The Hitman – Chapter 15

Gabriel paused as a wave of dizziness washed over him, blurring his vision for a moment, but slowly cleared as he moved forward again within the maze.  Surely it could not be that complicated, he thought. Stone couldn’t have had enough time to erect too sophisticated a maze.

However, add on the fact that he had a deadly poison racing through his blood stream and only 15 minutes… check that… 12 minutes to work his way to the middle to Rachel and the antidote, it just might become more complicated than it should be.

Images of Rachel’s beautiful sweet face shimmered in his mind's eye.  Dio, how he loved her!  She was so giving and thoughtful, so courageous and stubborn and full of love.

Love that he craved, yet he knew he did not deserve.

Despite his deep sense of unworthiness, he could not… would not… allow Stone to win.  A world without Rachel would not be a world worth living in as far as he was concerned. 

So, with determined steps, he moved more swiftly down the row to the first right turn then stopped. There were only two ways he could go. Straight or turn right again. He decided to turn, praying it was the correct way.

About half way down the row, there was another turn to the left. He took it and followed it as it made several right and left turns then dead-ended.

“Shit!”

“Gabriel,” Rachel called to him, tears evident in her voice. “Please hurry.”

Spurned on by the fear in her voice, Gabriel turned back the way he came and stumbled, his knees nearly buckling underneath him.  He caught himself, but he had to stop and let another dizzy spell pass.  Sweat broke out on his face as he rested a moment.  When the dizziness was gone, he pushed himself off and half ran, half stumbled back down the way he’d come.

“Think, damn you,” he growled when he reached another fork in the maze and had to make another decision. Any wrong turn could cost him precious time. Time he didn’t have.

“What’s the matter, Hawk? Can’t figure out a simple maze?” Stone taunted him from just beyond the darkness.

“Fuck you, Stone,” Gabriel lashed out furiously, then made the decision to go straight. He stumbled again, his hand coming out to hit the plywood wall beside him to steady himself as a sharp pain gripped and twisted his gut.  Doubling over and struggling for air, Gabriel panicked for a moment, thinking he was going to pass out, but then just as quickly, it passed and after several deep breathes he was able to continue forward.

Crazed laughter followed him as he made his way through the maze, making a series of left and right turns before he was forced into another decision.

Lying on the ground behind him, forgotten, was Gabriel’s gun that had slipped from his numb fingers when his hand had hit the wall.  The loud noise it made had fallen on deaf ears that were filled with the roar of an angry beast that mercilessly gnawed at his insides.  

~*~

Rachel worked furiously at the rope that tied her wrists. Other than her brief call for Gabriel to hurry, she had kept her mouth shut. She could not help him if she dissolved into a panicked mess, so she’d taken several deep calming breaths and made herself think.

The only way she could help him was to try and get the ropes loosened from her wrists. If she could free herself, then she could get to him with the vial. She had so much she wanted to say to him - desperately needing to tell him how much she loved him - and that she’d made a mistake in sending him away. She needed him. She and Abigail needed him and she couldn’t bare the thought of losing him.

Several minutes passed with no luck and she was beginning to feel the frustration of failure, of hopelessness.

“Please,” she whispered as fresh tears streamed down her face. “Please, God. Do not let it end this way. Do not let Martin win.”

Just then she felt the rope loosen a bit. She still couldn’t pull her hands free, but hope flared back up in her heart and vigorously she worked her hands back and forth, her heart hammering wildly in her chest.

~*~

Gabriel knew his time was quickly running out. He’d hit another dead end and had to backtrack. His whole body ached now, the sharp twisting pain in his stomach was becoming more constant and he was sweating profusely. His vision blurred and cleared almost continuously and he was finding it harder to breathe… harder to walk.

So, when he stumbled around another turn, he blinked in surprise to find Rachel sitting a few feet before him.

“Rachel…”

Her head shot up and she froze, their eyes colliding. “Gabriel,” she whispered and wanted to cry out in denial at the pale, weak, sweating man barely standing before her.

Then her reason returned and she quickly added, “Hurry, the vial is here in my lap.”

Gabriel started forward, but stopped again when he saw Martin step out from behind a plywood wall behind Rachel. He had a pistol in his hand and a malicious grin on his face.

“I knew you could do it, Hawk.  I was actually hoping you would.” He walked up to stand beside Rachel, delighted at the horror he saw in her face.

“No!” she barely whispered in a broken voice, her eyes wide with dread and fear. 

Martin turned cold, dead looking eyes on her and his smile deepened.  “You didn’t think I would actually let him have this, do you, Rach?”

