Flee, p.23
Flee, page 23
“I love you, Gage,” Dawn whispered against his lips.
“You don’t have to say that,” he argued.
She shook her head, their noses bumping. “I’m not just saying it. It’s the truth. You scare me. You have since we met. I wanted you the first time I saw you, but we don’t make sense. You’re smart and successful, and I’m an addict with a target on my back. I wish we could have met a different way, but I will love you until I die. If things were different, I would love you a whole lot longer than I have.”
Gage sucked in a breath, the reality hitting him hard. “Do everything possible to come back to me. Please.”
She nodded. “I will. I promise.”
“Okay, now, how are we getting you out of here?”
Dawn watched Gage slip out of her room and prayed it wouldn’t be the last time she saw him. She was scared. She knew what she was doing was dangerous, but she couldn’t leave Savannah with that madman.
Gage was going to distract Zeke long enough for Dawn to get to the garage. Walker was sleeping, so she only needed to get past Zeke to get out of there. Dawn felt guilty for leaving, but she couldn’t hide and hope someone else saved her daughter. Trevor wanted Dawn. So he’d get Dawn.
Footsteps passed by the bedroom. A door closed and Dawn opened her door. No one was in the hallway and the bathroom door was closed. She pulled her bedroom door closed silently, twisting the knob to close the door and hoping it was quiet enough to get away.
The keys for the SUV were on a hook by the door, since Zeke and Walker both needed access. Dawn grabbed the keys and opened the garage door. She closed it quietly and tiptoed to the vehicle.
The interior lit up when she opened the door, so she got in quickly, being careful not to slam the door. Zeke would only stay in the bathroom looking at the fake leak Gage was telling him about for so long. Even though he wouldn’t know she was gone, he’d hear the garage door and know what was going on.
Dawn put her foot on the brake and pressed the ignition button at the same time she hit the button to open the garage. She stared at the door leading to the house, waiting for someone to come flying through it. She glanced in the mirror, hoping the garage door was faster than Zeke.
As soon as the garage looked high enough for the SUV to clear it, she put the vehicle into reverse and started out the garage. Slow wasn’t an option when they’d be after her any second. She hit the button to close the garage door and hit the gas to back down the short driveway fast.
Dawn backed out onto the quiet street just as the front door opened. Zeke ran outside, yelling at her to stop.
Dawn ignored him and took off. She had to save her daughter. No matter the consequences.
24
“What in the hell is wrong with you?” Zeke yelled at Gage. “You let her go? You encouraged this?”
“You know she’d never forgive herself. How can you blame me?”
“Because you love her. Why would you let her do this, help her do this, if you love her?”
“It’s because I love her! Because she’ll never be the woman I love if she sits here and does nothing while her daughter is raped and beaten and murdered by that sick fuck. So stop being mad at me and do your fucking job and help her.”
Zeke glared at Gage. He ran a hand over his head and shook his head. “She’s not coming back.”
“I know. And she knows. But she’s willing to take that chance.”
Zeke ran a hand down his face. He closed his eyes.
“You’re former military, right?”
Zeke nodded.
“You would have given your life for strangers, for people you’ve never met. You have to understand she would do the same for her child.”
Zeke nodded. “I do understand, but I don’t want her to end up dead.”
“Then help her. There was no way you would have been able to stop her, so help her. Get your team there. Fix this.”
“She knows where he is?” Zeke asked.
Gage shrugged. “She has a guess. The only place that makes sense.”
Zeke narrowed his eyes for a second, then sighed when he figured it out. “Davis Developments. Where she can give him access.”
Gage nodded. “That’s what we figured.”
“And that’s where she’s headed.”
“It is. But you can’t stop her.”
“Stop who? What’s going on?” Walker asked, rubbing his eyes and taking in the room.
Zeke was standing on the front porch, the door wide open. Gage was right behind him, inside but exposed.
“What the hell are you two doing? A rookie could pick you off without a second thought,” Walker barked. He yanked Gage back, then reached for Zeke.
Zeke walked in and closed the door. “Dawn’s gone.”
“What the hell do you mean, she’s gone?”
“She took the SUV and fled. Trevor has her kid.”
“What? How the fuck did that happen?” Walker snapped.
Zeke walked away from the door and laid the whole story out for Walker. By the end, Walker was pacing like a caged animal ready for a snack.
“Why the hell are we still standing here?” Walker asked.
“Because she needs time to get there,” Gage said.
“I thought you cared about her. Why the fuck are we giving her time to get to a crazy son-of-a-bitch?”
“Because she has to. She made this choice. It’s no different than joining up and serving our country,” Zeke said.
“Fuck that. This is all kinds of different. How many times did you go into hostile territory alone? How many missions did you go on without your team? Without backup and backup for your backup? Or training or communication or someone knowing every fucking thing you were about to do? This isn’t the same thing. Don’t try to lie to make yourself feel better. You let her go. You’re to blame if he kills her.” Walker turned his glare on Gage. “So are you. When you love someone, you do everything you can to protect them. Even if it means protecting them from themselves or from someone they love. You don’t let her go off on her own to face a psycho.”
