Freeing Her (12 page)

“
No, early mornings are
it,” she said.

“
Would you like me to
accompany you?”

Her head snapped up as she looked at him.
“You would do that?”

“
Hell yes. It’s dangerous
to be out there alone and it’s apparent you don’t have any friends
who run. Of course I’ll run with you.”

“
Thank you. I’d like that
very much.”

They arrived at the hospital and Gabby said
to Sam, “I’ll let them know at security that you’ll be bringing us
food. They’ll call me to let me know. You won’t be able to come
through, but I’ll meet you.”

“
That’ll be good, Dr.
M.”

“
Thanks, Sam.”

When they got inside, Gabby led the way
through security and they gave Kolson a visitor’s badge to wear.
She told him he could sit in the office in the back that she used.
As she hit the clinic door, all hell broke loose. A patient had
started a fight with another patient and security had to be called.
One of the nurses took a fist to the face and was escorted to the
emergency department with a suspected broken nose.

The patient was restrained and sedated, and
then admitted. Once he was moved out, three acute withdrawals came
in, so severe they had to be sent to emergency for treatment.

Security called when Sam brought the food,
but a nurse had to get it because Gabby was too tied up. It wasn’t
until after ten that she even had a break to eat. Sam had brought
pizza, so she grabbed a quick piece before finishing her shift. By
eleven, she still had paperwork to complete. She and Kolson didn’t
leave the hospital until after midnight.

“
I am so sorry it’s this
late.”

“
Don’t apologize. It’s not
your fault. I was able to get some work done so it was fine. Is it
like this every time you work here?” Kolson asked.

“
It’s not always quite
this crazy, but it usually is steady.”

“
Gabriella, I never
thought about how dangerous this could be for you.”

She stopped walking and looked at him. “What
do you mean?”

“
That patient could’ve
punched you instead of that nurse.”

Waving her hand, she said, “Oh, that. Stuff
like that happens all the time.”

They stood under the lighted entrance and
she saw his brow crease. “That’s a bit unsettling.”

“
We have good security.
The addicts usually get a little high-strung but there’s someone
around to handle them.”

His dark expression let her know he was not
pleased with her response.

“
Kolson, think about it.
If it were a rampant issue, you’d hear about it all the time. It
just isn’t much of a problem. They’re usually subdued fairly
quickly. Sometimes it can get out of hand, like tonight, but not
very often.”

He nodded, but she could tell he was
concerned. “I guess I never gave it much thought about the risk
involved. You give up a lot for your work. I’m so impressed by
everything you do, Gabriella.”

“
Come on, let’s go home.
I’m beat.”

Silence greeted her, but he followed her to
the waiting car. He was quiet on the drive to her apartment. When
Sam pulled up in front of her building, she said, “I think I can
make it to my place okay.”

“
Nonsense. I’m walking you
up.”

Once they were in front of her door, she
said, “Thanks again for dinner. I’m so sorry it’s this late.”

“
Stop. Gabriella, I have a
new appreciation for what you do. I never imagined it was that
intense.”

“
Oh.” His admission
surprised her.

“
Why do you do it?” he
asked.

“
I like to help people.
It’s because I want to …” She looked down at her knotted fingers.
She didn’t dare tell him the truth about why it was so important to
her. “Those people need help. They need someone to give a damn
because it’s a possibility that no one else does. I want to be that
person.”

“
How lucky they are to
have someone like you. Now, I still owe you a proper dinner. But
you have to tell me when you have a night free.”

She laughed.

“
Before I forget—” he
reached into his pocket—“one of the nurses gave me this to give to
you. Said someone left it for you.”

He handed her a note. When she opened it,
her face blanched and her hand shook as she released it. It floated
to the floor.

Kolson retrieved it and read what it
said.

Not only do I know where your office is,
cunt, I know you work at the hospital too. And guess what else I
know? I’ll have you soon, Gabs.

The motherfucker found her again.

“
Gabriella, it’s okay.” He
put his arm around her and pulled her into his chest. “He doesn’t
know where you live.”

“
How do you know that? He
could’ve followed us.” Her fists gripped his shirt.

“
No, he didn’t. He’s
trying to scare you into thinking he does. You’re safe. I’ll have
someone watch this building just to be sure.”

Her body shook, as she feared what would
happen next. And Kolson seethed as the thought of Danny sending her
that note raced through his mind.

Pulling out his phone, he dialed Sam who was
still waiting curbside.

“
Gabby got another note
while we were at the hospital. Do you notice anyone lurking around
outside?” Pause. “Good. Okay, I’ll be down in a few minutes, but
keep your eyes out.”

Gabby looked up at Kolson, her face shrouded
in alarm. “I’m afraid he’ll find me here.”

“
I know you are, but I’ll
make sure the doormen know not to let him in. He won’t get to you
if I have anything to do about it. Sam says all is clear on the
street. I think he’s only trying to scare you.”

“
No shit. And he’s doing a
damn good job of it.”

“
Would you like to stay
with me tonight?”

“
No, I’m sure it’s fine.
If Sam doesn’t see anyone outside, I’m sure it’s okay.”

“
Sam will be by to take
you to work. And if it’s not Sam, I’ll call to let you know who it
will be.”

“
Thanks. I know you need
to go.”

“
No, I’m fine. Let me
check inside, just in case.”

She unlocked the door and he made a pass
through. All was fine.

“
Call me if you need
anything,” he said.

“
Thank you.”

He gave her a brief kiss and returned to the
waiting car. “I want to keep an eye on her apartment. Now that
Danny has found out more about her, I’m beginning to worry.” Kolson
considered that perhaps Danny was the one they should be following,
not Gabby.

