Rendezvous with Danger (Reunited Series) (22 page)

He was the strong one. Seeing him sick and pale was unnerving. In all the time they were together, he’d never been sick, but then again, she’d never driven him to drink.

She dropped a couple of aspirins into her hand and opened the bottle of water that was sitting on the bedside table.

“Here,” she said several times before Quinn opened his eyes half-mast and stared at her, as if seeing her for the first time. Without speaking he tried to sit up, but grabbed his head and laid back down, a string of curses flying from his mouth.

“Here, take ‘em. They’ll make you feel better.”

He looked at the aspirin in her hand and then back at her before sitting up slower and taking the items.

“Thanks,” he mumbled. He handed back the half-empty water bottle and dropped back against the pillows. He placed his arm over his eyes and ignored her.

Sighing out of frustration, Alandra climbed off the bed and grabbed the pail. Holding her breath, she carried it into the bathroom wondering what she was going to do about Quinn. It was long past time for her to tell him the truth about why she stayed away.

She finished cleaning up, walked back into the bedroom and pulled a chair closer to the bed.

“Quinn, we need to talk.”

“Not now, Alandra.” He didn’t bother looking at her.

Alandra sighed. “It has to be now.” She knew he felt like crap but she wasn’t willing to risk letting another day go by without him knowing everything. It was already possible that she was too late and that he wouldn’t forgive her.

 “During the first year of my recovery, I did suffer memory loss. I remembered enough to know that I was a CIA agent, and remembered my last mission to Guerrero. Anything other than that was hit or miss. Once my memory started returning, Harry told me he had faked my death. He was trying to protect me, or at least that’s what he said. He also told me you were killed in Tzbekystan…and I believed him.”

Quinn still didn’t look at her.

“After that, I didn’t care about life or finding answers. It was taking everything I had just to get out of bed each day. Everything I loved most in life had been stripped from me, and I figured, what’s the point? Why go on? I had nothing. Sure, I was alive, but…you were gone and nothing else mattered. I know you don’t want to hear this part, but Harry stood by me.” She twirled a lock of hair around her finger.

She stood, but stayed near the bed, unable to sit still. “It was well over a year before I really started asking Harry questions about that night in Tzbekystan. It was never determined who tried to kill me, or at least that’s what he told me. But about a year-and-a-half ago we talked a little about that night. He mentioned Sarah Olson and told me the role she played in saving my life. Hearing what she’d done, I wanted to know more. I wanted answers, but Harry was slow to give me any.”

Hope raced through Alandra’s body when Quinn removed his arm from his eyes, but it fizzled when he didn’t look at her. Maybe it was better that he didn’t. She didn’t want to see disappointment in his eyes.

“It took me a while to find Sarah, especially since she had changed her name, but during that time I found out you were alive and was surprised you lived in Chicago. When I confronted Harry, he said he lied about you because he wanted me to move on, start new. He said that if I was going to fake my death, the fewer people who knew I was alive, the better. He told me that if I started digging around in my past, I’d be putting my life at risk. So for a few months I followed that rational, but deep down I wanted to know what happened.”

Alandra began pacing the distance from the foot of the bed back to the chair, trying to formulate her thoughts. Quinn had been through enough and deserved to know why she’d stayed away.

“I didn’t tell him, but I started digging deeper into my past while building my new life. Since I needed money and couldn’t go back to the CIA, I went back into nursing.”

Alandra reclaimed her seat and brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. “I didn’t start thinking about coming to Chicago until I heard Harry talking on the phone one day. He had stopped by the apartment in L.A., which wasn’t unusual, but that day I wasn’t expecting him. Since I didn’t have any groceries in the house, I made a quick run to the store and he stayed behind. When I returned, I found him on the phone.”

Alandra snatched a Kleenex from the side table and wiped the tears that were crawling down her cheeks. It was true that she thought of Harry as a father, but that day she started questioning whether or not his loyalty was for her, or if he was using her.

She hugged her knees to her chest and played with a lock of her hair. When she looked up her eyes met Quinn’s.

