A Billionaire's Redemption

chapter 16

Willa started as she opened her eyes and was surrounded by nothing but white. Had she died? “Where am I?” she asked experimentally.

A disembodied voice answered, “You’re in an MRI machine, Miss Merris. Please don’t move. We’re almost done.”

I’m alive, then?”

Very much so.”

That was good, at any rate. “How did I get here?”

An orderly wheeled you down here on a gurney.”

No. I mean to the hospital.”

Mr. Dawson brought you in.”

So, she hadn’t imagined that dream of him cradling her with his body and climbing out of hell with her. Except it hadn’t been hell. It had been outside, though. She remembered feeling a breeze on her skin. And the acrid taste of limestone dust.

Something bad had happened.... She tried to remember, but only snatches came back to her. Strange laughter echoing around her. Someone pushing her. No, not her. She frowned and tried hard to remember. Her car. Someone pushed her car.

Abruptly, memory exploded of standing on her brake pedal with all her strength while her little car slid over the edge of a cliff on the way to Lover’s Point.

Oh!” she exclaimed. She tried to sit up, but something restrained her.

Please, ma’am. Don’t move.”

Someone tried to kill me. I remember now!”

A pause. “Who?”

I don’t know. A car. No. A van.”

A van tried to kill you?” the voice asked doubtfully.

Well, obviously not the van itself. Someone in a van. It hit me and then pushed me off the road.”

I’ll notify the police, ma’am. But please lie still.”

She subsided, impatient for the stupid MRI to end. “Where’s Gabe?”

Mr. Dawson?”

Yes, yes,” she answered impatiently.

He’s waiting for you. You can see him as soon as you’re done.”

And just like that, everything was all right. She was alive. Gabe was alive. He’d saved her like he always did, and he was nearby. Her knight in shining armor. Warm, soft, joyous feelings flooded her. This so had to be love. She loved him. Overwhelmed and overjoyed at the notion, she relaxed until a technician came to wheel her out of the MRI machine.

Her first words were, “Can I see him now? Can I see Gabe?”

I’ll tell the doctor you’re asking for him.”

But she was wheeled into a room and hooked up to a bunch of machines, and still there was no sign of him.

A new doctor came in and announced, “Your MRI looks good. There don’t appear to be any serious internal injuries. I think we can safely say you’re going to make a full recovery.” He shined a bright flashlight into both of her eyes and added, “We’re going to keep you here for observation overnight, though, because you hit your head and were unconscious for an extended period of time. It’s just a precaution. Is there anyone we should notify?”

A deep voice said from the doorway, “Consider me notified, doctor.”

Her heart leaped, and she smiled at Gabe. Even through the bright spots dancing in front of her eyes from the doctor’s flashlight, Gabe was beautiful. His jaw had a long scratch on it, and he was moving carefully, but he was still her Gabe.

She held out her arms to him and he brushed past the doctor to gather her in his embrace. Tears of joy overflowed her eyes.

Hey, no need to cry, baby. You’re going to be fine,” Gabe murmured into her hair.

I’m not sad,” she whispered back. “I’m happy. To see you and to be alive. I knew you’d save me.”

His arms tightened around her. He spoke over her head. “Does she get a clean bill of health besides the knock on her noggin, doc?”

Yes, sir.”

His arms tightened even more, but she didn’t care one bit that he was squeezing the stuffing out of her. For a while there, she’d been pretty sure she wasn’t getting off that mountain alive. The doctor slipped out of the room, for which she was entirely grateful. There was something she needed to tell Gabe, and she darned well didn’t want an audience when she did it.

She hesitated, nervous, and opted for a circuitous approach to the topic on her mind. “I thought I was done for up there.”

God, Will. I’m so sorry I didn’t get to you sooner. I was no more than a mile away when I had to turn around and go back to town. If only I had known you were out there—” He buried his face in her hair and took a shaky breath.

Why did he have to return to town? She would normally have asked, but she didn’t want to get sidetracked. “I had a little while to think about my life in between bouts of unconsciousness.”

Reach any conclusions?” he asked.

Actually, yes. I realized how much I trust you. And depend on you. I think of you as my knight in shining armor.”

He laughed a little, sounded embarrassed. “Well, maybe I’m an old knight in dented and tarnished armor.” He added teasingly, “To heck with a horse. I charge to rescue in a Cadillac.”

Nonetheless, you saved my life. I can never thank you enough.”

Willa, if something had happened to you—” He didn’t finish the sentence. After a moment he said soberly, “Believe me, saving you was as much for my benefit as yours. If something bad had happened to you...” he tried again. Still no conclusion to that thought other than his arms crushing her until she squeaked for air.

