Closing her eyes, Quinn ducked her head. Maybe losing her job was a good thing. It had certainly given her more perspective. She needed to invest more time into people.
Maybe it was time for her to let go of this story. Leave it in Wyatt’s hands. Even though she’d lost her job, she’d never stopped working.
Frowning, Quinn realized that Wyatt had never questioned her reference to lab break-ins. The man hadn’t even seemed surprised.
Which was unusual. Unless, of course, he already knew something about it.
Chapter 13
Wyatt tipped the delivery man before closing the door.
Hopefully, the two things in his hands would get the morning off to a good start. Bagels and coffee.
As expected, Mason’s home was devoid of food. Luckily, Joan’s Diner offered delivery.
Food was essential this morning. Not just because of the obvious—that breakfast was essential to most people. Also, because they had some big stuff to discuss. Questions needed answering, likely from both Wyatt and Quinn. It would be that much harder without sustenance.
On his way back to the kitchen, Wyatt heard Quinn moving around upstairs. Good. Hopefully that meant she wouldn’t be much longer.
Placing the food on the kitchen counter, he got to work plating it.
Last night had been a lot. Not only had Quinn almost been crushed to death, which still made Wyatt feel sick to his stomach, but she also learned a hell of a great deal. About him. About her brother.
He wished she hadn’t found out that way. But she had, and there was no way to change it. It was no surprise that she’d been in a tangible state of shock and disbelief. Not to mention scared out of her mind. Yet, she hadn’t fallen apart. Far from it. The woman had held him at gunpoint while looking him dead in the eye.
She’d impressed the hell out of him.
He hadn’t asked her any of the questions he needed answers to. That’s what this morning was for.
Although, he’d already discovered a bit himself.
Once Quinn had gone to bed, Wyatt researched the two words he’d found scribbled beneath “Salina Pharmaceutical Company.”
They were the names of raw materials used to create drugs. Expensive materials that were in short supply in the US.
Popping the plates of food on the table, Wyatt went back to get the coffees.
If there was any positive to yesterday, it was that Jack’s death was looking less and less like it was his fault. If the break-in was part of the story that Quinn had already been working on, then it was likely something much larger was happening than simply cutting off Wyatt’s resources.
Some of the guilt in his chest eased. It wouldn’t fade completely until he knew for sure, one way or the other.
Ten minutes later, Wyatt looked up to Quinn walking in.
His body immediately tightened at the sight of her.
She wore a light blue dress that ended just above her knees. He hadn’t seen the woman in a dress before. She always looked beautiful, but now, he had to physically stop his jaw from dropping.
She looked sweet and seductive, rolled into one. Her long legs were toned, like a dancer’s. Her skin a soft peach color. Her midnight hair was pulled up, but small wisps had escaped and were touching the sides of her face and shoulders.
The woman had an aura of strength and courage, crying at him to reach out and touch her. He didn’t know how any man drew their eyes away from her. For him, at least, it felt impossible.
“Many people would consider staring rude.” There was a twinkle in her eyes as she said the words.
“Do you?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Depends who’s doing the staring and what they’re thinking.”
Oh, Wyatt was thinking all kinds of things. And it was wreaking havoc on his body. “That you completely undo me.”
Pink immediately tinged her cheeks. It was the first time Wyatt had seen any form of shyness on her. It increased his urge to reach out and touch her. Or better yet, pull her into his arms.
“Well, you certainly know how to make a woman’s morning.”
Wyatt couldn’t restrain himself any longer. He took three steps across the room, landing him right in front of her. When Quinn didn’t step back, he reached out and placed his hands on her hips.
“God, you’re beautiful.”
The word “beautiful” didn’t even do her justice, but he had a feeling there was no word that would.
Quinn wet her lips. It drew his gaze to her mouth. “I definitely feel beautiful when you look at me like that.”
Well, Wyatt was happy to look at her every second of every day, if that’s what she required to feel good.
The moment her gaze lowered to his lips, he gave up the fight. Pulling her body firmly into his, enjoying the way they fit so perfectly, he lowered his head. Tasted her. She was sweet. Her lips were soft and pliant against his.
He felt her hands glide through his hair. At the same time, a soft moan escaped her throat, causing his blood to rush south.
Christ, the woman made fire burn through his veins.
Gathering her closer, he deepened the kiss. Giving her more of himself. Taking more.
Her hands moved down his neck to his chest. He felt the light pressure of her pushing him back.
Even though it took every shred of strength he possessed, Wyatt stepped backward.
For a moment, the only sound in the room was heavy breathing and pounding heartbeats.
Quinn leaned her head forward, pressing it to his chest. “We should talk.”
She was right. They should talk. They needed to talk. That didn’t make it any easier to let her go.
“We should.”
Placing a long kiss on the top of her head, he slowly released her.
Once he’d stepped back, they both took a moment to gather themselves. Quinn’s attention went to the food he’d set on the table. “Did you make this?”
“Would you believe me if I said yes?”
She scanned both the kitchen and dining area with her intelligent eyes.
Nope. He didn’t stand a chance of fooling the woman.