“Don’t tell me I don’t love her. I’d do anything for her. Including helping her save her daughter,” Gage snarled at Walker.
“You have a twisted fucking way of showing that,” Walker snapped back.
Zeke stepped between the two of them as they each took a step toward the other.
Gage knew Walker could lay him out with one hit, but he was willing to take it. He loved Dawn. He would have given his life for her. But she was the only one who could save Savannah. So Gage did what he could to help her get there.
“Stop fucking fighting and let’s go. We know where she’s going,” Zeke said.
Walker glared at Gage again, then turned his look toward Zeke. “Did you at least let Montgomery know?”
“Yeah. He’s reaching out to Marcus and sending a team to get us. Since we don’t have a ride.”
“Let’s get ready. We have no idea what we’ll be walking in to.”
A black SUV was in the parking lot of Davis Developments when Dawn arrived. The windows were dark, making it impossible for her to see if someone was in the vehicle or not. It didn’t matter. She knew where she had to go.
The front door was unlocked, something that didn’t surprise her and told her she was in the right place. Dawn swiped her badge at the desk and the gate beeped, then whooshed open for her to enter.
It wasn’t hard to guess where Trevor was. His father’s old office. The one Tabitha insisted Dawn use for her own. Dawn hadn’t set it up yet, but she had her computer there. And a picture of Savannah on the desk. That was as far as she went toward personalizing the space she didn’t feel was hers.
Dawn made it to the door and saw Savannah tied to a chair in the corner. One of the plastic chairs from the conference room next door, not a chair that was normally in the office. Trevor sat in Dawn’s chair, staring at the pictures on the wall, left over from his father.
“I always thought this would be my office one day,” Trevor said. “When I was young, it was exciting to think about coming here and building something like he did.”
“What changed?” Dawn asked.
Savannah looked up at Dawn. Savannah’s eyes went wide and tears fell freely from them, soaking into the already drenched fabric tied around her mouth. “Mom,” she tried to say.
Dawn moved toward Savannah, but Trevor spun in his chair and pointed his gun at Savannah.
“You don’t need to go over there. Sit down right here.” He pointed to the chair on the other side of the desk. When Dawn didn’t move, he cocked the gun.
Savannah squealed, and Dawn hurried forward.
“I’m sitting. Leave her out of this. She has nothing to do with it.”
Trevor chuckled. “She has everything to do with this. Don’t you get it? She’s your heir. This will all be hers one day. At least, that’s how these things are supposed to work.” He focused over Dawn’s shoulder at Savannah. “Unless someone sneaks in and steals what belongs to you, Savannah. It’s like your mom never learned about sharing or being a good person. You know what I’m talking about.”
Savannah whimpered again, but Dawn didn’t look back at her.
“I never asked for this. I didn’t know your father had so much until after he died.”
“It doesn’t really matter, though. Because you benefited from it. You got what was supposed to be mine. You got my money, and then you cut off the access my father gave me to move money through the company. Everything was fine until you took over.”
“He never would have done that,” Dawn said.
Trevor snorted. “Oh, he did. He wanted to make sure I didn’t hurt anyone. That whore you meet with all the time? Tabitha went and tattled on me like a little bitch. If it wasn’t for her, dear old dead dad wouldn’t have had to give me access. And you’re going to give it back to me.”
“After you let Savannah go,” Dawn said.
Trevor looked at Savannah, then Dawn, then shook his head. “Nah. She stays.”
“I’m not going to do anything until you let her go. You have me. You don’t need her.”
“You don’t think so?” Trevor stood. He held Dawn’s gaze as he walked across the room.
Dawn turned to watch him.
He stopped in front of Savannah and tilted her chin up. “We’ve had fun together. She’s a feisty one.” He pressed the tip of his gun to her chest. He dragged it down, exposing the edge of her bra. “But she learned it’s better to do what I say. Right, beautiful?”
Savannah cried and tried to move away from him, but Trevor grabbed her hair and yanked her up. Her hands kept her bound to the chair.
“Stop!” Dawn shouted. She was out of her chair and moving toward them when Trevor swung the gun around to her.
“If you don’t sit down and do what I say, one of you gets a bullet. I don’t really care who gets one first, but you’re more valuable to me, so I’m leaning toward putting one in her pretty chest. Right between these plump tits.” He nudged one of Savannah’s breasts with the edge of the gun.
“Get away from her, and I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”
Trevor grinned. “Perfect. That’s all I’m asking for.”
He took a step away from Savannah, and Dawn breathed for the first time since he got up. He walked toward Dawn and pointed to the chair he vacated with the gun. “You need to be at the controls.”
Dawn stood and walked around her desk. She sat down at the chair and logged in. “Why did you kill your father?”
“Because he told me he gave everything I earned to someone else.”
“How did you earn it?” Dawn opened her email so she could send a message to someone, but she wasn’t sure who to send an email to. She didn’t have Gage’s email, and he wouldn’t be checking, anyway. She didn’t know how to contact Rose Protection Agency or the FBI or anyone. She was alone.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Trevor barked.
