Beyond the Call of Duty (19 page)

“She’s not breathing.” Gabe pushed past the man who spoke, bending over her.

“You’re cops. Don’t you know CPR?” He flipped her to her stomach, pushing gently against her back to expel the water in her lungs, and then he flipped her back over, fitting his mouth to hers, and pinched her nose closed. He lifted his head, putting his ear to her mouth, feeling the air come back. He breathed again into her mouth. “Come on, Lexi. Don’t leave me, baby. Come back to me.” Three breaths later, with a lot of praying and cursing on his part, the cops were beginning to try to pull him away.

“She’s dead, man. Let her go.”

“Don’t touch me!” Gabe growled, snarling at any one who tried. He breathed one last big breath of air into her lungs and tears began to fall down his face as a sob shook his shoulders. “Come on, Lexi. Come back to me.”

Her body hitched, and she coughed harshly, spitting out another mouthful of lake water. He lifted her up, gently patting her on the back. “God, Lexi. I’m so sorry.”

“You...You got me out.” She shivered harshly, reaching up to grab hold of his wet shirt. “You saved me.”

“I also put you in there. The car was going too fast. I couldn’t stop. I tried, I just couldn’t stop.” He buried his face against her neck. “I almost lost you. I almost killed you.”

A police officer draped a plain, dark-gray blanket over them. Suddenly, there was a commotion nearby. Gabe looked up just in time to see Caleb and Frankie Traeger being dragged, handcuffed, over to the police vehicles. Frankie saw Gabe. “He stole my car. I want him put up on charges of grand theft auto.”

Caleb was there as well. “My father was holding Mr. Elliott against his wishes, and it was my car he
borrowed
, not his. I’m not pressing charges. I’d also like to speak to the ADA about the illegal activities my father is responsible for, up to and including the death of the Blandons.” Caleb glanced Gabe’s way one more time and gave him a wink.

“Caleb, shut your fucking mouth. Don’t you dare disrespect your father here, understand me, Caleb. Caleb!” The rest was unintelligible as Frankie was put in the back seat of one cruiser and his son sat in the front seat of another. Gabe and Lexi were helped up by Joe and Gerald.

“Did you find Toby and Luke?”

“Sleeping on the job, boss. Someone got the jump on them, and they were handcuffed to each other in the back yard.”

“Were they hurt?” Lexi asked, her eyes filling with tears.

“Nothing beside a few tiny bumps on the head. You know they got hard heads, boss. There’s no reason for the water works. Only thing really hurt was their pride.”

“Agent Hunter and Mr. Elliott, we are going to want you to be checked out.” said an emergency medical technician, holding open the back of an ambulance.

“Oh, I don’t need a hospital,” Lexi tried to say, but she was outvoted when Gabe reached down and lifted her in his arms, hauling her complaining and struggling body to the ambulance.

“You weren’t breathing, Lexi. You were dead. I can’t go through that again, not ever. So sit with me in here and let’s get checked out so we know you’re all right. I hate hospitals too, but you don’t hear me doing any complaining.” He scooted closer to her to let the EMT into the back as well. The doors were slammed shut, and they were on their way.

“You don’t have a witness to protect anymore,” Gabe said softly. “Caleb Traeger just promised to flip on his father’s organization. After what his father did, I can’t see him backing out on that. You don’t need me anymore.”

He began to pull away, but she grabbed his face, turning him back toward her. “I will always need you, Gabe. I love you. You aren’t getting out of this relationship that easily.”

He smiled, picking her up and sitting her on his knee. “I love you, too, Lexi. I just didn’t want you to think I would hold you to any of the things you said to me when we were stuck in that house.”

“Well, now, that’s just a hoot because I
am
holding you to it. Every little bit. You’re going home with me, and you’re going to meet my family. You’re going to bring my mother roses, and you’re going to ask my father for my hand in marriage. I want it all, Gabe. I want the impossible-to-sit-in dress and the eight attendants. I want the church and my father to walk me down the aisle. I want to see you standing there, waiting for me, so we can take those first few steps as husband and wife. If that’s not what you want, then let me out of this ambulance right now.”

