides, and Gabe got out of his chair to make room for Tomas.

He took her hand and pressed it to his lips. "You never could stay out of trouble without me, could you, Querida?"

Renata gave a little laugh then gasped in pain. "You always tried to get me in trouble. Oh, Tomas, where have you been? I've looked for you—"

"I know. I'm so sorry; everything I thought was wrong, I did everything so wrong. All I could think about was getting vengeance for our papa. I thought I was the only one. I watched from a distance, and you were riding horses, winning championships, going to parties. When you married Logan, I thought you just wanted to live the good life. It never occurred to me that you were working toward avenging Papa, just like I was. I was an idiot. I could have helped you. I could have kept this from ever happening." Tomas was sick at the sight of what had been done to her.

"Tomas. None of that matters now. Please, please just hold me. I need to know you're real."

He carefully put his arms around her and held her while they both shed tears. Gabe watched them for a minute, then he quietly left the room. Jo looked at him anxiously, but he nodded in reassurance at her. It was a few more minutes, and then Tomas came out, looking drained.

"She wants to see Jacques."

They each took a couple of minutes with Renata, and when they had all seen her, the nurse put a stop to it. "I'm going to give her a painkiller now, and then she needs to sleep. We're going to be waking her up every couple of hours to check on her, so you would all be best off to come back tomorrow."

Lee looked at the rest of the group and said, "I think it'd be a good idea for us all to go back to my place. I believe my gorgeous wife made a big pot of stew earlier, and we're all going to have a lot of questions to answer and phone calls to make."

So, reluctantly, they all left the hospital. Lee had received a call from the FBI, and he had asked that they come to his house to take statements and take possession of any evidence that they still needed. The repercussions of what had happened that day were sounding around the entire world. The questioning process went on for a long time, and all of them finally broke for a bowl of Jo's stew and freshly made biscuits. It was late in the evening when they finished and the men from the FBI shook hands with all of them.

"This was a fine piece of work," Special Agent Woodson said. "It's a damn shame that the police and FBI weren't able to put it together from the beginning, but I guess there was some personal interest driving you all on."

Gabe said, "Yeah, there was. And if the police and FBI had taken care of it in the first place, the way they should have, Renata Wakefield wouldn't be in intensive care, beaten half to death."

Woodson looked squarely at him. "You're right; I can't deny it, and I personally regret it very much. Mrs. Wakefield is a very important woman and a good woman, too. I don't think anyone ever believed that this could run so deep. It's the most extensive money laundering operation I've ever seen, and it goes right to the top of the government, to some of the most influential people in the U.S. and in Portugal. Renata Wakefield is going to be the hero of two countries. I hope you'll tell her that she has the gratitude and respect of everyone in the FBI."

"I will. But I don't think that's what's important to her. The important thing is that her father's name is cleared, once and for all."

"You have my word. We'll make sure it happens."

Matt was looking uneasy, and finally, he spoke up. "I don't like the fact that she's in the hospital without guards. I think at least one of us, the ones she trusts, should be stationed there. We don't know for a fact that everyone who was involved in this was swept up and arrested."

Woodson said, "I think you're right about that. But I can post a man."

"Renata screened every one of us herself. She would be much more comfortable with her own security staff. And any one of us would be glad to do it." Matt wasn't about to let the FBI take over Renata's safety.

"All right. Who's the lead security guard?"

"That would be me. I'll go over there right now and schedule around the clock guards." Matt looked relieved and left almost immediately.

Everyone else in the room looked relieved too. The FBI agents left soon after Matt, and Jacques said good night next. Lee and Jo offered a room to Tomas, but he had a hotel room and he wanted some time alone to think about everything that had happened. Gabe went home to fill his dad in on the day's events, and Lee and Jo were finally alone. Lee called the hospital to check on Renata and make sure Matt had gotten there to set up the security. He breathed a little easier after he talked to Matt and was assured that Renata was resting peacefully.

Jo watched him make the call and poured them each a stiff drink when he was finished. "Tomorrow, I'll call Bree and Maggie and Daria and let them know that Renata is going to be okay. The news is reporting that she's in serious but stable condition. I know they'd all like to know more than that."

