Hot Zone (16 page)

The SUV swerved, and if Luis didn’t have great reflexes, we’d have probably flipped end over end, and all of Gabriel’s protection wouldn’t have saved us. By the time I felt myself relatively aware again, the SUV was stopped. I had been dragged out of the seat and loud voices were ringing around me.

I sat up, trying not to move my head much, since one side of it felt like it had doubled in size. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but it was clear to me that there was a new problem now. Luis was being taken bodily out of the SUV, his foot grazing my shoulder as he was yanked out.

Everyone was talking, and although it was a really bad idea as far as my burgeoning headache was concerned, I yelled for quiet. Surprisingly, I got it. Maybe it was because as Gabriel had suggested, I had some sort of gift. Maybe it was because the mostly unconscious girl had suddenly risen and yelled. Or maybe it was just surprise. Whatever it had been, I decided to seize the moment. “Everyone just stop right now!”
I snarled. I hadn’t meant to sound so angry, but my head was sending explosion warnings to the rest of my body, and I wasn’t sure if I would continue with consciousness. “What is happening?” I stabbed a finger at the black-shirted ‘Gabriel’ man holding Luis who was struggling and looked as if he might break free any minute. I hissed at him. “Luis, stop!” To my shock, he did.

I touched the side of my head that felt huge, looking at my fingers afterwards. A little blood, but not much. And it didn’t seem like my jaw was broken. My cheek, now that might be a different story.

The man I had pointed at said in a sure voice, “This man assaulted you. We have orders from Gabriel that no one is to harm you.”

I looked at Luis. “You hit me?” It came together suddenly. I should have known better. I should have thought for a minute before I spoke. Luis was under Gabriel’s spell. He loved him as if he were the second coming. And I’d said that I’d like to kill him. I really should have expected a reaction, although I don’t think I’d have ever expected that exact reaction. Not from Luis, who was supposed to be protecting me.

Luis said, “She wants to kill him,” and I think every eye turned to look at me with various amounts of horrified shock.

I put up my hands, palms out. “No, I don’t. I was just using hyperbole. An exaggeration.” Still they stared. “I was kidding.”

Finally, the men from Gabriel thawed. “We cannot allow her to be harmed.” The man saying this was blond and had long hair to his shoulders and wire rim glasses. “You’re hurt,” he said, proving his ability to state the obvious. He turned to the others decisively, “I’m calling it in.” He whipped out a cell phone and pushed one button. While he waited for the call to go through, and over my protests, the other men pushed Luis against the SUV and handcuffed his hands behind his back. Luis didn’t resist.

Another man ran back from the SUV with what looked like a tackle box. He opened it, and I realized it was a large and well-stocked first aid kit. He pulled out a cold pack, whacked it against the side of the SUV to activate it, and gave it to me, indicating that I should put it to my sore face. I didn’t really want to touch my face with anything, even the cold pack but thought arguing at this point might be a bad idea.

The Gabriel man had reached someone and stepped away from us while talking quickly into the phone. I was annoyed, wanting to know what was said. Would I be put in cuffs next? Now the man was waiting again. It seemed interminable. We sat where we had stopped, in the road, a perfect target for any bad guys who might have wanted to do their worst. But on the plus side, the empty Interstate meant we weren’t a problem traffic-wise. Had to look at the bright side.

The ice felt good, but the pain was becoming less numb and more localized. My lip seemed to be bleeding, or maybe my mouth was bleeding inside. My temple throbbed like a sore tooth, and my cheek was coming alive with a vengeance. Luis was still being watched carefully, but I thought they might be watching me as well.

Finally the blond man spoke into the cell phone again, his expression rapt. Was he actually talking to Gabriel now? He nodded and walked to me, handing me the cell phone. I took it, putting it to my ear on my unhurt side. “Hello?”

Gabriel’s voice flowed over the phone, and for a brief moment, my pain disappeared completely. “What happened?”

“It was just a misunderstanding. I was … uh, being crabby, and mumbled that I’d like to run over you, and Luis, one of the men in my delegation, heard and … uh … hit me.”

There was silence, and I glanced at the readout on the phone to see if we’d been disconnected. Then I heard him ask politely, “Give the phone back to Tim.”

