The way she was sitting, Ginny wasn’t given a good view of Gavin’s face, yet she was able to feel his body tense under her.
“Allerton said that he was going to reunite you with me and your father after his men were done with you?”
Blocking the pain out as much as she could, Ginny used her bottom muscles, which were the only ones not hurting, to slightly turn so she could get a better look at him. The strange tenor in his voice was magnified on his face.
“That’s what he said.”
“Do you think, if I stood and sat you back down on your own, the pain would be too bad?” he asked solicitously.
“You need to go to the restroom?” she inquired innocently.
“No. There’s a motherfucker I need to finish off.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Don’t let him.” Agent Collins appeared as if he was the one who was about to vomit at Gavin’s threat.
Passing him the barf bag, Ginny dropped the cracker so she had a free hand to press Gavin back down into the seat. “You’ll be doing him a favor. What matters most to Allerton is his reputation. If we are able to destroy that, it will hurt more than anything you can do him.”
Gavin looked back at her blandly, not swayed by her argument. “You have no idea how painful I can make his death.”
“As painful as having him confess to what he did to the islanders? Or watching his bank balance dip to the negative when all the lawsuits come his way from misrepresenting his charity? Or watching everyone turn their backs on him when they discover how evil he is?”
“I can’t do all that, but I can come close.”
“Coming close doesn’t count. I want him to pay publicly for what he has done. I don’t want one person on Earth to be able to defend his actions.”
“That’s a tall order. Allerton has enough money to spin his defense any way he wants.”
“How can he spin it when I have him on tape bragging about what he’s done?”
“You have it on tape?”
Ginny gave him a cat-who-ate-the-canary grin. “Agent Collin’s does.” Looking at the man sitting next to Gavin, she had Agent Collins confirm what she was saying. “You said that you would tape any conversations between you and Allerton.”
Agent Collins uncomfortably shared a glance with her, then Gavin, as if dreading what he was about to tell her. “The polygraph machine wasn’t on, which had one listening device attached when it was in use. His men took the another one I had attached to my badge,” he admitted, switching his gaze back to her, as if afraid she was going to freak out at him.
“We have the video from behind the lobby desk,” Gavin asserted, “which had no sound. And now we know that the recorder on the polygraph and the one you had weren’t working, the only indictment you’re going to be able to charge him with is assault, with no audio to back you up.” Gavin started to rise again, but Ginny grabbed the arm rest to prevent him.
“That’s okay,” Ginny assured him. “Mine was on.”
“You had a tape recorder?” Gavin quizzed her.
Both men gave her an astounded look.
“I do.” Ginny started to raise her arm. “My bracelet …” As the words came out of her mouth, she remembered Allerton jerking it off her wrist. “We have to go back! Train!” Ginny screeched, about to tear herself out of Gavin’s arms, regardless of the amount of pain she caused herself.
Gavin tightened his arms around her waist. “Hell will freeze over before we go back there!”
“I have to get my bracelet ….” Her mouth dropped open when she saw what was dangling from Gavin’s fingers. Snatching it from him, she inspected the damage. Finding what she was looking for, she gave him a bright smile. “Have I told you today how much I love you?”
“A couple of times.”
“Right. Just making sure.” Content, she took another sip of her Sprite. “Are there any crackers left?”
“No, you ate both packs.”
“Do you think there are any more where Mr. Beck got them from? I’m hungry.”
If Gavin and Agent Collins were looking at her like she had a screw loose, Ginny was glad her back was turned away from the rest of the men on the plane.
“I’m on it,” Ginny heard Mr. Beck call out.
“Thank-you,” she called back, feeling a hand on the back of her head. “What are you doing?”
“Checking you for a concussion. Did Allerton hit you on the head with that cane? You might need to get a CT scan when we get to Treepoint.”
“I don’t need a CT scan. You’re being ridiculous.”
“One second you’re screaming to go back to Sherguevil Island and the next, you’re wanting crackers. You don’t think that sounds strange?” Gavin tried to search for bumps on her head again.