“Well, you see what a mistake that was.”
“Yes. I see now. I’m sorry. So now what?” Julia had an innate ability to remain unemotional and calculating—the complete opposite of Bree in almost every way.
“We get out of here, for starters,” he said.
“Looks like your car is toast,” Julia said to Bree.
Part of the roof had landed on Bree’s county vehicle.
“We’ll have to take mine,” Julia said. “Come on. People are starting to gather. It doesn’t look like anyone was hurt. No other houses were affected. But one of the men after you might be here to make sure we died in the explosion.”
“If so, he would have seen us leave the house before it exploded.”
“Maybe not.” Julia led them to her rental car and pulled her keys from her pocket to unlock the vehicle. They got in and she drove away from the obliterated home. “Call your sheriff to tell him you weren’t in the house, but that you’re a target now and you’ll contact him as soon as you can. After all of this, he won’t pretend he can protect you, Bree.”
Bree agreed and made the call, then directed her words to Quinn.
“Quinn...” She hesitated. The way she said his name, he wished he could just curl up with her and forget any of this was happening. Pretend that they had no tragic past.
“You might find this hard to believe,” she continued, “but Sheriff Garrison is sorry about what happened. He was ready to talk to you about what he could do to help you. He wanted to give you a chance. That’s when we found out they had already come to take you. Quinn, he wants to protect you.”
“He can’t even protect you, Bree. That’s why you’re not going anywhere someone can find you.”
“Even so, he wants to help us. So let’s use him as a resource if we have to.”
How did he make her understand? “He can’t help me with what comes next, and besides, there is no ‘us’ anymore.”
The words came out wrong, or maybe he heard them wrong—his own words.
“What do you mean?”
“Julia is going to take you somewhere safe and protect you while I end this.”
“Please, can you at least tell us what you’re planning?”
“Yes. And I’m going to need Julia’s help.”
He had a feeling he was hurting Bree by leaving her out, but he was only protecting her.
“I’m on board for anything you need from me,” Julia said. “But first, where are we going? Once they decide they need to find you, Bree, and maybe even you, Quinn, it won’t take them long to figure out they’re looking for my vehicle.”
“I have a safe house. I stayed at a motel, not wanting to use the safe house yet. I hoped I wouldn’t have to. It’s hard to believe that things have gotten that much worse. But I think we’re at that point.” He directed Julia to the place—a last resort, really. He was glad he had made those arrangements.
A forty-five-minute drive later, they settled into a cabin in the woods on the far side of Coldwater Bay. It belonged to his friend who also owned the deer lease where he’d been hiding. Quinn cleaned up, aware both women were waiting to hear his plans. He wasn’t exactly sure how much he wanted to share, except he did need Julia’s help. Even though she’d called the sheriff on him, she’d come through so far so he believed he could trust her.
He exited the restroom, having donned his friend’s clothes from the closet. They smelled stale like the cabin, but better than carrying the odor of jail cell and river rot.
Bree and Julia were whispering when he entered the living area. “Now I feel like a million dollars.”
Julia flashed a smile, that familiar look in her eyes, before she angled a knowing look at Bree. He thought at one time that Julia was interested in him, but she knew he could never care about anyone like he had once cared about Bree.
Now to convince Bree of his plan. He walked toward her and crouched in front of her.
Took her hand in his. He might not ever see her again. He wasn’t sure his heart could take that. He once thought he couldn’t love, because then he’d be left alone.
The alternative was just as bad.
Maybe it was worth the risk.
“You’re scaring me, Quinn. What...what are you going to say?” She watched him.
He smiled with a huff, then moved to sit next to her.
“Should I give you two some privacy to talk?” Julia asked with a grin.
“No. We all need to talk about what comes next,” he said.
“Please do share your elaborate plans with us. We’ve been waiting long enough.”
“I hadn’t exactly figured it out then, but now that we’re all here together and hopefully safe for the time being, I think I’ve got it.”
He tugged Shepherd’s cell out again. “All the key players are on this cell. The numbers.”
“You could use that as evidence,” Julia said. “Case closed.”
“And have it disappear in the evidence room? Been there. Done that. I can’t hang my life on this one thing.”
“Then what?” Bree asked.
“I’m going to call my nemesis. Agent Declan Miller.”
“He’ll be expecting you to pull something.” Julia rose from the chair and put her hands on her slender hips.
“I’ll tell him I want to meet him face-to-face,” Quinn said, “and that I have evidence against him.”
Julia threw her hands in the air. “Oh, is that all. He’ll scoff and say if you had evidence you wouldn’t be calling him. He’d be getting arrested. You know it’s true. I know it’s true.”
“He’ll believe I really have evidence if I convince him I’m going to negotiate with him for a piece of the pie rather than turning him in.”
“You’re...”