I assumed that was the blond man, but I wasn’t quite so docile as to not ask any questions of my own. “What are you going to do?”

He said with cutting force, “Give the phone to him!” And before I realized what I had done, I had given the phone back to Tim. My mouth tightened in irritation, causing me to gasp in pain. He’d used his juju on me. Damn. I guess I had my answer about it working over the phone.

Tim was apparently getting his orders. He shut the phone and spoke quietly to the rest of ‘team Gabriel.’ After that he turned to us. “We’re going back.” The men were already getting back into the vans and SUVs. My delegation climbed back into the van, Randy driving this time. Luis had been taken in one of the Gabriel SUVs.

“Wait,” I said uselessly. “I don’t …” But it didn’t matter. No one listened. Some gift I had. I rolled my eyes and sighed, buckling myself into the back seat. I would have given one of my internal organs for some Advil.
Maybe a kidney
, I mused as I closed my eyes and we headed back to St. Paul.

The return trip seemed to go very quickly, probably because I was nervous. Gabriel had sounded truly pissed over the phone, and it made me edgy. What would he do to me? And why had they cuffed Luis? Obviously the mighty Gabriel’s protection was more important than mine. What did they do to people who threatened the beloved Gabriel? Draw and quarter? If my head didn’t hurt so much, I’d bang it against the window. I had been so stupid! I knew that they all loved him, so what did I think would happen if someone threatened him? Would Gabriel believe that I had just been kidding?

Once back at the Hill House, I was taken directly inside and hustled up to the room where I had met with Gabriel earlier. Two black shirted men, one of whom was Tim the blond, flanked me. I was so scared that I was shaking as they took me inside.

This time Gabriel was on the phone, although as he saw us, he ended the call quickly. He walked over to me, giving me an unreadable look before dismissing the two ‘guards.’

I worried at my lower lip as I looked at him. He reached out and lifted my chin, tipping it so he could see my face better. He was looking increasingly angry, and although I wasn’t under his spell completely, I could feel his anger and a large section of me trembled with it.

He pushed the button on his desk, snapping, “Get Si in here immediately.”

I said softly, “I wasn’t serious about running you over.”

He spun and looked at me. “I know. Don’t worry about it.” He looked deep in thought. “This isn’t the first time someone has attacked someone else for what they consider a threat against me. I have to stop it, but I need to do it carefully.” He shrugged. “I don’t want to forfeit all my protection.” He laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “I’ve had more death threats than you’d imagine for someone so beloved.”

He took my arm and urged me to sit on the couch. “You have had death threats? But how?”

“Some people are threatened by my rise to power and are perhaps trying to protect their own powerbase. I am working to meet with them, which will take care of the problem, but I’m not sure a sniper from a distance wouldn’t be able to kill me before I could, well, change his mind.”

“Oh,” I said.

“I’m sorry you were hurt. Although I will figure something out to stop this sort of thing from happening, you might want to watch what you say until I do.” Maybe I was being entranced, but I nodded.

“Where is Si?” He frowned, looking at the door.

“Why did you call for him? I mean, if it’s for me, then you don’t have to—”

“Stop it,” he said, and immediately I stopped. Damn. Was I more susceptible because I was hurt? Or was his pull getting stronger? “You look like hell.”

“I do?” I asked, surprised.

“You obviously haven’t seen a mirror. If you want, there’s one in the bathroom, if you feel up to it.” This tentative manner of his was endearing. Oh God. No. I don’t like him, I chanted to myself. He helped me up and held my elbow to get me to the bathroom. As I glanced at myself in the mirror, I understood his concern. I was relatively hideous. Blood had smeared across my cheek, which was coloring almost as I looked, becoming darker by the moment. My eye was swollen, and the shadow of a black eye was blossoming across it. “Wow,” I said, gently touching my cheek, not actually believing the reflection was mine. “I am a fright.”

“No, but the man who did this is—”

I turned quickly to face him, ignoring the slight dizziness that the move caused. “It’s not his fault. Like you said, he was just trying to protect you. I don’t want you to do anything to him.”

Gabriel shook his head, and I was struck anew by his beauty.
Grrrr. I don’t like him; I don’t like him.
“I’m not really in the habit of doing what other people want.” He said easily, but with a mild edge. “I doubt I’m going to start now.”

