Sworn to Protect (17 page)

Heart pounding an erratic thump against his chest, Quinn scooped up the phones on the ground. “You hear that Iris?” he asked as he jerked open the door to the catering van. He didn’t have to tell Travis to shut the back doors, he was already doing it by the time Quinn slid into the front seat. Luckily he didn’t have to hotwire the vehicle or waste time trying to hunt down someone with keys. They were sitting in the ignition.

“Yeah,” she said as he started the engine. “I’m calling the police regardless. Stay on the line.”

He set his phone down on the center console and started the ignition. Travis jumped in and Quinn jerked the van into drive. Years of training kept his movements calm and precise as Travis indicated which direction he should go. But inside, he felt as if his entire world was splitting apart at the seams.

Someone had taken Athena and Raegan and Quinn’s gut told him it was White. He was supposed to be in Miami, far away from them. She was supposed to have been safe. Quinn was going with his gut though, this wasn’t some random coincidence. White must have figured out a way to fool the Red Stone guys. It terrified Quinn that Athena was likely with him right now. The guy was a bastard who hadn’t cared about hurting his own wife. Athena would just be a tool to him. Quinn could only hope White wanted to keep her alive to lure Quinn to him. Fuck it, Quinn should have been with her. He decided to berate himself later when she was safe and in his arms.

“Looks like they’re slowing down, hmm, hold on.” Travis rattled off an address.

“That’s a rundown shopping strip,” Iris said immediately, clearly recognizing the location. “Wyatt bought it recently. He’s going to renovate it. There’s a pawn shop, tattoo parlor, and ah, an old barber shop there I think. Couple other empty shops. Nothing’s been open for about five months but even before that the places were pretty bad.”

“She’s stopped completely.” Travis held out his phone for Quinn to see.

“Don’t tell the cops where we’re going,” Quinn said as Travis used a map app on his phone to plug in the address where Raegan—
and please God, let Athena be with her
—was.

“Hell, Quinn.” Iris sighed.

“If they show up sirens blazing we lose the element of surprise. Travis and I are both trained. We get in to where he’s holding them, save them. If the cops show up you know as well as I do that it could turn into a hostage situation.” If that happened, it was anyone’s bet what would happen. Especially if White was the one who’d taken them. He’d been a cop and understood hostage negotiations and tactics. And he was also unpredictable as hell.

“All right. You want backup?”

“No.”

She was silent for a long moment. “Too fucking bad. I’m on my way.”

“We’re not waiting.”

“I know. Be careful, Devil Dog.”

If he hadn’t been so terrified for Athena he might have smiled. “Ooh Rah.” He disconnected and glanced at Travis. “I don’t want to wait for backup. You’re free to wait though.” Quinn knew Travis wouldn’t but wanted to put the offer out there. He was going in no matter what. According to the map they’d be there in less than five minutes considering all the traffic laws he was breaking.

Travis just snorted in derision. “From the grid of Raegan’s GPS map, I can’t be sure, but it looks like the driver parked behind the shopping strip. And it appears as if she entered through the pawn shop rear door.”

“Do a search, see if there’s somewhere nearby we can park and enter through the back.” Because if this was White, he was likely working alone. While he might want to, the bastard couldn’t cover every exit. He sure as hell hadn’t realized Raegan had on a smart watch. Maybe he didn’t even know what the thing was.

Unfortunately he wouldn’t have to cover every angle, all it would take was one bullet from White to take away the woman who’d come to mean everything to Quinn.

Glancing briefly in the side mirror he swerved into the next lane of traffic, cutting someone off. He ignored the blast of the horn as he took a sharp turn. He had to get to Athena.

Hang on, sweetheart.

* * *

 
“This guy is out of his mind,” Raegan whispered.

Athena nodded, her throat tight with fear. White had brought them to an abandoned shop of some kind and shoved them in a matchbox-sized windowless office. She could hear him outside it, pacing, and knew he’d hear them if they attempted an escape. There was nowhere to go anyway unless they wanted to 1) attempt kicking through a wall or 2) climb through the ceiling tiles. He would hear them if they tried to do either of those things and there was nothing in the tiny room they could use as a weapon either.

