Rendezvous with Danger (Reunited Series) (12 page)

“Tell me what happened when you got to Germany.”

“When I arrived at the airport there was a driver with a sign with my name on it, and he escorted me out of the airport.” Alandra massaged the back of her neck. “I remember handing over my bag just before getting into a dark sedan with tinted windows, but I don’t remember anything after that.”

“So you don’t know how you arrived in Tzbekystan?” Quinn leaned against the sofa. “It’s over 400 kilometers, and several hours from Germany. The country is no bigger than a dot on the map, how is it that you show up exactly where I am…at the exact time I…”

Alandra shrugged. “I don’t know. But Quinn you have to believe me. When I woke up, I was in this small village, lying on a concrete bench in a room just a little larger than this one. My hands and feet were bound. The room was dark with just enough light for me to see two armed men wearing masks standing over me. I remember initially being scared to death, but then they said they would take me to you.”

The more she shared, the more she wanted to share. She needed for him to know what she’d gone through, how afraid she was and how determined she was to get to him.

“They put me in a truck right before they blindfolded me. I remember riding for what seemed like ten minutes over a bumpy terrain, and then they dropped me near a wooded area, giving me a hand-held GPS that led me to you.”

****

Quinn stood near her, his gaze on the floor unable to look at her. For the longest time he said nothing, not trusting his voice to speak. Someone had gone to great lengths to make a statement. All this time he thought the target was her, but now he wasn’t so sure. Whoever did this not only had access to classified information, but most likely had military experience, and definitely connections with the U.S. government. Deep connections. That’s the only way they could have known where he would be. He recalled it being an unusual op from the beginning, and now it just got more suspicious.

“Quinn, please say something,” Alandra pleaded in a small voice, her teary eyes searching his. “I swear I’m telling the truth.”

“Baby, I believe you.” He pulled her roughly into his arms, holding her tighter than he probably should. He kissed the top of her head before brushing some curls away from her face. “We are going to find who did this, and I promise you, everyone involved will pay.”

****

Alandra didn’t know how long Quinn stood holding her in his strong arms, but she wasn’t going to complain. Right now, she was where she wanted to be, where she needed to be. And she wasn’t going to fight him anymore. If he wanted to help, she’d let him. He was right. Someone had to pay for what they did to her. For what they did to them.

After another kiss on top of her head, Quinn stepped back and reached for her hand. He guided her over to the sofa.

“Unfortunately, there are still some things I don’t understand,” he said.

Alandra sat down wishing they could talk about something else. She just wanted this to be over, all of it. She didn’t want to talk any more or answer any more questions. Most of all, she didn’t want to think about that time in her life.

“Baby, I know this can’t be easy, but I need to know everything or at least as much as you remember. How did you get to California? And what kept you from telling me you were still alive?”

She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths before she looked at Quinn. She couldn’t tell him the real reason she’d stayed away, at least not yet. Not until she was sure he knew how much she loved him. “I never meant to hurt you. Hindsight, maybe I should have found a way to let you know I was still alive, but Harry—”

“Harry? What in the hell does he have to do with this?”

Alandra placed her hand on Quinn’s knee, feeling tension permeate from his body. Even after all of these years, he still had a beef with Harry. There was no way he could be jealous of their relationship.

“If it weren’t for Harry and Isabella, I wouldn’t be alive.”

Quinn rubbed his forehead and then stood suddenly, pacing the the length of the room. He clenched and unclenched his jaw, but said nothing. He should be happy someone was able to get her out alive, but apparently he wasn’t.  

“What role did Harry play in all of this?” Quinn finally stopped and faced her.

Alandra folded her arms across her chest, wondering what difference it made as long as she was alive. “He arranged medical care for me in Germany until I was well enough to be transported to the U.S. I don’t remember much about those first few months, but he made sure I had the best medical treatment.”

“Why?”

Alandra leaped from the sofa, her fisted hands slammed on her hips. “What do you mean why? I owe that man my life. You should be happy I had someone to look after me during that time.”