“Go on,” he encouraged. Moving slower than usual, he stepped into the pair of jeans she had left at the foot of the bed. His eyes were blood-shot red and it was clear he wasn’t feeling well. He swayed a little, but righted himself and fastened his pants.

“Can I get you anything?”

He sat on the side of the bed, slumped over rubbing his head. “Maybe a piece of candy, a mint or something until I can make it to the bathroom to brush my teeth.”

She dugged through her bag and found a piece of peppermint.

“Thanks. Finish your story.”

Feeling encouraged, she told him about Harry’s telephone call. “To the person on the phone he said,
‘are you threatening me? No one will ever find out I had anything to do with it.
’” Alandra stood and walked behind her chair, her hands resting on the back of it.  “And then he said,
‘as long as my secrets are kept, yours will be kept. Besides, you’re in no position to threaten me. If Quinn Hamilton ever finds out you had something to do with Alandra’s death, he’ll kill you the way he killed…’
at that point he stopped talking. I’m not sure if he heard me behind him, but I played it off by backing up and slamming the door I had come through. I walked into the room as if I’d just arrive.”

Quinn and Alandra stared at each other, neither saying a word. Alandra wish she knew what he was thinking. His facial expression remained blank the whole time she talked.

She dropped to her knees in front of him and reached for his hand. “I swear on my life I’m telling you the truth, and I promise I’ll never lie to you again.”

He slid his hands out of her grasp. “This still doesn’t explain why you stayed away. Why you thought I was capable of doing
anything
to hurt you. I loved you so much I physically ached for you. I could never…I would never do anything to intentionally put your life in danger, and you should have known that.”

Tears sprung to her eyes and she scooted back, feeling her heart crumbling as she stood. She could not lose him again. Telling him everything had to count for something.

“Days ago when you asked me why I stayed away, I said because it wasn’t safe. When actually it wasn’t your safety I was concerned about, it was mine.” She snatched a Kleenex and dabbed at tears that rolled down her cheeks faster than she could wipe them away. “When I found out you were still alive, a part of me was beside myself with joy, but then that joy turned to anger when Harry planted it in my head that I might not have been the target. The more I thought about that night, the more I thought about how my life was ruined by someone who might’ve wanted revenge against you. I blamed you. I can’t even begin to explain the type of anger I felt toward you. I thought…it had only been me who’d been injured that night, whose life had been destroyed.”

She tossed the used tissue in the trash and grabbed more before sitting next to Quinn on the bed. Her hands automatically went to her hair, twirling a strand around her finger.

“I knew how you felt about me, and believe me when I say I ached for you as well, but I couldn’t get over the hurt. I blamed you because of the type of work you did. I felt you put my life in danger. Quinn, I couldn’t help the way I felt. I was angry, and I was afraid, but I never stopped loving you.”

“So after you overheard Harry’s conversation,” Quinn said, as if she hadn’t just professed her love for him, “you started having doubts about him. Did you ever question him about the conversation?”

Alandra shook her head. “I acted as if everything was the same, but I was more determined than ever to find the truth and to determine the level of Harry’s involvement.”

“And so why did you come looking for me, especially since you were angry and afraid of me?”

“Quinn, I wasn’t afraid of you. I was afraid of the life you lived as an operative.” She sighed, unsure of what to say to make him see how confused she was during that time, but how much she still loved him. “As months went on, I tried to forget you and move on…but I couldn’t. I was still very much in love with you.”

“And you needed my help to find the people who had ruined your life.”

Quinn leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs and his head in his hands. Several minutes passed without him responding. “When I found out you were dead,” he glanced at her, pain evident in his eyes. “I lost it. My whole world fell apart. Never in my life have I loved someone as much as I love you, and never have I experienced that type of pain before. Losing you…” His voice trailed off. “How can I trust you when I know lying is second nature to you?”

