Savage Collision: A Hawke Family Novel (Hawke Family #1)(74)

“Maybe.” I’ve been listening to Danika’s conversation with Matteo while I explain what’s happening to Gabe. So far, a reference to someone named Paul and an article are all I’ve been able to make out, nothing useful to us.

Gabe disappears down the hallway toward his bedroom and I continue to listen, my entire body screaming to get the fuck out of here and to find her.

“…he didn’t tell me anything. I don’t know anything that could hurt Mr. Abello.”

Fuck, why didn’t she tell me she was doing a story on Abello?

I would’ve warned her off, made it very clear he wasn’t someone to be fucked with.

“You really expect me to believe you don’t have anything damaging on him? Nice try, sweetheart, but Paul already confessed everything he told you. The only question now is who else you’ve told.”

“I haven’t told anyone anything…”

Gabe reemerges in black cargo pants and a tight, long-sleeve black t-shirt, his rifle case over one arm and two handguns strapped into the holster around his shoulders. His phone is pressed to his ear and he nods. “Okay, got it. Thanks, Caroline.”

“Did you find her?”

He sets the rifle case on the coffee table and unzips it, pulling out his .300 Win Mag and quickly checking it over. Gabe rarely discusses his time as Army Ranger sniper, but I know he was good enough to receive two silver stars for his service. Knowing he’s backing me up on this should ease my tension and fear, but it doesn’t, not when Danika’s life is in danger.

“Yeah, Caroline said she was going to meet a source, but she didn’t know where. I asked her if Danika had the ‘find my phone’ app. Turns out she does and Caroline was able to guess her password. The phone is down on Riverside Drive at the Olde Market building.”

“Shit, it will take us at least ten minutes to get down there.”

“Let’s go,” he says, repacking the rifle and grabbing his keys, “I’ll call the police. You keep listening so I can give them an update on what’s happening.”

Gabe drives like a Formula 1 driver, weaving around other cars, blowing past them like they’re barely moving. Danika and Matteo continue to argue about how much Paul told her and what her editor at the paper knows. She stands her ground, and despite my fear and anger at her for getting into this situation, I’m actually proud of her.

“I told you,” she replies for the tenth time. “I never told anyone about the story, and Paul never told me anything.”

“Well, we already know you’re lying about Paul, so why should I believe you about anything?” Matteo asks, his voice growing louder. The thought of that man getting closer to Danika makes my skin crawl.

I vaguely hear Gabe telling the police we are three blocks from the Olde Market.

Three blocks.

It might as well be three miles. He tears around corners at warp speed, slamming me into the door as we pull onto Riverside Drive. He stops the car several yards behind Danika’s.

“Why does it matter what you believe?” she asks, her voice strong and steady, even though she’s no doubt terrified. “You’re going to kill me anyway.”

Gabe’s head whips around when he hears that and he jumps out of the car, grabs his rifle, and tosses me his cell phone. “Keep the police updated. They should be right behind us.” I nod and watch him disappear into the darkness.

I don’t know what he’s going to do, but I know it’s something I can’t even fathom. As long as it gets Dani out of there safely, I don’t care.

“What makes you so sure we’re going to kill you?” Matteo asks.

I can picture the sneer on his face as he taunts her.

“You didn’t lure me to an abandoned building, show up with two of your goons, and interrogate me about my story just to let me walk away.”

Two goons? She’s telling us how many men there are.

I get on Gabe’s phone and relay the information to the dispatcher just as two squad cars and a SWAT vehicle pull up behind me.

Matteo’s maniacal laugh pours from the phone. “You’re smarter than you look, Ms. Eriksson. I shouldn’t be wasting all our time.”

Boom.

A single gunshot rings out, the blast echoing through the phone and going straight to my heart.





My heart stops.

The piercing ring of the gunshot reverberates in my ears and through my chest.

Matteo only fired a shot in the air—a warning shot or maybe to try to scare the shit out of me—but it could just as easily have been in my head.

I have no clue why he didn’t just kill me, but the smile on his face tells me he enjoyed scaring me almost as much as he would have enjoyed leaving my dead body here.

Sadistic fuck!

Somehow, I manage to school my features—letting this man know he terrifies me would be a colossal mistake.

“Now, Ms. Eriksson, let’s stop dancing around the issue and get down to business. You and I both know that I need to know what sort of documentation you kept regarding your meetings with Paul, where those notes are located, and who has access to them. You may be telling me the truth about not telling anyone about your story, but we both know you wouldn’t start investigating a story like this without meticulously documenting every single thing your source revealed.”