Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO
GABE
It wasn’t the feds waiting for Gabe at home. It was worse. It was family.
After Gabe and Elton got out of the car at the hospital, they didn’t see Weir and Richardson again. While in the back of Mickie’s van, Gabe did receive a curt phone call from SAC Klay informing him they’d be in touch. He assumed the team was hot on Petyr’s trail.
“What about Nicole?” Gabe asked Klay before he could do the hanging up thing. “Are she and her daughter going to be okay, safe?”
“From other sources and what you and Mr. Cox related to Agents Weir and Richardson, we have no reason to believe Nicole or Calliope are in immediate danger. She has done nothing to personally betray Mikal Petyr. Sheriff Eagan will also be keeping an eye on her.”
Gabe wanted to know what sources, but he knew the chances of Klay sharing with him were somewhere between never and not gonna happen.
“But you’re still hunting Petyr,” Gabe guessed.
“I assure you, he is in our sights,” Klay said, and clicked off.
Now, when Mickie pulled into their driveway, Gabe saw that it wasn’t empty as he’d expected.
Casey’s Jeep was at the Allard-Clarks, according to Greta, and the Honda was still parked at the marina.
He was probably going to have to call a tow truck for it because fucking Petyr had absconded with Gabe’s spare car key.
Two vehicles were taking up space in front of the house. The 1970s-era Cadillac belonged to Claribel Delcombe, which meant Shay Delacombe was also likely in the vicinity. The other was a beat-up, late model Subaru wagon.
Niall Hamarsson. Fuck.
“Seriously,” Gabe groaned, sagging against the passenger seat. “I do not have the spoons for this. I am exhausted. Hungry. And I want to take a fucking shower.”
“Might as well get it over with,” Elton said mercilessly, unbuckling his seat belt.
Mickie hopped out and came around to open the van’s slider door for them. “Out you go! I’ve got to get back to the clinic, help Pedro close up, and share the newest episode of Gabe’s Adventures on Heartstone.”
“Coward.”
“Hell yes. Your housewarming party took care of my desire to chat with your relatives for at least another six months,” Mickie agreed with a grin as he returned to the driver’s seat.
Waiting until Gabe and Elton were safely out of the way, Mickie then reversed back onto the street and abandoned them to their fate.
The fucker even gave them a little finger wave.
“Are they inside, do you think?” Gabe asked.
Elton cocked his head. “Did you think to lock the door?”
Gabe grimaced. “Definitely inside, then.” Gabe breathed in through his nose and held it for a few seconds. “No biggy, I’ve got this.”
He did not have this.
The door opened when Gabe reached the top stair.
“Gabe,” Niall growled, but it was a warm growl. Practically friendly. “You seem shocked. I take it you didn’t get the message that we were on our way?”
“No, but in my defense, today was a lot. I don’t even know where my phone is at this point.”
“I’ve had these kinds of days too. Never fear, SAC Klay filled us in on what he could.”
“Niall Od Hamarsson, let Gabriel and Elton inside right this minute,” Claribel called out.
Niall grimaced and stepped back so they could pass. “Obviously, you weren’t here, but the door was open.”
Gabe shrugged. “It’s been a day.” He sniffed. “Something smells incredible.”
“Shay’s known as the Nervous Gourmet,” Niall said, heading toward the middle of the house. “Once we knew you were all okay, he raided your pantry and made an enormous batch of pasta. I hope you’re hungry.”
Another gust of garlic- and tomato-scented air wafted from the kitchen. Elton and Gabe’s stomachs rumbled one after the other.
Niall chuckled. “Shay will be very happy.”
Gabe moved to follow Niall but was stopped in his tracks by the sight of Claribel sitting on the couch with Keith curled up in her lap. He narrowed his eyes at his cat, who slow-blinked back at him and put her head down again.
“Traitor,” Gabe hissed.
Claribel indicated the empty space on either side of her and smiled at them. “Niall and Shay will bring out the pasta for us, you two sit yourselves down and tell me everything.”
“If you say a word before we get in there, dinner is going directly into the trash,” Niall threatened, disappearing into the kitchen.
“At the very least, we’ll eat it and you three will get nothing,” Shay called out. “Anyway, everything’s ready. Niall, a hand?”
Niall muttered something none of them could hear from the living room. Probably some kind of veiled threat; Niall and Shay had a complicated relationship. Gabe suspected Niall was the complicated ingredient of the two, but he wouldn’t dream of pointing that out.
Niall Hamarrson was just that scary.
“This is my house,” Gabe protested. “If you raided the pantry, it’s my food. What is even happening here?”
