An Archangel's Promise Read Free Page B

use a gun.
    Thankfully, when her parents walked into the room, her
brother kept his word and didn’t say anything.
    “Busy day today. Hope you got plenty of rest last night,”
her mother chirped as she began breakfast.
    Nolan sniggered, and Gabriella kicked him under the table.
“Yep. Ready to go.”
    “Excellent.” Her mother cracked some eggs into a pan. “Did
you need me to take you to get Hunter’s birthday present?”
    Gabriella smiled. “Nope. I picked it up yesterday.”
    She thought of the small pouch she had sitting in her top
drawer. Originally, the silver ring had been simply for friendship, but after
last night she felt like it stood for more now. On the inside of the band, she’d
engraved one simple, and very meaningful, word. Whenever people asked how long
they had been friends, they would always reply with that one word—eternity.
    The sound of the phone drew her attention. Her father’s
strong, stern voice echoed through the room. “When? Yes, I do know the family.
I’ll be right there.”
    Hanging up the phone, her father didn’t turn around
immediately, and Gabriella grew concerned. “Dad?”
    When he finally faced her, the look of dread had her stomach
plummeting. “Sweetheart. There has been an incident.” He swiped a hand down his
face. “Something has happened at Hunter’s house.”
    Fear and panic raced through her. Something was horribly wrong;
she could feel it.
    Shoving back from the table, Gabriella bolted to the front
door. Not even stopping for shoes, she threw open the screen and ran as fast as
she could. Hunter lived only a few streets away. Cutting through the side way,
mud and dirt caked her bare feet, small, sharp pebbles cutting into her soles,
but she ignored the pain and pushed on.
    Nerves spiked through her, and her heart beat frantically
when she turned into Hunter’s street and saw police tape surrounding the small
townhouse.
    Oh God.
    Stumbling to a stop, Gabriella barely acknowledged her
parents as they pulled up beside her seconds later. Her mother rushed from the
car and dragged Gabriella into her arms. Her father stepped out of the vehicle,
throwing her a concerned look, and approached the nearest man in uniform. “What
do you know?”
    “Sergeant Richards.” The officer nodded in recognition.
“We’re still not exactly sure what happened, sir. All we can say for certain is
that neighbors heard a disturbance in the early hours of the morning. When the
first team arrived, they found some strange scorch marks in one of the rooms
and signs of a struggle.”
    Her father’s gaze narrowed. “What do you mean ‘scorch marks’?
You mean the room caught on fire?”
    The other man grimaced. “No, that’s the weird part. There
were scorch marks in certain areas of the room, but nothing that suggested a
fire had started. There was a fair amount of debris scattered throughout the
place, and no one was home.”
    “Were they hurt? Does anyone know where they are?” Gabriella
sobbed, holding tightly to her mother.
    The constable gave her a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry, but
no one can find Mr. or Mrs. Downer, or their foster son, Hunter Bailey. They’re
missing, and we don’t like our chances of finding them in one piece if the mess
they left behind is any indication.”
    Finding it hard to breathe, Gabriella dropped to her knees.
Everything around her began to spin, and before she knew it, darkness was
closing in. Darkness she welcomed, because she suddenly felt like her soul was being
ripped in two.

Chapter 2
    Present Day…
     
    Gabriella was frantic. Not only had she had to do a last
minute scramble to fit more people onto the guest list, but there had to be
alterations made to the menu due to allergies. And now there were complaints
that some of the wines weren’t the right year. Her brother, Nolan, owed her big
time for this. He had asked her to organize his company’s annual fundraising
gala, the event of the year, and she’d reluctantly said yes.