GUILTY (Gabe's Trials)

Sinners and saints

The phone started vibrating all over again, my eyes still refusing to leave the small, grey image of the baby developing inside me. Our baby. Doctor Lombardi had been right. I was five weeks pregnant and I had no idea whether that scared the shit out of me or made me the happiest woman alive. 

"I want you to take these two times a day." Reaching for the prenatal vitamins the doctor had extended to me, I briefly closed my eyes. I still had no fucking idea how this had happened. "The calcium deficiency shouldn't be a problem, but if it causes you any discomfort, such as dizziness or headaches, please feel free to call me. I'll schedule you in for a quick checkup." I slowly nodded just as my phone started vibrating again.

There was no surprise that Gabriel was desperate to get a hold of me since I'd somehow managed to sneak out of the house without a word, but I couldn't have talked to him at the moment. I needed some time to understand how I felt about the pregnancy and I hoped to God that the road back to his parents' house was going to offer me the time I needed. 

"So, signora Shaffer, I'll see you again in three weeks for another ultrasound. Like I said, I'd like to carefully observe the development of the fetus." Standing up from his seat behind the desk, doctor Lombardi extended his hand to me. "I'll also talk to doctor Mendoza from OB for you. I'm sure she'll happily accept to be your gynecologist." Standing up myself, I used my right hand to shake doctor Lombardi's extended one, while my left one fought against the urge to crumple the first picture of my baby. 

"Thank you, doctor! For everything." Giving me one of the kindest smiles he was capable of, the good doctor grabbed the lapels of his white robe, pulling at them while I turned on my heels to leave. 

My head was full of unwelcomed thoughts as I made my way down the hospital's hallway, my hand reaching for the now silent phone inside my pants' pocket. Deleting the four voice mails from my murderer without even listening to them, I made my way to the hospital's underground parking lot, my shaky hands fumbling with the keys to Gabriel's SUV before finally succeeding to unlock the car. 

Climbing into the driver's seat, I mentally chastised myself for not considering to take somebody with me, since I wasn't so sure I was capable of driving at the moment. And then my phone started ringing again just in time to drag me out of my dazed state, my hand fumbling with the car key once more just before turning it into the ignition and driving away from the hospital without as much as checking the caller's ID. Coming to think of it, that might not have been such a great idea, after all. 

$$$

The mansion was terribly quiet and surprisingly empty, every single person living there nowhere in sight. I guess that shouldn't have come as a surprise, since even Mr Shaffer's permanent house guards were apparently gone, and yet, that did nothing to stop the cold tremor that had taken over me. Something was wrong. I could feel it in my bones.

A door screeched somewhere on the first floor, triggering a reaction in me I didn't think myself capable of. Taking the gun Gabe insisted I carried around with me everywhere out of my bag, I slowly went up the stairs, my breath shallow, my heart almost pounding out of my chest. A thin layer of cold sweat was covering my entire body, my shaky hands fighting to keep their grip on the Colt. You see? Even though I mastered the hell out of using a gun, I still feared I was not going to be capable of using it when the time came. 

The sound of heavy footsteps coming from Gabriel's bedroom made me stop just outside the door for a moment, my lungs struggling to get some air past the lump in my throat. The voice also coming through the door a moment later had me on high alert, my eyes scanning the hallway for any kind of backups. Where the fuck was everybody?

"You said she would be here."  My grip of the gun tightened, my teeth gritting to breaking point. What the hell was he doing here? How the fuck had he gotten past all the men both my husband and his father had on his tracks?