As difficult as it was to hear, the fact that Chao was moaning, reacting to the healers’ ministrations, was a good sign. The critical issue was to tend to his wounds and not let him die. Gabe knew from long experience dealing with badly injured men, the first hours were critical. The Chinese doctors surrounding Chao’s bed were accomplished healers. If anyone could keep their master alive it was them. Most critical to recovery was Chao himself. His will to live, to fight through the agonizing pain, would very likely be the determining factor.
Gabe crouched down beside Ana. Her face was ghost-like. Her dark eyes were huge, black with fear. He looked up and motioned to Kai to come stand beside them.
Looking from one to the other, Gabe assessed their ability to comprehend what he was about to tell them. As concerned as they were, he was gratified to see an inner strength in them both.
He took Ana’s hands in his forcing her to meet his gaze.
“Ana, honey. And you too, Kai. Listen to me. Your father is going to live. I am convinced of that. He is a strong man, physically, but most important spiritually. Do you understand?”
Ana stared at him, her face contorted with fear. She started to speak, then bit her lips as if afraid to ask the question. Gabe gave her a reassuring nod, urging her to continue.
“Promise me, Gabe? Do you promise me that he will live?”
Gabe swallowed hard and nodded. “Yeah, Princess, I do promise. As bad as his injuries are, he is breathing well, which means that even though his ribs are cracked, none of them punctured his lung, always the most life threatening injury in a beating like this. But tonight is critical. By tomorrow, we will see a big difference. But these next couple of days are going to be difficult. He’s going to hurt like hell.”
He stood when he saw Jing enter clinging to Quitin. The older woman’s eyes widened with shock at the sight of their master, but then riveted on Ana. Gabe motioned to Jing to come over to them.
Gabe pulled Ana to her feet and put his arm around her.
“Princess, I asked Jing to come and bring you some comfortable clothes. You need to change out of that dress. And especially those damn shoes.” he said at an attempt at humor. He was gratified to see a scintilla of a smile cut through the pain in her eyes for a brief second.
He turned to Jing. “Jing, please take Ana to Chao’s changing room. See that she puts on these clothes you brought for her.”
When Ana shook her head and frowned, Gabe held her tighter to him and lifted her chin so she couldn’t look away.
“Listen to me, Princess. It is going to be a long night. Quitin is bringing comfortable chairs and blankets, for you and Kai. Right now you need to get out of those clothes. The doctors need to finish bandaging up your father. The best way you can help him — both of you — is to stay strong, and stay close. Do you understand? Okay, both of you, go get changed. By the time you get back, the doctors will have finished taping Chao’s ribs, and given the opiates they are pumping into him, he’ll be in a lot less pain.”
Gabe waited until the two of them reluctantly left the room, then he strode over to the small cluster of men standing in the far corner. Gunnar and Eagle were waiting for him, along with their companions, Emil and Davy.
Piercing all four men with a hard stare, Gabe demanded, “All right, goddammit. Let’s hear it. What the hell happened? We had ten men here tonight to ensure that no one hurt Chao, Kai or Ana.” With a hard jerk of his head toward the bed, he spat out, “Obviously we failed. We’ll deal with that later. Right now I want to know who tried to kill Chao.”
~~~
On their rush from the balcony to Chao’s chambers, Gunnar and Kai had given Gabe and Ana the barest of details. Now Gabe needed to hear precisely what happened.
Davy stepped forward. Except for Gunnar and Eagle, Davy had been with Gabe the longest of any of his men. He was as tall as Gabe and outweighed him by at least forty pounds. Anyone who tussled with him knew it wasn’t fat that broadened the big man’s shoulders and arms. His sharp green eyes helped give some credibility to his round face, rosy cheeks and the corn silk hair that fell in soft waves around his face. Gabe thought to himself as he always did when talking with Davy: How the hell could a guy with a baby face like Davy’s and a name like Davy, for Christ’s sake, be the strongest guy on their team not counting himself, Gunnar and Eagle.
Davy’s voice was harsh, strained. “I take responsibility, Gabe.”
Gabe dismissed his apology with a wave of his hand. “I know you do, we all do. It’s on my shoulders as much as yours. Tell me what happened.”
