And truthfully, there was a benefit to her being gone. Gabriel had to confront Raphael, and that could get ugly. Because Gabriel was going to get a confession from him, for both murders, and maybe all the murders on down the line of Sara’s family, regardless of what it took. Gabriel was no longer an angel, but he could vanquish another fallen one if he had justification, and he did.

Anne hadn’t deserved to die. And she had because of her association with Raphael, with him.

So he was going to punish Raphael, for what he had done to Anne, and to Sara. And possibly to all the other women in Sara’s family who had suffered the same horrific fate.

“You can’t stop me?” she said flatly.

“No. You’re a grown woman. You can do what you want.”

“You could say, ‘I don’t want you to go. It’s dangerous.’ You could say, ‘I’ll go with you to make sure you’re safe.’ You could say, ‘Stay here and just overnight the lab work to your friend.’ But you’re not. You’re just sitting there.” Her voice was getting high and shrill and she was jerking on his arm to emphasize each point she made.

Gabriel almost wanted to tell her the truth. Almost wanted to blurt out who and what he was, what he’d seen, what he’d done, what he felt. Instead, he gathered his strength, his resolve, his determination. He had to do what was right for Sara, not what he wanted. So he looked her in the eye and said, “Stay here and just overnight the lab work to your friend.”

He knew it would piss her off. And it did.

She gasped and dropped her hand from his arm. Tears in her eyes, she popped up on the steps. “I’m going back to pack.”

“Okay, I’ll walk with you.” He stood up too, stretching out his arms as he turned to follow her up the stairs.

“Gee, thanks so much,” she said sarcastically.

He could have said something. Knew she wanted him to.

But Gabriel kept his mouth shut.

Chapter Sixteen

JURY SET TO DELIBERATE IN THIROUX TRIAL!