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Authors: Shirlee McCoy

0373447477 (R) (8 page)

BOOK: 0373447477 (R)
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He climbed out, stepping into thick hedges that had already been smashed, their branches broken.

“Quinn,” he called, his voice sharp.

She’d be heading around the house by now, looking for the Jeep. The one that her brother still had the keys to. Malone had seen a #1 Teacher key chain dangling out of August’s back pocket while he was talking to the police.

He jogged to the front of the house. The Jeep was at the end of the driveway, someone standing beside the driver’s door.

“Your brother has the key,” he called as he walked toward it.

“I wish I’d known that before I’d decided to climb out the window,” Quinn muttered, her face pale in the darkness.

“You wouldn’t have had to climb out a window if you’d walked out the front door, and if you’d done that, your brother would have told you he had the key.”

“He’d also have insisted on coming with me.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I don’t want to wait around for him to finish whatever it is he has to do.”

“You’d rather put yourself in danger?”

“Tabitha is in danger. That is paramount to everything right now.”

“You can’t save your sister by getting yourself kidnapped or killed, Quinn. You’re running on emotion. You need to slow down and start thinking.”

“I am thinking, and what I’m thinking is that sitting here twiddling my thumbs isn’t doing Tabitha any good. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to her because I waited until the sun came up.”

“You won’t be able to live with yourself if you’re dead, either.”

She smiled at that, a quick curve of her lips that was there and gone so quickly he almost didn’t see it. “You’ve got a point, but I still want to leave.”

“Then, let’s go, but let’s do it the right way.”

“Which is?”

“We tell your brother. We tell my boss, and then I ride up to Maine with you.”

“I think you have better things to do with your time.” But, she hiked her purse onto her shoulder and started walking back to the house.

“Like?”

“Work? Family? Life?”

“I’m on vacation, and my family consists of a bunch of siblings and cousins who are all perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.”


This
is what you do on vacation?”

“This is what I do for my job. I got asked to help because I was vacationing in a cabin close by.”

“You could go back to the cabin, then, and finish what you started.”

“I’m going to finish what I started here first.”

“You came because of Jubilee,” she reminded him, stepping onto the porch, light spilling onto her hair and face.

“And, I’m staying because of you. Until I know everyone involved is safe, this assignment isn’t complete.”

“Everyone you’ve had any contact with
is
safe.”

“For now,” he muttered, scanning the darkness beyond the yard, because something was crawling along his spine—a whisper of danger, a warning that trouble might be closing in again.

“I don’t—”

“Let’s discuss it inside.”

“Why—?”

There was a flash of light in the trees to their right. Malone was moving before it registered, tackling Quinn, bringing her down hard. Too hard.

Something slammed into the porch railing, splintering wood and sending shrapnel flying. Another flash, and a window shattered, someone inside shouting a warning.

The porch light went off, and they were plunged into darkness. August. Or one of the law enforcement officers, providing cover. Malone was going to take advantage of it. He rolled toward the edge of the porch, dragging Quinn with him, the sound of a car engine breaking through the deadly quiet.

Chance finally arriving?

He hoped so.

They needed backup, and they needed it soon.

The front door flew open, and August stepped out, his arm raised, a gun pointed toward the darkness.

“To the right,” Malone shouted, and August fired one round after another into the darkness.

FIVE

S
econds. That’s how long it took from the first shot to the last. It felt like an eternity to Quinn. The ground seemed to shake as law enforcement officers stormed out of the house and headed into the woods.

Was August okay?

Jubilee?

She tried to raise her head, but Malone’s heavy weight held her in place, his entire body pressing her into the ground.

“Stay still,” he growled.

“August—”

“Is fine.”

“What about Jubilee?”

“I don’t know.”

“I need to find out.”

“You need to stay down.”

She would have argued, but she could barely catch enough breath to do it. His weight or panic, she didn’t know which, but she was gasping for air, black spots dancing at the edge of her vision.

