After a second’s worth of hesitation, his wife’s friend blurted out, “I think someone’s after Elle.” She licked her lips and added, “And, after what happened today, I’m pretty sure they’re trying to kill her.”
Smacking his palm against the elevator’s emergency stop button, he brought the moving cart to an abrupt halt. Despite Walker’s ominous warning, Jenna’s words sent an entirely new rush of fear coursing through his system.
Not wanting to add to Jenna’s obvious concern, Gabe kept what he knew to himself and calmly asked, “What makes you say that?”
Jenna’s knowing eyes studied his. “You don’t seem surprised. Am I right? Is someone really after Elle.”
His refusal to neither confirm nor deny was all the answer his wife’s intelligent friend needed.
“Damnit!”Jenna huffed out a breath. The tips of her ponytail flung from side to side as she shook her head with frustration. “I knew I should’ve called you sooner.”
Okay, so thatdidshock him. “Why me?”
“Um…hellooo.” She looked up at him as if he’d lost his mind. “You’re a freaking SEAL.”
“Former SEAL.”
“Whatever.” Jenna waived his clarifying words away. “All that alpha male hero stuff is engrained in guys like you forever. Which is why your stubborn wifeshouldhavecalled you the first time someone tried to hurt her. But you know Elle. No matter how hard I tried to get her to call you, she wouldn’t—”
“First time?” Gabe exclaimed loudly. Placing his hands on his hips, he frowned. “Has something like this happened before?”
“Not like this. I mean, it’s the first time she’s actually gotten hurt, but it’s not the first accident Elle’s had. Not that I believe for a second either incident was an accident. Although she refuses to—”
“Jenna!” Gabe’s voice boomed inside the confined space. He waited until he was sure she’d finished rambling, then in a quiet, gentler tone said, “Take a breath and tell me what the fuck’s been going on with my wife.”
Despite his angry outburst, Jenna didn’t so much as flinch. Unlike most women he came across, she’d never been intimidated by his size or gruffness.
It was probably why she and Elle got along so well. They were both strong, confident women who didn’t take shit from anyone.
They were also both stubborn as hell.
Glancing toward the emergency button, she raised a brow before looking back at him. “You know, that won’t keep us locked in here forever.”
“Then I guess you’d better talk fast.”
Jenna smiled wide. “God, I’ve missed you. I know Elle’s going to kill me for this, but she probably won’t tell you herself, and I really think it’s something you need to know—”
“Jenna,” Gabe warned, his patience damn close to becoming non-existent.
“Okay, here it is. A couple weeks ago Elle called and asked me to meet her for lunch. When I got to the restaurant, I could tell right away that something was off. When I asked her what was up, she told me she felt like someone had been following her. Like they were watching her from a distance or something.”
Two fucking weeks ago.
Jesus.
Gabe kept his expression the same and said, “Go on.”
“By the end of lunch, Elle had convinced herself it was nothing more than stress-induced paranoia. Or something like that. Whatever shrinky term she used, I wasn’t buying it. Then two days ago, she was riding her bike on the Old Mill trail. Which by the way, I told her not to do alone anymore. You remember that place, right? Anyway, she was riding along like she always does when her tire blew out.”
“Was she hurt?”
“No, but only because she got really lucky.”
“Lucky how?”
She frowned. “It happened right before the bridge, Gabe.”
Gabe did remember the trail. He and Elle had ridden it together several times back in the day. He also remembered the bridge Jenna was referring to.