“Unless you’re an unbelievably clean and efficient cook, you ordered in.” She moved to the table and took a seat. “Not that I’m complaining. I can see bacon in this bagel and a coffee. Those are the things I dream about.”
The only thing Wyatt had been dreaming about lately was the woman right in front of him.
Taking a seat opposite her, he watched as she took a sip of her coffee. Her eyes closed, and she was the picture of serene.
He was beyond glad that she seemed herself again this morning. He hadn’t known whether she would still be carrying some of last night’s shock or fear.
“You even transferred the coffee into a mug,” she said as she looked up. “That’s commitment.”
He lifted a shoulder. “Coffee tastes better in a mug. In my opinion.”
Quinn laughed. “I would drink coffee from a ladle if I had to. It’s quite a problem.”
Not to Wyatt. He couldn’t find anything about the woman that was a problem.
That was the problem.
“The weather’s a lot better out there. We might just make it home.”
The sun was even poking through the clouds. Although, they’d still need to be cautious on the wet roads. And be on the lookout for trees and branches barricading the streets.
“So, how fast are you exactly?” Quinn asked, clearly not interested in discussing the weather.
He lifted his bagel to his lips. “How fast do you think I am?”
“Maybe faster than a car. Not so sure about a bullet?”
He chuckled. “We’ve never tested it, but you’re probably right. Rocket’s the fastest, hence the name. Of course, he was the fastest before we changed.”
Her head tilted to the side. “Changed. Interesting word choice. I would have said altered. Or enhanced. It had to be tough. Discovering the truth about what the project was. What was done
to you.”
Wyatt wasn’t going to lie. One, because he didn’t want to. And two, because Quinn was smart and would see right through him.
“Some people see the world through a rosy-colored lens. All light, no darkness. I wasn’t like that. As a SEAL, I couldn’t be. So I thought I was prepared for whatever was thrown my way. But nothing could have prepared me for what was done. It challenged my view of the entire world. I had to dig deep not to let the deception define me.”
Sympathy flashed across Quinn’s face. “Did you ever consider remaining a SEAL?”
“Not for a second. I lost faith in the system. I need my life to be in my hands now. I need choices. You don’t have that when you’re a SEAL. Now, I spend time helping people on my terms. I spend time with my team, who are my family. And I spend a lot of time researching Project Arma.”
A shadow fell across her face at his mention of Project Arma.
He kept his voice casual as he spoke. “Have you heard of the project?”
She shook her head. “No.”
He could tell she was being honest. At the same time, he felt like she knew something. Maybe she knew about the organization, just not what it was called.
“Have you heard about other men who can do what I can do?” Her eyes widened a fraction. It was subtle. He didn’t miss it. “Will you tell me how?”
She cast her gaze down to her coffee, taking a small sip. “I will. If you tell me what you know about the pharmaceutical company break-ins first.”
Ah. She realized he knew something.
“Okay. That’s fair.” He leaned back in his seat. “I had a friend named Jack. We went to high school together. Incredibly smart guy. Also very trustworthy. He studied pharmaceutical science at college and got a job at the Salina Pharmaceutical Drug Lab.”
Quinn didn’t speak or move, but he heard the slight hitch in her breathing.
“He’s helped me with a few things over the years.” Wyatt tensed before he said the next part. The words were damn hard to say out loud. “I just found out that he was murdered. When I researched his death, I found that some colleagues of his also died.”
Quinn didn’t appear shocked by his words.
“I assumed he was killed because the people running Project Arma connected him to me,” Wyatt continued. “They wouldn’t want anyone to help us because they know we’re hunting them. We also shut down their main facility less than a month ago. They lost a lot. They’d be angry.”
“Would they have lost drugs? Materials to create their drugs?”
“Yes. They lost everything they kept at their main base. It was a significant loss for them.”
“Makes sense now.” She almost seemed like she was talking to herself.
“What does?”
Placing the mug on the table, Quinn leaned forward. “There’s a pharmaceutical company called Novac, which I used to pass on my way to work. It was broken into. Lab technicians were killed. Active ingredients and raw materials were stolen.”
The story she was working on. “The police told you that?”
Quinn scoffed. “No. I saw the dead bodies being wheeled out. No one would tell me squat. I researched other pharmaceutical companies around the country. I found one in Alabama where four lab technicians had all died on the same day.”
Wyatt ran his hands through his hair.
If this was connected to Project Arma, it more than likely meant they were robbing pharmaceutical companies to try to recoup some of the materials they’d lost. The whole thing wreaked of desperation.
If that was the case, then surely the CIA would be on it and should have notified Wyatt’s team.
“Why wouldn’t these break-ins have made national news?”
Quinn nodded. “Exactly. It’s likely someone, or multiple people, are being paid to keep quiet.”
Made sense. Cover-ups usually came down to money.
“I contacted people from both companies, asking if anyone had information,” Quinn continued. “One woman responded. Maya. She contacted me from a new email after she’d run. She was a witness to the New York break-in. The only living witness.”
“There’s a witness?”