Davy gave a distressed nod. “I was on Chao like white on rice the whole fucking night. Both me and Emil. About ten o’clock, I saw Chao leaving the ballroom heading down the hallway. I called after him asking him to wait for me but he shook his head, said he needed to get something from his office. I asked him what he needed, told him I could get it for him. But he said no. We followed him to his office. He looked kinda strained. I saw a folded piece of paper in his hand. I asked if I could see it. He brushed me aside. He said you needed to talk with him. He closed the door in our faces. When I heard the door lock, it was pretty clear that he wanted to be alone.”
Davy shoved his hands through his soft silky hair and looked up at Gabe, a deep frown creasing his brow.
“I swear to God, Gabe. Me and Emil were there for ten minutes at the most before I started getting worried. I called out to him and there was no answer. Hell, that silence skewered me bollocks. Me and Emil just looked at each other and crashed through the door. Broke the fucker clear off the frame.”
He looked down, pain crossing his face.
“Damn, Gabe, we never shoulda let him go in there by himself.”
Once again, Gabe waved off his self-recriminations. “Then what happened?”
Davy’s eyes were wide. “He wasn’t there. The goddamned place was empty. Just the doors to the patio were wide open. There weren’t no signs of a struggle. For a crazy minute I thought he’d needed to get air or something. Then I smelled that chloroform smell. You know what I mean. I found this on the floor.” He handed Gabe a shredded rag that still smelled of the drug. Davy continued. “I knowed then that he been taken. Somebody had drugged him.”
Letting out a long sigh as if he still couldn’t believe what had happened, Davy’s eyes clouded, focused on the memory.
“I raced out to follow them, but, hell, I had no idea where they went. Emil here ran to the barn to get our horses and grab some of the other men. When I started after Emil, I thought I saw another piece of this rag crap on the ground over by the path next to the woods. Sure enough when I got close, I could smell it. I knew they couldn’t have ridden their horses in there without some of our men noticing. I gotta tell you, Gabe, I wasn’t thinking clear… but something drew me to them woods. I just took off running, even though I had no idea where I was goin’. I was in some deep brush when I heard horses. They was heading away, fast. I didn’t see nuthin’, just heard them galloping away. I started to run back to the barn when I heard this moaning-like sound. You know, the kind a rabbit or a fox makes when he’s caught in one of them steel traps? I pushed through them bushes, tryin’ to follow the sound. And… and then I saw him.”
Davy shook his head and his mouth twisted as if remembering the sight. “Damn, he was stark naked. Blood was comin’ from everywhere.”
Davy stopped and ran his fingers through his hair again. “His face looked almost black and his eyes were bulgy. Then I seed that tie around his neck. Jesus, Gabe, they’d tied him to the tree with rawhide. Four or five strips all knotted tight around his neck. I don’t think he had more than a minute or two of breath left when I got to him. I… I cut him loose and then started yellin’ like a banshee for the other men to come and help me.”
Gabe stared at him for a long moment, then looked over to Chao lying in the bed. The doctors had finished working on him and whatever they gave him had taken effect. He looked almost peaceful, but alive.
Gabe shook his head. His voice was low, awed. “Damn, Davy. You saved his life.”
Davy put up his hands in protest. “No, Gabe, it was my fault. I never should have let him go in that office—”
“Look, Davy, there were a lot of screw ups on all our parts tonight. But it comes down to this. If you hadn’t had your wits about you, and if some goddamned angel hadn’t decided that Chao had more time to spend on this Earth, there’s no way you would have tracked him the way you did. Or found him minutes from death. No, Davy, whatever else went wrong,
you
saved Chao’s life.”
Davy’s face bloomed, his usual rosy cheeks flamed bright red. Gabe was sure he saw tears in the big man’s eyes.
Davy muttered. “Yeah, you’re right. I got to him, didn’t I?”
Gabe clapped an arm around him and pulled him close.
“In the end, man, that’s what matters.”
From behind him, Gunnar gave a discreet cough. When Gabe turned to meet his gaze, Gunnar’s expression was stern, his lips pressed in a hard line. The customary twinkle in the Swede’s eyes was long gone.
“Davy found something else, Gabe. This was nailed to the tree above Chao’s head.”
He reached into his pocket and handed Gabe a folded sheet of paper that looked like the other notes, only larger.
