by Riley Ashby
I winced as I tried to sit up, and she pushed me back onto the bed. “Here, use the button. The bed moves.”
“Whose blood?” I vaguely remembered speaking to both Jonah and Colby before I passed out, but the details escaped me.
Parker grinned, the rare all teeth smile that actually reached her eyes. “If I had to guess, it was Colby. No one’s interviewed her yet, so we’re not sure. But there was too much blood down there to just be from you, and Vin was barely bleeding. You, on the other hand, didn’t do quite as well.” She crossed her arms. “You were shot. Do you understand that?”
That must be the burning pain in my gut. Well, that certainly wasn’t the only place I hurt. I raised my arm to touch my face. My fingers touched the skin, but my face didn’t register the contact.
“But I didn’t die, did I?” I tried to smile.
“You very nearly did. You were barely alive when we got there. I think Quinn held you together herself. It was a good thing we brought blood with us.”
I sighed and closed my eyes. “Whatever. I’ll survive. Tell me where she is.”
“No can do. Officially, you’re not even here. Once this transfusion is finished”—she gestured to the bag of blood hanging above my left shoulder— “and we’re relatively sure you’re not going to keel over, we’re moving you to a safe house.”
I took stock of everything around me for the first time. Something sticky was on my head, and a dozen different lines moved on the screen next to my bed. My room looked more like a janitor’s closet than a hospital room.
“Am I in a hospital?”
“Top floor. Used to be administrative offices, now it’s empty. But perfect for hiding a rat.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Jesus, sorry. It was a joke.”
I sat up and grabbed the needle in my arm. “I need to talk to Quinn.”
“Gunner, sit down.” She pushed me back against the bed with one arm. When did she get so strong? “Quinn is fine. But you’re not going to see her again.”
“Like hell.” I struggled to sit forward, but Parker held me down easily with a hand on each shoulder. “Let me up!”
“You lost more blood than any human could reasonably and expect to survive. She saved your life, so be glad of that. We have Vin in custody, and he’s going away for a long time, Gunner. This is what we’ve been working toward.”
But it didn’t matter, did it? Nothing did, not if she was somewhere I wasn’t. “Parker. Please.”
She ignored me. “Your new driver’s license and passport are already here. We’ll take your statement before you leave and coordinate virtual testimony later if we need it. We might not, thanks to all the data you got us.” She leaned down to look me straight in the eye. “We won, Gunner. We got him.”
“Parker.” I grabbed her shoulders. “I. Don’t. Care. I want to see Quinn.” This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. We were never meant to be separated. I should have called it off sooner, before Colby figured out what was going on. Fuck, how did he know? When I killed that man in self-defense, it had given me the perfect excuse to pretend to quit the force and join up with the Disciples. They loved having an ex-cop on their team, someone with inside info who could tell them which detectives were more likely to let things slide. And the entire time, I’d been gathering information, feeding it back to Parker and her team.
“Someone ratted me out. That’s the only way.”
“We’re looking into it. Calm down. You’re not going anywhere until that blood bag is finished anyway. And look at you, you’re not even dressed.”
I lifted up my hospital gown at the neck to take stock of my body. My entire torso was bruised, dark blood obscuring the tattoos on my chest and turning my skin into one black mass. A white bandage covered my lower belly, tinged with blood.
“What are my injuries?”
“Some internal bleeding that required surgery. You stopped breathing for a bit, probably from the trauma to your chest, but they brought you back. You lost a lot of blood, but Quinn kept it at a trickle until we could get to you.”
I owed her my life. “You have to let me see her, Parker. Even if it’s only for a few minutes.”
She shook her head. “The entire Maldovano syndicate is looking for you right now. The doctors and nurses treating you are under constant supervision. Even me being here is a risk. I can’t just waltz her up here.”
“Then take her a message. You can do that, right?” I could settle for a note until I had enough of my strength back to go to her myself.
“This isn’t middle school. I’m not here to pass love notes.”