“Your dad’s a nice guy, right?” he asked nervously.

“My dad’s a Hunter, Gabe. Hunter men are strong, reliable, egotistical and arrogant. He’ll make you prove you love me, and you’re going to take every challenge, baby, because you love me.”

“I...I do love you, Lexi. Didn’t you tell me at one time you have four brothers?”

She laughed at the look of sheer terror on his face. “Oh come on, Gabe. You ran with the mob, you worked for one of the biggest bosses in Monroe City. You cannot possibly be afraid of my four brothers.”

“Can I have a piece?” He glared at her as she began to laugh harder. “Maybe I should have left you at the bottom of the lake,” he snarled under his breath.

She turned him to face her and ran her hand over his face, gently pushing at the bump on his forehead where he’d hit the steering wheel of the Camaro. “I’ll be at your side through every single minute, Gabe. I promise. If they get too bad, I’ll sneak you out, and we can go to my favorite make-out spot from when I was a kid. I won’t let them hurt you.”

“I’m not scared of them...okay, well maybe a bit of your old man, but I can handle the rest of it.” He hummed his approval when she slid her lips over his, coming back over and over to taste and tease before he tired of the teasing and held her against him. “I want to start a gym,” he whispered against her mouth. “Not one of those sissified places where they serve funky juices and little girls work out in skimpy clothes. I want a place for boxers, for people who want to try the Sweet Science, guys like me.”

“That sounds great, really great, as long as you don’t come home to me every night all bruised and swollen.” She laughed when he lifted her back to his lap. She could feel that even through his icy cold and wet clothes, a certain part of his anatomy already was swollen. “You are impossible,” she whispered, meeting his eyes, “but you’re my impossible. I love you so much, Gabe.”

His answer was whispered against her lips. “I adore you, Lexi, forever.”

“I really hate to interrupt this beautiful moment,” the EMT said softly, “but I should really check your bump, and I want to listen to your lungs, Agent Hunter, so if you don’t mind?” He cocked his head toward the low-slung gurney.

Gabe kissed her once more before helping her move to the gurney, covering her up so her lips might actually change from blue to a warmer color. Her skin was cold to the touch, but her eyes were warm, and she held on to him all the way to the hospital as if unsure he was real.

Luke and Toby were standing out in the parking lot in front of the emergency room when the ambulance pulled up. They ran to Lexi as she was pulled out of the back of the ambulance. “Are you two okay?” she asked, ignoring the shocked look they gave her.

“We’re fine. Joe said that Gabe smashed into your car and sent you into the lake. Are you okay?”

“That’s what we intend to find out.” The EMT’s voice was slightly terse, and the two men stepped back, waiting until Gabe slipped out of the back of the ambulance. “Are you okay?”

“Just a headache. Let me tell you, those new Camaros don’t turn for shit when you’re doing ninety on an S curve.”

“Uh, no, duh, Gabe.” Joe laughed. “Come on. Let’s get you in there so you can get stitched up. We’d hate to have another scar mar that pretty face.” Joe ducked the half-hearted punch Gabe sent his way and grabbed his arm to help him into the hospital.

Epilogue

The music was playing softly as Gabe took his place at the end of the thin white runner. He tugged nervously at the collar and the tie he swore Joe tied tightly on purpose.

“Settle down, you’ll be fine,” a tall dark-haired man said. He had eyes that were more silver than gray, and he smiled over to where a woman was holding onto a little girl and a tiny boy. “Who knows; you might have a couple of those in a year or so.”

“I thought you were trying to get me to settle down,” Gabe growled at Aaron Hunter. “One step at a time, man. Don’t push me.”

The music grew louder, and Gabe straightened as he looked to the closed doors at the far end of the church. “What if she doesn’t show? What if she changed her mind? I knew I should have stayed with her last night.”

Dillon Hunter shook his head. “I thought you said you knew that cousin of ours, Gabe. Don’t you know, when Alexandra Hunter decides something, nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, stands in her way. She’ll be here. Just keep your eyes on those doors.”