He leaned over her to retrieve the vial between her legs. He purposely allowed his arm to press against her breast and his fingers to brush against her crotch as he grabbed the vial. He laughed when she closed her eyes and shuddered.

Filled with disgust, Rachel’s eyes flew open and before she could stop herself, she spat in his face. Furious, Martin snarled and drew back his fist and slammed it against the side of her face. Rachel felt the pain explode in her head and fought against the darkness that wanted to rush up and greet her.

Gabriel was livid. The thought of that bastard putting his hands on Rachel was enough to make him see red, but to see him strike her...

“Figlio di puttana,” he roared and rushed forward, “I will kill you.”

Martin swung around to face Gabriel. He quickly brought the pistol up and fired just as Rachel screamed. Gabriel lunged at Martin and hit him, the impact sending them both sprawling to the ground.

Rachel forced herself to focus, desperately shaking off the need to pass out. She saw the pistol fly through the air in one direction as the vial skittered along the wall another. Ignoring the pounding ache in her head and the blood that trickled down the side of her face from a cut on her cheek, she began to work the rope at her wrists with renewed vigor, knowing she had to get to that vial.

The two men rolled several times as each tried to get in a good punch or kick. Gabriel could feel his strength waning and he tried to get Martin into a choke hold, but to no avail. Martin pushed him away and scrambled to his feet, looking around wildly for both his gun and the vial.

In a burst of energy, Gabriel shot up to his feet and swung out, his fist connecting with Martin’s face. Martin stumbled back and hit the wall behind him. He stood there dazed for a moment, then suddenly he screamed in rage and charged Gabriel.

Gabriel stood his ground, his mind whirling with the effects of the poison, but he met Martin with a solid punch to the gut.  He then slammed his other fist into the side of Martin’s face and sent him sprawling across the floor.

Unable to stand any longer, Gabriel sank to his knees helplessly. A sharp twisting pain started in his gut and worked its way throughout his body, leaving him barely able to move.

Martin shot up to his feet in triumph.

In his hand… held the vial.

He walked over to Gabriel with a wicked gleam and sent his foot viciously into Gabriel’s stomach.

Gabriel grunted in pain, his vision distorted, his breathing coming out in shallow gasps as his arms curled around his stomach, his legs involuntarily drawing up until he was in a fetal position.

“I’ve won, you scum sucking pig. I’ve beaten the great and mighty Hawk. Just as I knew I would.” He bent over and dangled the vial in front of Gabriel, taunting him with it. “And now you will die and the last thing you will see will be me taking my pleasure with that bitch before I slit her throat.”

“No…” it was little more than a croak, but it was all Gabriel could do. He had nothing left. He had failed Rachel and now he would die with the agony of knowing that she would suffer at the hands of that bastard.

Martin laughed and straightened up.

Just then a loud *bang* echoed in the warehouse.

Martin stumbled, but caught himself.  Frowning at the burning sensation in his back, he turned around to find Rachael standing a few feet away with his pistol in her hand. 

“Die, you fucking bastard,” she hissed as she fired again, the bullet hitting a wide-eyed Martin in the center of his forehead.

For a moment, she didn’t move. It all seemed so unreal to her as she watched Martin crumple to the floor dead. She had just killed her husband and all she could do was stand there and stare blankly at him.  Then, as if her mind finally caught up with the events, her body began to shake.  Her hands trembled violently as she lowered the gun to her side and the reality of what she had done hit her.

Slowly, she moved closer to Martin’s fallen body.  In death, his features had softened, had become almost boyish, reminding her of the man she had fallen in love with so many years ago.  For a brief moment, she felt sorrow and her heart mourned for the man he had once been:  a devoted, loving husband and father.

When the moment had passed, she felt a profound sense of relief.  Relief that it was finally over; that she and Abigail were finally free, and a renewed hope that she and Gabriel could work everything out.

“Raach…”

Rachel blinked several times, returning to the present. “Oh God, Gabriel!” she moaned in disbelief and closed the rest of the distance between her and Martin.  Falling to her knees, she grabbed at Martin’s hand, her whole being now centered on getting the antidote to Gabriel and saving his life.

Prying the vial out of Martin’s dead hand, she half stumbled, half crawled over to where Gabriel lay. Tears flooded her eyes, streaming down her face as she quickly lifted his head and struggled to prop him up so he could drink the contents without choking on it.

“Tooo laaate,” he breathed weakly then coughed.  Gabriel knew that it was too late, that he was dying.  He accepted it willingly as penitence for the malevolent life he’d chosen to lead.

And now, as he gazed up into the beautiful face of an angel, he knew that he could die in peace.  Rachel was safe.

