Page 13 of Gabe

“All right. I’ll tell you. Stop.”

The knife stayed in place, but I didn’t push it any farther.

“The person in charge of the pedophile ring,” I demanded. “Not just their name. Tell me everything you know about them.”

Blake’s grin verged on mania. “I’ll do you one better. Inside my safe, I’ve got several files of information on the whole nasty little undertaking. You can have it. But you’re not going to like what you find.”

I removed the knife, and re-bandaged his stomach. There was now a worrying amount of blood staining the floor around him. The man would need to get to a proper hospital soon if he was going to survive.

Before leaving, I’d have to make sure to call 911 for him. With this much blood loss, he might pass out before he could do it himself. I’d killed people before. Between my time in the Army Rangers, and my employment with the FBI, taking a life was nothing new. However, I refused to kill when it wasn’t strictly necessary. It felt like a waste, and waste was almost synonymous with mess.

I really hated when things got messy.

Once certain that he wasn’t about to die, I turned my attention to the safe in his closet. To my surprise, the door opened on the first try. I’d half expected him to give me a false code or try to lead me into a trap.

Apparently threatening to cut off a man’s genitalia was enough to keep him honest. It was too bad Blake hadn’t had someone holding a knife to his balls all his life. He’d be the saintliest man alive today, and then maybe we could have avoided this whole mess.

The safe was mostly empty except for a small stack of files at the very bottom. I pulled them out and flipped the top one open to the first page.

After such a long day dealing with people, my vocal cords were exhausted, and I had very few words left.

In fact, I had only one word left, which I shouted as soon as I saw what the file contained.

“Fuck.”

CHAPTER 6

Frankie

I heard the crash all the way in the kitchen where I was making lunch. Granted, the safe house wasn’t very big, but it was surprisingly well insulated. Sound didn’t travel very far when the doors were closed, so the fact that I could hear the noise from several rooms away meant it must have been loud.

Taking just long enough to safely store the sharp kitchen knife away, I ran to the back bedroom. Not sure what I would find on the other side, I turned the knob and opened the door carefully. Sebastian lay sprawled on the floor, still tangled in the bed sheets, with Newt flittering around like a distressed hummingbird.

“Oh my God. Are you okay? No, of course you’re not. Don’t move. What hurts?”

I grabbed my friend and stopped him from tripping over his own boyfriend.

“What happened?”

Newt knelt on the floor next to Sebastian and checked the man for a concussion. “Well, I guess Sebastian tried to lean too far over the edge of the bed. I only looked away for a moment, but it was my fault. I should have been paying more attention.”

“Ugh, stop it.” Sebastian batted Newt’s hand away. “It’s not... I was just trying to reach the glass on the table. I should at least be able to get my own damn drink of water.”

While Newt helped Sebastian to sit up, I found the glass in question. It was lying on the floor, its contents now soaking into the carpet. Based on the water ring on the table, however, the glass had previously been just a little too far away for Sebastian to reach. Instead of asking for help, the idiot had tried to get it himself.

As much as I loved my job as a physical therapist, this was one of the things I hated about working with patients. They could be so stubborn, even to their own detriment.

Unfortunately, Gabe wasn’t available to help. He’d left to go meet with some people and hadn’t said when he’d be back. So, Newt and I had no choice but to hoist Sebastian back into the bed by ourselves.

As the taller of the two of us, I took Sebastian’s upper body and hooked my arms under his shoulders. Newt took charge of Sebastian’s legs, being very careful of his cast. Together, the two of us managed to lift the larger man. It wasn’t graceful, and the movement jostled Sebastian around more than I would’ve liked, but it worked.

Once Sebastian was settled, I reached for the pillows to rearrange them, only to find a red smear of blood staining my skin. I stared at it for a moment, wondering how I’d hurt myself. Then the truth hit me.

The blood wasn’t mine.

I glanced back at Sebastian, noting the man had a grimace on his face. He knew what I’d just realized.

“Show me.”

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