Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Gabe woke with a start when the boat bumped against a pier. Olivia was no longer beside him. She was talking to one of the women—the one he knew was called Rachel.
He heard her say, “It has to be confusing for him. Give him some time.”
Olivia nodded, and he sensed that she was making an effort to give him some space.
Good. Because he needed it.
He sat up and looked around, seeing that they were at the public dock in the center of St. Stephens.
One of the men came over and gave him a critical look. “How are you feeling?”
He considered the question. Somewhere in his mind, he heard the word, “Reborn.” But instead of saying that, he answered, “Okay.”
“Good. You remember who we are?”
“Dr. Solomon’s experiments.”
“Yeah. I’m Jake.”
The others circled him and introduced themselves. He sorted them out and put them into couples. That part was pretty obvious because of the bond between them. Jake and Rachel. Stephanie and Craig. Matt and Elizabeth.
And he and Olivia. Was he like them now? He wasn’t sure.
Jake and Matt helped him off the boat and into a rental van.
Apparently, they’d made plans while he was asleep, because their next stop was a discount department store.
The couple, Craig and Stephanie, went to buy dry clothes for everyone who had been in the water, and some other necessities for Gabe and Olivia.
While they were in the store, Jake came back to him. “Do you know a small, out-of-the-way motel where we could spend the night and make some plans?”
Gabe realized that he did. “The Driftwood.”
Jake used his phone to check the location and then to make a reservation for the group.
Matt registered everybody and collected the keys. Gabe had a room to himself, and he was steady enough to take a shower on his own.
He had just finished combing his hair when he heard a knock at the door. When he opened it, he found Olivia standing there.
“Can I come in?”
He stepped aside, and she entered, carefully closing the door behind her.
He remembered on the boat, Travis saying that he would leave him alone, but now Gabe felt the other man again and felt his emotions.
He found himself looking at Olivia with a hunger that he felt light up every cell of his body.
It was an unexpected jolt. He’d been attracted to her, sure.
But this new emotion was a shock to his soul.
It was Travis’s hunger, and somehow it was his own as well, because he was as much Travis Carson as Gabe Bowman.
Still unable to focus on what that might mean on a personal level, he grabbed for a less fraught topic—Travis’s work. He had made his life on the water, and Gabe knew nothing about boats. Or did he?
Yes. Suddenly, it was all there. All the knowledge he had lacked. He knew all the working parts of a boat. All the things you had to do to maintain a safe and seaworthy vessel. The price of marine fuel. Navigational markers. What to do in a storm. How to prepare his boat for the winter.
He didn’t have to ask questions about the subject. The knowledge was just there like someone had dumped it all into his brain. Or to put it another way—like something he had always known.
His legs had gone wobbly, and he took a step to the side so that he could prop a shoulder against the wall.
Olivia stayed where she was, her gaze alert and worried. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.” He dragged in a breath and let it out. Part of him wanted to reach for her. The other part wanted to be alone while he sorted out what he was now.
He looked down at his hand, a hand he recognized. Turning it slightly, he found the scar he’d gotten when he’d crashed into a brick wall on his skateboard. “I’m Gabe. And I’m also Travis,” he said in a shaky voice, testing the knowledge as he said the words aloud.
She silently nodded.
“And you know.”
“Yes.”
A piece of newly acquired knowledge tumbled out of him. “His father never forgave him for killing his mom when he was born.”
“Yes.”
“He was lonely all his life, until he met you.”
“I was just as lonely,” she answered.
The enormity of his situation started to kick in. He was himself—Gabe Bowman, the person he had always been. But he was also Travis Carson.
“How am I supposed to deal with all of that?”
He wasn’t sure what emotion he read on her face. Hope? Doubt? Fear of the unknown?
“You could let me help you,” she answered. “Or—we could help each other.”
When she stepped forward, he stayed where he was. He had watched her and Travis and thought how lucky the guy was to have her. But that was before he was forced to deal with his new truth.
When her arms came up to wrap around him, he stood rigidly for a moment before letting himself relax into her embrace.
As she gathered him to her, he knew that he wasn’t just the fusion of two men.
One of them was bonded to the woman who held him in her arms. He could talk to her without saying any words aloud.
Could Gabe do it too? As a test, he said, You could have been talking to me inside my head when you first came in.
Yes.
Why didn’t you?
I didn’t want to push you into anything...unfamiliar. I know you need to ease into it.
His body shuddered. Whether he was ready for it or not, it was here.
She didn’t move, only held him, and his own arms came up to clasp her. She was offering him comfort and a whole lot more.
Before he could take that reality any further, a knock at the door startled them both, and they sprang apart. Gabe ran a hand through his hair, and Olivia pulled at the hem of her T-shirt.
When Gabe opened the door, Jake was standing on the walkway outside.
His expression was apologetic as he said, “Sorry to interrupt, but Rachel needs to talk to Travis.”
Gabe goggled at him. “Talk to Travis,” he repeated.
“We need his help—uh, your help,” Jake clarified.
“With what?”
“Gabe and Olivia were unconscious when the boat left the dock. Travis was the only one awake. Rachel thinks he can tell us where to find Smith. He’s harmed a lot of us—not just you two. Maybe he even got some of us killed. If we can shut him down, we can keep him from going after anyone else.”
