Taken - Before her very Eyes (26 page)

Summer stepped behind, placed a
foot on his butt and pulled back hard on the board. Percy squirmed and squealed
like a pig in the slaughter house, wiggling back, trying to keep the nails from
sinking deeper in his body.

“Who are you working for!” Summer
relented on the board for a second, but Percy refused to answer so she
continued her attack, pulling back with everything she had. “Who ordered you to
kidnap my daughter!”

“No—Nobody. I—I did—”

Summer jerked the board back then
twisted it sharply to the side, bringing another howl from Percy as he tried to
buck her off his back. “Tell me who ordered this or I’ll rip your fucking
intestines from your body piece by fucking piece!”

“They’ll…They’ll k—kill me if I
do.”

Summer ripped the board with
everything she had and the rusted nails sliced through his flesh, tearing his
shirt wide open as the board came completely freed from his body, bringing an
uncontrollable scream from Percy as he clenched his hand to the gaping hole in
his side.

“I’ll kill you myself if you don’t
tell me who the fuck it is!” Summer swung the board again, sinking the nails
into his side just below where his blood soaked hand was clenched. He jumped
with the impact, eyes snapping wide open and meeting hers. He seemed to
understand at that moment just how serious she was.

“I didn’t hurt her. I—I was
nice.”

Summer raked the nails through
his side and stumbled backwards, staring at the chuck of flesh hanging from the
nails. It brought a sickening feeling to her stomach. This wasn’t her style.
She was the calm controlled cop. Nate—Yeah, Nate could pull this shit off. But
even after everything she’d been through, slowly ripping the man to pieces was
just out of reach for her.

“Get up!” Summer held the board
over her head, ready to use it if need be.

“I—I can’t.” Percy curled into a
ball, holding tight to his side. “It hurts too much.”

“You should’ve thought of that
before you stabbed my husband.” Summer brought the board down enough to sink
the nails through the skin on his back.

“You should’ve thought about that
before you kidnapped my daughter.” She stabbed him again in the back,
encouraging him to get to his feet.

“You should’ve thought of that
before you gunned down John Scott.” One last poke and he slowly got to his
feet, standing, doubled over in pain.

“No—No that wasn’t me. It was…”

“Who!” Summer sunk the nails into
his shoulder, hearing footsteps running down the platform leading to the
boathouse. She knew she was running out of time. Soon the police would arrive
and she wouldn’t be able to strong arm Percy for information anymore.

“I don’t know his real name.” The
footsteps were racing through the connecting room. “But I could…”

Gavin stepped into the room, gun
raised then fired, landing the bullet in the centre of Percy’s forehead. The
back of his head exploded as the bullet whizzed dangerously past Summer’s head.
She stood, frozen in place with the board stuck in Percy’s back as he gasped
his final breath. It all seemed too much of a coincidence that in the matter of
a few hours, two men had been shot dead because of her.

The gunshot echoed throughout the
boathouse, bringing a ringing to her ears which matched the roar of the waves
crashing against the boat launch door. She couldn’t believe what she’d just
witnessed. Her chance to finally put her past to rest was blown away before her
eyes. He was about to cooperate. Percy was going to say he could ID the man
who’d orchestrated this whole charade when Gavin shot him dead.

“What the hell did you do that
for!” Summer screamed over the roar of the crashing waves.

Gavin looked terrified standing
there with the gun shaking in his hands. He stood like a statue, watching as Percy
crumbled before him, pulling the board from Summer’s hands as he fell.

“It—It’s all right now, Summer.”
Gavin stepped over Percy’s body and placed an arm loosely around her shoulder.
“He can’t hurt you anymore.”

“Hurt me!” Summer shoved Gavin,
stumbling back over Percy’s body. “I was the one doing the hurting. What the
hell were you thinking? I had everything under control. I was the one who was
getting him to talk and you—you killed him!”

Gavin’s nervousness turned to
anger for a split second before he regained his composure. He looked around
nervously and quickly tucked the gun in his waist band. “I—I came through the
door and I—I thought he was hurting you. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have fired so
fucking fast, but… I saw your bloodied face and just figured…”

“Well, you figured wrong.” Summer
flung her damp hair back, then bent down beside Percy and did the formalities
of feeling for a pulse, but like she’d known, there wasn’t any to be found. She
started to stand when she spotted Percy’s cell phone on the platform next to
his body. After glancing at Gavin, who was busy checking to see if anybody was
coming, Summer snatched the phone and slid it into her pocket.

