| Treasure By Ladybug |
| Chapter 7 “Gabby, what the hell are you doing?” She turned at the sound of Tanner’s voice. “I’m trying to fix the snorkel on my mask. It came off the other night when you yanked it off my face.” She was sitting on a bench near the pool and Tanner came to sit next to her. It was early evening, and everyone at the PADI School had gone home for the evening. Tanner had spent another day wearing her brain out and now he wanted to work with her in the pool again, but she couldn’t get the snorkel back on the damn mask! Gabby growled in frustration, ready to throw the damn thing against the wall. Tanner took it from her and examined it. “There is a piece missing,” he stated and handed it back to her. “It probably broke off in the pool.” “Oh great, I spend all kinds of money on this stuff only for you to break it.” Gabby was feeling irritable. She had an awful headache and Tanner had been ruthless in teaching her, demanding her full attention with few breaks. “Well if you weren’t trying to drown yourself, I wouldn’t have to break it, now would I?” he snapped. She wasn’t the only one feeling irritable, and her attitude grated on his already frayed nerves. “And it’s not like you have to buy a whole new mask or snorkel. It’s just a damn rubber clasp and we have them here, so lighten up!” Gabby jumped up off the bench and nearly threw the mask at him, her eyes blazing. “Lighten up? You’re telling me to lighten up? After the past two days you just put me through? Go to hell, Tanner!” She spun around and marched out of the pool area. By the time Tanner caught up with her, she was in the parking lot. It was hot and humid outside and it just added to her irritability. Immediately she felt drained of energy and sweaty as she made her way through the parking lot. She didn’t know where she was going, and didn’t care; she just needed to get out of that building. Tanner grabbed her by the upper arm and spun her around. “What is wrong with you?” he growled. “You are the one who insisted on this damned dive! It is not my fault that you don’t know how, thereby forcing me to do a crash course on teaching you how before Dunlap finds out and tries to hurt you!” He was so furious he wanted to shake her! Gabby’s head hurt so bad tears sprang up in her eyes. “Tanner, please,” she said weakly. At the look of pain that flashed through her eyes, Tanner immediately backed off his tirade. His hands came up to gently frame her face as a look of concern touched his handsome features. “What’s wrong, baby? What is it?” His voice was soft and soothing, no longer harsh and angry. “My head is pounding.” Tanner groaned and pulled her into the warmth of his arms. “Ah sweetheart, I’m sorry,” he whispered against her hair. “You should have said something. Come on, I’ll lock up and we’ll go home so you can lay down.” Tanner turned to lead her to the Jeep when the driver’s side window of the car they were standing next to exploded. Gabby screamed as Tanner immediately shoved her to the ground, his body covering hers as a sudden spray of bullets slammed into the car, hitting metal and shattering glass. “Oh my God!” Gabby squirmed beneath him. “Stay still, damn it!” he growled in her ear. Finally it grew quiet and Tanner cautiously lifted his head. There was a truck on the other side of them boxing them in and he had a clear view of the parking lot from beneath it. No one was approaching. He could hear Gabby crying softly beneath him. He desperately wanted to hold her, to make sure she was all right, but he couldn’t let his guard down, not until he was certain they were safe. “Are you all right, Gabby?” They both sat up and his gaze swept over her looking for any injuries. “Yes,” she hiccupped. “Tanner, I’m scared!” His heart squeezed painfully in his chest as he took a quick glance over at her. “I know, baby. I won’t let anything happen to you, you hear me?” She stared at him with tear-swollen eyes and nodded. “I want you to stay here while I go check to make sure it’s clear.” Gabby’s eyes widened in fear and she grabbed at the sleeve of his shirt. “No, Tanner! Please don’t go out there!” She started to panic as giant sobs ripped from her throat. Tanner took another glance under the car to make sure no one was approaching and he turned his attention to Gabby. “Gabrielle!” He gripped her firmly by the shoulders and gave her a little shake. “Look at me.” Her eyes snapped up to meet his, her cheeks streaked with tears, but she was listening. “We cannot stay out here. I’m going to get the Jeep and bring it over and we are going to get the hell out of here.” “You aren’t going to call the police?” Tanner sighed. “Honey, if the police are brought in it will just cause more trouble. Dunlap is a powerful force to reckon with. He can easily turn this whole situation around and make it look like he is the victim and not you. We don’t have any evidence and if I call the police, then it will get out and they won’t appreciate you slinging mud at someone with Dunlap’s ‘upstanding’ reputation!” The last part he said sarcastically. Gabby took a deep breath. She trusted Tanner to take care of her and he seemed to know what he was doing. “Okay, but please be careful. If something were to happen to you . . .” She broke off as her body shuddered at the thought. Tanner brushed the tears away from her cheeks and leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers in a firm kiss. “Nothing is going to happen to