Page 10 of Gage
His eyes widened at her words, and she could almost see the wheels turning in his head, trying to figure out his next step. Obviously he had a partner, the person he’d talked to on the phone. If she had to guess, she’d say he was the brawn and the person who set the wheels in motion for her kidnapping was the brains behind the whole thing.
“Must get money. Pay hospital to help sister get well. You come.” The desperation in his voice along with the jerkiness of his movements told their own story. Desperate people took chances they wouldn’t normally, and she didn’t think he’d simply walk out the door and leave her behind. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t seen his face.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not going with you.”
The blow across her face shocked her, the vicious attack unexpected and painful. Her breath caught at the suddenness of the blow, and she stepped back, tripping and falling to the ground. Standing over her, a vicious grin curved his mouth as he pointed the gun at her chest, and she closed her eyes, waiting for the feel of the bullet, knowing these were her final moments on earth. So, she did the only thing she could think of.
She prayed for a miracle.
CHAPTER FIVE
Gage juggled thetray containing the two disposable cups and the bag of beignets in one hand as he exited the hotel’s stairwell. He wasn’t sure why he’d decided to bring the snack along on his visit to Suzanna Dawkins, except Ms. Patti’s face had popped into his head as he’d been getting ready to leave Café Du Monde. Bringing the sweet treat along as a kind of peace offering would be the sort of thing she’d do, even though he felt like an idiot.
He’d barely made it down the long corridor to Suzanna’s room when he heard a scream. Working on instinct alone, he grabbed the door handle, and found it locked. Tossing the tray onto the floor, he braced himself before striking a well-placed kick to the door, and watched it dent inward but not open. A second kick did the job, as the handle fell to the floor and the door flung inward.
Felicia lay on the floor, a masked man standing a few feet away, a gun pointed at her. Diving for the gunman in a full-body tackle, he heard the retort of the shot, as they both hit the floor with a distinctive thud. Gage’s fist flew toward the man’s jaw, landing with a resounding crunch, and the body beneath him went still.
Leaping to his feet, he rushed to Suzanna’s side, where she struggled to sit upright. He immediately noted the smear of blood on her left upper arm. Dang, the bullet must have hit her when the gun went off. Noises from the hall confirmed several people standing outside, gawking into the room.
“Call 9-1-1,” he barked out, easing Suzanna over to sit on the edge of the bed, far away from the man sprawled on the floor.
“Already done,” drawled a man with a distinctive Southern accent. “Looks like you had a bit of a problem.”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“I can see that. Want me to secure this fellow, while you deal with your lady friend?”
Gage studied the stranger for a moment, before nodding. He couldn’t help smiling when the stranger pulled a couple of zip ties from the pocket of his sweatshirt, and had the man secured within seconds. Why he was carrying zip ties Gage couldn’t even guess, but they came in handy at the moment, freeing him up to help Suzanna.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No. Other than scaring me half to death, I’m all right.”
Gage looked at the blood staining her sleeve. It looked to be superficial, but he’d definitely have EMTs look at it, just to make sure. She was pale, her skin almost a translucent ivory, reminding him of the finest porcelain. A fine tremble wracked her body, and made him want to hit the masked idiot again.
Hotel security led two uniformed police officer through the door, before ushering the people in the hall back, closing the door in the faces of the lookie loos who’d crowded around, gawking and trying to get the latest on all the excitement and maybe grasp their fifteen minutes of fame if the press or paparazzi showed up. Which was the last thing this situation needed. Suzanna had enough to deal with, with the notoriety of her husband’s murder, she didn’t need to add to the titillation.
“I’m Officer Turner and this is my partner, Officer Stevens. Somebody want to tell me what happened here?” The nearest police officer scanned the scene, before turning his attention to Gage. Guess he’d be the one answering questions, trying to give answers he didn’t have yet.
“I came to see Ms. Dawkins. I arrived at her door when I heard a scream. Tried the handle. It was locked. I deemed the situation required excess force, so I kicked it in. He,” Gage pointed to the man on the floor, who was still out cold, “stood over Ms. Dawkins’ who was prone on the floor, holding a gun on her. I tackled him, and knocked him out. Now, can we get paramedics here? Ms. Dawkins was injured in the scuffle, and needs medical attention.”
“Gage, I’m fine,” she protested, then winced when she moved her arm.
“You’ve been shot, sugar. The police are going to insist that you be checked out, right?”
“That’s correct.” The first officer, a tall black man with a shaved head and bulging muscles smiled, and nodded to his partner. “Check on the paramedics, get ’em up here stat.” His smile at Suzanna was pleasant and kind, and for some reason it irked Gage.
“Anybody know who this might be?” The guy who’d provided the zip ties nudged the ski-mask-wearing perp on the floor.
Suzanna shook her head. “No idea. He’s had on the mask ever since he got here. I mean, I opened the door because I was leaving, and he was standing there. He forced his way inside, and started talking about a ransom and money. He has a heavy accent. English definitely isn’t his first language, though I didn’t recognize where he might be from.”
“He mentioned a ransom? Did he try to force you to leave the room with him?” The officer asked the question softly, encouraging Suzanna to continue talking.
“At the end, right before Gage—Mr. Newsome—kicked the door in. I refused to leave. I know if you leave and go to a second location, your chances of survival drop dramatically. He hit me and I screamed. I guess that’s when Gage heard me and busted in the door. It’s all kind of fuzzy after that.”
Right then the door to the room swung inward, allowing two paramedics in. Gage noted the second officer, the one who’d gone to get the paramedics, stood guard outside. Probably a good idea with the door being broken and not closing properly, and with the hangers’ on still milling about. This might turn into a logistical nightmare, but he was glad he’d listened to his instincts and come to see Suzanna instead of simply calling. He didn’t like to think what could have happened if he’d shown up five minutes later.
“Hey, Boudreau, what are you doing here?”
