Page 88 of Touched By Destiny

Gabriel was desperate to do something—anything—but where the fuck could he start? Despite the over thirty years that had passed since Gabriel’s own arrest, he clearly remembered his terror. He’d been hollowed out and grieving as he’d been processed by unsympathetic strangers who’d considered him a murderer.

History was repeating itself. But Eric had killed no one. Did that matter? Innocent people wound up spending their lives in prison every day. Would Eric be among their number? It was difficult for Gabriel to stop his brain from spiraling into dark thoughts, but he had to get himself under control.

It was his job to protect Eric. He’d done a piss-poor job or Eric wouldn’t be in police custody. And it infuriated Gabriel that when Eric needed him most, he’d been too far away to be of any aid to his soulmate. As for the guard assigned to watch the mansion that night, Takoda was also missing. Had he been overpowered and taken too? Takoda wasn’t answering his phone, so they had to assume the worst.

“Gabriel,” Clark said. Gone was the stalwart confidence he’d displayed since the moment they’d arrived at the mansion, and the fear in his voice stilled Gabriel’s heart.

“What did you learn?”

“My lawyer is a friend of the District Attorney and has already called him at home,” Clark explained. Then his chin quivered, and he swallowed thickly. “There is no record of an arrest warrant for Eric. They can’t find it in the system. They’re double-checking and calling some officials they know even though the offices are all closed, but…fuck. It’s a good chance this was someone not affiliated with the local authorities.”

Rosalind clenched her fists as tears flowed down her face. “We saw the car. David and I saw the cruiser as it pulled away. They were wearing uniforms. I don’t understand.”

“Maybe the Arwynns have contacts within the police,” Gabriel said, his mind reeling. It was far more dangerous for Eric to be with someone associated with Arwynn than the actual police, even though he wasn’t human. “I don’t know, but Arwynn would have to know some cops willing to risk their careers and reputations to make this possible.”

“This is fucking nuts,” Richard shouted. “It can’t be a coincidence, right? These guys show up saying Eric has killed an Arwynn. The former head of the family…and now we can’t find his arrest warrant in the system. I can’t think about what they want with Eric or I’m going to lose my mind.”

Douglas hopped up from the barstool and hugged Richard while Gabriel fought through his shock. There were so many emotions bombarding him, he couldn’t make sense of anything. But he had to. Gabriel had to get his shit together and think. Eric was depending on him. He could not fail Eric. There was no way he would be able to live with himself if Eric was harmed.

“I should’ve been here,” Gabriel whispered.

“It was my idea to schedule the fucking meeting knowing that Arwynn and his goons were out there,” Clark snarled.

Rosalind put her face in her hands. “I let them go. I let them take my son.”

Pulling away from Douglas, Richard tugged his mother into his arms and rocked her. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Mom. None of us could’ve known they weren’t real cops. They probably are real cops; they’re breaking the law. We guess, right? We don’t know shit for sure yet.”

Clark embraced his soulmate and son. “Get over here, David. I didn’t mean to imply anyone but me made a mistake tonight. You and David wouldn’t have any reason to suspect these guys. And Richard’s right, we know nothing yet. Maybe the arrest warrant went through the police and a judge signed it after the District Attorney’s office closed.”

“Makes sense, if they are working outside the law, that they’d arrest Eric after everyone in those offices has gone home,” Gabriel muttered, forcing himself to think while Clark and Richard did their best to comfort Rosalind and David.

“And if they’re keeping this house or the people living in it under some kind of surveillance, it was a perfect night to show up,” Rhonda stated, a deep line etched between her brows. “Only the three of you were home. Easier to barge in and demand Eric come with them. More people mean more questions and greater resistance.”

“No search warrant,” Gabriel said, clenching his fists and squeezing his eyes shut as the nightmare of their evening settled more fully into his aching heart. “My house was searched from top to bottom despite me telling the cops exactly what happened before I was ever arrested. They wanted evidence in case I went with a not-guilty plea, I guess.”

“Or they wanted to fight your very real self-defense story,” Clark groused.

The last thing Gabriel wanted to do was distract anyone from Eric’s horrible predicament by dredging up any more of his past, but his brief experience with law enforcement could be helpful as they tried to sort through possibilities. Meanwhile, Gabriel wished he could send telepathic messages to his soulmate. To reassure him. To bolster his courage.

“What do we do?” Rosalind asked. “What the fuck do we do now?”

“I don’t know,” Gabriel replied. “But I think we need to talk to the police. Let’s find out if there is an arrest warrant and what we can learn about these cops. Thank fuck you wrote their names down.”

“My lawyer is already working on that,” Clark said. “Let me call him back and see what he’s learned. We should start making some calls ourselves. I can’t just sit here idly and wait for information. We need to find Eric.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel responded, not caring at all that he was losing his battle with tears. “I have to find him. The sooner the better.”

“Richard, call Mari and fill her in on what’s happened. She’ll want to know,” Rosalind told her son. “I’ll get in touch with Alden.”

Clark was already back on the phone with his lawyer, and Gabriel didn’t bother to corral his weeping or wipe the moisture from his cheeks. When it was essential for Eric to have someonewatching out for him, Gabriel had been nowhere nearby to rescue him. It was his worst nightmare come to life, and Gabriel didn’t have the first clue how to cope.

But his feelings weren’t important right now. After Eric was safe, Gabriel would be able to deal with the guilt, anger, and shame currently tearing him apart. Until Gabriel had Eric in his arms again, nothing else mattered.

???

No one said a word to Eric, and he held his tongue too. Instead of going into the bright lights of Vegas, the cops had hopped onto Interstate 15, heading toward California. Their drive grew far more terrifying the farther they moved away from civilization. The sun was sliding beyond the horizon, and Eric’s breath caught as they suddenly pulled off the highway and onto a dirt road. The car barely slowed until Seamor pumped the brakes, and they parked behind another vehicle.

“Come on, get out,” the shorter cop ordered after he opened the car door closest to Eric. Although the last thing Eric wanted was to follow orders, he was literally in the middle of nowhere. He had no place to run, and he lacked a cellphone. He had no clue where he was or how to find anyone to help him.

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