me, sweetheart. Now stay here and I’ll be right back.” She nodded and watched him gather his feet beneath him and rise up to a squatting position to peer over the hood of the truck next to him. Nothing happened. Looking around, Tanner located his Jeep, and counting to three, he leapt forward and ran towards it. For the first time in his life, Tanner wished he had something better to drive, like a truck or an SUV. His Jeep didn’t offer much protection. No roof and no doors, they were essentially sitting ducks, but it was the best he could do. It wasn’t until he ducked behind his Jeep that he realized that no one was firing on him. He could see Gabby had moved up and was peering at him from between the two bullet riddled vehicles he’d just left and he motioned for her to stay there. Digging his keys out of his pocket, he took a deep breath and tried to slow down the frantic beating of his heart. He was no fool; he was scared to death, but not so much for his own life, but for Gabby. Dear God, if anything were to happen to her . . . Tanner shook his head to clear the direction his thoughts were headed. In the distance he could hear the faint sound of sirens and wondered if they were heading towards the school. Well, he definitely did not want to wait around to find out. Taking another deep breath, he pushed himself up and leaped into the driver seat, jammed the key in and started the engine. Shifting it into reverse, he popped the clutch and jammed on the accelerator. Turning around to look behind him, he guided the vehicle backwards until he skidded to a stop in front of Gabby. “Come on, sweetheart, let’s go!” Gabby jumped up and Tanner leaned across, reached out and grasped her hand and hauled her into the passenger seat. “Fasten your seat belt!” Seconds later, they were racing out of the parking lot, both of them well aware of the sirens that were drawing closer. Twenty minutes later, Tanner pulled into the parking lot of Gabby’s apartment complex and parked as close to her apartment as possible without actually driving through the courtyard and stopping outside her door. He turned towards her and saw that she was shivering as if she were cold, except it was still at least 90 degrees outside. “Gabby, honey.” He reached over and brushed her hair away from her face. “Babydoll, look at me.” She didn’t respond; she just sat there staring straight ahead of her, shivering. He knew she was in shock. Curling his fingers around her chin, he turned her face so she could see him. God, she is so beautiful, Tanner thought. “Gabby, I need you to stay with me, okay, sweetheart? I need you to be strong, we can get through this.” Her eyes focused on his face and she nodded. Her hand clutched at his wrist as if it were a lifeline. “What are we going to do?” Her voice was shaky and weak. “We are going to go inside, pack some things and go out to the marina where my boat is. I can teach you what’s left for you to know there and we can do a practice dive in the ocean before heading down to Key West, all right?” Again she nodded and unfastened her seat belt. Her movements were slow and jerky, but at least she was moving. He jumped out of the Jeep and hurried around to help her out. She slid out of her seat into his arms and he gave her a quick hug before taking her hand and heading across the courtyard to her apartment. The whole time Tanner was gazing around the parking lot for anything unusual, but everything seemed where it should be. The sun was almost gone and the sky was a hazy shade of blues, reds, yellows and pinks. Under different circumstances, Tanner would have enjoyed such a sunset and he suspected Gabby would have too, but right now they both were more concerned with staying alive and staying one step ahead of Dunlap. Fifteen minutes later, they were back in the Jeep and heading for the marina. Tanner reached over and his large hand closed over her smaller one. When they stopped at a red light, Tanner looked over at her. “As soon as we get settled on the boat, I’ll take her out to sea. The Caribbean Islands are only a few hours away. We can go over there until we are ready to go after what’s on that plane.” “It’s getting dark. Won’t it be dangerous going out right now?” Tanner shook his head and smiled at her. “No, sweetheart, I’ve got lights on the boat. Besides, it’s a full moon.” “What about all the diving equipment? I don’t have my wetsuit and my mask and fins are at the school.” “I have extra masks and fins on the boat along with air tanks, and we can get you a wetsuit and on the Islands.” Gabby nodded, trusting him completely. They arrived a short time later at the marina and within minutes, Tanner was pushing the big boat away from the dock. “What the hell do you mean, they have disappeared?” Dunlap screamed into his phone. “You screwed this up and you had better fix it! I want Tanner Graves dead, is that clear?” “Yes, sir,” came the unfazed response. “And if you accidentally kill Gabrielle in the process, I’ll make you wish you were never born, is that clear?” “Yes, sir.” Frank slammed the phone down. How could Bates have screwed this up so badly? He’d gone after Graves and missed, nearly hitting Gabrielle, and now both of them had disappeared. “Son of a bitch!” he growled. Picking up a paperweight from his desk, he sent it hurdling across the office to slam into the wall, leaving a deep gash in the drywall. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Treasure - Chapter 8 |