“Do you have the ring?” he suddenly asked Joe, the man he’d chosen to be his best man. He watched as Joe patted down his pockets, teasing him just a bit even though it sent Gabe’s anxiety level almost to its limit.

“Yes, I have the ring. Now calm down and stand still. You look like you’ve got ants in your pants.”

“Well, you would too. What the hell’s taking so long?” The minister who stepped up behind Gabe leaned down and whispered something into his ears no one else heard. Whatever it was, it had Gabe standing straight, his eyes on the door, his case of the nerves wiped away.

The door opened slowly, and Lexi’s mom walked down the aisle, led by the cutest set of twins. One male, one female, they wore matching outfits, and each one walked solemnly along beside the older woman, each holding one of her hands. They took their seats, and Dillon winked at his twins before turning to watch his wife make her way slowly down the aisle.

Riley was beautiful in a soft-blue gown that matched the color of her eyes. She smiled at her husband and took her place further down the front of the church.

Next was a gorgeous, petite redhead. Angel was dressed in the same blue, her gown showcasing her full curves and gracefulness. She blew Aaron a kiss and touched the cheek of the little girl in the front row as she took her place.

Shanna moved like an elegant swan, never betraying the cumbersome burden she carried. She was eight months into her second pregnancy. One hand held a bouquet of beautiful lilies and roses, the other stroked gently over her stomach as their second child kicked to make his presence known. She smiled at Brandon as she walked by him. Their first child Lila Rose sat next to him, kicking her legs to look at her pretty new shoes.

Lexi’s matron of honor was next. Mackenzie Hawkins wore a full-length, dark-blue gown. It was low cut with off-the-shoulder sleeves, and it stopped only an inch or two above the floor. She looked beautiful, the color making her amber eyes gleam in the candles and lights of the church. Her husband, Hawk, was sitting next to Lexi’s mom, a twin on each knee, giving her a look that seemed to be asking—Can we? She shook her head though her smile was wide as she took her place.

The music became louder and the congregation came to their feet, each straining their eyes for the bride. The doors in the front of the church were thrown wide open, and Gabe caught his first sight of the woman he was about to make his wife.

* * * *

Lexi had gone traditional. She had a veil covering her face, but her eyes shone brightly behind it. Her gown was a tight-fitting sheath that hugged her every curve. Lace was fitted in the low-cut bodice and the loose sleeves that belled out around her wrists. She carried a huge bouquet of roses in white and very light pink, filled in with white lilacs. She held her father’s arm and let him guide her to the man she couldn’t take her eyes off.

Gabe stepped forward to claim his bride, but Lexi turned to her father, lifting the veil just enough to kiss his cheek and whisper her love. She turned to Gabe and took his hand, her gaze on him alone as they took their places before the minister.

The service was a blur for Lexi from the moment he claimed her. The only things that felt real were his hand in hers and his eyes shining down on her. She managed to answer and give all the proper responses, but it only became real to her when he lifted her veil and brushed his hand over her cheek before he bent and kissed her. It was a short kiss, and he touched his lips gently against her ear. “Wife,” he whispered softly. “My wife.”

She smiled radiantly as the minister introduced them as Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel Elliott, and then Mac handed her back her bouquet, and they made their way down the wide aisle, stopping just inside the church to wait for the rest of the wedding party.

The church doors were opened, and the congregation spilled out, hugging and congratulating the newly wedded couple. By the time they had spoken to each guest, been kissed and hugged, had hands shaken and best wishes given, Gabe was more than ready to grab his wife and hop into the limo waiting for them. He couldn’t wait for his alone time with Lexi. It felt like years instead of just hours since he held her and kissed her.

The limo that waited at the bottom of the stairs was decorated with tissue-paper flowers and a sign tied to the trunk that read
Just Married
. Gabe and Lexi stood at the top of the stairs, their gaze on the people who celebrated this day with them. The guests would be going on to a lavish reception, but Gabe had other plans for his beautiful wife.