 “I want to know why he told me you were dead!” Quinn’s voice rose with every word as he inched toward her. “Harry knew - if no one else knew - he knew what you meant to me. I want to know why he took it upon himself to help you these last few years, and I sure as hell want to know what he got out of it,” Quinn ground out, his face a glowering mask of rage.

“Wait a minute. I don’t think I like what you’re insinuating.” She jabbed her finger against his rock hard chest. “Are you suggesting Harry had an ulterior motive for helping me
or
are you accusing me of having an affair with him? What exactly are you saying here, Quinn?”

Now it was her turn to be angry. Since the day her and Quinn met she hadn’t thought of being with anyone besides him, especially not Harry. Her dad died in combat when she was still in school, so having Harry in her life filled a void. He was the closest thing she had to a father. How dare Quinn make their relationship out to be something other than what it was - platonic.

“Come on, Lan. You’re a smart woman. Don’t tell me this hasn’t crossed your mind.” Quinn’s tone was patronizing. “Why would Harry lie about you being dead – to me? Why would he lie?”

He seemed to ask the last question mainly to himself, but Alandra wasn’t sure. Harry never wanted to talk about the past, claiming it wasn’t healthy for her to think about that time in her life.  

“I can imagine what your medical expenses were, especially with no health insurance. Are you telling me he covered the bill, no strings attached?”

“Quinn –”

He turned abruptly, anger now replaced with anguish. “I should have been the one caring for you - caring for my wife. But that asshole took that away from me the day he told me you were dead.”

Alandra didn’t know what to say. Harry had always treated her with the utmost respect. As for standing by her during her recovery, she wasn’t sure what his intentions were, but she was glad he had come through. She understood why he didn’t want anyone to know she was alive since it seemed someone definitely wanted her dead, but she did think it odd that he wanted her to drop the idea of finding her killer and finding out why someone accused her of selling government secrets.

 Quinn walked around her and sat on the edge of the sofa, his elbows on his knees, and his attention on his interlocked fingers. “Does Harry know you’re here?”

Alandra ambled over and sat next to him. “I didn’t tell him.” Leary of touching Quinn, she took her chances and looped her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder. When he didn’t pull away she said, “I stayed away because I thought my reappearance into your life would somehow put you in danger. I honestly believed you were better off if these people thought I was dead.”

“Because that’s what Harry told you.”

Alandra hesitated before speaking. “Yes, because he told me whoever tried to kill me might come after me again, as well as you if they found out I was alive.”

“So who knows you’ve resurfaced?”

“You … and my sister, Natasha.”

“What about the rest of your family?”

She shook her head against his shoulder. She hoped to reconnect with her other sister who lived in Europe and some friends from her past, but she didn’t want to risk putting anyone else’s life in danger.

Before either she or Quinn could say anything else, Quinn’s phone vibrated. She pulled away from him and at first it didn’t seem as if he would answer, but at the last second he pulled it out of his pocket.

“Yeah.”

He didn’t say anything for several minutes and just listened to the caller. Alandra shifted in her seat and hugged her arms around herself while she watched Quinn. There was so much she didn’t know about him. How did he spend his days now that he didn’t work for the government? Was he still a big eater and beer drinker? Based on his tight muscles and flat abs, it was no doubt he still worked out like a madman. But what she really wanted to know - was he involved with anyone? He wasn’t the type of man to be serious about one woman, yet sleep with another. But had he done that last night? She could only hope there wasn’t another woman in his life.

Quinn pulled her out of her reverie when he stood and sauntered across the room. He moved to the side of the window on the left, and pushed down one of the slats and peered out, looking from left to right. “All clear,” she heard him say before releasing the slat.

He turned and glanced at her, his intense dark eyes studying her, keeping her rooted in place.
Good Lord
. He looked sexier than any man had a right to look. His long dreadlocks pulled away from his face allowed his masculine beauty to glow. His mustache and goatee were perfectly trimmed around full lips that were created for pleasing a woman. A shiver scuttled through her body and she ran her sweaty palms down her jean-encased thighs remembering all that he had done to her body the night before.