“What? Nothing?” Dawn stammered. She closed the email and went to the accounts.
“Why do you care how I earned my money? Why are you stalling? I told you to come alone!” He was out of his seat and pressing the gun to Savannah’s head again.
“I did! I did! No one is here.”
“Then why are you stalling?”
“Because I figured if I’m going to die, I want to know why.”
Trevor glared at her. “You want to know the whole story? How your favorite patient was such a horrible man, and an even worse father?”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Yeah, well, he was.” Trevor took the gun from Savannah’s head and sat down again. He looked over Dawn’s shoulder at one of the pictures. “My mother was the most amazing person in the world. She always watched out for my brother and me. When she died, we lost both our parents. Dad put everything into this place. He worked long hours and barely spoke to us when he came home. My brother and I learned to fend for ourselves. Clyde took to stealing. Got caught by the wrong person and ended up getting involved with Damon Street.”
Dawn gasped.
“I see you know the name?”
Dawn nodded. “I’ve heard it.”
“Everyone has. But not everyone knows that Damon murdered my brother. When he did, I decided I’d get my revenge. It took me a lot of years, but I got my revenge. I took the one thing Damon wanted. His position of power. Because I had something he never did. A rich daddy.”
“And the money helped you get ahead.”
“It’s still helping me. See, my boss needs this money. Needs the access to funnel our funds. If it’s gone, I’m no longer as useful. That’s not an option for me.”
“And when your dad said he gave it to someone else, you killed him because you were angry. Why not just talk to him?”
“I’m a man of action. Speaking of action.” Trevor stood and went to Savannah again. “Quit stalling and return my access. Pension fund, benevolence fund, city maintenance, and Davis Investments. I want in on all of it.”
“I can’t do that,” Dawn said.
He cocked the gun again and pointed it at Savannah’s head. “Try again.”
“No! No! I don’t have access to all of that. I can do the pension and benevolence, but the investment fund isn’t something I’ve ever accessed.”
“Fine. Do those. And the maintenance fund.”
Dawn nodded. Her stomach turned as she reversed the work she and Tabitha did to cut him out of their system. They could do it again, but he wouldn’t stop. He would keep coming back.
“Where is the money going?”
“Do you think I’m dumb enough to tell you that?”
“If you kill me, this will all be erased tomorrow. Everyone knows what you’ve been doing. Tabitha and the rest of the executive team will revert all these privileges in a day.”
“They wouldn’t dare.”
“Why not? Why would they let you ruin this company? You might hate your father, but these people don’t. These people loved him. He gave everything he had to them. He was like a father to them. A grandfather. He treated them like family. Giving everything he had to them. Making sure they knew how much they were valued and appreciated.”
“Like he never did to me. Is that what you’re trying to say? Get me upset. Make me emotional and angry. Do you really think I care? That the old man’s thoughts are news to me? He was a shitty father. He never put me first. I’m guessing that’s why he left everything to you. Because he knows you’re the same as he was. Another parent who couldn’t care less about their kid. I mean, do you know how easy it was for me to talk Savannah into my vehicle? Do you have any idea? All I had to tell her was that you were stuck at work and sent me. It happened so many times that she didn’t even think twice about it being a lie.” He turned back to Savannah and smiled. “Isn’t that right?”
Savannah pleaded and apologized to Dawn with her eyes.
Dawn smiled at her daughter. She would always have things to make up for, but getting Savannah caught in the middle of this because she wasn’t a good enough parent was something she could never forgive herself for.
“You’re right,” Dawn said. “Your father thought of me as his daughter. He thought of me as the child he always wanted but never had. Who could blame him after two disappointments like you and Clyde? I mean, really, did you think all of this was going to make things better? That you could steal his money and feel like you got what you deserved? I know you think he did, but he was dying anyway. And one of his last actions when he was alive was to make sure you knew exactly what he thought of you. Exactly how much you meant to him.”
“Shut up, you stupid bitch. You don’t know anything!” Trevor came at her.
Dawn grabbed the letter opener from her desk and stabbed Trevor with it. She hit his thigh, so it wouldn’t kill him, but it was enough to send him to his knees.
Dawn scrambled the other way around the desk and grabbed Savannah. She was heavy, especially in the chair, but Dawn used the adrenaline coursing through her and half-dragged-half-carried Savannah out of the office.
Dawn went into the conference room next door, even though she knew Trevor wouldn’t stay down for long.
She pulled the gag from Savannah’s mouth.
“Mom! He’s going to kill us.”
“Shh! I know. But I had to try to get you away from him.” She ducked her head to work on the ties holding Savannah to the chair and heard Trevor stand in the room. Something fell off her desk, or was thrown.
He shouted, his footsteps heavy as he tried to follow them.
Dawn got Savannah’s hands free, and they both untied one of her ankles. She wasn’t tied very tight or very well, which made it easy to free her.
“Mom?” Savannah whispered.
“Stay behind me. No matter what. Do you understand me?”
Savannah nodded.
“I love you.”
“I love you, Mom.”
