Operation Revenge (33 page)

The phone chose that moment to ring. Swearing beneath his breath, Simon rolled to his other side and grabbed the phone off the nightstand. He flipped it open and pressed the talk button. "Hello?"

"Sorry to bother you so early, dear," Marian said, "but something has happened. The hospital just called. Chad was admitted early this morning with multiple gunshot wounds. From what I understand, he is fading in and out of consciousness. The nurse said he keeps asking for Haley and that he doesn't have much time left. I'm sorry, dear. I know that he was once your friend."

"I'll call you back." He closed the phone and returned it to the nightstand.

"Who called?" Haley asked groggily.

"It was Gran." He turned to face her. "Chad's in the hospital from multiple gunshot wounds. Sweetheart-" He cupped her cheek. "It's bad. He's not going to make it. He's slipping in and out of consciousness. The nurse said he's asking for you. I need to know something. Do you want to see him? I can't guarantee that we'll make it there in time, but we can try. That's all-"

"I - I don't know." She swallowed hard. "After everything he did and said, I don't know. What should I do?"

"I can't tell you what to do," Simon muttered, gazing into her eyes. "This has to be your decision. Whatever you decide you know I will support you."

Haley sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. "How can I deny a dying mans request? I feel like it would be wrong of me not to go. I know I don't owe him anything."

"That's right." Simon sat up. "You don't. If you decided not to go no one would think ill of you."

"But I would think ill of me."

"Then I think you have your answer."

Haley sighed. "I have to go."

Simon nodded. "I'll call the airport and tell them to get the plane ready. While I'm doing that, you should get dressed and pack your things. We don't have much time."

Haley tossed the covers back and got out of bed. "Don't forget to call your Gran back and then call the caretaker and let him know that we're leaving."

"I was planning on it." Simon reached for the phone and dialed the number for home.

"Hello?" Marian said, coming on the line, a few minutes later.

"We're coming back, Gran," he told her.

"I will make sure someone picks you up at the airport."

. . . .

"Are you all right?" Simon queried, later that morning.

Haley turned away from the window and looked at him. "I'm okay. I was just wondering about something. Why did Chad get shot?"

"I was wondering the same thing." He retrieved his phone from his pocket. "Let me call Gran and see if she can find out what happened. I'll put her on speaker so you can hear her."

"Please do." Haley leaned in close as Simon dialed the number.

"Hello?" Marian said.

"Gran, I have you on speaker," he announced.

"Hello, Haley," she said. "How are you, dear?"

"I'm doing fine," she answered. "Listen, Marian. Simon and I were wondering if you could find out what happened to Chad. Why did he get shot?"

"I figured you two would want to know about that, so I had Daniel make some calls. He's on the phone right now to the detective that's handling the case. Once he gets off the phone maybe he will be able to tell us what we want to know. He shouldn't be too much longer. He's been talking to the detective for quite some time now. What time do you think you'll make it in?"

Simon checked his watch. "Eleven-thirty. Have you heard any more news about Chad's condition?"

"I talked to the nurse. She told me he's holding on, but how she doesn't know. He should have passed away by now. Hold on a minute. Daniel's done speaking with the detective. I'll put him on the phone."

"All right, you two," Daniel said. "Brace yourselves. I just heard one hell of a story. Chad was involved in a sex trafficking ring. An anonymous caller informed the police that women were
being forced into prostitution and held against their will at an abandoned warehouse just outside of town. When the police arrived at the warehouse they found scantily dressed women in cages and Chad lying on the floor in a pool of blood. One of the officer's interviewed the women. They told him that Chad and his partner were arguing about whether or not they should sell one of the women. A fight broke out; the partner pulled a gun on Chad and shot him several times. He then hightailed it out of there. It's only a matter of time before he's caught. I wouldn't want to be him. Sex trafficking means serious prison time. I guess Chad is going to be spending time in prison as well, except his prison is going to be an eternity in hell."

"Anything else?" Simon asked quietly.

"No, but it's a damn good thing you got away from him, Haley. Sooner or later you could have ended up in one of those cages."

An image of a skimpily dressed Haley confined to a cage like an animal flitted through Simon's mind. The thought of her being forced into prostitution . . . of any woman being forced into prostitution made him sick to his stomach. "I'll talk to you later."

"Later, bro."

Simon shut the phone, pocketed it, and shifted in his seat to look at Haley. She was as white as a sheet. Quickly, he raised the armrest and reached for her. She was trembling. "Honey-"

"I let him touch me," she croaked. "I shared a bed with him. I gave my body to him . . . to a monster. Oh God!" She hugged herself and began to rock back and forth.

"Baby, don't," he said hoarsely. He gathered her close and kissed her jaw. "Don't do this to yourself."

