Angel's Hero

Chapter 28

"Owen?"
"That's right, Angel."
She had to find Conner! As she made the move to run out onto the porch, where she saw him heading towards his parents, Owen stopped her.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. I have my gun trained on the boy right now."
"What?" Angel started to shake.
"Walk to the window slowly, and look down at the group of people out there. You see how the child is running around with those dogs? See how he's just tripped? I have my sight set to blow his brains out if you so much as blink wrong. I see you, up there in the house. Nice shirt. I like how the lilac makes your skin tone pop."
"Oh, my god, Owen. He's your son."
"So? I made him. I can unmake him. I don't care," he snickered.
Angel felt her insides turn to jelly, and she had to turn from the window to find a seat to fall into.
She dropped her head into her free hand.
"What do you want Owen?"
"It's time for the next step in my plan," he took a deep breath. "I want you to break up with the Sheriff."
"What? Why?" Her head snapped up.
"Don't ask why, when you know I want you to suffer," Owen said as Angel's head began to spin.
"Why would I do that, Owen?" Angel said more calmly. She could call out a warning and have everyone ducking for cover and then they'd be fine. Wouldn't they?
"You'll do it, because if you don't, I will kill the boy. Or Michelle. Or Sienna, or Conner's parents, or any of them. I don't care, but you do."
He was right. She couldn't risk it.
He could fire off a few shots and kill or injure someone before she was able to get any words out.
She felt hopeless.
"I'm giving you thirty minutes before I want you waiting at your Jeep, alone. Don't question me again, Angel. I won't hesitate to put a bullet between someone's eyes."
"Conner won't just let me walk away, not with the threat of you out there. He won't leave me," Angel felt the panic rising in the back of her throat.
"Then you better make sure that what you say hurts him enough to send him packing," Owen said simply.
"I can't hurt him, I can't. I love him."
"Either you hurt him, or I do."
The threat was said in a low voice, and Angel heard the promise in them. She heard the click on his side of the call that sounded like a trigger being pulled back.
"Fine, fine! I'll do it. Please don't hurt anyone. I'll do it," Angel said frantically.
"Good," Owen's voice carried his triumph. "And remember. Be at your Jeep in thirty minutes with your keys. Leave your stuff and just bring this phone with you. If I find your own phone, too. If you don't obey me, you'll regret it."

*

Conner finished up in the shower and took his time getting dressed.
He was about to propose to Angel, so he wanted to look the part. He brushed his hair, and fixed his collar before he stood back to look at his reflection. He bared his teeth in disgust.
He looked like a schoolboy.
Running his hands through his hair to get rid of the perfect brush lines, he looked again.
Much better.
He rolled back the sleeves of his pale blue shirt to his elbows.
There you go, perfect.
He put his hand into the pocket of the slacks he'd put on and felt for the ring he'd asked his mother to bring.
When he'd called earlier in the week before his parents' flight out, he'd had to time it when he'd known his dad would have been out.
She'd promised to keep it a secret until he'd managed to do the deed, but he knew she'd been bursting at the seams, hence why he'd felt he'd had to intervene when his mother and Angel had taken a seat on the porch. He'd seen her bouncing around excitedly and thought her about to spoil everything.
Smiling to himself, he tried to calm his own nerves.
He'd said to Angel that first time in the hotel, that he couldn't guarantee anything more than just sex between them. Wow, had he been wrong.
Almost immediately, he'd been sunk.
The woman made him insatiable for her touch, her scent, hell, even just her presence.
He wanted her around all the time, and the fact that he had known her for less than two months meant nothing to him.
He wanted her, plain and simple.
There were things he just knew, and never questioned, and this was one of those times. He was certain about her. The shy, stuttering woman she had been in those first few encounters had only made him notice her, but her inner strength and fierce protectiveness had drawn him in. Her soft sweetness, and endearing vulnerability she openly shared with him had sealed the deal. He felt like he could be everything with her; provider and provided for, protector and protected. Lover and loved. She was it for him. Now, he just hoped he was everything for her. If not, he'd spend his life trying to be.
Heading downstairs, and going outside, he noticed his parents standing together, and the look on his fathers face told him something was up.
Frank Grayson was a simple man. He didn't keep secrets, or hide his emotions well.
Oh, no.
Had his mother told him?
If so, then he realized he didn't have long before Frank burst and let it slip to everyone there.
Walking up to the older couple, he looked at them, before beginning cautiously. "Dad? You alright?"
"Me? Yeah, fine. Perfectly good. Grand even," He smiled and laughed to himself as if he had just made a joke.
"Ma, did you...?" Conner frowned at his mother.
"No, I didn't," she smiled up at her son, as she hooked an arm through her husband's.
Immediately curious, Frank looked at them, his eye's quizzical.
"Did you what? What did you do, Deedee?" Frank took her by the shoulders to face him.
"Nothing, love. Just let it be," she smiled and rolled her eyes. "You'll find out soon enough."
Relaxed now that nothing had slipped, Conner mentioned a fishing spot he wanted to take Frank to, and the two of them talked over his mother's head.
She'd given up years ago trying to join in when they spoke about fishing.
"Conner," Angel stood behind him.
When he turned, his smile dropped a little at the stricken look on her face.
"What is it, Angel?"
"I, I need to talk to you," she smiled weakly, but her eyes were scanning the area around them.
"Angel, what's going on?" Conner took her hand, and he saw pain in her eyes before she blinked hard, and forced a smile over her face.
She stepped forward and hugged him, her heartbeat racing. He could feel it against his chest.
"I need to talk to you, that's all."
"Go on, son. Go talk to the girl," Frank said, buzzing with excitement again.
What the hell is going on?
Conner took her hand, and followed her down the garden slope towards the dirt road, and stopped at the fence running along the road.
As they had walked over the road, they'd heard the first bang of a firework, and Angel jumped, her hand flying to her chest.
"Oh, Conner..."