"Good. Renata considers all of them to be real friends, not just employees. Things are going to be crazy for a while, and they're going to need to question Renata extensively. And tomorrow, Gabe's going to have to turn over the original package of documents that he hid away. And he intends to make sure that everything is properly placed into evidence, with enough witnesses that nobody will be able to get away with making it disappear."

Jo was shocked. "Lee, could that happen?"

Grimly, he said, "A whole lot of powerful and wealthy people were arrested tonight. Any kind of craziness could happen when those types of people are desperate. But there are going to be precautions taken so that it's a very tiny chance that anyone can get away with it."

"This is just awful. How could so many people be so evil?"

Lee said, "Power and money are the most corrupting forces in the world. And it seems that an awful lot of people, once they get a taste of it, will just do anything to get more. Look at George Russell. He wasn't going to stop until he had an American president in his pocket. I think a whole lot of more evil things are going to come out about him before this is over. I'm just thankful that Renata's part is just about finished now."

Jo shivered and took a gulp of her whiskey. "I'll be happy once she gets here and we can take care of her."

Lee gave her a little grin. "I will be too, but I think there's someone else who's going to want to take care of her."

"Well. That's okay too, once she's all healed. If that's what she wants, I mean."

"They make a good looking couple, don't they?" Lee was feeling a little like a doting father.

"Yes, they do. A whole lot better looking than Renata and Logan together!"

"I'll drink to that."

***

Gabe's dad was waiting for him, anxious to hear about everything. He'd been glued to the TV for hours and hadn't relaxed until Gabe had called to tell him that everything had gone as planned. He was horrified to hear what had happened to Renata. Gabe's face was haunted as he described her injuries to his father, and Gil hurried to pour them each a drink. After he finished telling the story, Gabe called the hospital to make sure she was all right, and he talked to Matt after he finished talking to the nurse. Everything was quiet, Matt reported, and Gabe felt better when he finished the call.

"She's resting peacefully. The nurse is a little like a mother bear, watching out for her, and Matt is guarding her. He's got guards scheduled around the clock; in fact, there are going to be two on duty during the daytime hours, when there are more people in the hospital."

"How long will they keep her in the hospital?" Gil asked.

"The doctor said a few days. They have to watch the concussion and make sure her kidneys heal and her internal bleeding doesn't start again." Gabe took a sip of his drink.

"Then where will she go? Back to her home?"

"I doubt it. She said she was looking forward to all of it being over so she could be at the farm. Of course, all her things are there. I guess she'll probably have to spend some time there. But she loves the farm, and I'm sure she's going to end up there." Gabe hated to think of her going back to the penthouse. "We were so focused on bringing this whole operation to a close, we didn't talk much about what would happen afterward."

"Well, one step at a time, right, son? She's been working toward this for years."

Gabe said, "Yeah. I can't imagine what it feels like to her to finally have it over."

"It's probably not going to sink in for a while. I can't imagine how much pain she's in. I don't understand how any man could do that to her. He must be the lowest form of scum."

Gabe nodded his agreement and added, "And the real scum is George Russell. He ordered the guy to do it. Somebody needs to do the same thing to him, let him see what it feels like."

Gil gave him a grim smile. "Well, once he gets to prison, that could very well happen."

"You're right. I think he just got so cocky about how much power he had that he thought nothing could ever touch him. Now he's going to find out what it means to pay the price for all his actions. Couldn't happen to a better asshole."

"And Renata's mother is in a safe place?"

"Yes. Lee called and made sure that she got moved and she's safe. As soon as Tomas is able to and Renata is recovered enough, he's going to make a trip to Portugal to be reunited with his mother. He needs to do that in person, not over the phone."

Gil looked somberly at his son. "Son, have you realized the massive amount of corruption you have uncovered here? It makes me more than a little nervous that there could be people still involved one way or another who didn't get caught, who could be looking for payback."

"I can't say it hasn't crossed my mind, but we all discussed it, and we all agreed that it was worth the risk. We're going to be as careful as we can; we're going to have to be vigilant for a long time. I think the only one who will be fairly safe is Renata. She's going to be a huge hero when the whole story comes out, and she's already so loved that I don't think they would dare go after her." Gabe had thought about it and he'd thought about it a lot.

"I hope you're right." Gil lifted his glass and tipped it toward his son.

"And now, it's been a helluva long day. I'm ready for a little sleep."

Gil said, "I'll lock up. Good night, son."

"Night, Dad."