Chapter Nine.

Marlena awakened to pain. Her shoulders hurt, her hips ached and her ribs screamed in harmony. Even her eyelids protested, and for several long minutes she remained unmoving in her bed, trying to decide if she wanted to open her eyes and face a new day or not.

She'd been awake late despite taking two of the pain pills. After telling Gabriel she'd been pushed down the stairs, he'd given her the pills, waited for her to change into her nightgown then tucked her into bed and left her quarters.

Although she'd been groggy and half out of it, he'd checked back in with her a bit later to let her know that the door that led to the old servant stairs had been unlocked and the door that led out of the bas.e.m.e.nt had been open, as if somebody had exited in a hurry.

It was an easy guess that whoever had pushed her had crept through the bas.e.m.e.nt door, up the stairs and then waited for the opportunity to shove her.

It had been attempted murder, and now there was no doubt in her mind that the night by the pond she had been shoved into the water, as well. Two attempts on her life.

This thought was enough for her to finally open her eyes and ease up to a half-p.r.o.ne position against her pillows. Her heart beat an uneven rhythm. Who would want her dead? Why would somebody be after her? She had nothing. She hadn't had any problems with anyone. Was this somehow tied to the disappearance of Sam, Daniella and Macy? But how? And why?

Just thinking about all of it made her head ache. She smelled coffee and the lingering scent of bacon and glanced at her bedside clock, shocked to see that it was after eight. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept so late.

She sat up straighter as Gabriel appeared in her doorway carrying one of the TV trays that were kept for guest use in the great room.

"Good morning," he said.

"Right now it's not feeling so good," she replied.

He flashed her a grin, and the warmth of that quick gesture seemed to magically ease some of the aches and pains inside her. "I thought you might like some coffee and a little breakfast. You're supposed to take your pain pills on a full stomach."

He placed the tray next to her bed and then sat in the chair nearby. "Eat," he commanded.

With effort, she moved to a full sitting position, and the first thing she reached for was the cup of coffee. She took a sip and eyed him over the rim. "You didn't have to do this for me."

"I can't take credit for the bacon and eggs. That was Andrew's talent. But I did make the toast and fix your coffee on the tray to present to you."

"And a fine presentation it is," she replied. She picked up a piece of the toast and took a bite, then chased it with another swallow of coffee while he continued to gaze at her. "I don't suppose you found footsteps or fingerprints in the bas.e.m.e.nt or on the door upstairs that would help you catch a bad guy."

He frowned. "Of course not. That would make it all too easy."

She frowned and realized that even her forehead hurt. "Do you think this is all somehow tied to whatever happened to Sam and Daniella?"

He hesitated a moment and then sighed. "I don't know, Marlena. Eat first, and then I've got some questions to ask you. But eat now-there's nothing worse than cold eggs."

Dutifully, she picked up her fork but only ate about half of the food on her plate and then proclaimed herself finished.

"Now take your pills."

"Not yet," she replied. "They make me really groggy, and you said you had some questions for me."

"Let me take the tray out of here first." He placed her coffee cup on the end table next to the bed and then carried the tray away. When he returned, he sat on the edge of her bed.

She was unaware that her nightgown had slipped from her shoulder until she saw him gaze there and curse beneath his breath. Her shoulder was badly bruised and in a variety of shades of deep purple.

"I'm sorry, Marlena."

She was surprised by the wealth of emotion in his voice, emotion she hadn't believed him capable of feeling.

"I'm so d.a.m.ned sorry."

"It's not your fault," she protested and reached out to cover one of his hands with hers.

He turned his hand over and grabbed hers. "I just feel so d.a.m.ned helpless. We have a missing family, and now somebody has tried to hurt you not once but twice, and I can't get a handle on any of it."

"The good thing is that both attempts on my life have been unsuccessful," she said.

He squeezed her hand. "And I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure there isn't a third. Last night the three of us decided the best way to approach everything that's happened is that Andrew and Jackson are going to continue to look for leads concerning the disappearance of the Connellys, and I'm going to focus on the threats against you." He released her hand and sat back.

She immediately missed the warmth, the security of his hand around hers. "So how do you do that?"

"I need to learn more about you, about where you came from. If you can't think of anyone from Bachelor Moon who might want to hurt you, then maybe somebody followed you from your past. Tell me about your recent life before returning here."

She hated to tell him. She hated to admit how stupid she'd been during the time she'd been in Chicago, especially the past two years there. But she knew she had to be truthful with him, even though she didn't believe she'd brought any danger with her by moving here.

"The first few years we were there, it was all about survival. I was a twenty-one-year-old with a fourteen-year-old in tow. We rented a small apartment, I got a job as a waitress at a fairly nice restaurant and Cory went to school. When I was working, I had a neighbor lady who watched Cory for me, even though he insisted he was old enough to watch himself. I knew he was an at-risk kid, with no father figure and just me to depend on."