“He had a gun,” Gavin said,
looking through the doorway into the next room. “Didn’t he?”

“I don’t know.” Summer stood and
stepped over Percy’s body. “He did when he shot Nate. Had to be a rifle. Had to
have a scope to make that kind of shot.”

“So, you’ll back me. Tell them
that he was armed and dangerous.”

“That wouldn’t be lying,” Summer
said, trying to remain calm even though she knew Gavin had meant to kill Percy
the second he saw him. Maybe it was his way of making up for his criminal past,
wanting to right the wrong permanently? “Hell, Percy
was
very dangerous.
He almost killed me up in that house.”

Summer couldn’t help but notice
how nervous Gavin was acting right now, but he had just killed a man and she
knew he wasn’t in any hurry to return to prison. “Why don’t you give me that
gun so the cops don’t accidentally shoot you when they arrive?”

“No! It’s fine,” Gavin snapped,
then quickly changed his mood as he stepped into the next room. “Dean? Where
the hell did you take off to?”

Summer raced to the doorway,
watching as Dean entered the next room holding onto Sabrina’s hand. The image
was terrible. Dean was battered and bleeding, but the smile on his face—that
smile—it filled her heart so completely. Something she thought would never be
possible again in this lifetime. Dean looked like shit, teetering on the edge
of his death bed, but he was there for Sabrina and her, even though he should
be in the hospital.

“Went for a little joy ride,
Gavin.” He threw a wink in Summer’s direction. “Sorry, couldn’t wait for you.”

Summer stepped into the room,
blocking Dean and Sabrina’s view of the carnage in the boat room. “You found
her.”

Dean tipped his head toward the
doorway. “Is he…”

Summer nodded, bent down and
hoisted Sabrina on her hip despite the incredible pain it caused. “Thanks to
Gavin here. He saved my life in there.”

“Wow, a real h—hero in the family.”
Dean reached out to slap Gavin on the shoulder, but fell into him instead.

Summer felt her world starting to
disintegrate before her eyes. Dean didn’t look good at all. He’d lost plenty of
blood after the stabbing and as she looked at the blood soaked cloth taped to
his side, she didn’t know how much more he could take.

“Shit, he’s still bleeding. Get
him in the other room and lay him down.” Summer rushed through the boathouse
and stood staring around at the chairs, but there was no place to lay Dean
down. “Better yet, let’s get him up to the main house. It’ll save time when the
ambulance arrives.”

“That’s not a good idea,” Gavin
said. “We shouldn’t move him.”

“What the hell do you suggest? We
leave him down here to…” Summer gave Sabrina a squeeze and hoisted her higher
on her hip, then glared at Gavin. “Take him up to the house and put him in the
back room. We’ll follow right behind.”

Gavin hesitated momentarily
before slinging Dean’s arm over his shoulder and dragging his staggering body
from the boathouse. “He’s lost a fucking shitload of blood already and he’ll
lose even more trying to climb those stairs.”

“Then I suggest you carry him.”
Summer followed behind Gavin and Dean, watching the trail of blood droplets
that were splattered on the wooden planks. “That is, if you’re capable.”

“I’m capable. Don’t you worry
about that?” Gavin scooped up Dean when they reached the bottom of the stairs
and stumbled to get his balance, then started up the steps toward the beach
house.

Summer stopped on the first landing
and shifted Sabrina to her other side, refusing to let her go for any
reason—even excruciating pain and exhaustion. Summer stared at Sabrina’s image
against the backdrop of the turbulent waves racing to the shore. She saw the
glimmer in her beautiful tea coloured eyes and it brought such joy to her
heart. She hadn’t noticed it for the last months, but it’d always been there.
Summer didn’t think she’d ever be able to let Sabrina go again in her lifetime.
She had been there for Sabrina in body, but not totally there in her heart. But
after such a trying experience today, she realized how precious Sabrina was. Glancing
at the slumping form in Gavin’s arms, she knew Dean truly did care about
Sabrina—and her, too.