*

Angel could barely breathe.
She had to do this.
She could do this. She would do this, and then she could fall apart later.
Oh, god, I don't want to do this! I can't!
Do it, or Owen is going to hurt him. You have to protect him!
"Angel, what is going on? Are you alright?"
"Fine," she said, taking a deep breath. "I'm fine."
"If you're sure...?" he smiled down at her.
She felt her heart breaking as she nodded.
She had to make him believe it, and the only way was to act like he meant nothing to her, and not that it hurt her to leave him.
"Well, I'm glad you actually pulled me away. I wanted to ask you something."
Angel feigned interest, and smiled blankly.
She couldn't hear anything over the pounding in her ears, anyway.
"When we first got together, I couldn't promise you anything more than what we had between each other in bed. I didn't know if I could."
Angel looked at him. He was sweating. She frowned.
"I wanted to be sure, but now I know that I've never been more certain of anything," he hitched his breath as he looked down at her. "I want you, Angel, for the rest of my life. I want you with me forever."
Stunned, Angel looked down, her eyes going to the hand he'd wrapped around hers, and at the ring he held out to her in the other.
Her heart soared.
Oh, no. No, no, no!
Her heart broke into a million pieces.
He wanted her.
"I love you, Angel. Will you be my wife?" Conner looked deeply into her eyes.
Yes! Oh, a hundred times yes!
"Stop, Conner," Angel said through gritted teeth, fighting the urge to scream out her pain.
His smile faltered.
"You don't love me. You only feel obligated to be with me because you took my virginity."
Hurt flashed across his eyes.
Her already crumbling heart sank lower into her stomach.
"That's not true. I love you," he said earnestly.
"No," Angel saw light reflect in the distance behind Conner, and in the quick flash of a firework, saw the outline of a man with a rifle aimed at them. "No, no you don't!" Panic made her shout the words, tears forming in her eyes.
She tore away from him and turned her back on him.
She couldn't keep the tears from falling, but she kept her voice steady.
"The truth is, Conner, I felt obligated to stay with you too. I had made such a big deal, that once it finally happened I couldn't think of a way to get out of it. And then there was the fire, and you protecting me... It all put a lot of pressure on me, and I thought I was doing what I wanted by being with you.
"You're a great guy, Conner. But I just don't want you."
She heard the impact of her words on him.
His breath shuddered out of him, tearing at her insides.
Conner, Conner, I love you. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me.
"I see," was all that came from him.
"I want to go home now. Can you get one of the twins to take me?" she paused before delivering the last word for effect. "Sheriff."
The final nail. She heard him breathe in and out slowly.
"Yes, ma'am."
His fading footsteps up the hill signaled the end between them, and she released the sob she'd somehow managed to keep at bay.
With that, she took off down the slope.
She saw Owen moving towards her Jeep as she approached it after he broke from the tree line, moving quickly.
She recognized him.
He'd been the man to bump into her earlier. He'd also been into her store a few times over the last few months.
He'd dyed his hair black, and had grown a big bushy beard, which was also dyed black.
No way she would have known this man as the Owen she had fought off years ago. His naturally pale red hair and clean-shaven face was completely hidden in this disguise.
He climbed in, and pointed the gun at her as she took a seat behind the wheel.
"Nicely done. That looks like it hurt," he laughed as she threw the Jeep into gear and sped off down the bumpy road.
"Fuck you, Owen," her voice like steel, she only flinched when she felt the press of the rifle against her cheek bone.
They drove for a few minutes in silence, the barrel of the gun cutting into her cheek. He laughed as they hit a ditch and the rifle sliced her skin.
Blood dripped down the side of her face. She didn't dare move to wipe it and let him know that he was affecting her.
"Turn off here and head into the woods."
She obliged.
The road seemed to lead up through the forested area back towards Twin Mason Farm.
Angel knew she shouldn't get her hopes up, but there they went. Hoping.
A little ways down the road he told her to stop next to a beat up pickup truck. They left her Jeep there, dashing her hopes further that her very noticeable vehicle would aid in her rescue.
She should have known Owen would have thought of this.
"Come along, Angel. Time's a'wasting!"

