Authors: Patricia Paris
"We're on our way. And,
Faraday, stay where you are and let us handle—" Simms's message fell on
deaf ears. Gage was already dashing for the elevator.
~~~
Gage cursed when he saw the two
black-and-whites blocking
Abby was still alive. She had to be
alive. He wasn't willing to accept anything else.
As he approached the townhouse, he
saw a couple of more cruisers in the street. Several feet ahead of him, Simms
was moving in with his officers. The detective motioned to two uniformed cops,
one a man, the other, a woman, and they darted under the window to the left of
the front door. The woman mounted the man's shoulders, and he lifted her up.
After a quick peek inside, she signaled the guy to lower her back to the
sidewalk.
Simms was giving orders when Gage
reached them. The detective glanced at him and frowned. "I should have
known you wouldn't listen. You can wait in my car."
"The hell I will," Gage
said unconditionally.
Simms started to object then turned
and directed Baker and two other officers to stay out front while the rest of
them circled around to the alley that ran behind the row of townhouses. His
expression taut, he looked at Gage. "Can you distinguish her house from
the back?"
Gage gave a curt nod.
"Let's go," Simms snapped
and broke into a run. As they raced around the corner, Simms radioed for
officers to seal off the alley on both sides after they went in.
"It's the next one down."
Gage said tightly when he saw the gate leading into Abby's tiny back courtyard
standing open. The one and only time he'd been out there Abby had set the patio
table with a lace cloth and candles. They'd shared an intimate meal for two, a
gourmet delight compliments of the
new
Old Bookbinders.
A bittersweet smile lifted a corner
of his mouth.
I may not know how to cook but I know who to call,
she'd
joked, her green eyes searching his as if she wasn't quite sure how he'd react
to the romantic overture.
Simms entered the yard first and
glanced back at Gage. "They're in the front room. How do we get
there?"
"Kitchen's the only room in
the back then the living room in front."
"Are they open to one
another?"
Gage shook his head. "Just one
door leading out of the kitchen, but it's on the opposite side from this one. Billings would have to be
standing in the opening to see anyone enter through the back."
Simms looked at the female officer.
"We should be clear. The woman
was sitting in a chair writing something, and he was standing over her. The
door was a few feet to their left." She summarized what she'd seen.
Simms nodded then reached for the
door. It wasn't closed all the way. He pulled out his gun and looked at Gage.
"Save your breath,
Simms," Gage whispered firmly. "I'm going in whether you like it or
not." Their gazes clashed and locked. Simms must have recognized the
determination in Gage's expression and realized it would be futile to argue.
"Stay behind us," the
detective ordered. He held his gun in the air and waved for the others to
follow. He eased the door open further and stepped inside. He stopped, held up
a hand then pointed to the broken glass on the floor in front of the threshold.
Simms hugged the wall like a
shadow, working his way around the room, the other three officers and Gage a
breath behind him. When he reached the doorway leading into the living room, he
leaned back and slightly to the right to look into the room. Glancing over his
shoulder, he shook his head then signaled to one of the officers who moved into
position beside the doorway and raised his gun.
Simms moved to the other side of
the doorway before Gage could blink. Molded against the wall, he turned his
head sideways and peered into the room. He nodded to the others indicating he
had a visual of Billings
and Abby.
"Ready?" Simms mouthed.
The officers moved into place, keeping Gage behind them. Simms raised his gun
in the air.
~~~
"Make sure you include how you
couldn't live with the guilt another day."
Abby stopped writing and glanced up
at Billings,
taking advantage of every opportunity to drag things out a few more minutes.
She hadn't contacted Gage in over a week so the message they'd heard him leave
on the machine could only mean she'd gotten through and help was on the way.
The longer she could stall the more likely she'd be alive when they got here.
"Do you want to dictate the
whole thing, or will you allow me a little poetic license with my own suicide
note?" She lifted the paper toward him. "Maybe you can just write
what you want, and I'll just sign it when you're done."
Billings laughed. "Now you know I can't
do that. Be a good girl now and—"
Abby and Billings were alerted they had company at the
same moment.
"Drop your gun!" Simms
ordered as the officers rushed into the room.
Abby reacted on instinct. She
pushed out of the chair, ready to dive out of
Billings
's
reach. Billings
had the advantage, though, and grabbed her arm before she could elude him. He
yanked her in front of him, using her as a shield.
"Let her go." Simms kept
his gun trained on them. A male and female officer fanned out to his sides.
Another officer stood in the doorway, and to Abby's dismay she saw Gage had
come, too, and was trying to get past the officer blocking the kitchen doorway.
She hadn't expected him to come. She'd only wanted him to call the police.
"It's over, Billings," Simms said.
"I'm leaving here, and she's
going with me." Billings
tightened his hold painfully and put the gun against her temple.
Abby was pretty sure the police
wouldn't shoot as long as he was using her as a shield. She didn't feel as
confident about Billings.
He had to be feeling desperate, and desperate people did desperate things.
Billings began edging toward the door,
pulling her with him.
"There's no way out."
Simms tracked him. "We've got officers out front and covering a two block
circumference." He took a few steps forward. "Let her go, Billings."
"No!" Billings jerked the gun forward aiming it at
Simms. "Stay back or she's dead. I mean it," he swore, his voice
rising dangerously.
Abby knew she might not have a
better chance to act than now when he was distracted. She let her body go limp
and lifted her feet so Billings
would be forced to support all her weight or let her go. Perceiving the police
as the greater threat, as she'd hoped he would, he chose the second option, and
she fell to the floor just as Gage pushed his way past the officer who'd been
trying to keep him in the kitchen out of harm's way.
Billings swung the gun in the direction of
this new threat. The wild look in his eyes froze the breath in Abby's lungs.