Suddenly, Malone shifted, rolling onto his side, positioning himself between Quinn and the yard. They were face-to-face now, the scar black in the darkness, his eyes gleaming. “You okay?”

“Now that I can breathe, I am,” she responded, pushing onto her elbows, then her knees. She needed to stand, but she felt wobbly, every muscle trembling.

“Sorry about that.” He got to his feet, lithe and oddly graceful, and held out a hand to help her up.

Just like that, she was upright, still shaky, still trembling.

Still alive.

Thanks to Malone.

“I think you just saved my life,” she said, and she could hear the shock in her voice, the terror. “Thank you.”

“You might want to save your thanks until all this is over,” he said as he hurried her into the house.

It wasn’t over?
she wanted to ask, but Malone closed the door and left her standing in the darkness.

Every light in the house had been turned off.

Not a sound drifted into the living room.

Was she alone?

Should she turn on the lights?

Was it safe to do that?

Glass cracked under her feet as she moved through the room, bits of it glinting in the darkness.

“Hello?” she called, picking her way into the hallway. “Jubilee?”

“They just left with her,” someone said, his voice calm and quiet. She jumped anyway, whirling toward the speaker. He was in the threshold of the guestroom. Tall. Lean. Muscular. She couldn’t make out his face, but he didn’t look like any of the officers, and that made her nervous.

“Where did you come from?”

“I crawled through an open window.”

“Usually only criminals do that.”

“Or people who are trying to get in a locked door. I helped escort the CPS team to a vehicle that was waiting out back. When I tried to get back in, the door was locked. I’m Chance Miller, by the way. From HEART.”

“Malone’s boss?”

“I prefer to call myself his coworker. Unless he’s not listening to my instructions. Then I’m his boss.”

“Does he usually listen?”

“What do you think?”

“No?”

“Exactly. Take tonight for example. I told Malone to check on Kendal Anderson and go back to his vacation. Instead, he’s decided he needs to stick around.”

“Jubilee,” she corrected, because the five-year-old needed some consistency in her life, some constancy. She’d lost her birth mother. She’d lost her stepmother. She’d lost the guy who’d been raising her with Tabitha. She did not need to lose her name.

“Pardon?”

“She goes by Jubilee now.”

“Right. I got the memo. I’ve been hearing the other name for so long, it rolls out without much thought. Sorry about that.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me, but someone sure does need to apologize to that little girl.”

“You don’t think that’s your sister’s responsibility?” No edge in his voice, but she thought she heard a note of censure.

“I don’t think my sister kidnapped your friend’s daughter, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I guess I might have been. Eventually Boone is going to need answers. Eventually Jubilee is going to be old enough and mature enough to need them, too.”

“They both deserve to know the truth. I’m just not sure my sister is the one who has it.”

“Sometimes a wait and see approach is best. How about we do that this time? Withhold judgment until we know the truth? You won’t assume she doesn’t know. I won’t assume she does.”

“Sounds good.”

“You’re an agreeable person, Quinn. I usually am, too. Which means we’ll get along well for the next twelve hours.”

“Twelve hours?”

“The drive up to Maine. That’s about how long it takes.”

“You’re going to—?”

His phone buzzed, and he glanced at it. “Looks like we’re ready to head out.”

“To Maine?”

“Malone said you wanted to find your sister. My company is going to help you do that.”

“Because you want to talk to her?”

“Because she might be in trouble, and getting people out of trouble is what HEART specializes in.” The sincerity in his voice was undeniable, and she didn’t resist as he urged her through the living room and out the front door.

Someone had parked an SUV near the porch, and Chance hurried her down the stairs and into the backseat.

She thought she’d be sitting near the door, but he nudged her farther in, taking the seat next to the window.

She could have scooted over, but Malone was there, gazing out the side window, his attention so focused, she wasn’t even sure he knew she was there.

She felt hemmed in and uncomfortable, sandwiched between two men who’d been strangers a few minutes ago. “I’m going to need my Jeep when I get to Echo Lake,” she said, hoping they’d switch vehicles. She could drive the Jeep. The men would sit where they wanted.