What I’m trying to say, Gabe, is that I think I lo—”

A commotion at the door stopped her on the verge of declaring her love for him. Gabe looked up sharply at the same time he leaned over her protectively. Two large, black-shirted men barged into the room in a rush. Her security guards. The poor guys looked nearly as frazzled and glad to see her alive as Gabe had.

And speaking of Gabe, he glared past her at the two men. “Yeah,” he said grimly, “you’re fired.”

Gabe!” she exclaimed.

Baby, you almost died tonight. You shouldn’t have been on that road alone and upset. You wouldn’t have gone over the edge, otherwise.”

Uhh, actually, I would have,” she said in a small voice.

All three men stared at her. “What do you mean?” Gabe asked ominously.

There was a van. It pushed me off the road. Well, it hit me first. Rear-ended me. And I hit my brakes. That’s when it pushed me over the edge.”

As in it hit you a second time?” Gabe exclaimed.

No. As in it drove up behind me, put its bumper against mine and the driver stood on the gas until he shoved me off the edge of the road.

The two security men all but jumped down her throat. “What did the van look like? Did you get a license plate? What did the driver look like?” At a terse nod from Gabe, their cell phones came out and both men talked fast into them.

When the guards came up for air, she said wryly, “I guess my guards are rehired, then?”

Gabe nodded reluctantly, but added to the men, “Just so we’re clear, gentlemen. One strike and you’re out. No more screwups.”

Roger that, Mr. Dawson,” the taller of the two men agreed.

The security team went through their questions again, more slowly this time. She described the van as best she could, which wasn’t actually in much detail. She hadn’t seen the driver at all, nor had she spotted a license plate before it was plastered against her rear bumper.

As their questions wound down, she added slowly, “I have this weird memory of laughter. At least I think it was laughter.” She described the maniacal sound echoing around her as she lay in her mangled car.

Gabe and the security men exchanged significant looks. “Okay, Willa. It’s time to tell us about every enemy you have. Anyone who might have any reason to harm you,” Gabe said gently.

She frowned. “I don’t have any enemies.”

That’s not exactly true,” Gabe responded soberly. “There’s James Ward, for one. He’s pretty pissed off at you.”

She winced. “I think his mother is madder than he is.”

Gabe nodded at the guard who was taking notes on a tablet computer. “Good point. Roseanne Ward goes on the list, too.”

The second guard asked encouragingly, “Who has given you a dirty look recently or said something nasty to you or hated something you’ve done?”

Willa sighed. “Just about everybody.”

Like who?” the guy prompted.

Willa went through the past several days in her mind. “Jacquelyn Carver from the charity ball. Those anti-fracking protestors outside the ball. My dad’s right-hand man, Larry Shore.”

When was he nasty to you?” Gabe blurted in surprise.

He was furious that the governor appointed me to my father’s position and not him,” Willa replied.

Gabe nodded as she continued building her list. “That reporter, Paula Craddock, seems to have it in for me. Oh, and the guy from my dad’s political party who thought I was going to endorse him to replace my father in the senate race.” She added reluctantly, “And my mother. She’s convinced I’m trying to rob her blind.”

Then there’s the six-hundred-pound gorilla in the corner you’re ignoring,” Gabe commented drily.

She blinked at him in surprise. “I don’t understand.”

Have you forgotten about that secret committee your dad served on?”

You think government agents might be trying to kill me because I found out about them?” she exclaimed.

Possibly.”

She frowned. “But wouldn’t they have succeeded by now?”

Honey, somebody pushed your car off a cliff tonight. I’d say they came damned close to succeeding, wouldn’t you?”

He was right.

One of the guards piped up. “What government agency, specifically, is trying to kill the senator?”

Willa cut off Gabe when he would have answered. “It’s classified. I’m not allowed to talk about it.”

With all due respect, ma’am, every one of the men at Elite Security is ex-Special Forces. We all have high-level security clearances.” When she hesitated, the guard added, “We also have tons of back channel contacts in the government. Maybe we can run interference for you. Call off the dogs, as it were.”

She looked over at Gabe, and he nodded to her. Quickly, she filled in the men on what she’d seen on her father’s computer before it had all been erased and/or stolen. When she was finished, one of the guards let out a low whistle.

The second guard nodded. “That explains why you wouldn’t accept Secret Service protection. We were wondering about that. You didn’t know who to trust inside the government, did you? Are the break-ins at your mother’s home and your place related to this committee?”

She shrugged, but thought better of the movement as her body protested achily. Oh, man. She was going to be one sore puppy tomorrow. She answered, “I don’t see how the break-ins can’t be related. The timing is pretty suspicious, and both break-ins targeted my computers.”

The guards traded grim looks. “We’re going to be increasing your security detail, ma’am, and we’re going to be packing substantially more heat.”

What does that mean?” she asked.

We’ll be more heavily armed. Your security protocols are going to be quite a bit tighter from here on out. We apologize in advance for the inconvenience.”