“Goddammit, Parker, she needs to know I’m alive!”
Why was she digging in her heels so deep on this? Couldn’t she see that I didn’t care about my own life, my own safety, while Quinn was out there somewhere and didn’t even know I was alive? Was she getting the attention she needed for her anxiety? Did the doctors know she was hypoglycemic? What about her parents? Had she gotten in contact with them? Did she know the truth yet, or was she still in the dark? I wanted to be the one to explain it to her, to hold her while she took in the truth and realized what it meant for her future. What if she fell asleep and stopped breathing, and I wasn’t there to pull her back?
“You can take her a note. That’s all I’m asking.” For now.
“We’d have to take it to her house.”
Parker and I both turned toward the door at the same time and spoke in unison. “What did you say?”
One of my security detail, a guy who must have come on the force sometime after I left, turned his head toward the door. “She took off about twenty minutes ago. Her father said they’d take her statement at home and threatened to get lawyers involved.”
“What?” Parker stood up straight. This time, when I yanked the needle out of my arm, she didn’t try to stop me. “They were supposed to detain him.”
“I don’t know what went on. That’s just what they said on the radio.”
“Jesus fuck.” I ignored the roaring pain in my gut as I hauled myself out of bed. I hope those stitches hold. “I need a weapon.”
“You’re not going after her.” But Parker sounded half-hearted even to me. She was on her radio with dispatch, trying to figure out who last saw Quinn and her father leave the hospital.
“Give me a fucking gun, Parker!”
“There.” She pointed at a table in the corner with my clothes folded neatly in a pile and a gun sitting on top. By the time I had my clothes on, I was panting and sweating.
“Someone saw them get into a black Range Rover. Doesn’t he drive a—”
“Porsche, yeah. Jonah got her. It has to be him.” I put the gun on my belt. Would I even be able to draw it in a firefight? “It’s me they’ll want.” My jacket was hanging over a chair in the corner. Every movement felt like my muscles were tearing in half, but I managed to get it on. “They’re going to make contact, Parker. We need to be ready when they do.”
“We’ll take care of it. Can you sit down? You look like you’re about to pass out.”
My knees were already collapsing as she spoke, but at least it made it look like I was listening to her. “Get the doctor. I need the strongest painkillers they can give me that won’t knock me out.”
“You can’t possibly think that you’re going to try to get her.” She handed me a glass of water while texting furiously with her other hand. “Your phone was already destroyed. They don’t have a way to contact you. They’ll have to come through us.”
“We don’t have time. I’m going to them.”
Parker snapped her fingers at the uni. “Go get his painkillers.” She turned back to me as his footsteps echoed down the hall. “They won’t let you go. You need to be out of this hospital in the next five minutes if you want any chance of going after her.” She dug into her pocket and pulled out a pill bottle. “That will keep him busy for a few minutes. Here. The doctor left these.”
“Thank you.” I s
wallowed two with the last of the water and pushed myself to my feet.
“You know I don’t support this.”
“I know. But it doesn’t matter.”
She made one last attempt to stop me. “You could let us handle this. We can get her back safe. Maybe I can even let you see her before you go into protection.”
I turned to look at her from the doorway as I checked both ways for the best exit. “I don’t have a choice. I love her. Even if this is the end of my life, it won’t be hers. I’ll make damn sure.”
A hand clapped over my mouth before I could draw a breath to scream, and then the door slammed shut behind me, and the car sped off. I fought and thrashed, but my jaw cracked as I was pushed roughly against the cold window on the other side of the car. When someone finally spoke, I wasn’t expecting to hear a voice I recognized.
“Let her go. There’s no need for that.”
Why was my dad in here? Did they grab him too for some reason? Or had he jumped in after me?
A gruff voice answered him. “She nearly killed one of my guys not five hours ago. I’m not taking any chances.” My eyes widened. I knew that voice too! What was Jonah doing here?