Gage moved into the room, and Billings
took aim, leveling the gun on Gage's chest.
"No!" Terrified Gage
would be
shot,
Abby lunged for
Billings
's
legs.
All hell broke loose.
"You bitch!" Billings screamed,
flailing and fighting to regain his balance even as she took him down.
She heard Billings hit hard. She saw the gun skid
across the floor. She increased the death grip she had around his knees.
Two officers had Billings by the shoulders and were trying to
turn him onto his stomach.
"You can let go now."
Simms said from beside her. He'd come down on his haunches, and Abby looked up
at him. "It's all right," he said gently, taking her hands and prying
her fingers loose.
She nodded, unable to believe it
had ended so suddenly. Simms took her elbow and helped her to stand.
"Abby."
She turned her head. Gage stood a
couple of feet away. "Abby," he said again, his voice hoarse with
emotion. He took a step forward and opened his arms.
Abby didn't think. She walked into
them, and he crushed her to his chest.
He was safe. They were both safe.
The enormity of what could have
happened exploded without warning and caught her off guard.
"I was so afraid," she
said, unable to stop the tears.
Gage buried his head in her hair.
"It's all right. He can't hurt you now."
"Not for me." She gazed
up at his precious face, noted the circles under his eyes as if he hadn't been
sleeping well.
"For you.
I thought he was going
to shoot you. If he had, I never would have forgiven myself for calling
you."
He lifted her chin and stared down
at her. "I never would have forgiven you if you hadn't."
"Get him out of here,"
Simms said. Abby glanced around to see two of the officers lead Billings to the
front door in hand cuffs.
Simms shook his head then stuck his
hands in his pants pockets and glanced sideways at them. "He never would
have gotten that shot off," he said, and gave her a wink. "But you
probably saved us the trouble of having to call the coroner to come remove his
body."
"I'm just glad you got here
when you did. I don't think I could have stalled him much longer."
"I know you've had a hell of
an evening, but if you'll bear with me a little longer, I'm going to need to
get a statement."
Gage tightened his arm around her
waist. "Can't this wait until tomorrow?"
"It's all right." Abby
looked up and was surprised by the raw emotion she saw on his face. Well, of
course he was upset. Billings
had almost shot him.
He searched her eyes, and she
wondered what he sought to find. "I'd rather get it over with," she
assured him, "then we can all put this behind us." She moved out of
his arms and took a seat on the couch. She would have liked nothing more than
to melt into the comfort of his embrace, but she had no right to ask it of him
anymore. It would be too easy to mistake what he probably regarded as
responsibility as something more.
"Billings killed Dick." She turned to
face Simms. "You've probably already figured that out." She smiled
lightly. "I hope you won't be offended if I state anything too obvious.
Believe me,
Detective,
I'm one of your biggest fans
right now."
"Since it took me longer than
I'd like to admit, don't assume anything's too obvious. I don't know what, if
anything, Billings may have told you, but I
suspect he and your husband conspired to swindle you out of the property in Florida. My guess is
they had a deal that went sour, and it cost your ex his life."
Abby nodded. "You guessed
correctly. Billings
was very forthcoming. I guess he figured I wouldn't be around to tell anyone so
there was no reason not to tell me. I took advantage of his willingness to talk
to stall for time."
She spent the next ten minutes
telling them everything she knew, including how Billings had come there to try and frame her
by planting the gun as evidence. "I thought I was grasping at straws with
the cell phone, but I couldn't come up with anything else. I still can't
believe it worked."
"Having the self-possession to
think of it probably saved your life." Simms clicked his pen and put it in
his pocket. "Turning yourself into a dead weight in
Billings
's
arms was a pretty smart move, too." He cocked his
head and studied her a moment. "I've got a friend who coaches a minor
league football team. I was thinking maybe I'd introduce you, and you could
show him that tackle to the kneecaps maneuver."
Abby's lips twitched.
"Anytime, Detective."
Simms chuckled. "If you're all
right, I'll get out of your hair now. I can follow up with you in a day or two
with anything else."
She nodded. "I'm fine. Thank
you."
Simms walked to the door.
"Faraday, can I talk to you a minute?"
Abby glanced at the detective and
then at Gage. What could Simms want with Gage now? She hoped he wasn't in any
kind of trouble for interfering with their operation.
"It might be good if she
weren't alone tonight. It's not uncommon for people to experience shock after
the fact," she heard Simms say.
She looked up to see Gage glance
over his shoulder at her.
"Don't worry," he said,
holding her gaze. "She's not going to be alone."
Abby's imagination raced. What did
he mean by that? He couldn't be planning on staying with her. No, of course
not, why would she even think it? Because you'd like nothing better, she
admitted.
She turned away. He was probably
going to suggest she call Rachael to come spend the night. Whatever his
thoughts, she wasn't his responsibility. He'd already done more than she had a
right to expect.
~~~
Once they were alone, Gage insisted
on making Abby a drink. "After what you've been through, I think you could
use one." He walked over to her and cupped her jaw, lifting her face so
she had to look up at him.
His expression confused her. If she
believed her heart, she might be convinced it was love she saw in his eyes. Her
heart had its own agenda, though.
"I could use one, too,"
he said, letting his fingers fall away from her face.
"Gage, if you want to go, it's
okay. You've already done more than—"
He covered her mouth with his
thumb. "If you say it, I'm probably going to get angry. You don't want to
make me angry right now, do you?"
"Of course not, but I don't
want you to feel—"
"Too late," he whispered,
his eyes telling her those two simple words meant much more than they seemed on
the surface.
She swallowed. Was her imagination
playing tricks on her again? Did she see caring in his expression because she
wanted him to care so desperately?