“No!” she yelled at him and pulled the top of the vial off with her teeth. She pressed it to his mouth. “Drink, Gabriel,” she commanded harshly. “Drink it, or so help me, I’ll find a way to make you suffer in the afterlife.”

He made a choking sound that sounded strangely like laughing and his mouth opened. Rachel poured the entire contents in and tossed the vial away as Gabriel swallowed. She was about to gather him close when she noticed a large blood stain on the front of his shirt.

“What…” her fingers drifted over a hole in his shirt – in the middle of his chest - and vague memories of a gun shot permeated her mind. “Oh no,” she whispered as a new fear threatened to choke her. She remembered Martin firing his gun, but she hadn’t realized that the shot had actually hit Gabriel.

Their gazes met in silent understanding, only one of them refused to accept and believe.

“No,” she denied again, shaking her head almost violently.  “It is not supposed to end this way!”

 
“It is… too… l-late for… me,” he forced out in a bare whisper.

“No!” she sobbed in stubborn defiance.  “I won’t lose you!”

“Safe… now.” His eyes fluttered closed as a sigh left his lips. “I… love…y-yo…”

He went limp in her arms before he could finish. Rachel stared at him as if she expected him to open his eyes again and continue. “Gabriel?”

She touched his face frantically, looking for any signs of life. “Gabriel?” she called to him again, her voice rising in near hysteria.

“No, no, no,” she sobbed, her heart splintering into a million pieces when she realized he was gone. She pulled him up so she could cradle his head against her breasts and she rocked him back and forth, tears falling freely down her cheeks.

“I love you, Gabriel Montelone,” she cried softly. “I love you.”

~*~

6 months later…

“Will you be all right, Rachel?” Detective Harry Stanford asked as they stepped out into the warm sunshine.

Rachel smiled at the handsome detective. He’d been her shadow ever since he’d arrived at the warehouse six months before and had stepped in to help her through the entire ordeal of making statements and taking depositions and appearing in court.

Rachel glanced back at the courthouse where she’d just been exonerated of the murder charges of Martin Stone.  With Detective Stanford’s help and the evidence of taped conversation of Martin putting a contract out on her, the court agreed that she had killed her husband in self-defense and now that it was all over, she and Abigail could get on with their lives.

Turning her attention back to the detective who’d become a good friend in the past six months, she nodded with a smile.  “Yes, Harry, I’ll be fine.” 

Deep down, Rachel knew that Harry Stanford wanted more from her than friendship – knew that he was attracted to her – but she couldn’t give him what he wanted.  Her heart still mourned for Gabriel.  Even after six months, it hurt to think about him being gone forever.

“What will you and Abby do now?” he asked, drawing her back once more from her musings.

“I'll sell the house,” she answered without hesitation.  “Abby and I need a fresh start.”

“You won’t leave the area, will you?” Harry asked, his tone tinged with concern.

Rachel sighed inwardly.  She had hoped to avoid this.  “Yes, I think it would be for the best,” she answered, her gaze taking in Harry’s sudden nervousness.  “Too many bad memories here.”

Harry shifted his feet, his gaze dropping down to the ground before finally forcing himself to look at her.  “I had wanted to wait,” he began then paused to lick his dry lips, “until after all this was over.  I wanted to tell you…” his voice faded away when he saw her shaking her head slowly, a look of sadness filling her beautiful green eyes.

“Please don’t,” she whispered softly.  “I know what you want, Harry and I… I just can’t.”  She sighed heavily, hating the hurt look in his hazel eyes.  “You’ve been such a good friend to me through all of this, Harry.  I don’t know that I could’ve gotten through it without your support and belief in my innocence, but you’re asking for something that I’m not ready give, let alone even contemplate right now.”

“It’s because of him, isn’t it?”

Him…

Rachel had suspected all along that Harry knew about her relationship with Gabriel.  Harry was a good detective and it had been his relentless search for evidence that had finally won her acquittal before the grand jury.  And even though Gabriel had never been spoken of between them, she would not insult his intelligence by lying to him now.

“Yes,” she answered simply.

Harry blinked in surprise at her admission.  He had expected her to lie about it.  “Then he is the father of…”

Rachel’s arms moved protectively around the small mound of her stomach, but didn’t respond.  Harry’s hazel eyes flashed with anger and he reached out to grasp her upper arm almost roughly.  “Who was he, Rachel?  Who was the Hawk and where is he now?”

Whatever sympathy Rachel had felt for Harry disappeared in a flash.  “Don’t you dare!” she snapped and jerked her arm away from his grasp.  “Don’t you dare use my attempt to be honest with you against me.”

