"Do you normally make-out with the people you're hired to kill? It doesn't strike me as very professional."
"Put the gun down," Gabriel panted, not answering her.
"Why on earth would I do that?"
"Because you're not going to shoot me," Gabriel rep...
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After almost five hours of driving, they had finally made it to Levi's cabin. The sun had just broken through the horizon, painting the sky vibrant shades of pink and orange and highlighting the deep reds of the rocky cliffs surrounding them.
The woman next to him had woken up a few times on the trip. Each time Gabriel told her firmly to go back to bed. She listened compliantly, falling asleep immediately after. But now, as he stopped the car, she lifted her head up.
"We're here!" she exclaimed, slurring her words slightly.
Gabriel didn't acknowledge her. Instead, he went around the car to help her out of her seat.
"Where is here?" she asked, now confused.
"Come on," Gabriel told her, lifting her easily out of the passenger seat.
"So strong," she said, giggling and wrapping her delicate hands around his bicep. She turned her head away from him and, in the process, caught a glimpse of the magnificent sunrise.
"Wow," she breathed, her eyes lighting up in wonder.
Gabriel wasn't sure why, but he found her complete amazement at the simple sunrise endearing. But that kind of thought was useless to him right now. He needed her to go back to being compliant and quiet so he could get some rest himself.
"Go back to sleep," he ordered her.
"What's your name?" she asked sleepily, nuzzling her cheek against his chest.
Gabriel hesitated for a moment.
She had already seen his face, so why bother giving her a fake name? It's not like she was leaving here. But then what? Did he expect to keep her locked up here forever? If he was inevitably going to kill her, why not do it already?
"Gabriel," he responded simply, putting the decision of what to do with her aside for the moment.
"Gabriel," she repeated. Despite her still slurring his name, he found the sound of it intoxicating as it dripped from her lips. "Like the angel," she added drowsily, still smiling.
"Nothing like that," he replied, under his breath.
The woman's eyes were closed, so he wasn't sure if she heard him. Still carrying her in his arms, he freed one hand to punch in the code for Levi's cabin. The door clicked and whirred as it unlocked itself. Once it finished, Gabriel struggled with his free hand to swing it open without dropping the mystery woman. Eventually, he just tossed her over his shoulder, discovering that it was a much easier position to carry a captive.
He carried the woman downstairs to a room in the basement and tied her hands behind her back with some zip ties he grabbed from Levi's utility room. For good measure, he zip-tied her ankles to the chair he set her on as well. Then he went back upstairs, locked the basement door, and tried to get some rest on the living room couch before the sedative he used on the woman fully wore off.