Wiping the small beads of sweat from her forehead, she continued her perusal of him. Partial to black, he had on a fitted black T-shirt that stretched across his taut muscles and a pair of well-worn black jeans that were haphazardly tucked into his Red Wing boots.
Rugged and fine
. He leaned a shoulder against the wall, tucking his free hand into his pocket and continued his conversation oblivious to the fact that he was wreaking havoc on her system. If only she had her camera handy. With his good looks and this nonchalant pose, he’d be perfect for the cover of GQ Magazine.

Her pulse quickened when his eyes met hers and his tongue slipped out and swept across his bottom lip.
See, now he’s just messing with me
.

Despite her vow to stay focused on her reason for being in Chicago, right now all she could think about was how wet her panties were getting at the way his gaze glided over her. So much for her plan to keep her hands to herself and her legs closed because if he kept looking at her this way, she wouldn’t be responsible for what she did to him once he hung up the phone.

The trance was broken when he looked away and said, “Uh, yeah, I have to make a couple of stops, but then we’ll meet you and Malik at your place around seven.”

He disconnected the call, pocketed his phone and stared at her for a long minute before saying, “Come home with me.”

Chapter Nine

Something was wrong, Quinn thought as they traveled down the interstate. For Alandra to agree to stay with him, no questions asked, something was definitely wrong. Prepared for a verbal sparring, he had a mental list of reasons why she should move in with him, but never had to use them. There was no: Why do I have to leave? When will I be back? Or why should I stay at your place? Nothing.

He divided his attention between Alandra and the expressway. They’d been driving for the past fifteen minutes and she either sat with her head against the headrest, eyes closed or staring out the passenger side window deep in thought. When he first arrived at her apartment, all he could focus on were her big brown eyes staring at him and those succulent lips begging to be kissed. Had something happened between the time they talked earlier and when he arrived at her house?

Alandra shivered and hugged herself despite the heat blasting from the car vents. Quinn adjusted the settings to help warm her quicker, but it didn’t seem to help. What he really wanted to do was pull her into his arms and never let her go.

“Lan, baby, is that the heaviest coat you own?” She would never survive a Chicago winter in the jacket she wore.

She nodded and her face clouded with unease. This was not the Alandra he remembered. What happened to the woman who spoke her mind? The woman who shared her thoughts whether he wanted to hear them or not?

Quinn pulled the car to the shoulder of the road and put his hazard lights on. “Alandra, what’s going on? And don’t you dare say nothing. I know something’s up.”

She stared out the passenger window and then turned to him, her eyes troubled. “I’m losing my mind.”

“What?”

She told him about the last few days of feeling as if someone was watching her, and included the morning’s incident.

Quinn reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. He knew he couldn’t shield her from everything, but there were some things he could shield her from.

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

She shook her head. “Because I thought I was being paranoid. But now I think it’s more than just being paranoid, I think something is wrong with me. I was so embarrassed this morning.” She pulled her hand from his and covered her face. She released a long sigh before looking back at him. “I feel so stupid. I’m glad the guy only called me a few names before walking away. That whole situation could have gotten uglier, as if what I had done wasn’t bad enough.”

Quinn didn’t respond. What if she was being watched? It was possible that others had found out she’d resurfaced, making it even more crucial that they determine what really happened in Tzbekystan.

He pulled back into traffic and pressed the Bluetooth button on his steering wheel. Within seconds, Malik’s voice came to life throughout the truck.

“What’s up my brother?”

“Hey, just wondering. Did you put one of your guys on Alandra?”

“Nah, man, I was waiting to hear back from you. All it’ll take is a phone call. Do you want me to set it up?”

Quinn glanced at Alandra, shock written across her face. “Uh, not yet. I’ll be in touch.” He disconnected the call and sighed.