Chapter
Eleven

While Gabby was
with
a patient, a text came in. Once the
patient had gone, Gabby checked the text and saw it was from
Case:
Call me when you have a
minute.

She did so right away. “It’s me.”

“
I have the information
you requested on Kolson Hart.”

“
Perfect. So?”

“
Oh, I don’t work like
that. When can you meet?”

“
I’ll be finished in an
hour.”

“
I’ll come to you,” Case
said. “See you in an hour.”

“
Make it an hour and
fifteen.”

Gabby barely made it through her next
patient because she was preoccupied with what she was going to
learn about Kolson. The minutes crawled by. But Case showed up at
the time he promised, a file in hand: Hart, Kolson (NMN).

“
What’s NMN?”

Case said, “No middle name.”

She flipped it open and started to read.
Age: thirty-two. Biological parents: unknown. Adopted by Langston
and Sylvia Hart at age six. No known biological siblings. Two
adopted brothers, Kestrel Hart and Kade Hart. No known arrests.
Owner and CEO of HTS Enterprises, aka Hart Transportation Services.
Left his father’s employment at the age of twenty-five. Estimated
worth: Hundreds of millions but exact number unknown because his
company is privately held. Bank accounts and financials are
inaccessible. HTS has branches in most large cities in the US and
also owns charter airlines and helicopter services. Kolson Hart
started this business as a taxi driver. No education information
could be found. All records were wiped clean. No adoption records
could be found. Birth certificate and passport have his last name
listed as Hart.

And that was it. Gabby looked at Case.
“Never seen anything like it. His identity is buried. Someone with
major connections has been paid to bury his information. It’s
pretty fucking difficult to do that, you know. Have you Googled
him?”

“
No,” Gabby
answered.

“
Well, don’t bother.
Nothing comes up. Nada. And that’s nearly impossible. Google has
something on everyone. Except for Kolson Hart. I gotta say it
freaked me a little. Now, Gabby, I have a friend—a good friend.
He’s a PI in Denver and is extremely well connected. If you want to
know more than this, I can pick up the phone and call Drexel Wolfe.
He can find out anything because he has access to government stuff
that I don’t. He could probably tell me if this guy was in WITSEC,
which I doubt.”

“
What’s that?”

“
Witness
protection.”

“
Oh my God. Do you think
…”

“
No! I honestly
don’t
think. I was just
saying that Drex can find out things most everyone else can’t. So
if you want me to dig deeper, I can.”

“
Do you think I
should?”

Case eyed her for a second. “Let me ask you
this. Are you comfortable around him?”

“
Um, yeah. I mean
…”

“
What?”

It was a little embarrassing discussing this
with Case. “Well, he, what I mean is …”

“
You like him, don’t you?”
Case asked, grinning.

Gabby felt her cheeks heat. “Yeah, kinda. I
mean, he, well …”

Case busted out laughing. “How long have we
known each other?”

“
Three? Four
years?”

“
Yeah, and I’ve never seen
you this flustered.”

“
That’s it! He flusters
me!”

“
Do you trust him? Not to
harm you?”

“
Without a doubt. I feel
very safe with him. The man is running three mornings a week with
me to keep me safe, for Pete’s sake.”

“
Then I’d let it go.
Sometimes digging into pasts isn’t worth it. There are things
people like to keep private for a reason.”

Gabby certainly agreed with that. “You’re
right. And thanks, Case.”

He gave her a thumbs up.

# # #

Kolson sat at his desk and reviewed the file
in front of him for the umpteenth time. Gabriella was going to run
herself ragged if she didn’t stop with all the volunteer hours.
Between that and the moonlighting at the hospital, she had no life.
He looked at the schedule Tom had given him and this was only a
two-week snapshot of what she’d done. No telling what her past year
had looked like. And she gave away more of her services than she
charged for. It came as no surprise that her financial situation
was in such sad shape. Her heap of debt, while enormous by Gabby’s
standards, was nothing to Kolson. She had no cash flow. She was
behind on all her bills. Her rent was overdue and from what he
could tell, she wasn’t extravagant in the least about how she spent
her money. There simply wasn’t enough of it. He’d gently suggested
as much on their runs together, but she wouldn’t hear any of
it.

Another file sat next to the opened one—it
contained information on John Anthony Martinelli, Gabriella’s
father. A successful attorney in Stamford, Connecticut, it wasn’t
like he couldn’t afford to help her out. The words that had slipped
out of Gabriella’s mouth kept coming back to Kolson. It must be
horrible to have a secret that no one believes. One that hurt you
so terribly, and when you finally garner the courage to tell, they
say you’re lying.

Everything that Kolson saw on Gabriella’s
file pointed to a kind, loving, caring individual. And everything
that he’d uncovered on his own went along with that. So why did her
parents treat her like a pariah? Kolson decided he needed more
information on Danny Martinelli. He called Tom Barrett back and
told him what he required. Barrett said he’d get back to him in a
few days. Kolson believed there had to be something. If there were,
Tom would dig it up for him.

Glancing at his watch, Kolson frowned. He
only had a couple of minutes to look over the paperwork necessary
for his upcoming meeting.

The phone rang and his assistant, Jack, was
on the other end, letting him know his ride awaited him on the
roof. He would be headed to New Jersey for the afternoon. On his
way up to the helicopter, he called Sam.

“
Everything okay on your
end, Sam?”

“
Yes, sir, Mr. H. Mr.
Russell stopped by her office today, but didn’t stay that
long.”

“
Okay. Any sign from
Danny?”

“
No, sir.”

“
Keep your eyes open for
that scum.”

“
No problem,
sir.”

Kolson opened the door to the noise of the
helicopter and climbed aboard. He was in the air moments later.