Alandra shook her head. “Not when it comes to you. This has been the only time that I wasn’t totally honest with you. I swear I’ll never deceive you again. I have always loved you, and I will never stop loving you.” She placed her hand on this thigh. “Please tell me you forgive me.”

He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, and then let his hand fall away. “Thanks for being honest with me. I want what you want – the truth about that night and for the bastards involved to pay.” He stood slowly and headed toward the bathroom. “But as for you and I…we’re done.”  

Chapter Sixteen

Quinn removed a towel from the wall-mounted towel warmer and stepped out of the shower, his mind clearer than when he first walked into the bathroom. He processed all that Alandra had told him, but it was still hard to believe she actually thought he had something to do with her being lured to Tzbekystan. It didn’t make sense. He never gave her reason to doubt his love for her, and had always tried to keep his job out of their relationship.

Now looking back on their conversation, maybe he had been too hasty in telling her they were done. Knowing what they’d learned over the last few days, it was very possible that someone had used her to get to him, but God he hoped not. He had done everything he could to protect her from that part of his life, but what if it were true. What if the people responsible, had been trying to get back at him?

Quinn wrapped the towel around his waist, starting to feel a little more like himself, except for the jackhammer pounding in his head. But what was he going to do about Alandra? He still loved her and there was no way he could just let her walk back out of his life. He’d been miserable without her and just the other night had vowed to do whatever it took to put their lives back together.

Through sickness and health
. The words bounced around in his mind. Before his father died, his parents had been married for forty-five years and that’s what he wanted. He wanted him and Alandra to build a life together, have a few kids and live happily-ever-after.

“Quinn,” Malik called from the other side of the bathroom door.

Quinn swung the door open, surprised to see Malik standing in the bedroom he and Alandra were using.

Breathing hard, Malik bent forward, his head down and his hands on his knees. “She’s gone.”

“Who’s gone?”

“Alandra.” Malik stood to his full height, sweat dripping from his body. “I went out for a run and when I got to my last half-mile, I saw her flying down the street in your rental truck going north at about a hundred miles an hour.”

Quinn pushed past him and charged into the bedroom. Glancing around, he noticed her messenger bag missing as well as her overnight bag.
Where the hell did she go?

“Let me get dressed and I’ll meet you downstairs.”

Quinn dashed back into the bathroom and grabbed the jeans he’d discarded, looking for his cell phone. When he didn’t find it in his pocket, he hurried into the bedroom and over to the side of the bed. And that’s when he saw it, Alandra’s ring. When he placed the ring on her finger the other night, he did it as a token of his love for her, never expecting her to take it off.

He picked the ring up and closed his hand around it.
Damn, I messed up.
He called her cell phone but her voicemail picked up on the first ring.

“Lan, I need you to call me. I know you’re upset,” he cleared his throat, “but I’m sorry about this morning… call so we can talk.”

Quinn arrived downstairs at the same time Wiz and his ex-wife, Olivia, walked in. “What’s up, man?” Wiz asked. “Have you recovered from your binge last night?”

“Yeah, I’m all right.”

“Hey, Quinn, long-time-no-see,” Olivia said, and stepped into his waiting arms for a hug.

Quinn hadn’t seen her when they arrived the night before and before today, it had been over a year since he’d seen her. She was as stunning as always. A short pixie cut with long bangs swept to the side. Every time he saw her, she had a different hairstyle proving she looked great in either.

“It’s good seeing you,” he said before releasing the tall, thin beauty. “I’m looking forward to catching up, but first, do you mind if I steal Wiz for a moment?”

“Be my guest. I’ll get started on breakfast.” Wiz handed the two bags he carried to her and followed Quinn down the hall and into the bedroom Olivia used as an office whenever she was in town.

“So what’s up?” Wiz asked when they got to the room. “You’re wound tighter than the threads on a baseball.”

“Alandra’s gone.”

Wiz cocked an eyebrow. “Define gone.”

“As in I screwed up.” Quinn dropped into one of the art-deco upholstered chairs. “After she told me the truth about everything, I told her we’ll find the bastards that tried to kill her, but then we were done.”