*

Conner stormed up to the house, his stomach hollow.
His mother came to him with a big smile on her face, which disappeared quickly at the black scowl he was sure covered his. He handed the ring to her.
"Oh, baby, no. I was so sure," she said as she placed a hand on his arm.
He shrugged.
"So, how did it go? Congratulations, son! I'm so proud of you," Frank slapped him on the back.
He turned his bleak eyes onto his father.
"Oh, don't look so sad, son. A child is nothing to fear. You should be celebrating!" Frank took a sip from the beer in his hand as Deidre and Conner stared at him.
"What?"
"What child? What are you talking about, Frank?"
"I thought that was what that was all about?" Frank frowned as he gestured down to the fence below. "Didn't she tell you?"
"Tell me what, Dad?"
"That she's pregnant."
Conner felt dizzy. He needed to sit down. Instead he moved to stand in front of his father.
"Angel's pregnant? Are you sure?" Deidre gasped.
"Yes I'm sure. She told me. Said she hadn't told you yet, and didn't want me to ruin the surprise. Didn't she tell you?"
"No, Dad. She didn't. She dumped me when I asked her to marry me instead."
"What? Dumped you?"
"Angel dumped you?" Michelle stepped closer as she and Robert walked past and heard their conversation. "What do you mean?" More heads swiveled their way, as everyone there moved to stand around him.
Conner put a hand to his head. Would this misery ever end?
"Yes, I asked her to marry me, and she said no. But according to my dad here, she's pregnant."
"WHAT?" Michelle screeched, then put a hand over her mouth when he flinched. "Sorry. Angel's in love with you. There is no way she would have ended it with you. She told me last week. And if she really is pregnant, then she definitely wouldn't have. She's in love with you, Conner."
Conner's head snapped to Michelle's face. He felt a bit of hope jump back into him at the earnest look she was giving him. "Really?"
"Man, anyone who looked at you two together couldn't help but see that you loved each other," Robert said.
A number of agreements came from the people around them.
Bo chirped up that he'd known it all along.
Sienna was nodding at him, her smile sincere.
Even Jackson was agreeing with them. "You're her hero, Sheriff Conner."
Conner threw his hands up and out at his sides. "Then why the hell did she just turn me down and ask to go home?"
Murmurs moved through the group again.
"Where is she? I'll talk to her and find out," Michelle said as she scanned the people around them, then turned her face up to the large square building. "I don't see her. Did she go up into the house?"
"No, she asked me to get one of the twins to take her home. I left her at... the fence."
Conner's words trailed off as he frowned at the spot he'd left her at, which was now deserted.
A cold feeling trickled down his spine.
His eyes moved to the car park, and he saw that her Jeep was gone.
"Oh, god, Conner. You don't think she would have gone off by herself?" Michelle bit her lip.
"No, not after her scare the other day," he felt like he was going to be sick.
"Do you think Owen got to her? Oh my god, what if he's got her? What if, what if we never see her again?"
"Calm down, Michelle, I have to call Du Pont. She had an agent on us, watching us," Conner said.
His father's hand gripped his shoulder, steadying him.
He took out his phone and looked in disgust as his hand shook uncontrollably, making it impossible for him to use the device.
Frank took the phone out of his trembling fingers, and searched for the name. "Du Pont?"
Conner nodded.
He saw his father searching through his contact list.
The earth moved. Walking backwards, away from the group of people now gathered around his father listening silently, he looked over his shoulder.
He neared the large outdoor trashcan, and bent over it. Heaving until his eyes watered, his stomach contents exited quickly. He coughed.
A second later, Robert and Raymond were at his side.
Raymond held out a bottle of water for him to rinse his mouth out, and Robert have him a stick of gum.
Smiling weakly, and sniffing, he nodded to them. "Thanks."
He moved back to the group, feeling steadier, stronger, with his friends at his back.
His father had just disconnected the call.
Conner thanked his stars for the man who'd fathered him, and for the fact that his goofy, excitable dad had insisted on being here, and had stepped in to make the call he couldn't.