“Working undercover. Isn’t that what we do? Only this time, it’s on my own behalf. I can get a confession from him then. He’ll have to admit he stole the money in the first place. I’ll say I just want everyone off my back, or else I’m going to tell Michael he’s behind stealing the money. So that’s my deal to him. That’s my offer. If he doesn’t take it, he risks being in as much trouble as I am, and since he actually did steal it, they’ll kill him. He fears them more than he fears the DEA.”
“I don’t know, Quinn.” Bree looked at him. She took his hand and squeezed. “That sounds too risky.”
“And what is it you want me to do?” Julia asked.
“You’re going to arrange for Stan to be there, nearby, watching and listening to the whole thing.”
She rolled her head back and laughed. “Just how am I supposed to do that?”
“Oh, come on, Julia. Everyone knows you get what you want. I know you’ll think of something.”
“You’re sure you wouldn’t just rather go into hiding?” she asked. “This is a huge risk. Joke about it if you want, but I can’t promise I can deliver.”
He glanced down at Bree sitting next to him. “Sometimes you have to take a risk if you want to live free and whole.”
Bree must have sensed the other meaning behind his words. She angled her head to look in his eyes. She’d lost the hurt and anguish, the disappointment in him he’d once seen. Now he saw something of fear for him and hope. Could there be hope for them? A future for them?
He’d have to hold on to that hope through this, since he no longer had that picture of her.
EIGHTEEN
As he stared down at her, Bree could almost imagine them alone together and nothing else going on around them. There were no bad guys or good guys after either of them to tear them apart once and for all.
He cared for her. She saw that in his eyes, knew it to be true, but the guy was always a runner when it came to commitment. Would he run again this time, when this was finally over?
For the first time in her life, though she’d been h
urt so many times by him, she thought she might not care so much about the risks. She wasn’t afraid. She just wanted time with him no matter how short that time was. How crazy was that?
Thinking that way was beyond ridiculous. On the other hand, how many times had Dad set her up with someone else? Or encouraged her to marry so that Stevie could have a father figure once Dad was gone? He wouldn’t live forever, he’d said.
She’d dated others, but no one had come close to making her feel this way.
Had her heart always been holding out for Quinn—an impossible dream, at that?
But at this moment, it didn’t seem all that impossible. “I don’t want you to go. I don’t want you to do this.”
He turned her to face him completely. “I know. I don’t want to do it, but it’s not that much more dangerous than what I did before when working undercover.”
“Julia and I will come with you and help you,” Bree said. She didn’t think she would convince him but she had to try.
“No. You’re not going with me, Bree. I can’t possibly concentrate on what I need to do knowing you could be in danger.”
“He’s right, Bree,” Julia said. “You’d be a distraction for him. He’s good at what he does. Or at least, he was until he started getting much too close to the truth—that Declan was stealing from Michael Jones. Once Declan suspected Quinn was onto him, he set Quinn up—so both the DEA and Michael are after him.”
“Except you, Julia. You’re not after him. Why not? Why help him?” Bree asked.
Julia frowned. “At first, it was about saving Stevie. Now, I have to see this through. Besides, I’ve known Quinn and worked with him for long enough. I trust him.”
Okay.
Quinn cleared his throat. “So you’re going to stay here with Bree to make sure she doesn’t go anywhere. Make sure she listens to reason, and then you’re going to figure out how to get Stan to our meeting place—my job is to get a confession. It’s the only way. Can you handle that? Do you have a plan yet?”
“Sure. I’m going to tell him the truth. It’s going to take him several hours to get here. We both have our work cut out for us. It could take Stan hours if he even agrees.”
“I’ll be waiting,” Quinn said. There was also the chance that Declan would not take the bait.
Bree shoved herself up from the sofa. Rubbing her arms, she stared out the window into the woods. “And what am I supposed to do? Nothing? Sit here and wait?” For the bad news that Quinn had been killed?
He stood and caught her against him. Hugged her as if it would be the last time. “So I can know you’re safe, Bree. For me, okay? They can use you to get to me. You know that.”
She didn’t answer him.
An hour later, he drove off in Julia’s car and she watched him through the window. “How long do we have to wait here?”
“As long as it takes.” Julia paced with her weapon out as if she thought someone would come bursting through the door any minute.
“I can protect myself, you know.”
“Yep. You’re good at what you do, but so am I.” Julia stopped pacing and stared at Bree. “There’s something I don’t get.”
“Join the club.” Bree grabbed a bottled water—compliments of Quinn, who had the foresight to set this safe house up. She plopped on the sofa. This could be a very long wait.
“No, I mean about you two.”
“Like I said, join the club.”
“Seriously. You guys obviously have feelings for each other. He mentioned you dated before. So why aren’t you already married with a bunch of kids?”
“Now that’s a long story.”
“We have all night.”
“I was kind of hoping it wouldn’t take that long.” Bree took a swig and then she told Julia everything. Girl talk. She really liked the woman, and could see herself doing this on a stakeout with Julia. “Now it’s your turn to spill. You know all about my messy feelings, so dish on whoever your crush might be.”
