Page 104 of A Fearless Heart
“No, it’s not that. Not exactly,” Chattan said. “Do you remember the last things he said regarding the poison, or his theories about who had it?”
Cady rolled her eyes. “No! I don’t understand what this is about. Does he think I still have the clephobine I synthesized before? Or was he staying close to me in case I made more, and that’s why he’s upset I won’t see him?”
“I’m not sure,” the man said. “He didn’t tell us everything either.”
“Is that why you’re here? To get me to tell you because Gabe won’t talk?”
“We’re here because Gabe is missing.”
“What does that mean?” Cady asked, not sure she could handle much more news related to Gabe’s activities.
Chattan leaned forward. “It means we can’t locate him.”
“I am very sorry to hear that you’ve misplaced your spy. But the last time I saw Gabe, I told him that I never wanted to see him again. So I doubt you’ll find him around here.”
The man shook his head. “No, we don’t think you know where he is. Rather, we were hoping you might help us track him…or who took him.”
“Took him?” Cady shook her head. “Nowwhat are you saying? Gabe is not the type to be taken anywhere. Are you implying he was kidnapped?”
“Yes.” The lady looked steadily at Cady. “That’s exactly what we think. In his rooms, we found this.” She slid a card along the low table.
Cady picked it up and read it. “Et in Arcadia ego.” She looked up angrily. “This is a joke. A very poor joke. I overheard what Gabe was saying about the poisoning, that a card like this was left at each one. That would mean…he’s dead.”
Her heart stuttered once as she said the words, and she looked away, dropping the card back on the polished wooden surface.
“Not dead,” Miss Chattan said. “Not yet. There’s no body. If he were just killed like all the others, why would the body be missing?”
“I don’t know! I’m not the insane killer, despite what you all think!”
“Gabe realized straightaway that you couldn’t be a killer. He told us in one of his first reports that our initial assumption was wrong.”
“Only because I hadn’t left the estate in months.”
“Well, he mentioned that. But he also said it would be out of character for you. That you’d never countenance any violence, let alone murder. And he’s an excellent judge of character. He has to be.”
“But if he trusted me, then why didn’t he tell me the truth of what he was doing?”
“He’s a very cautious man—he doesn’t say all of what he’s really thinking to anyone. He’s very slow to trust. I don’t think he trustsusand we’ve worked together for years.”
“He’s not dead,” Cady whispered. “He can’t be dead.”
“Then help us find him before it’s too late.”
* * * *
Gabe woke up in darkness, with a sick taste in his mouth. His tongue was thick with dryness, and he could barely swallow.
He was sitting in a chair. Why was he sitting? Gabe moved to stand up, and abruptly found himself snapped back to his original position. He was stuck to the chair somehow.
Puzzled, he lifted his arm and got about as far as shoulder height before he felt resistance and heard a clinking sound.
He waschainedto the chair.
Gabe thrashed out, and his limbs all jerked to a stop when the chains extended to their complete length of a foot or so.
Both arms, both feet were secured to the chair, which itself seemed to be bolted down. Gabe groaned. What the hell was going on? He tried to shake out the fog in his brain. How long had he been unconscious? And what happened just before? His memories were cracked and hazy—more like a dream than a recollection of real events.
“Hello?” he called out. “Where am I?”