“Rachel,” he growled, “the man is an assassin.  He’s a murderer and if you know or have any information of his whereabouts, you are obligated to tell me.”

“I’m not obligated to tell you shit, Detective Stanford, and I will deny it if you say anything to anyone about it.”

She was furious now and wanted to kick herself for trusting him.  But more than that, she wanted to rant and rave at Gabriel for dying and leaving her with this mess to clean up.  She wanted to rail against the injustice of it all – that she’d finally found the true love of her heart – only to have it ripped away by the cruelty of fate.

“For God's sake, Rachel, at least give us a description of him,” Harry huffed in frustration.  She was the only person alive who could give them an accurate description of what the notorious hitman looked like.

“No,” she answered stubbornly.

“Rachel…”

“He’s dead, Harry!” she hissed at him.  Tears blurred her vision, but she blinked them away, refusing to cry in front of the detective.  “It doesn’t matter, because he’s dead.  Martin killed him at that warehouse.”

Harry looked at her skeptically.  “Then where’s his body, Rachel?  Why didn’t we find it there along with Stone’s?”

“I don’t know,” she cried out in frustration and swallowed the sob that lodged in her throat.  “He was there when I left to find a phone to call you, but was gone when I returned.”

That had been a partial lie.  In truth, she’d left to see if she could find a place to hide his body.  Even in death, she wanted to protect him.  She didn’t want them to have his body.  She didn’t want them to cut him up and violate the very man who had held her very heart and soul.  So, she’d gone in search of a hiding place before calling the police.  When she’d returned to get him, his body was gone and all evidence that he’d even been there had disappeared.  It made the whole episode more of a waking nightmare – a husband who wanted her dead and the love of her life killed before her eyes and disappearing like a ghost.

She’d had no idea what had happened or who had taken Gabriel’s body.  She could only hope that whoever had taken it, had buried him in a peaceful place.

“If his body was gone, then how can you be sure he’s dead?”  Harry asked, a hard edge to his voice.  “Dead bodies don’t just get up and walk away.”

By then, Rachel had had enough.  Her jaw tightened in stubborn defiance and she turned to walk away.

“Damn it, Rachel, don’t walk away from me,” Harry growled and went after her.  “I’ll arrest you if I have to.”

Rachel spun on him, causing him to nearly run into her.  “Then arrest me, you bastard,” she spat out.  “You have no body, no evidence and I will deny everything, so go ahead…” she held out her wrists to him.  “Arrest me.”

Harry sighed, the rush of anger leaving him as quickly as it had come.  She was right, he reasoned silently.  No body, no evidence and without her sworn admission, he had zilch to hold her on.  Then with suddenly certain clarity, he realized that he’d just destroyed any chance he might have had with Rachel because of his zeal to catch the infamous Hawk.

He clutched gently at her offered hands.  “I’m sorry, Rachel,” he said softly, meaning it.

“I am, too,” she responded sadly.  “Good bye, Harry.”

Stepping a little closer, she kissed his cheek, then pulled her hands out of his as she turned and walked down the front steps of the courthouse.  She didn’t look back as she crossed over to the parking lot and located her car.  Sliding into the front seat behind the steering wheel, she closed the door and locked it.

Sticking the key into the ignition, she started the engine and without warning, she snapped and finally succumbed to the tears she’d been holding back for the past six months.  They broke free like a wrecked dam and she sobbed loudly, burying her face in her arms across the top of the steering wheel.

“Oh, Gabriel, I miss you so much,” she cried, the intensity of her feelings nearly overwhelming her.  “Why did you leave me?  Why?”

She sat there in the privacy of her car and let the tears flow.  She had to.  She had kept it pent up for too long and she was finding it more and more difficult to be strong.  Finally, when the tears had stopped, her arms curled protectively once more around her stomach.

A boy…

The first real smile, in a long time, curved her lips.  She’d had a sonogram last week and her obstetrician had told her that she was carrying a boy.

“Our son, Gabriel,” she whispered as she reached up to wipe the tears from her cheeks.  Taking a deep breath, she reached back to draw the seat belt across her and fastened it.

He will have a good life, Gabriel, she thought silently as she backed out of the parking space.  I will keep him safe and he will know what a good man his father really was.  I promise.

~*~

A/N:  I had intended to wait to post this until I had finished the rest of the story, but as usual, too much time is slipping away.  Perhaps by leaving you all hanging like this, I will be motivated to write more… quickly like, or suffer the wrath of the masses.  ;-)

Special thanks to my dearest friend, Mommints, who helped me out when I was stuck and as always to my favorite beta for sprinkling her Tori-dust.  *smooches*

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The Hitman – Chapter 16 (coming soon)