She desperately wanted to say something to Raegan about the smart watch, but didn’t want to draw any attention to it. Athena was terrified that the guys hadn’t thought of it. They’d all been given one, but still. She’d remembered but Quinn and Travis might not.

Suddenly the door swung open. White had ditched the ball cap and sunglasses. She had no problem recognizing him now even with the beard. He flicked a glance at Athena, but focused on Raegan, something almost apologetic in his dark eyes.

“You weren’t supposed to be with her,” he said, just a hint of regret in his voice.

Athena realized he intended to kill Raegan when he took a menacing step forward. She popped up from the rickety chair she’d been sitting on and blurted, “You want to know where your wife is. Suzanne, right?”

His gaze snapped to hers, laser sharp and bright with a kind of wild madness that made her shudder. “What do you know about Suzanne?” His breathing increased, the madness intensifying.

Cold sweat trickled down Athena’s spine. “I just know that she left, disappeared. And Quinn knows where she is.” A total lie but she needed to keep this madman talking. “If you kill Raegan or me you’ll never find out where she is. We’re you’re only bargaining chips. You
need
us alive if you ever want to see your wife again.” Athena was rambling now but desperately wanted to stall him.

“I only need one of you to negotiate,” he snapped.

She swallowed hard. “If you kill her now you lose a bargaining chip. And…” Athena decided to play the only card she had. The only thing she could really think of since the mention of White’s ex-wife wasn’t working as well as she’d hoped. “Raegan is Keith Caldwell’s niece. His
only
niece.” That part wasn’t true but whatever.

White’s hand shook, his gaze jerking over to Raegan.

Athena needed his focus on her though. “You know who he is then. And you know what will happen if you kill her. He and his sons will hunt you to the ends of the earth. I’m just a Red Stone employee, a new one at that. Killing Raegan guarantees you die.”

“Fuck, fuck,
fuck
.” He glanced away from them for a moment and she could practically see the wheels of the crazy-train in his head turning.

At a soft thudding sound from somewhere nearby, Athena’s heart jumped in her throat. She prayed it was Quinn. Or the police.
Someone.

White stiffened and immediately reached for her. He yanked her upper arm and tugged her to him. She cried out in pain until he shoved the gun right to her temple. “Shut the fuck up.”

Swallowing hard, she nodded once, afraid to move more than that. Her entire body was numb as he nudged her forward. The only pain she was really aware of was her throbbing jaw from when he’d punched her. But she could deal with a little pain.

“Stay in front of me and don’t try anything stupid.” His breath was hot against her ear, making bile rise in her throat.

She could smell alcohol too, beer maybe. He moved the gun away from her head and for a moment she allowed a shred of relief to slide through her—until he pressed it against her ribs.

He pushed her forward, but never lost his grip on her upper arm as they moved through a doorway. There was no door, just a frame.

Slivers of light filtered through windows that had been boarded up. There were a couple dozen display cases but they all appeared empty. There was a musty scent in here that hadn’t been in the back. Flickers of dust floated through the beams of light, as if something had just been disturbed.

“Show yourself or I blow her fucking head off.” White’s voice was quiet, deadly.

She didn’t see anyone else and she couldn’t hear anything, but maybe he’d seen something. Or maybe he was just guessing Quinn had come after her. Oh God, what if there was no one here and he shot her because—

Travis rose quietly from behind one of the cases, his expression practically feral. She’d never seen him look like that, like…a killer. His weapon was pointed at them but it made her feel better. At least if White shot her, Travis would take him out. Quinn had to be here somewhere too. Fear for both Quinn and Travis surged through her, battling with hope that they were here to save her and Raegan.

“Step out from behind that case and drop your weapon. Now!” White barked.

Travis moved slowly from behind the display case. As he did, White moved too, using Athena as a shield. Travis hadn’t dropped his weapon though. Athena could barely move, was so numb with terror. Everything was surreal, as if she was watching all this happen to someone else.

