Make Me, Sir

“Remember when we returned from the cafeteria? A young lady came out of Marcus’s room.” She paused. “The same one who sat in the waiting room the entire time we were there.”

His grandfather frowned, his bushy brows forming one line as he thought. “The one who kept the little teen from having hysterics?”

Nana nodded.

“Curvy. Fair with light red hair.” He snorted. “And a blue streak in it?”

“That’s her,” Marcus said, smiling.

“She looked like somebody beat the hell out of her.” His grandfather’s face hardened. “Did you get the bast-bad guy?”

“We did.”

“All right then.” Blue eyes the same color as Marcus’s zeroed in. “You going to get the girl too?”

“I am.”

Chapter Twenty-three

In her car, Gabi sat in the parking lot of the FBI Tampa field office. This emotional stuff was going to have to end real soon, dammit. She studied her hands. Nice and steady. Her face in the mirror looked calm, despite the yellowing bruises on her cheek and jaw.

Her insides felt like a pile of scooped-up Jell-O. If Dickhead had told stories about her, well…she’d just have to deal with it. At least she didn’t work in Tampa.

To her surprise, no one gave her any trouble. On the contrary, the ones who recognized her thanked her and promised they weren’t giving up. No sidelong looks at all.

“Ms. Renard.”

Gabi stopped in the hallway and turned to see four women in business attire. The one in the lead grinned and held out her hand. “I’m Marjorie-one of the other decoys. I wanted to congratulate you on the job you did. Agent Kouros kept holding you up as a shining example of getting into the role, and you aren’t even an agent.”

“Uh. Thank you.”

“And you didn’t give up,” another younger woman said. “Even when your backup abandoned you.”

Gabi couldn’t help asking. “I never did hear what happened to Agent Rhodes.”

Marjorie snorted. “Agent no longer. Something else we have to thank you for.” She rolled her eyes. “He said you’d come on to him, blahda-blahda-blah. But, although he managed to side-step written complaints, everyone here knows what kind of an asshole he is. When he tried to lay the blame on you, every woman in the office lined up to set the facts straight. Between the complaints about him, the fact you had to defend yourself, and him leaving you without orders or calling in? He’s history.”

A tall brunette swept a courtly bow. “And the females in this division thank you.”

Well, there is a God. Gabi grinned. “Sounds like I owe you thanks, and you certainly brightened my day.”

As the women continued down the hall, Gabi opened the door to the office Galen had commandeered. Same dingy decor. He sat at the small table again, talking with Jessica.

“You’re here!” Jessica limped across the room to hug Gabi. “I wanted to visit you in the hospital, but Z wouldn’t let me leave the first day, and these guys”-she wrinkled her nose at Galen-“monopolized the next morning, and then you disappeared. Where’d you go? Mr. Never-Talk Galen won’t tell me.”

“I’ve been staying with my parents in Orlando.” Only one more day there and then home for good.

“Are they vacationing in Disney World?”

“No, they live there. My father is a lawyer for Thompson and Dunn International.” An important, dignified job. No scandals allowed. When Galen had called them from her hospital room, she’d heard their revulsion that she was involved in something sordid. It might wipe off on them, right? But Galen had pushed, and her parents had agreed to let her stay in their house.

She pressed her hand over the cold lump in her stomach. The visit had been…difficult. Somehow, maybe from having almost died, she’d realized down to the bone that they’d never love her. And the only way to obtain their respect would be to turn herself into a pale reflection of them.

I like myself. Surely if she said it often enough, the pain would diminish. And hey, she had friends who liked her, a grandmother who loved her, clients who needed her. A person could survive without her parents’ love. So get over it already.

When Gabi smiled, the worried expression on Jessica’s face eased.

“Please join us,” Galen said, patting a chair on his right.

Gabi settled herself in the chair. Carefully. Even several days after the kidnapping, her head still hurt, her body hurt.

“One last debriefing with both of you,” he said. “Give me any tidbit, interrupt each other, add in what else you might have heard.”

By the time they finished, Gabi felt depleted and the aching in her owies had increased an order of magnitude. Then again, she shouldn’t complain. She could be screaming under a whip. Raped. Have someone like Jang…

Her stomach twisted, and she started to spiral into a panic attack. Breathe. She closed her eyes, trying to get control. Think of something else. Marcus’s voice saying, “Easy, sugar. It’s over. You’re safe, sweetheart.” The way his gaze could take her elsewhere. Breathe.

Her chest loosened, and she opened her eyes.

Jessica had taken her hand.

Galen was frowning. “Let me get you some water.”

“Sorry.” The panic attacks and emotional crap would improve, she knew. Been there, done that.

After she’d passed out in the elevator by Marcus’s room, they’d admitted her to the hospital-just like ten years ago. Same old merry-go-round. Hospital stay, interviews by cops and FBI, dumped on her parents to finish recovering. Panic attacks. Eventually a return to normality.

As Galen handed her the water, Vance walked in. “Hey, Jessica.”

“Hi, Vance.”

“Gabrielle.” The big agent grinned and came over to gently shake her hand. “You look like hell.”

Gabi snorted, feeling better. “Thanks a lot.” She took a sip of water, pleased when it went down without difficulty.

“You seeing Marcus today?” Vance asked.

Just like that, the water stuck in her throat. She choked and coughed and tried not to whimper at the stabbing pains in her ribs. She said hoarsely, “No.”

Vance frowned. “Does he…?” He shook his head. “First things first. Galen, boot up your computer. I have a couple of problems that came up.”

Galen picked up his cane. “Excuse us, ladies.”

As the two men moved away, Gabi turned to Jessica. “Did you and Z… Um.”

The blonde laughed. “We definitely ummed. And Gabi? What you said helped-not only the explanation of the kidnapping stuff, but how Z feels about me. We’re getting married. Soon.”

“Oh. My. God.” Gabi hugged her, ignoring the complaints from her ribs. “That is the best news I’ve had all week.”

“I’m so happy.” Jessica bounced in her chair. Then her brows drew together. “Although he’s still pretty steamed I left the club that night without him. He said something about putting me in leg shackles.”

Gabi snickered. “You poor baby.” After waiting for her voice to steady, she asked, “So how is Marcus? Have you seen him?”

“Yeah, we’ve visited him almost every day-got him groceries and stuff. He seemed a little shocked at first about everybody showing up to help out, but he’s mellowed a lot. Anyway, he’s doing all right, but he’s not supposed to use his arm much. The doctor gave him a sling.”

Relief felt like a cool breath of air. “Good. That’s good.”