A Billionaire's Redemption(27)

Gabe’s jaw tightened until he thought he was going to crack a molar. He had no illusions that Melinda had tried to wear the pants in the marriage and that had been one of the reasons it broke up. He’d wanted a partnership with her, not to follow her around like a pet puppy.

But it wasn’t as simple as walking away from her. She knew exactly how to get her hooks into people, and she’d buried hers deep in his psyche. Hell, it was part of why he refused to remarry. He never wanted to be that vulnerable to—or victimized by—another human being again.

Gabe turned his back on Green and murmured to Officer Radebaugh, “Keep me in the loop, okay?”

Of course,” the young officer replied, startled.

Gabe beat a retreat before he put his fist through Deputy Green’s smirk.

He scowled his way through the reporters who, for once, seemed to catch a clue to leave him the hell alone. Either that, or their source inside the police station was so good, they didn’t need to bother him for details about Melinda’s tape.

When he got home, he took an overdue shower, which finally cooled down his temper. He wasn’t normally a particularly volatile person, but with both Willa and Melinda under serious threat, the strain had put him on edge.

Melinda had insisted that they have an amicable divorce, which in her world meant the two of them stayed in touch and occasionally went out to some event or other together. Given how vicious she could turn in an instant, it was easier to go out with her a few times a year than to make an active enemy of her.

And it wasn’t like he’d been a perfect husband. He’d been the one to go haring off to the far corners of the world in search of oil. She might have traveled a lot, but at least she’d stayed mostly on the same continent. Although truth be told, it was easy to be in the same room with Melinda and feel a million miles away from her. When she was working on an academic project, she’d never had time or attention for anything or anyone else.

He made himself a bite to eat, and strolled out into his living room at loose ends since he’d planned to spend the day with Willa. But the phone call from the police had put a kink in that plan. He called her, but Willa’s cell phone went immediately to voice mail.

He sighed. As a senator, she might not necessarily pick up her own messages. Hence, he left a generic message thanking her for last night and hoping they could do it again soon. It wasn’t the one he’d have liked to leave for her, telling her that she’d blown him away, he couldn’t get enough of her and would she please consent to spending many, many nights in his bed forthwith.

He watched the news, returned a few phone calls from the office and found himself pacing his living room impatiently in under an hour. He tried Willa’s number again. Still no answer. Damn. Sometimes he really hated dating busy women with careers that took precedence over him.

His rational self rolled its eyes at his selfishness, but his emotional side acknowledged that Melinda had done a number on him that he was now taking out on Willa. It wasn’t Will’s fault she’d been named to her father’s senate seat.

He would like to call again, but he didn’t want to make her feel like he was stalking her. She’d already had one too many creeps in her life. He glanced at his watch, frustrated. How much longer until he could reasonably call her again?

* * *

Willa stared at her cell phone in dismay. That was the fifth call today from Gabe. He was now calling her every hour on the hour, and his messages were getting steadily more urgent and taking on a tone of worry for her safety. She couldn’t avoid him forever, although she’d really love to. When Louise called, a strange note in her voice, and asked if Willa could swing by the big house, she jumped on the request.

The mansion was in an uproar when she arrived. Her mother was sobbing at the kitchen table, Louise was hovering over Minnie and wringing her hands, Louise’s son, Marcus, was striding around the garden with a shotgun and George was nowhere to be seen.

Willa couldn’t get a straight answer out of either of the women in the kitchen as to what was going on, other than it was just horrible and who would do such a thing? At a loss, Willa headed out for the backyard. Marcus wasn’t in view, but she caught sight of George’s broad-brimmed straw hat and headed for it.

What’s going on?” she asked the older man.

Never seen anything like it, ma’am. Dead animals keep showing up in the garden. First it was that rabbit. Then a cat, and today a deer. All of them have their heads cut off. Or more accurately, torn off.”

Have you called the police?” Willa gasped.

