Quinn (The Waite Family) (22 page)

Now he was sitting here waiting with Alyssa and Cain.
Cain was quiet, but Alyssa and Quinn were talking quietly at the other end of the table.

Drew looked at Cain.
They hadn’t really spoken since they’d had that fight in the hospital last week. He hoped they’d be able to work out the differences soon.
He really missed him. When Cait stepped into the room, they both stood up.

“Drew, your parents are here.
I know your dad is an attorney too. Is he here on business or something else?”

“They’re bringing Quinn some food.
She…we were going to my house for dinner when Cain called.”
Cait nodded. “And to also bring me something for pain.”

Cait let them in and as they started emptying what looked like everything in the refrigerator at his grandda’s house, Cait told them what she knew and some of what she suspected.

“At first glance it looks like a simply break-in gone sour.
But there are a couple of things that…well, I think it’s something more now. And I don’t know where to go with it.”

“Cait, is my mother, is she really dead?”
Alyssa asked. Drew watched as Cain picked her up and sat her on his lap.

“Yes, honey, I’m afraid so. The coroner is getting her ready to transport to the hospital now.
They have to do an autopsy, of course, but she’s gone.
I’m so sorry.”

Drew spoke up as his mom set a huge plate of food in front of Quinn.
“You don’t have any suspects then, do you?”

There was a tug of war going on between Quinn and his mom, but Quinn held her own for as long as she could.
Drew thought his dad was going to hurt himself trying not to laugh.

“Well…I do and I don’t.
Your brother, Alyssa, what do you know about him?
Anything come to mind?
Especially recently?”
Cai
t
asked as she took a cupcake off the platter.

Alyssa shook her head.
“No. I’ve actually only seen him a couple of times in the last year.
My mother also for that matter.
Only when they thought they wanted something I wasn’t giving them. She’s been to the office a few times. But I had her…she’s been escorted out by security each time she came by.”

Drew took the half pain pill his mom handed him and the glass of tea.
He noticed that Quinn was picking at the food his mom had given her, but she would cast a dirty look at them every chance she got.
Drew’s dad just watched both the women with an odd smile.

“I’m going to have to canvas the neighbors to see if anyone saw anything.
Then I’m going to question you—”

“You know,” Quinn shouted across the room, “I know something that might be helpful if anyone cares to come down here and take some of this food I don’t want to eat but am being forced to.”

Drew looked at his dad when he started laughing.
When he quickly turned it into a coughing fit Drew didn’t have to turn around to know that his mom was glaring at him.
Quinn started drumming her fingers on the table and glar
ed
too.
She looked beautiful, he thought, even when she was pissed off.

Cait didn’t bother hiding her laughter.
If anything, she seemed to laugh harder every time someone looked at her.
Including his mom.

“Oh all right.
But you will eat more in the morning at breakfast, young lady,” Rose huffed as she sat down again.
“You’re much too skinny as it is now and I won’t have my grandchild suffer because you think you’re too fat.”

Quinn was up in a heartbeat.
“Listen here, Mrs. Miller, I will eat when I want, what I want, and however much I want. You are not my…you are not…
Oh Christ, I’m gonna be sick again.”
She fled the room with her hand over her mouth.

Drew and Cain both leapt to their feet to go after her, but Rose held up her hand to stay them.
“Let me go. It seems, Drew, your little girlfriend has a great deal more backbone th
a
n I thought. I think I’ll grow to love her as much as you do.”