“Well, there is this guy. I could really get into him. Could love him. I think he could love me, too. I know he’s attracted to me, but he’s not good with commitment.”
“I so get that.”
“I know you do. In my case, though, there’s always this other woman he thinks about. He really can’t be free to love until she’s gone.” Julia looked at her long and hard.
Oh. “You... Are you talking about Quinn and me? You’re in love with Quinn.” It wasn’t a question. Her heart seized up at the realization that her life was in danger for a different reason.
Her gun was two feet away from her.
Julia still held hers.
“Oh, please. I’m not going to shoot you.”
Bree had obviously telegraphed her thoughts. She wasn’t trained in working undercover like Julia and Quinn. “Then what?”
“I could never find a way to make it work until now. Like Quinn said, I know how to negotiate for what I want.”
* * *
Sweat trickled down his brow at the old warehouse along the river that emptied into Coldwater Bay. The same warehouse where he’d traded himself for Stevie. The perfect place to meet with Declan. Dark and abandoned. What better place to face off with a dirty DEA agent?
He waited in the rafters so he could see who was coming and going before he made his presence known. Still, his view was more limited than he would have liked.
In this situation, he couldn’t wear a wire. He didn’t have the equipment, and there would be no one listening on the other end. He couldn’t record the conversation. That could work against him as well. Declan would be expecting that. This man knew all Quinn’s tricks. They had worked for the same agency. Besides, there hadn’t been time. He would work this as long as necessary to get the evidence he needed. But if Julia did her part and had success, this could all be over today.
I hope you came through for me, Julia.
He was counting on her. Their superior would be more likely to listen to her—a good, upstanding agent without a warrant out for her arrest. As Quinn thought back to the chain of events that had brought him here, he knew that all paths led to this one place.
He would have had to get a confession out of Declan to end it once and for all. Nothing else would be evidence enough for Declan’s uncle, who happened to be Stan’s boss.
All he could do was count on Julia to put her piece into place—Stan Rollins. Then he could hear the truth for himself, once and for all. Quinn knew that his boss wanted to believe in him, but Quinn had to give him the evidence he needed. Declan had everyone chasing after Quinn. This was a case of two DEA agents accusing each other, one of whom had an important connection within the organization. And that wasn’t Quinn.
When his cover had been blown, Quinn had left, at Stan’s urging, and when Michael Jones discovered missing money, Quinn had become an easy scapegoat for Declan.
He knew it was only a matter of time before the truth came out about Declan. He was just speeding up the inevitable. All the pieces were in place. His plan to trap the man would work. It had to. Quinn exhaled louder than he’d wanted.
An aluminum can clanked across the broken concrete. Then he spotted a silhouette in the doorway—light from the outside shining into the darkened warehouse turned the man into a shadow. But Quinn recognized that frame and stance.
“Strand. I’m here. Just like you asked. Now show yourself.”
Quinn had a plan, but he knew Declan wouldn’t show up here without one of his own. What was it? He had to hope that he was adequately prepared for anything.
Carefully he climbed down until he could drop to the floor. He landed on his feet.
“Did you bring the evidence?” Declan asked.
“Maybe.”
“I don’t have time to play games,” he said. “I could arrest you right here and now.”
�
�You could.” But Quinn knew he wouldn’t. Declan didn’t want Quinn telling anyone what he knew—that’s why he had sent Shepherd to kill him.
“Tell me what you want.” Declan remained in the doorway.
The plan came down to this one moment. Quinn drew on his years of undercover work. He had to be convincing. “I want a percentage of the money you stole.”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t steal anything. You did.”
“Come on, man. We both know you stole it and accused me. If you didn’t, then why are you here to get the evidence I have on you? Now who’s playing games?”
Declan’s shadowed face remained dark. Quinn wished he could see the sweat beading on his temples. “Listen, just tell me what you want.”
“I already told you.” Quinn took a step closer. “I want in on the embezzling. Why didn’t you come to me in the first place instead of blowing my cover? We could have worked something out then.”
“Get real. I couldn’t trust you. And I don’t trust you now.”
“I’m not asking you to trust me. Just cut me in on your enterprise to steal from Michael Jones. We can put the blame on someone else for the stolen money.”
He laughed. “You mean like Julia?”
No. He hadn’t meant that. But Julia and Stan should be here already, somewhere close and listening.
God, please let it be so.
Quinn shrugged noncommittally, letting Declan interpret that as he saw fit.
“All right. I’ll cut you in on the money. But it might not be so easy to clear things up with Michael.”
“You can make that happen. You’re not getting the evidence until Michael removes the price on my head.” Quinn stared down Declan. “Make him believe I’m just a dirty DEA agent working undercover. I know you’ll do what you must to get the evidence I have against you.”
“Yes, I’ll do what I have to.” He thrust his hand to the side behind the wall where Quinn couldn’t see.
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