"I can't reach her. She's not answering," Michelle said, tears on her cheeks. She moved towards Conner holding her cellphone to her ear.
"That's because her phone is here," Yvonne walked out from the house. The group had moved towards the porch when Frank had made the call. Everyone wanted to know what was going on.
Yvonne held out the plain black bag that Angel had been using, the ringing inside stopping when Michelle disconnected.
Conner took the bag and stuck his hand inside. Not being able to find the device, and getting frustrated, he climbed the steps and bent in a squat to tip the contents onto the floor of the porch.
A wad of used tissue, a packet of gum, her purse, her cell phone. And two pregnancy tests.
He looked at the blue one, with the digital display that read pregnant.
He fell to the side and sat down, his legs no longer able to hold him.
Angel was pregnant.
The mother of his child. Some of the fog reading those words had conjured cleared. A baby. He wanted to shout in joy!
Where the hell is she?
Just then, his phone rang.
"Grayson," he said, clearing his throat.
Michelle was kneeling next to him rubbing his shoulders as she squeezed the pregnancy test in her other fist.
Conner kept his eyes fixed on it. Couldn't look anywhere else.
"Du Pont here. We found our guy. Bullet to the back of the head. I'm guessing a Ruger, but can't know for sure until we find the slug."
The words hit him in the gut.
"Conner," Du Pont softened her words. "We found her Jeep abandoned not too far from you. Evidence shows another vehicle had been parked there, and they switched over. Heading in the direction of the harbor."
"Okay. The harbor. What do you want us to do," Conner asked as he stood.
Fire that started in his stomach had moved to light him up, get him agitated.
He was more than angry now.
He was fuming. He would rip that bastard limb from limb if he so much as touched Angel.
"Judging from the oil leak, and the size of the tire tread, I'm thinking a pickup truck. And my guys in the harbor said they spotted a pretty beat up one heading for the marina."
Conner's mind flashed.
Think, Conner. The Marina. Something...
"That's our guy. It has to be. We had a break in the night of the fire on one of the boats. The owner uses it to go deep sea fishing. It's got a cargo hold on it. The only one like it in the area, and the owner is out of town this weekend. Go check it out."
"That's a lot of speculation, Sheriff," Du Pont said, not liking being told what to do by a small town cop.
"We tied it to the break in at the hardware store, where rope and a power tool was stolen. We haven't had a chance to link it to the cut in the pipes at the bakery, but my bet is it will. It's enough for me. I'm going," Conner said as he made a move towards the vehicles.
"I'm going to send my guys out to set up blocks to stop anyone from leaving without being searched. I've already called and had all roads out of here sealed off. Other departments have responded, and everyone is on the lookout for Angel. We'll get her if he tries to take her out on the road."
"Great. I'll be in touch," Conner snapped off his phone, and shoved it into his pocket. He knew the marina was where they needed to be going, and he didn't have the time to argue with some big-shot FBI agent out to prove her mettle.
He heard running steps behind him.
The twins, Michelle and his father had followed him.
"Go back up, you're not coming with me."
"Like hell! That's my best friend and my ex-husband," Michelle practically growled. "I'm going."
Conner, a little taken aback by the fierceness he'd never seen before coming from her, automatically stepped out of her way.
"She goes, I go," Robert simply followed Michelle.
Before Raymond could say anything, Conner looked at him. "I need you here. Yvonne, my mom, Jackson, plus Bo and his kids. I need you here," Conner said, a hand to his friend's shoulder.
Nodding, Raymond accepted his task.
"Don't try stop me, son. You know I'm going," Frank was already climbing into Conner's silver sedan.
Michelle and Robert were just closing their doors.
He wasn't going to waste any more time.
He had to stop that maniac. So, with his heart in his throat, Conner hit his foot flat against the floor and sprayed gravel as he spun the car out and took off down the road.