“Drop it!” White pointed his gun at Travis, his hand steady.

In that moment Travis dove to the side. She had a millisecond to question it. Something wet sprayed over the back of her neck as White’s gun fired.

The blast made her jump. She screamed as one of the boarded up front windows exploded, glass and wood splintering. Before she could register what had happen, White wasn’t gripping her anymore. His gun fell to the floor.

She started to turn when two strong hands gripped her arms tight from behind and swiveled her around. It took a moment for everything to fall into place.

“You’re okay, sweetheart,” Quinn said, his voice unsteady. Worry bled into his eyes as he ran his hands up and down her arms, looking for wounds. He cut her zip-tie free in a second.

She felt weird, numb as she looked down at White. He was dead, his throat slit, blood pouring onto the floor. Quinn must have done it while Travis distracted him. She shivered, thinking that anything could have gone wrong. But it hadn’t.

“Tell me you’re okay!” Quinn shook her a little.

The command in his voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Focusing on him, she saw a huge, skilled man with raw fear in his dark eyes. The sight clawed at her. “I’m fine. Are you…hurt?” Another dose of panic punched through her. Now she started to scan him, but he just tugged her into his arms in a bear hug. The feel of him holding her close was too much to handle. She finally felt safe.

She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against his neck and let the tears come. “You guys found us,” she sobbed out, unable to stop the tears.

“You’re wearing a smart watch from now on too,” he murmured, his voice right next to her ear.

She wanted to get away from White’s body and out of this disgusting place but more than anything, she just wanted to hold on to Quinn. She needed to reassure herself that he was really here and she was safe.

“I fucking love you,” Quinn murmured against her ear. “I don’t care if it’s too soon to say it. I love you.”

She pulled back and grabbed his face between her hands. “You’re not telling me that with a dead body a few feet away!”

To her surprise he let out a loud, harsh laugh and scooped her up in his arms. “Let’s get the hell out of here then and let the cops deal with this garbage.” Undeniable rage threaded the last couple words as he strode through the building toward the back.

When he stepped through the back door with her in his arms, she sucked in a breath of fresh air and wanted to start crying all over again. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Travis and Raegan by one of the vans but all her focus was on Quinn. “You can put me down now.”

He resisted for a moment but did as she said. She cupped his cheeks, gentler this time, as her heels touched the ground. “I love you too.”

Epilogue

Four months later

“What are you grumbling about under your breath?” Quinn pressed the elevator button and glanced at Athena, humor in his voice.

“Nothing, I’m just annoyed. Like this couldn’t wait until Monday?” Harrison had asked her to check the rooftop dining area of a new, exclusive hotel that would be opening in about a month. She’d been planning to check it out anyway, but he’d asked her ten minutes before she was supposed to leave for work. And he’d been insistent she see it tonight—even though he knew she had birthday plans.

“It’s okay if we miss the reservation. This is your work.” Quinn wrapped an arm around her and tugged her close as they stepped inside.

She wanted to press her nose against his neck and inhale. The man had a spicy, masculine scent that drove her crazy. Ever since that insanity in Vegas they’d been pretty much inseparable during their off-work hours. She couldn’t get enough of him. It still scared her what could have happened to them. To all of them. She and Raegan had enrolled in self-defense classes since returning to Miami and it gave Athena a sense of control. Thankfully Quinn had been cleared quickly in White’s death and the caterer White had knocked out had been found unconscious but alive. Unfortunately he’d killed someone else who worked for the catering company. White had been careful and smart jamming the security feed at the casino. Not to mention using his cousin to make it appear as if he was still in Miami. Athena wondered if he’d have gotten away with kidnapping her and Raegan—in addition to his other crimes and planned crimes—if it hadn’t been for Raegan’s smart watch and Quinn and Travis’s training. Fighting off a shudder, she shelved that thought. She couldn’t worry about ‘what-if’s’ anymore.