Gabe felt a ripple of excitement. It was followed by a jolt of fear.
He flashed back to the room where he’d been held—and to what Smith had done to Olivia and Travis.
He’d vowed to make the bastard pay. Jake and the others were just as anxious to put an end to Smith’s obsession with Dr. Solomon’s experiments.
Now he had the chance to make good on his vow.
“Okay, what do you need from me?”
“Come down to our room.”
He glanced at Olivia.
“I’m coming too,” she said.
“Of course,” Jake answered.
They both followed him along the concrete strip fronting the motel. Rachel and Jake’s quarters were larger than his and apparently being used as a sort of headquarters. The rest of the rescue group was already there, sitting on extra chairs arranged in a circle.
Gabe stopped short. He’d been asked here to talk to Rachel. It seemed it wasn’t just her.
When all eyes turned to him, he felt suddenly awkward. The star attraction in an impromptu reality show. Probably they were all wondering how his...transition was going. At least nobody asked any direct questions.
He scuffed a foot against the worn carpet. “I should thank you for saving my life.”
“Travis did it,” Rachel said, perhaps reminding him why he was standing there.
Olivia jumped into the conversation. “But both of us would be dead if you hadn’t flown halfway across the country, rented a boat, and come after Smith’s men.”
Gabe nodded in acknowledgement. “What do you need me to do?”
Rachel gestured toward an empty chair. “Sit down and get comfortable.”
He was thinking, with a bunch of people staring at me.
But the others must have picked up the thought because Craig said, “Why don’t we give you some space?”
He got up and went into the adjoining room. Everyone but Olivia followed. She looked at him and asked in a not-quite-steady voice,” Can I stay?”
“Sure,” he said, not because he wanted her to but because he suspected he was too open to her for it to make any difference whether she stayed or went.
Rachel nodded. We can teach you how to shield your thoughts, she silently told him. “But now we’ve got urgent business. Smith could decide that his current location is too hot and clear out. We want to get him before he does.”
“So what do I do?” he asked.
Just chill out, she answered in his mind. Her next remark was addressed to Travis. When Smith first brought you to his house, it was by boat. And you left the same way. Could you recognize the dock?
He felt Travis’s hesitation, and he had the strange feeling that the other man was maybe asking permission to speak.
Go ahead, Gabe said.
Thanks.
He felt the word form in his own mind, and he tried to stay calm, tried to accept that he was now two people—who weren’t exactly comfortable with each other. Could he really cope with this...duality?
Rachel waited through the silent exchange before saying, You’ve already proved you’re strong—and adaptable.
How do you know? he shot back.
Because I can see you dealing with it. But we’re not here for a Tarot card reading. I need facts.
That was the first time he realized that reading the cards was Rachel’s profession. He had always thought that fortune-telling was a bunch of hooey. This woman could change his mind. She’d said he was strong. He sensed that in her as well.
His musings were cut off when Travis began to speak. I think so. I was trying to mark where it was so we could come back. If we got a chance, he added with a dull, angry note in his silent voice, and Gabe knew that Rachel picked it up.
You thought it might be a one-way trip.
Yeah. But I was hoping you might get here in time to make a difference.
I know what the back of the house looks like.
It’s got to be on the Miles River. That’s the main waterway leading from the bay to St. Stephens.
That’s how I take my boat to open water.
I’d seen the house a thousand times. I don’t know how long it’s belonged to Smith.
A picture of a large gray stone mansion came into his mind.
It was a two-story house with a portico that ran along the back.
Outdoor furniture was arranged in conversational groupings along its length.
And closer to the water, there was a gazebo with a blue roof.
The shoreline along the water had been reinforced with more gray rocks, larger and more jagged than the ones from which the house was built.
The pier was about thirty feet long. A sleek speedboat was moored along the left side.
Getaway boat? Rachel mused. I guess we have to cover the front and the back. What can you tell me about the interior of the house?
Normal-looking living room, dining room, and kitchen along the water. The coercion facilities are in the left wing.
Again, there were all too clear mental pictures of the room where Travis and Olivia had been tortured and the cell where Gabe had been held in the basement.
Okay, let’s look for the place on Google Maps, Rachel said. Then we can plan an invasion with one assault team coming in by boat and another by car. How many henchmen does he have?
I’ve seen six different men including the ones who captured us at Olivia’s house. I don’t know how many will be there at any given time. Maybe it depends on how relaxed Smith is feeling now that he thinks he's gotten rid of a major threat.
Or maybe he keeps several guards on duty at all times, Rachel put in.
Thanks. I think we’ve got what we need. And now we’d better get busy.
“I’m going to call in the others for a tactical meeting.
” She gave Gabe and Olivia a critical look.
“The two of you almost drowned a few hours ago. Are you in shape for a raid tonight?”
“Yes,” they both answered.
“I’d give you more time to recuperate, but I don’t want to give Smith a chance to slip away,” Rachel added.
Gabe stood up and stretched, testing his muscles. He’d automatically answered her question in the affirmative, but he wasn’t exactly in prime shape. Still, he agreed with Rachel. “Yeah. The sooner we deal with the bastard, the better.”
In fact, he was glad that he didn’t have to sit around his room stewing over his newfound double personality. Or figuring out how to deal with Olivia. Probably she caught that thought, but there was nothing he could do about anything personal between them at the moment.