“I’ve got another team member driving it up for you,” Chance replied.

“You didn’t think you should ask my permission first?”

“No.” There was nothing agreeable about that one word, nothing that made her feel as if they were going to get along. As a matter of fact, Chance suddenly looked as hard and unapproachable as Malone.

“Is there some reason why we’re not all going together?”

“The perpetrator knows what your vehicle looks like. We’d rather you not be in it, if he tries something while we’re traveling.”

“You don’t want to risk my life, but you’re willing to risk someone else’s.”

“It’s a calculated risk,” Malone murmured. “She knows what she’s doing, and she knows how to get out of trouble if she finds herself in it.”

“She?”

“Stella Silverstone.” Chance provided the name, a hint of something that sounded like irritation in his voice. “You should have checked with me before you sent her off in a bait car.”

“I planned to. She took off while I was texting you,” Malone said, and he didn’t sound happy about it.

“She and I are going to have a serious talk when this is over.”

“I think I’ve heard that one before,” Malone grumbled. “How about you do this instead? Work on whatever problems the two of you have so you don’t keep butting heads when we’re on mission.”

“We don’t butt heads.”

“Right, because you avoid each other. It’s getting old.”

“Not as old as this conversation.”

Malone chuckled, the sound more annoyed than amused. “I figured you’d say that.”

“And I figured that Stella would go running off again. I guess we were both right. Where’s our driver? I don’t want her getting too far ahead of us. Not with the trouble we’ve seen tonight.”

“He had to answer a few questions.”

“About?”

Malone’s attention finally shifted, his gaze flitting to Quinn for a moment. “We can discuss it later.”

That seemed to be code for something, because the conversation ended, time ticking away in silence. No tension in it. No resentment. The men seemed to know each other well enough to not be bothered by the other’s comments.

Quinn, on the other hand, was bothered—by the silence, the stillness, the warmth of Malone’s thigh pressed close to hers. By the fact that she noticed it.

The driver’s-side door opened, and August climbed in. He had a smear of dirt on his cheek, a twig in his short hair. Blood on his shirt? It looked like it—the dark stain on his shoulder as black as ink.

“You’re hurt!” She tried to lean over the seat to get a better look, but Malone pulled her back.

“Stay put.”

“I need to see how bad it is.”

“I’ve had worse,” August spat. “And I’ve already bandaged it. Now, how about you do what Malone says and sit back?”

He shoved the keys into the ignition and rolled forward, the headlights off, the interior lights dimmed. He must think they were going to be ambushed. They must all think it. Why else would they be so tense? Why else would they insist she sit in the middle? Why else would they tell her not to lean forward?

If a bullet were aimed at the car, it would go through one of them before it hit her. That was their plan, and knowing it didn’t make Quinn any happier about her situation. “I don’t like this.” She spoke into the silence, and August glanced into the rearview mirror, meeting her eyes for a nanosecond before he scanned the road again.

“What?”

“That the three of you are trying to stay between me and a gunman.”

“We’re trying to stay between you and death,” August clarified, as if it weren’t already clear enough.

“Stop the car. I’m getting out. Letting someone drive my car is one thing. Letting me cower in the center seat while you all put your lives at risk is another.”

“I don’t think that you understand how dangerous this is.” Malone finally turned completely away from the window, his gaze so sharp, so intense that Quinn had to force herself to keep meeting his eyes.

“I understand exactly how dangerous it is. That’s why I’m not going to let any of you do this.”

“Yes. You are,” Chance insisted.

“I thought you said you were agreeable?”

“Most of the time. This isn’t one of them. There are three men trained in security in this car, and one woman who teaches kindergarten and, according to her brother, has never even taken a self-defense class. It stands to reason that the three will provide the firearm power and the one will use her brain to figure out how much sense that makes.”

“I don’t agree.”

No response.

BOOK: 0373447477 (R)
8.93Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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