She was flummoxed when Gabe rolled his eyes. Apparently, he had a good idea what the guy was talking about. Personally, she was clueless. But she liked the sound of it. If she’d learned nothing else tonight, it was that she really didn’t want to die. She’d just found Gabe, darn it! Speaking of which, she still hadn’t gotten around to telling him she loved him.

Is there anything else, gentlemen?” she asked, being sure to let weariness creep into her voice. It was a cheap ploy, but she really wanted to be alone with Gabe.

No, ma’am. We’ll have men posted outside your door around the clock and outside below your window. If you need anything from us or sense any threat whatsoever, give a shout out.”

Okay.” She sighed. Sheesh. She was on the third floor, and they were still going to put a guy under her window?

The guards stepped outside, and she waited for the door to close behind them. “Thanks for not firing them,” she told Gabe. “It wasn’t their fault I ran out on them.”

Next time, no matter how upset you are or how much you just want to be alone, wait for your security team. Okay?”

I promise.” Jeez. She wasn’t a five-year-old. Now that she understood the magnitude of the threat to her life, she wasn’t about to ditch her guards again.

As I was saying before the guys interrupted us,” she started, “I realized something important while I was waiting to die.”

Gabe winced, and moved swiftly to gather her in his arms again. She was distracted when his mouth touched hers tentatively. As soon as it became clear that she was not caused pain by it, he deepened the kiss swiftly. It felt so good to be with him like this, tasting him, merging a part of herself with him, melting into him.

She would never get enough of him. She’d wanted him for so long, and to have him now, like this, was nothing short of a miracle. He kissed her voraciously, as if he needed to reassure himself in this way that she was alive and essentially unharmed. She was glad to provide him with the proof.

Finally, he came up for air and she dragged in an unsteady breath.

You were saying?” he murmured against her lips.

Mmm. What? Oh. Yes. As I was saying—”

The door swung open behind Gabe, banging into the wall. “Mr. Daws—” A nurse started. “Oh! I’m sorry.”

Gabe sighed against her temple and half turned to face the nurse. “You wanted me?”

Yes. Your wife is demanding to know where you are. The FBI wants to question her again and she refuses to talk to them until you’re there.”

Melinda’s here?” Willa gasped. “They found her? Is she all right?”

Gabe went stiff against her. “Yes. She was rescued earlier this evening and she’s fine. Well, actually, she’s acting damned erratic. But physically, she’s okay.”

Oh,” Willa said in a small voice. “I’m glad she’s all right. If she needs you, by all means, you should go to her.”

But—” Gabe started.

A beautiful brunette woman stuck her head in through the door just then. “There you are, Mr. Dawson. If you could come with me, I need to speak with Dr. Grayson, and she’s being a wee bit uncooperative.”

A wee bit?” the nurse snorted. “She threatened to kill that cop.”

Willa glanced at Gabe in surprise. He muttered, “Deputy Green. I hope she does kill him. It would be a good riddance.”

Willa forced a smile even though her heart was shattering. “Go. She needs you. I’ve got my guards and I’ll be okay.”

On cue, one of the security guards stepped into the room. “I’ll be stationed in here until Mr. Dawson or another family member returns. You’re not to be alone at any time, Senator.”

Not even when I’m sleeping?”

No, ma’am.”

Seriously? The ramifications of super-tight security were suddenly dawning on her. She hated being hovered over constantly.

I’ll be back in a flash,” Gabe whispered to her as he leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Rest until I get back. Okay?”

Okay,” she replied. Now that he mentioned it, she was feeling sleepy. Dead tired, in fact.

The door closed behind Gabe as he joined the gorgeous brunette. “Who was the pretty one?” she asked her guard.

Agent Delaney. FBI. Her credentials were legit. Nobody gets in here without us checking them out, ma’am.”

FBI, huh? Must be one of the agents on Melinda Grayson’s case. His ex-wife’s rescue must have been the reason Gabe turned around and went back to town earlier. Had he been out looking for her before? She asked the guard drowsily, “Did Gabe know I took off from my mother’s house?”

Yes, ma’am. He was the first person we called when you didn’t go straight back to your place.”

Mystery solved. Embarrassed that her guards knew so much about her and Gabe, she subsided. A thread of jealousy tangled into a messy little knot in her stomach. It was clear that Melinda and Gabe still shared a strong connection despite how long they’d been divorced.

More devastated than she cared to admit, Willa rolled gingerly onto her side and pulled the covers up over her ear. Thank goodness she hadn’t gotten a chance to blurt out a declaration of undying love to him earlier. She would’ve looked like a complete idiot.

It wasn’t her place to give Gabe an ultimatum. The ex-wife or her. Besides, it looked like he’d already chosen. Melinda Grayson snapped her fingers, and Gabe still jumped for her.