I found myself face down against leather seats as my hands were pulled behind my back and secured with something thin and hard. Just as I was panicking that I wouldn’t be able to breathe, I was yanked back to sitting by my hair and pushed away from whoever was holding me.
“Oof.” Dad grunted as I fell against his chest. “It’s okay, Quinn. I’m here.” He helped me sit on the bench next to him and patted my head.
“What’s happening?” I blinked as the dome light flicked on and illuminated the car interior. Sitting across from my father and me was a man I’d never seen before, as well as Jonah, smiling at me with all his teeth. There was a scar on his lip that pulled it into a grimace.
“I’d say I’m sorry about this, but after what you did to Colby, I don’t feel too kindly toward you.”
“I should have cut him deeper,” I snapped. “The world would be a better place with him dead.”
He tsked at me, then winked at my father. “Feisty one you’ve got there, James.”
I didn’t like the evil glint in his eyes. “Don’t hurt my dad.”
He laughed. “Your father had his chance to keep his skin.” He twisted his head to land that leering grin onto my father. “Didn’t you?”
“Look, none of this is my fault. If you hadn’t—”
“Oh, so now you want to tell me how to run my business?”
“We’re only here because you moved on the cop too soon! We would have paid, but Vin decided Gunner’s blood was worth more.”
I held my breath as I stared at my father. What was he talking about? How did he know all this? He and this man were speaking as if they knew each other.
“Can someone please tell me what is going on?” The headache I had barely managed to chase away was roaring again behind my eyes. “How do you know each other?”
Jonah laughed. “I see that dear old Dad hasn’t had a chance to explain everything to you.” He wrinkled his nose.
“Jonah, please, don’t—”
He ignored my father. “Gunner begged to have you to himself, you know that? Even got your father here to advocate for him. Promised him he’d take good care of you.” He leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees as he stared me in the eyes. “Did he? Take good care of you?”
I ignored the innuendo, even as my cheeks burned red, and turned to my father. “What is he talking about? Gunner said he knows Mom.”
“I never wanted you to find out about this. The insurance would pay out, and you’d come home.” Tears brimmed in my father’s eyes as he looked at the man sitting next to Jonah. “Can you please take these things off my daughter’s hands?”
The man ignored him. I didn’t care about the zip tie; he’d left me enough room for me to get loose. I needed Dad to focus on me. It was time someone told me the truth of what was going on.
“You planned my kidnapping to pay off Mom’s gambling debts?”
Jonah threw his head back and laughed. “Where did you get that idea? No, it is nothing so mundane as a gambling debt.”
Dad was clenching his fists as he stared at the floor between his feet. “Quinn, I promise, I’ll explain everything to you later. Please let me handle this right now.”
No one was going to be shutting me out of this anymore. “I’m the one who got kidnapped. Dad, I nearly killed someone. I want to know the truth!” I looked at Jonah, figuring he might be more forthcoming. My father was still focused on the floor, watching the ice melt off the side of his shoe. “That’s what Gunner told me. Why would he lie? What’s really going on?”
Jonah waved one hand as if shooing away a fly. “Who knows? Maybe he was worried it all would go sideways, and he didn’t want to get your hopes up.”
I gritted my teeth. Everyone was always speaking in these vague terms. “Get my hopes up about what?”
Jonah crossed his legs and looked at my father. “I think Daddy should be the person to tell you that.”
“Will someone be honest with me for once?” I sat back against my seat as one of my hands finally popped free of the zip tie. I kept my hands behind my back and flexed my fingers. Fat lot of good having my hands free did. Where was my knife? They must have taken it from me when I got to the hospital. It was probably in an evidence bag on its way to the police station. Where were we now? I hadn’t paid any attention to the direction the car went, too focused on the conversation around me. With the rain on the windows, I could barely see any street signs. “Dad, please.”
He ignored me and continued to plead with Jonah. “The FBI were nowhere close to you. You would have gotten everything if Vin had stayed the course.”