Gabe spread it open. The crude drawings didn’t leave anything to the imagination. An ugly cartoonish rendition showed Chao tied to a tree, his tongue hanging out, clearly dead. There was a black X across his face. Next to him, Kai was hanging from a tree, his hands tied behind his back. His eyes were wide open and he looked terrified. The numeral two was over his head. In the lower corner was a cartoonish drawing of Ana cowering on the ground, her eyes wide with terror. She was surrounded by men, all with their faces hidden. The number three was over her head. Gabe took deep breaths to keep the gorge welling up in his throat from spewing. It took him a full minute to clear the haze in his eyes.
A fourth figure, stripped to the waist, was tied to a rack, his hands stretched high above his head. A crowd of angry looking men surrounded him. Two men wearing executioner hoods had bull whips at the ready. The figure they were getting ready to beat to death was Gabe.
Chapter 24
“Looks like there are four targets, Gabe. Not only are they after Chao, Kai and Ana, they’re also after you.”
Gabe nodded at Gunnar. “It would appear so.”
Gabe ran his hands through his hair. He wasn’t surprised. Of course they were after him. He was standing in their way. What bothered him most was the explicit sexual reference to Ana. He closed his eyes to shut out the images the ugly drawing inspired.
He looked up to see Eagle and Gunnar staring at him, worried frowns darkening their faces. Emil and Davy looked as concerned.
“Look, men, of course the fuckers are after me. I’m in their way. Hell, you four are in as much danger as I am. But we can take care of ourselves.” He jerked his head over to the bed where Chao was sleeping, his face and body covered with bandages and visible injuries. “Chao can’t take care of himself. Kai can’t. And goddammit, Ana sure as hell can’t.” He grimaced, then pointed to the solarium off to the side of the master chambers. “Let’s go in there where we can talk. I don’t want Chao to overhear us. And Kai and Ana will be back any minute.”
He nodded to the liquor cabinet and said with an effort at a grin. “I happen to know that Chao keeps a supply of Jameson on the second shelf. Emil, round up five glasses and at least a couple of bottles of that smooth-talking whisky. I have a feeling we’re gonna need it tonight.”
Gabe waited until they had settled in with whisky, and the cigars that Gunnar swiped out of Chao’s humidor on the way into the solarium.
He eyed them all, knowing they were as concerned as he was.
“Okay, here’s where we are, and here’s what we gonna do. First. We’re gonna protect this goddamn family if it kills us. Davy, your job is Ana. I want you to grab four of your best men. Call in anyone you need to. There isn’t a job our Avengers are doing that is more important than this. But, I’m warning you. She is the most stubborn damn woman I’ve ever known. Impossible to control!”
He glanced up in time to see all of his men exchanging knowing looks. Emil and Gunnar were smiling outright.
Davy reddened, and he glanced down at his shoes. When he looked up, Gabe saw the tears in his eyes that he’d seen before. He waited for the young man to get his emotions in check. He had a feeling he knew what Davy would say.
“Uh… uh, damn, Gabe. I just gotta thank you. I know how important Ana is, and hell, after I just about got her father killed—”
Gabe held up his hand. “That’s the last I want to hear of that, Davy. We’re done with what we should have done. Goddammit man, you’re a hero. You saved one of the most important men in my life, and I will always be grateful. And yeah, now I’m putting Ana’s life in your hands. If that doesn’t tell you how grateful I am, nothing will. You got that?”
Davy gave him a watery smile. “Thanks, Gabe.”
Turning to Eagle, Gabe said, “Eagle, I want you on Kai. He respects you. There’s a mite too much between the two of us for me to take him over. I have to stay focused on figuring out who’s the fucker behind all of this. And hell, if I’ve ever seen a kid who is more like you were when you were young, it’s Kai.”
“Damn, Gabe, I’d think that would be reason enough to never let Eagle anywhere near the kid,” Gunnar said with a grin.
Everyone laughed. Gabe added, “Hell no, Gunnar. It’s you I want to keep away from him. His sister would kill me if you were in charge of him — especially any time after ten o’clock at night.”
Gunnar leaned back in his chair with a smug grin. “Yeah, Gabe, you’re right. Probably just as well.” He winked at Davy who blushed even brighter. “I’ve probably corrupted enough of our team.”
After their guffaws and laughter died down, Gabe frowned and sighed.
“Damn, we are so close. I know it in my gut. The back of my neck feels like I got a nest of fire ants under my skin. How about it, Eagle? Getting any of those ‘eyes rolling back in your head’ kinds of insights?”