"I don't want to see him," she whispered. "I don't want to go anywhere near him. He no longer exists. As far as I'm concerned he's all ready dead." She leaned back slightly and stared at him. "I want to go home with you, where I belong."

"Home it is."

. . . .

Simon unlocked the door, opened it, and ushered Haley into the foyer. He shut the door behind him and set his suitcase down. "It's good to be home," he stated, glancing around him.

"Yes, it is," Haley agreed. "I'm going to go upstairs and call Sandra. I want to let her know that I'm home." She kissed him and then headed upstairs.

"I thought I heard voices," Daniel said, entering the foyer. "I see Gus got you home in one piece."

"Where's Gran?" Simon inquired as he removed his jacket and hung it on the coat rack. "I want her to call Mr. Dunbar and tell him that we no longer need his services."

"All ready taken care of." Daniel cleared his throat. "The hospital just called. Chad's dead."

"I could care less," Simon sneered. "After what he did to those women he deserves to burn in hell."

"Amen." Daniel scratched his jaw. "I've been doing some thinking while you were away and I've come to a decision. If you will take me back, I'd like my old job back at the agency. It's time for me to take responsibility for my life again. I've wasted enough time wallowing in self-pity. Lindsay and I talked and we decided to give it another try. We're going to take it slow this time."

Simon smiled. "Slow is a good thing. As for wanting your old job back, it's yours. I kept the position open in the hopes that you would come back."

Daniel nodded. "Thank you. I won't let you down again. Also, I'm going to be moving out. Now that Lindsay and I are getting back together I want to have a place of my own."

"You can stay however long you want."

"I know." He bridged the distance between them and gave Simon a brief hug. "You took me in when everyone else gave up on me. Thank you for not giving up on me."

"We're brothers. We don't give up on each other." Simon squeezed his shoulder. "I need to make some calls and unpack. We'll talk more later."

"That's fine."

Simon bent down, picked up his suitcase, and then made his way upstairs.

. . . .

After Simon made his calls and unpacked his suitcase, he left the bedroom and went to check on Haley. She was standing beside the bed, unpacking a box. He moved across the room and paused beside her. Leaning in close, he planted a kiss to the spot below her ear. She turned and smiled at him weakly. He grasped her chin gently in his hand and returned her smile. "Aren't you glad that I kidnapped you before you had a chance to pack all your belongings?"

"Yes." She pulled his hand away from her face and gripped it tightly. "Thank you for taking me to the cabin. I only wish it had been under different circumstances."

With love shining in his eyes, Simon said, "We'll go back for our honeymoon."

Haley arched an eyebrow. "Our honeymoon? Aren't you getting ahead of yourself? You haven't proposed to me yet."

"I will," he breathed. "When the time feels right I'll ask you to be mine forever."

Her eyes twinkling with amusement, she replied, "Forever is a very long time. Are you sure you want to put up with my stubbornness?"

Simon wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her against him. "Denton, I can put up with your stubbornness if you can put up with mine." His eyes swept over her face. "Tell me something, sweetheart. Would you have left me? I mean if Chad was still out there and my life was still in danger. Would you have walked out of my life and never looked back?"

Haley placed her hands on his shoulders. "No. Last night, I couldn't sleep for thinking about you and what I should do. An urge to see you came over me, so I crept into your room and got into bed with you. For the longest time I laid there and watched you sleep. I kept thinking to myself, how could I walk away from someone that gives my life meaning? How could I leave the other half of my heart . . . the other half of my soul? The answer was I couldn't. I was going to tell you this morning that I was going to stay and that you needed to start looking for a bodyguard."

"I could still use a bodyguard." He winked at her. "Are you available for the job?"

"Are the benefits any good?" she asked, smirking. "Wait. Don't answer that. Let me find out for myself." She captured his mouth in a kiss.

Chapter 36

Epilogue

4 years later . . .

Haley walked into the living room and stopped dead in her tracks at what she saw. Simon was sitting in the recliner with their three-year-old son on his lap. Both were asleep. Her heart melting at the sight of father and son sleeping, she looked at the little boy. Michael Simon Wilcox was his name. Everybody called him Mikey for short. He had his mother's green eyes, his father's dark brown hair, and a stubborn streak he had inherited from both of them. He was their pride and joy.

Haley's hand went to her belly and a smile graced her lips. Just that morning her doctor had confirmed what she all ready knew. She was pregnant. She had told everybody but Simon. The plan was that she would tell him when they were alone, which was after they put Mikey to bed. Haley moved toward the recliner. She paused for a moment to grab the remote control from the coffee table and shut the TV off. Returning the remote to the table, she stepped to the chair and bent down. She kissed Mikey on the cheek and Simon on the mouth.