The way Gavin was struggling up
the last few steps, Summer wasn’t sure if he’d be able to make it to the house
at all. His breathing was laboured and his legs were quivering with each step
he took. When Gavin stepped onto the upper platform, he dropped to his knees,
setting Dean on the cold hard cement.

“I… I can’t… anymore.”

Summer knew exactly how Gavin
felt, her legs were throbbing from carrying Sabrina and they felt like rubber,
ready to bend and fold to the ground at any moment.

“That’s okay, just leave him
there for a minute and rest.” Summer set Sabrina down and held tight to her
hand, nudging her away from the side of the cliff.

There was a distant wail of
sirens every time the wind relented, bringing a nervous anxiety to her body,
wondering if the ambulance would arrive in time. Summer bent beside Dean and
noticed he was still conscious and breathing. The bleeding had slowed since
they’d set him down, but she still wanted him inside the house, that much
closer to the ambulance.

“Gavin…” Summer said, turning
around and seeing the top of his head disappear down the staircase. “Where the
hell are you going?”

Gavin didn’t stop or even take
the time to respond. He continued down the stairs toward the boathouse—and
Percy’s body.

Summer let go of Sabrina’s hand.
“Hold onto Mommy’s coat and don’t let go for anything.” She hoisted Dean’s arm
over her shoulder and strained to lift him from the ground. It took everything
she had, but she managed to get him back to his feet. She could hear the wail
of the ambulance growing louder with each step she took as they struggled
toward the patio doors. The warmth of blood coated her side and she realized
that she was only making Dean’s injury worse, but she had no choice. She had to
keep him moving. She couldn’t sit like a duck, waiting to be rescued.

Ten feet from the patio doors and
Summer felt her stomach churn. The ambulance had arrived, but not at this
house. It was over at Percy’s grandmother’s place. She could see the lights
flashing on the hilltop just off the road.

“Damn it!” She stepped through
the doorway and dropped Dean to the ceramic tiled floor, then rummaged through
her pocket for the cell phone she’d confiscated from Percy. She opened it and
was about to dial 911 when she saw the last number dialled was still displayed.
She pressed down on the selection button, highlighting the number, then pressed
the connect button.

The phone rang, but not just in
her ear. She heard the receiving phone ringing somewhere over the edge of the
cliff.

“Gavin? Gavin’s behind all this?”
The ringing stopped, cut short by the receiving phone. He must have gone down
there looking for Percy’s phone. The only thing tying him to the crime. But now
he knows I’m onto him—and he’s still got the gun.

Hurrying, Summer dragged Dean
across the floor, smearing blood in his wake toward the side garage door. She
had to get out. Had to get away from Gavin. It wasn’t until they were halfway
to the mudroom that her gun slipped free from Dean’s waistband. It sat there in
the middle of the bloodstained floor like a treasure waiting to be taken by the
worthy.

Summer hit the redial button a
second time and heard the ringing even louder as Gavin raced up the last steps
onto the top platform. His face was red with anger. His brown eyes narrowed and
beady as he stared right at Summer.

“Couldn’t fucking leave it
alone?” He stood bent over, gasping for breath. “Couldn’t fucking walk away and
let it be, now could you!”

“Run Sabrina! Go through the
garage. Get out of the house!”

“Mommy, I can’t. I don’t want
to—”

“Go! Now!”

Sabrina ran through the mudroom
into the garage and a moment later Summer heard the garage door open. She felt
better knowing that at least her little girl would survive this day.

“I was only trying to help you,
Summer. They ordered a hit on John Scott and I was more than willing to take
the job. It should’ve been easy. Should’ve been all taken care of in the jail,
but no, your buddies decided to break up the fight before Seth could finish the
job. Honest, I was only trying to help you.”

Summer took a step toward the
patio doors. “You hired Percy to kill Dean?”

“I did what had to be done to get
John Scott out in the open. Besides, Percy was a total fuckup. He was only
supposed to get Dean out of the way.” Gavin forced a smile and tried his best
to look happy. “Summer, don’t you feel better knowing that John Scott finally
paid the price for what he did to you?”