But he sat down on one side of Claribel and Elton took the other. There really was no arguing with her. In another life or another time, she would have made an excellent mercenary. Who was he kidding, she was one in this life.
“So,” Shay said, setting his empty plate aside. “You and Elton tangled with Mikal Petyr.”
Gabe’s mouth was stuffed with his last bite of pasta, so he simply nodded.
“And Knute,” Elton added sourly. Clearly, he was conflicted. Angry that Knute had gotten himself shot and worried about his friend’s injury.
Gabe could relate.
Swallowing and setting his plate aside, he asked, “Have you had run-ins with the Petyrs?”
It was Niall who answered. “Yes, we have. Do you remember the head chef at Brooch Resort?”
“Yes?” Was the chef a criminal mastermind? As Gabe recalled from his first visit to Piedras Island, he was all bite and, well, all bite. But an excellent chef.
“Dany is a Petyr. It’s a long and involved story, but like Nicole, he wanted no part of the life and eventually ended up on Piedras.”
“Is that why you’re here?” Gabe asked.
“We are here because I was worried about you,” Claribel interjected. “The Petyrs are not people to fuck around with.” She reached over and squeezed Elton’s knee. “I’m so sorry Knute got hurt, honey.”
“Hmph.” But Elton allowed Claribel to clasp his hand.
“He’s going to recover,” Gabe said reassuringly. Claribel met his gaze over Elton’s head and winked.
“Of course he is, and then they can shack up. It’s never too late, that’s my motto. Knute’s going to need help, and I don’t like that Elton lives on his own.” She turned to Gabe. “No offense, you and Casey do your best.”
They all ignored Elton’s coughing fit, and Gabe marveled at Claribel’s spy network. It was better than his.
“Gabe,” Niall said once Elton calmed down, “you believe Petyr was behind Wilson’s murder as well as what happened up at Snowcap.” A statement, not a question.
“I do. I also think he took care of Calvin Perkins and Peter Vale, not in that order. Calvin must’ve learned Nicole was having a baby.
Even though she hasn’t confirmed it, Casey found a picture of the two of them together, and it’s possible he was trying to turn his life around.
” Gabe leaned forward. “But then his brother Dwayne was murdered, maybe also by a Petyr goon, Calvin lost his way completely, and Mikal decided Calvin had to die too. Peter was a message to John Stevens—I thought so at the time but didn’t know who’d sent it.
Now I think it was Mikal. His sailboat was moored next to Stevens’s at Riddle Bay, made it easy to drop the body off. ”
“Did he also help Casey fall into the cave?” Shay asked.
“Legit question, but Casey thinks he fell all on his own.”
Gabe yawned.
Shay and Niall rose in tandem and began gathering up the dishes.
“Why don’t you head upstairs?” Shay said. “We’ll take care of everything here. Even give Elton a ride home.” He turned to Elton, who looked as tired as Gabe felt. “Unless you want to stay here?”
“Um, what about you guys?” Gabe asked.
Please, please, please have other arrangements.
“Don’t worry about us. We rented a house just down the street, and we’ll head back to our island tomorrow morning.”
“But you have to promise to visit soon and bring that man of yours with you.”
Was Claribel referring to Casey? Or Knute?
“Sure,” he agreed with a yawn.
“Shay,” Claribel said, “we should just see about buying that house. It makes no sense not having a base down here.”
Gabe was too tired to be unnerved by the comment; instead, he headed for the stairs.
Gabe slept hard and woke around six the next morning. When he sleepily made his way downstairs, he was happy to discover the house blissfully empty.
“Thank fuck,” he muttered as he wandered into the kitchen to power up the espresso machine.
On the counter next to his cell phone, which had been plugged in and was fully charged, was a note. One of them had scrawled until next time on the back of an envelope.
“That was nice of, I’m gonna guess, Shay.”
Keith must have heard him moving around because she padded into the kitchen with a loud “Merow.”
“To you too. You’re hungry, I suppose.”
The cat rubbed her face against his leg several times.
“Fine. Even if you are a traitor.” He dumped half a can of gourmet cat food into her dish, and she promptly ignored him.
Picking up his phone, Gabe tapped the screen and saw notifications for two missed calls. His heart in his throat and index finger shaking, he pressed the voicemail icon.
“Karne, this is SAC Klay. I thought you’d like to know that Mikal Petyr has been apprehended. He was taken into custody near the Canadian border. That’s all I can say for now. We’ll be in touch.”
The second was from Casey and had only been left ten minutes earlier.
“Gabriel, come and take me home.”