Quinn nodded. “She was there. She survived the attack and told me what happened. That the people who broke in are fast. And strong. And can hear a person’s heartbeat.”
Ah, hell.
“What exactly did she see?”
Wyatt had a feeling he knew. But he needed to hear it anyway.
For the first time that morning, a hint of fear flashed over Quinn’s face. “Men broke in and systematically went through the room, killing scientists and stealing materials. They killed people by snapping their necks and throwing them against walls. She said they didn’t seem human. Described them as ‘unstoppable.’”
Wyatt cursed under his breath. It was confirmed then. Project Arma was stealing ingredients to create their drugs. They were also killing people across the country.
“There’s something else. Maya said they were only really interested in two main materials. And those materials are rare. She said there wouldn’t be many labs that kept them.”
Wyatt was already standing and grabbing his laptop. He’d researched the materials that she’d written down but hadn’t tried to pinpoint where they were stored.
That information wouldn’t be available to the public, but there was a chance he could still find it.
When he returned to the table, he began typing. Quinn stood and moved behind him.
“How did you know which materials Maya told me about?”
“I went into your apartment to check if you were there yesterday. I saw them written down.”
A hit to his shoulder had him looking up.
“That was for going into my private space without my permission.” Even though she said the words with a hard tone, there was a smile on her lips.
“I’ve been meaning to return the key to you. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“Better not.” She looked back to the screen. “Now, get back to work.”
Shaking his head, he went back to typing. It took ten minutes, but he got the list.
Four. There were four labs that stocked those two ingredients. Alabama, New York, and Salina were three of them. That left one more. One pharmaceutical company, that as far as he was aware, had yet to be raided.
Leaning back in his seat, Wyatt breathed out a long breath. “Green Pharmaceuticals, Portland. The only lab remaining that stocks those ingredients.”
He needed to tell his brothers. They needed a plan.
Chapter 14
Quinn smoothed the blue material over her lap. The dress belonged to Sage. She’d been low on options this morning. First she’d tried on a pair of jeans, which had almost been comical. They hadn’t come close to fitting her long legs.
So, she was in a dress. Quinn rarely wore dresses. In fact, she couldn’t actually recall the last time she’d had one on. Mostly because she didn’t like them very much.
What she did like was the way Wyatt looked at her in a dress. Like he couldn’t drag his eyes away.
But then, he always made her feel special when he looked at her. Like she occupied all of his attention. Like she was the only woman he saw.
She snuck a peak at him from the passenger seat. He’d insisted on joining her on the drive to Tyler to pick up Maya. She loved having him along for the drive, but knew he was giving up a day where he could be strategizing against his enemy.
“You didn’t need to join me.” That may have been the fourth or even fifth time she’d said those words. She didn’t know why she kept repeating them. Guilt maybe?
“Like I’ve said a bunch of times, I don’t mind. Besides, it’s been more fun with me here, hasn’t it?”
Heck yes, it was better with him. She’d been laughing so much that her cheeks hurt.
He’d also made a couple of stops along the way and forced Quinn to get out and stretch her legs. Something she hadn’t done the first
time she’d driven to Tyler, and probably wouldn’t have done this time, had she been alone.
Each stop, she’d hurried Wyatt, though. Because, yet again, she was pushed for time. With everything that had happened last night, she’d almost forgotten her promise to go get Maya.
Her original plan had been to leave Marble Falls at the crack of dawn. That definitely hadn’t happened. And it made Quinn nervous. Nervous that the other woman wouldn’t wait for her. Nervous that she’d be too late.
Maya had sounded scared yesterday. The likelihood of her skipping town was high.
“I could have brought Maya back to Marble Falls myself,” Quinn added. “You could have used the day to meet with your team and come up with a plan for the last lab.”
He gave her one of his crooked smiles. It was the kind of smile that made her heart race.
“That’s what teams are for. When one person can’t make it, the others pick up the slack. I’ve told them what’s going on. They’ll meet and create a game plan. I’ll get a rundown of what’s happening when I get back. Plus, I have my phone right here if they need to get in contact with me.”
Well, if it worked for Wyatt, it worked for Quinn.
“You’re not planning on telling Maya what you can do, are you?”
“No. We don’t tell anyone if we can avoid it.”
That was good. Maya didn’t know Wyatt from a bar of soap. If she found out that he could do what her attackers could do, she would likely react just as Quinn had. Only, where Quinn had been easy to talk down, Maya wouldn’t be. Because she didn’t know Wyatt. She hadn’t spent the time with him that Quinn had.
“Maybe I should go in first.” Quinn snuck a peak at Wyatt. “Alone.”
It was possible Maya could try to take off at just the sight of Wyatt. He would easily be able to catch her, but the goal was to build trust. To help her, not scare her.
This time, Wyatt didn’t agree so easily. “I’d prefer to be with you.”
She frowned. “You think she’ll hurt me?”
“I think she’s a witness to a crime involving dangerous people. We don’t know what we’re stepping into. Once someone’s been exposed to the evil of Project Arma, their safety isn’t guaranteed. And neither are the people they come into contact with.”
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