After a knock, Si came in, looking concerned. Gabriel briefly explained what had happened to me and that he wanted Si to make sure I wasn’t damaged. I rolled my eyes and regretted it immediately as my head throbbed.

Dr. English felt gently across my cheek, asked questions, shined a light into my eyes, and manipulated my jaw and nose. Eventually he turned to Gabriel, who was watching silently. “I don’t think anything is broken. Her cheekbone might be cracked, but there isn’t really anything I could do for that anyway. I could certainly take her and x-ray it if you wish.”

“No,” Gabriel said. “She’s in pain. Can you safely give her something for that?”

“Certainly.” Dr. Si looked in the bag he had brought and took out a bottle of pills. Before he gave me one, he quizzed me about drug reactions, allergies, and asked my weight. I answered a little dully, wanting to just grab the little pill and toss it in my mouth. I’m not all that great with pain.

Finally he was satisfied, and he gave me two white pills to take. I went back into the bathroom that adjoined the office and closed the door, taking the pills with water. I came out to see that Dr. English had left.

There were three black shirted men in the room now with Gabriel. One of them was Tim. The other two I didn’t know. Gabriel pointed to me. “See that woman? I don’t want anyone else to put his or her hands on her again. I don’t care what she says or does, she is not to be hurt.” He looked at me. “Would you still like to return to Catfish now, or stay and go back tomorrow?”

I really, really wanted to go home, but I kept my voice relaxed. “I’d rather head back today, thanks.”

“In this I will accede to your wishes.”

That reminded me of Luis. I had to talk Gabriel out of hurting him or punishing him in any way, assuming he hadn’t already done something. I felt sick at the thought. “Can I talk to you privately?” I asked meaningfully.

He nodded to the men, telling them to wait for me outside. Gabriel crossed his arms across his chest, going back to the desk and leaning against it, his legs crossed at the ankle. He was the picture of ease. “What is it you want to talk to me about?”

I took a deep breath. “Please don’t do anything to Luis,” I said in a rush. “Well, actually maybe you could tell him I don’t really want to kill you and not to hit me again for that,” I added lamely.

He considered me. “Why?”

“Well, because I think being hit once is enough,” I said, deliberately misunderstanding him.

He knew I was stalling. He didn’t say anything, just waited.

“Because I feel responsible for him,” I said finally.

Suddenly he asked, “Is he your boyfriend?”

He was using the tone that seemed to work with me, and again, I responded immediately and without thought. “No.”

He didn’t seem sure if I had been truthful or not. I was absurdly glad he didn’t realize how he could get to me. “He’s a nice person, though, or he was until he fell under your sway.”

“How badly do you want this?” he asked nonchalantly.

“What? I don’t understand what you’re asking,” I said carefully, sensing a trap.

“I am willing to do this for you, but you’ll owe me.” He smiled, and I felt the twin emotions of anger and fascination for him. I thought I might just split apart eventually.

“What exactly will I owe?” I asked as coldly as I could.

“I don’t know yet. I’ll let you know when I decide,” he said.

I glowered at him. “Are you really telling me I have to bargain for you to leave Luis alone?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I asked, somewhat bewildered.

He smiled, but didn’t answer. “What is your decision?”

I had no choice, and I knew it. Part of me suspected that he had never meant to hurt Luis, but when I asked him to spare him, he had taken advantage of it. It went against the grain to have a favor to this man out there hanging over my head, but now, if I said no, he’d hurt Luis for sure. Or would he? Was he bluffing?

He glanced at his watch deliberately, and I knew I had to decide. I couldn’t take the chance that he was decent. I nodded. “I’ll owe you.”

“In the meantime, Luis will remain as my guest,” he said.

“What? That wasn’t part of the—”

“I won’t hurt him. I want to talk to him, however.” He saw I was going to argue, and spoke before I could. “It might help me decide how I can stop this from happening again in the future to others.”

I grudgingly agreed.

He smiled and walked closer to me. “So now you owe me. I’ll have to consider what form I would like that to take,” he taunted. He was too close, but I refused to back up. On the other hand, I kept my eyes on his chin, refusing to meet his eyes in case I lost myself. He noticed, apparently. “Madde. I didn’t think you were such a coward.”