They think it’s a bobcat or a coyote.”

A coyote wouldn’t take down a deer and tear its head off.”

That’s what I told the cops, but they wouldn’t listen to me. City slickers don’t know nuthin’ about coyotes. It would take a pack of ’em to bring down a buck, and they’d eat it if they killed it. And there wasn’t a single mark on the rest of the carcass. Coyote would’ve hamstringed something big like that. Torn out its throat maybe, but not taken its entire head.”

A chill crept up Willa’s spine and icy goose bumps raised on her arms. Who on earth would kill animals in such a gruesome fashion, not to mention dump them in her mother’s garden? Minnie didn’t have any enemies. It had to be directed at her father or her. Except John Merris was dead. Which left...Willa gulped...her.

* * *

A cackle escaped while looking through the lenses of the high-powered binoculars. Willa Merris looked worried. She was good and scared now, wasn’t she? Bitch. The Merrises were done messing with other people. High time they learned what it felt like when someone else played games with their lives. Come after other people, would they? Set up other folks, would they?

Suffering. Willa Merris needed to suffer pain. And fear. No, she needed to feel terror. She’d scream with it. Lust surged at the thought of her screaming. Tie her up. But no gag—gotta hear the bitch scream. A thin blade, maybe. Sharp. Lots of little cuts. Tiny rivers of blood striping her white skin. Pretty pattern. Ahh, the agony. The panic. The sweet smell of it.

An orgasm exploded without warning and practically knocked the binoculars loose. Dammit! Loss of control like that was bad. Bitch would pay for that, too. She’d pay for everything....

* * *

For once, Willa was grateful for the mini-pharmacy on the nightstand beside her mother’s bed. It had taken plentiful dosing with tranquilizers and sleeping pills to get her mother calmed down and resting quietly. Apparently, it had been Minnie who discovered the mutilated deer in her garden, and the shock had been too much for her already fragile state of mind.

Enough was enough. Willa called a private security company in Dallas, and hired a team of guards to come out to the mansion immediately. The half-dozen men who showed up in an hour were big, quiet and competent-looking. They swept the entire property, established a security perimeter—whatever that was—and commenced setting up cameras, motion detectors and who knew what else in and around the house.

They also advised Willa to stay in the mansion until further notice. Something to do with minimizing exposure and consolidating assets. She wasn’t thrilled to be back in the mansion, but she was relieved to have a tall, muscular bodyguard nearby at all times. Her security and her mother’s were restored. If only Gabe Dawson was so easy to deal with.

He’d continued to call every hour on the hour, but there was no way she was talking to him. His wife, indeed. If he was still that invested in Melinda Grayson, the two of them were welcome to each other. She admitted to herself reluctantly that she might be hiding behind her anger to mask the hurt she actually felt at being second-best to his ex-wife. No wonder all the women who slept with Gabe declared him unmarriageable material. They were right.

And she was a big ol’ fool. She’d known what kind of man he was when she fell into his bed, and she’d deluded herself into thinking they could have more. But he was one tiger who wasn’t about to change his stripes for anybody. Her best bet was to cut her losses and move on.

But move on to what? Who else would ever measure up to him? She’d been sweet on him forever. If she was being honest with herself, she would admit that she’d measured every guy she’d ever dated against him. And they’d all come up lacking. It was one of the main reasons why she’d never found a guy she could really commit to emotionally. None of them were Gabe.

Except now that she’d had him, however briefly, it was time to accept that having no man at all was better than having Gabe Dawson.

Thankfully, the dossiers on all the candidates in the upcoming elections that she’d asked her father’s—her— staff in Washington to compile came across the fax in her father’s office shortly after dinner. She desperately needed the distraction, but felt a little guilty at the size of the stack that finally printed out. The staff had to have worked frantically all day to have pulled so much information together so fast. She emailed them a message of heartfelt thanks for their hard work and settled down in the library to read the briefings.