“The FBI and the police were working directly with a member of my team.” Jonah folded his hands across his lap. “Finding out Gunner’s true purpose was certainly a wrench in the plan. But what’s done is done. We didn’t get the money we needed, not even half, and now, several of our people are looking at very long jail sentences.”
“I can get the rest for you.” My father wiped his hands on his pants. “Her life insurance, we can cash it out for her medical expenses—”
“What expenses? Look at her! She’s barely bruised! Your credit cards are maxed out, and your bank accounts already emptied. We’re out of options here, James.”
What did they want so much money for that my father couldn’t cover? We were far wealthier than anyone I knew.
Dad leaned forward, practically sliding off the seat. “I can get you the rat. Gunner. You want him, right? I’ll bring him to you.”
I grabbed his arm, forgetting that I was still trying to hide that I had freed myself from the zip ties. “No!”
Jonah laughed. “Look at this little escape artist. You do have some skills. I will give you that.” Jonah cocked his head to his side and turned his attention back to my father. “How do you propose you’ll get him?”
“He’ll come for her.” My father jabbed his finger at me. I couldn’t believe this. How could I have been so wrong? “I’ll find a way to get a message to him. Convince him she’s in trouble. I’m telling you, he’ll walk through fire to get to her.”
Jonah studied me. “Is that true? Did you manage to entrance my mentee so deeply that he’ll give up his own life for yours?”
I pursed my lips. Jonah smiled and turned back to my father.
“I want $125,000, and the rat. If he doesn’t come, it’s the full amount.”
Dad nodded vigorously. “Of course. I can do that. We’ll make it happen.” He wouldn’t look at me.
“All right.” Jonah turned to me and smiled. “Sorry, sweetie. You’re back in the thick of it.”
They knew I was here. Had to. The place was lit up like a runway even though they knew everyone was looking for them right now. Last I walked out of this place, I swore I’d never be back unless it was to sweep up the remaind
er of the Disciples and bag any remaining evidence. But here I was with a hole in my gut, shivering as the sleet soaked my hair and dripped down the back of my neck. I cleared my throat as I walked toward the innocuous-looking side door, willing myself not to stumble or hesitate.
They called it The Slaughterhouse. And it was where they brought people who couldn’t pay to die.
I expected the door to swing open before I could grab the handle and for one of the remaining Disciples to grab me by the neck and pull me inside. But I pulled it open on my own, hinges swinging noiselessly. The air inside was much warmer than outside, but what really struck me was the smell of blood.
He wouldn’t kill her. Not before I showed up. Had Jonah made contact with the police yet? Maybe, maybe not. I had to move before they arrived. No one’s life was safe once the sirens rolled in.
It was just a loading bay, once filled with boxes or crates of who knows what. Now, random bleach spots marked where blood from from the bodies of the people who couldn’t pay their debts had been cleaned from the floor. A few doors were located around the edge of the room, but only one was marked stairs, and that was where I needed to go.
I took a deep breath as I took the steps one at a time, trying to conserve my strength. “Jonah!”
His deep laughter echoed off the empty walls. “That didn’t take long.”
My teeth were clenched as I pushed open the nearest door. Jonah stood at the far end of the room. Quinn was on her knees in front of him, and he had a gun pointed at the back of her head.
A surge of anger made me forget all my pain, and I stood straighter as I crossed the room. “Get that thing away from her before I rip your hands off.”
That earned me another laugh. I stopped short, only a few feet away, as he pushed it harder into the back of her head. “That’s some tough talk from a man who bawled like a baby when I smashed his arm with a sledge a few years ago.”
I gritted my teeth at the memory. “Let her go, Jonah. You got me. That’s all you wanted, right?”
“I never got a chance to tell you what I wanted. You came all on your own.” He grabbed the back of Quinn’s neck and pulled her to her feet, looking at her so close their noses nearly touched. “I’d say he’s sweet on you. How did you accomplish that?”