With that she swept out of the door after Quinn.
Drew looked at his dad when he started clapping.
Drew put his head on the table.
He didn’t think he’d ever understand women.
He wasn’t even sure he wanted to.

~~~

Rose went out the door behind Quinn. The girl was gone, she saw, and that was when she noticed the two officers in the hall looking out the front door and laughing.
She went toward them.

“Did Miss Waite go by here?”
One of them nodded, a smirk on his face.
“You know, having morning sickness isn’t funny, young man. That girl is carrying my grandchild and you’d do well to remember who I am.”

“And who would that be, ma’am? Somebody important by any chance?
The queen or something?” He laughed and turned to his partner who was no longer laughing
,
but wisely backing away.
“I know, you’re the president of the U.S. of A.”

“No, but you’re close.
I’m the woman who does things to fuck-head cops like you to make them wish for their mommies.
I’m in charge of Internal Affairs of the State of Ohio, you dunderhead.”
She watched his face as it hardened and fury replaced his humor.

“I haven’t done anything wrong but laugh at a stupid girl who got herself knocked up. You can’t fault a guy for having a bit of fun.”

“No,” Cait said from behind her,
“but I can. Vernon, you’ve been a pain in my ass since I took you in.”

Rose went to find her future daughter-in-law, confident that Officer Vernon was in good hands.
Rose heard Quinn before she found her. Quinn was standing near the side of the house crying.

“Here.”
Rose handed her a few tissues and a package of crackers.
“I lived on those when I was pregnant with Andrew.
I think Tommy, his father, bought stock in the company and made us very rich for the first nine months we owned the stock.”

Quinn blew her nose before speaking.
“Anyone ever tell you you’re a pain in the ass, Mrs. Miller?”

Rose grinned.
“Once or twice.
Do you think you could drop the Mrs. Miller crap and call me by my given name?
I know it’s supposed to be respectable, but I think you’re just trying to get a rise out of me.”
Rose sat on the ground next to her.
“Eat the cracker, Quinn.”

They sat there for several minutes while Quinn nibbled on the crackers.
Rose looked out over the yard and noticed that the neighbors were beginning to be questioned by the other officers.
Rose remembered what Quinn had said before she’d run out of the house. But before she could ask, Quinn spoke up.

“I’m not going to marry Drew.
I know that I should for the child, but I won’t.” She ate another bite of cracker.
“I was married once before.
He was…he wasn’t such a great choice.”

Rose didn’t know what to say for a few seconds.
To buy time she leaned back on her hands and regarded the girl, stunned at the revelation.
“So you don’t love Andrew. That’s really too bad because he loves you.” Rose nearly smiled at the look of shock on her face.
Quinn didn’t know, which wasn’t really surprising. The two of them didn’t seem to say much to one another.

“No, you’re wrong.
He can barely stand me most…he hates me.
He hates my ideas, my…I make lists and he gets so angry about them. He gets pissed about everything I do.
No, Mrs. Mil…Rose, you’re wrong.”

“Do you love him, Quinn?” Rose asked her quietly.

Quinn ate another cracker before she answered.
Rose would never forget the answer for as long as she lived.
And she was sure that she’d laugh every
time.

“He makes it damned hard to even like him most of the time, the stubborn duckweed.
But I never would have sex with him if I…I think I’ve loved him all my life.”
Quinn stood up and brushed crumbs off her skirt.
“And you’re pretty slick. But not so good that I didn’t notice you pumping me for information that is frankly none of your business.
But it doesn’t matter. I’m not marrying your son.”

Rose sat on the grass and grinned as Quinn stalked away toward the street.
Rose thought she was going to enjoy this girl once she figured out that Drew actually loved her and they were finally married.
She got up to go inside. Yes, she thought, it was never going to be a dull moment with her around.

She was about to the doorway again when a man exploded out and right into her.
Rose wasn’t sure what had happened as she was thrown ass over head onto the ground.
She was ready to blast the clumsy idiot when she felt the bite of the gun at her temple.

“Fucking don’t move, bitch.
Come with me and I won’t hurt you,” the voice behind her snapped.

“If you don’t want me to move how do you expect me to come with you?”
She knew she shouldn’t have said it, but he’d pissed her off by knocking her down.

The cuff to the side of her head had her seeing stars. It took her a few seconds longer to focus on the shouting going on around her.
Then she felt the gun at her head again as the man held her in front of him.

“Let Mrs. Miller go and we’ll talk this over. No one needs to get hurt.”
Cait? Rose tried to focus on seeing who was speaking, but there was something in her eyes. She knew in that second that she was bleeding.

“Yeah right, bitch. You’re not gonna pin my mother’s murder on me. Uncle Samuel just texted me and said you got a witness.
Tell me who the cock sucker—stay back. I’ll shoot her.”
Rose was tired of being tossed around like a rag doll and glared at the man in the uniform who was now backing away.

“Let me go, you idiot.
They’ll simply shoot me to get to you. And I’m in too good a mood to let you be the cause of me getting shot.”
Rose started to twist around and toss his ass to the ground when another voice, this one much softer and a great deal more confident, spoke.

“Let her go and I won’t blow your fucking head off.”

Quinn decided that if all she did was throw up for the next eight months then this was going to be a one shot deal.
Her belly cramped again, but so far that’s all she’d done since they’d brought her to the hospital.
She brushed her teeth again.

She left the tiny bathroom and made her way back to the bed. The nurse kept tisking at her about keeping the gown closed, but she had a headache and her mouth hurt.
She didn’t give a crap if her ass hung out a little.

Just as she was covering back up the curtain flew back and she was engulfed into someone’s arms.
Cain. She could tell by the way he smelled. Before she could hold him too, he let her go.
Then Alyssa held her. Tears went unchecked down her cheeks as they, Cain and Alyssa, starting talking at once.