“If anyone was actually even watching him.”
“I think that’s a pretty solid assumption at this point, sweetheart.”
Her shoulders fell, her head nodding with a reluctant acceptance. “So they know Mark meets with me on a regular basis, and assume he feels protected by doctor-patient confidentiality enough to tell me whatever it is they don’t want me to know.”
“The knowledge she has will help you and your team stop them.” Stopping in front of her once again, Gabe shoved his hands into his pockets. “That’s what Adrian Walker said the night he broke into my house.”
“But I already told you I don’t know anything.”
“You might know more than you think.”
Blinking away more tears, Ellena huffed out a frustrated breath. “How am I supposed to figure out something I don’t even know that I know.”
“If anyone can do it, it’s you.” Gabe pulled a hand free and rested it against her cheek. “What would you tell a patient if one of them was trying to recall something they’d forgotten or had locked away somewhere.”
She opened her mouth but then clamped it shut. At first, Gabe thought she was going to continue pushing the fact that she didn’t know anything to begin with, but she didn’t. Instead, she inhaled a slow breath through her nostrils and let it out slowly.
“I’d tell them to retrace their steps,” she shared softly. “I’d tell them to go back through their memories one, small step at a time. That sometimes looking at things from a different viewpoint can make all the difference.”
“What else?”
Determination returned to her electric blue gaze. “I’d tell them to not give up. To keep searching until they found whatever it was they were looking for.”
“Good.” He brushed his thumb back and forth across her smooth skin. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”
She smiled, then, her dimples falling deep. Like she had a few times before, Ellena’s delicate fingers wrapped around his wrist. “It means a lot that you said ‘we’.”
We really need to work on your trust issues, baby.
“I told you before, and I’ll keep saying it until you believe me. I’m not going anywhere, Ellena. Not this time.”
Rising up to her tiptoes, she let her eyes fall shut and brought her lips to his. Gabe barely had the chance to taste her when the alarm on his phone alerted him of another perimeter breach.
“Damn it.” He pulled back and dug his phone from his pocket. “If those assholes didn’t tell me they were coming again, I swear to Christ…”
“Go.” Ellena gave his chest a weak push. “I’m sure whoever it is just forgot.”
“Yeah, well”—Gabe pulled his gun free from his waistband—“they won’t forget a third time after I put a bullet in their ass.”
“Be nice.” She chuckled, following him to the door. “Besides, they could be bringing us another chocolate pie.”
With his hand on the doorknob, he stopped and gave her a grin. “Chocolate pie would definitely be grounds for a pardon.” Leaning down, he gave Ellena a quick peck on the lips and reminded her, “Lock this behind me and whatever you do—”
“Don’t open it for anyone but you. I remember.”
“Good girl. Oh, I almost forgot.” He went over to his go-bag he kept in the corner by the door. Unzipping it, he pulled out his Glock and held it out for her. “Here.”
Ellena looked at it as if it were a snake ready to strike. “What’s that for?”
“Just in case.” He lifted her hand and placed the weapon in her palm. “It’s a Glock, so there isn’t a safety. The mag is loaded, and there’s one in the chamber. All you have to do is point and shoot.”
“Gabe, I haven’t shot a gun since you took me to the range and practically forced me to learn how to shoot. And that was over four years ago.”
“Just like riding a bike.”
“You know how I feel about guns.”
“And you know how I feel about you.” He cupped the back of her neck. “Like I said, it’s only a precaution, but I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, and I’ll do a better job at staying focused if I know you have a way of defending yourself if you have to.”