"Must have been tough."

She winced as she shifted positions. "At times it was. And then I met Gary Holzman. He was an insurance salesman who came into the restaurant frequently, and we struck up a friendship. He was a nice man, a widower with two little daughters, and it wasn't long before we were dating."

"Were you in love with him?"

Marlena wondered why it mattered to him. "I was lonely, and unlike you, I was looking for love and family and a sense of security. When he asked me and Cory to move in with him, and I knew I could stay home and take care of his little girls, be there for Cory plus be a homemaker, I jumped at the chance. I cared about Gary and I enjoyed his company, but looking back on it now, no, I wasn't in love with him. I was in love with the idea of being part of a family."

She reached for her coffee cup, took another drink then continued. "I was definitely in love with the notion of being in love. I loved Gary's little girls and thought Gary would be a good role model for Cory. So for the next two years we lived together as a couple. I cooked and cleaned and cared for his children. I just a.s.sumed that eventually he'd propose to me, and we'd get married and live satisfactorily ever after."

"But he didn't."

A small, bitter laugh escaped her. "No, he didn't. Instead he came home from work one night and out of the blue told me he thought the relationship aspect of his life was too complicated, that it was easier for him to just hire a housekeeper to keep the house and watch the girls, and he'd appreciate it if Cory and I would be gone by morning."

Marlena leaned her head back against the pillow, overwhelmed with emotion as she thought of that moment in time. She'd expected a ring, and instead she had gotten the boot. She wasn't sorry that she had never been married to Gary, but she'd been sorry that he'd wakened her to the fact that she'd just been settling with him, and in any case he certainly wasn't in love with her.

"That's when Cory and I wound up here. I was broke, numbed by the sudden change of our circ.u.mstances and unsure where else to turn."

"Is it possible that this Gary person may want to harm you?" Gabriel asked, his eyes dark and unreadable.

Marlena laughed again, and then winced and grabbed her ribs. Gabriel leaned forward and reached for her pill bottle. He shook out two and held them toward her. "Go on, you need them."

She took them with the last sip of her coffee and then continued talking. "I haven't heard a word from Gary since we left Chicago. He didn't want me with him when I left. I can't imagine why he'd want to hurt me after all this time. Or anyone from my life in Chicago following me here and wanting to hurt me after two years."

"Tell me about your day yesterday, from start to finish."

"After you all left, I cleaned up the kitchen, did my usual ch.o.r.es and took the steaks out of the freezer for dinner." She frowned, trying to remember even as a headache began to bang across her temples. "I made breakfast for Cory and John, and then they went back outside to work. Pamela came and cleaned for a couple of hours and then left."

"What else? What were you doing upstairs?" he asked gently.

"Flowers. I picked flowers." Already she could feel the edge easing off her pain, the whisper of drowsiness sweeping over her. "I wanted to put flowers in your rooms. I'd picked some beautiful ones for your room."

"I noticed them this morning. They're lovely," he replied. "It was a nice thing to do."

"I like to do nice things for you. I don't think people have been kind enough to you in your life." She felt the warmth that crept over her cheeks and hoped that later she could blame her frankness on the medication. "Anyway, I'd just put the flowers in the rooms and was about to come downstairs when somebody pushed me."

"And as far as you know, there was n.o.body else in the house."

"n.o.body," she agreed. Tired. She was suddenly so tired, but then she remembered her conversation with Thomas. "Wait... Thomas was here."

"Thomas Brady?" Gabriel sat forward in his chair.

"He was here before I picked the flowers." She fought against the drowsiness, realizing what she had to tell him was important. "He came to ask me out to dinner, and I told him we didn't have any future together, that I'd never be in love with him in a romantic way."

Gabriel rose from his chair. "And how did he take it?" His voice was deceptively calm.

"He seemed to take it very well." She tried to keep her heavy-lidded eyes open. "He said he understood that you couldn't make somebody love you if she didn't, that he'd sensed I wasn't feeling the same about him as he was about me. Surely you don't think he..." Her voice trailed off as she couldn't fight the effect of the pills any longer.

As she closed her eyes, she thought she felt the press of Gabriel's lips against her forehead, but it had to be a dream because he would never do anything like that in reality.

"ANDREW, YOU STAY here and keep an eye on Marlena. Jackson, you come with me." Gabriel had a head full of steam as he left Marlena's quarters and entered the dining room where the two other agents were seated.

He hadn't realized the sunshine Marlena had brought into his life until he saw her now, bruised and broken, and what he wanted more than anything was to find the person responsible and beat the h.e.l.l out of him or her, make whoever it was feel the same kind of pain Marlena was feeling right now.

The sight of her slender shoulder and dainty freckles hiding beneath vivid, violent purple bruises made him want to tear somebody's head off.

"Where are we going?" Jackson asked once they were in the car.

"To Thomas Brady's house. I want to find out where he was yesterday afternoon when Marlena was shoved down the stairs."

Jackson shot him a look of interest. "You think he's responsible?"

"It's possible," Gabriel replied. "Apparently he was here yesterday, and Marlena told him there would never be a romance between them. She said he took it well, but he might just be a good actor, and was angry enough to sneak back here and try to hurt her." Gabriel tightened his hands on the steering wheel. "If he did this to her, then I'll kill him."

"Whoa, partner. It sounds like you're taking this more than a little personally," Jackson said.

Gabriel felt his partner's speculative gaze on him and slowly eased the pressure his fingers had had on the steering wheel. "She's a nice woman, and she's obviously a target for some reason. I just want to get to the bottom of it, that's all."

Gabriel thought about the silky softness of her skin when he'd kissed her, skin that was now mottled and bruised, causing her enormous pain.

"Maybe I am a little personally involved," he finally admitted. "First somebody tried to drown her in the pond, and now this happens. She needs a champion."

"And you've decided you're that man?"

"Yeah, I guess I have," he replied. It didn't mean anything, he told himself. It had nothing to do with any kind of an emotional connection between them. It was his job. Besides, she'd said she wanted to do nice things for him.

d.a.m.n, but that single statement had punched him in the gut. There had been no kindness in his childhood, and there certainly hadn't been any when he'd been out on the streets alone. Even when he'd joined the FBI, he'd found camaraderie among his fellow agents, but he hadn't known softness until now...until Marlena.

While he didn't intend to get drawn into it, he at least wanted her to be okay to go on with the life she'd planned in the big city, with a husband who adored her, and babies to hold and love.

When she'd talked briefly about her life with Gary Holzman in Chicago, he'd heard the yearning in her voice, the desire for the fairy-tale ending.

What amazed him was that, despite her painful experience with her mother, and then again with Gary, her desire for love hadn't waned. She didn't seem to fear being hurt again but rather was open to loving without restraint.

He might hunt down killers and put himself in dangerous situations, but he could admit to himself that between the two of them, she was the one with real courage.

"Even if Thomas did get angry and pushed her down the stairs, that doesn't explain Marlena's unexpected dunk in the pond," Jackson said, pulling Gabriel from his thoughts.

"No, it doesn't." Gabriel frowned. "But maybe he'd already sensed that she didn't want to date him. Maybe he's a psychopath who goes around trying to kill women he dates. h.e.l.l, I don't know what to make of it all." He slammed his palm against the steering wheel.

"I think maybe now would be a good time to take a few deep breaths," Jackson said. "Either that, or I'm going to have to slap you, because you're having some sort of a hysterical breakdown."

Gabriel drew in a long draw of oxygen and then grinned at the man in the seat next to him. "Thanks for warning me before you tried to slap me."

"You're welcome." Jackson returned his grin.

By the time they pulled up in front of Thomas's attractive two-story house, Gabriel had calmed down a bit. Jackson had reminded him that before yesterday, Thomas shouldn't have had a motive for attempting to hurt Marlena, which put the near drowning in question.

It was easy to speculate that whoever had pushed her in the pond was the same person who had shoved her down the stairs. The M.O. was the same...and it would appear somebody wanted Marlena dead, but they also wanted it to look like an accident.

"Are we getting out, or are we just going to sit in the car and meditate?" Jackson asked drily.

Gabriel shut off the engine. "We're getting out. I was gathering my thoughts."

"I'm glad one of us has some thoughts left to gather."

The two got out of the car and approached the house. They'd been here before to ask Thomas questions about the Connelly family.

While they had learned that he had, indeed, been in New Orleans during the time the family had been taken and they had in their possession copies of the receipts of his motel-room bill, Thomas was an independent contractor, so there were no copies of work hours, no coworkers to question about his schedule.

He'd never fallen off their list of persons of interest because of how close New Orleans was.

Be honest with yourself, Gabriel thought as they headed toward the front door. He's still a person of interest on a short list of two. Thomas Brady and the hotheaded Ryan Sherman, with his shaky alibi provided by his dopehead girlfriend, were the only two names on the list.

Gabriel knocked on the door with a firm fist. Brady's work truck was in the driveway, so Gabriel a.s.sumed the man was at home.

The door opened as Gabriel was about to knock again. Thomas Brady looked at the two FBI agents in confusion. "I thought I was done with you all. I gave you everything I had from my trip to New Orleans."

"We're here about another matter. Mind if we come in?" Gabriel kept his voice calm. In fact, he attempted to be pleasant but knew he hadn't quite made it when Thomas's brown eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"I can't imagine any other matter we'd have to discuss," he replied, not indicating any desire to allow them into his home.

"How about Marlena?"