Worth the Risk (COBRA Securities Book 21)

by Velvet Vaughn

  She felt marginally better, but she wasn’t ready to completely exonerate herself yet.

  While Hillary and Reed sat with Quinn, who’d fallen back asleep, she went to check on Todd again. She entered his room and came to an abrupt stop. His bed was empty and had been remade. The flowers and cards were gone. She was about to find a nurse to ask what happened when a toilet flushed. The bathroom door opened, and Todd wheeled out. He wore sweats with one arm and one lower leg missing to fit around his casts. The swelling on his face was going down, and the bruises were fading. He banged his casted leg against the doorframe and cursed before noticing her.

  “Oh, hey Vanessa.”

  “Todd. You’re up and about.”

  “Yeah, a little. It’s still painful, but the nurses make me get up constantly, which is hard to do with casts on one arm and the opposite leg.”

  She glanced around the empty space. “Are you changing rooms?”

  “No, they’re kicking me out.”

  “No,” she argued. “You need to stay until the doctor clears you to leave. I’ll pay for whatever insurance doesn’t cover.”

  “I love you, Vanessa. You know that, right?”

  “I do, and right back at you.”

  “The doctor did release me to convalesce at home.”

  Shock rendered her speechless for a moment. “How are you going to get around your small apartment?”

  “Oh, no, I meant I’m going home-home. My parents are coming to pick me up.” He glanced at the clock on the wall and frowned. “They should’ve been here fifteen minutes ago.”

  Vanessa bit back the words she wanted to say. They’d hurt him so deeply once. If his parents failed to show up, she was going to their house and have a not-so-friendly chat with them, maybe borrow Kilo to put some fear in them. She was giving them the benefit of the doubt right now because it obviously meant so much to Todd that they welcomed him back into their lives. Having their support helped speed his recovery, she was sure.

  She hated to add to his worry, but she had upsetting news to deliver, and he needed to hear it from her first. “Todd, I’m selling my practice.”

  “What?”

  “People were so mean when they thought I’d killed the deputy and attacked you. Our Yelp rating went from a solid five stars to one. People flooded the reviews with vile, disgusting comments. The same on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, too. I had to shut them all down.”

  “But you’re innocent,” he cried.

  “Sometimes that’s not enough.” She’d hoped to be able to salvage her clinic, but the negativity was too daunting to overcome. She contacted a vet in a nearby town and asked if he was interested in expanding his practice. He immediately accepted. They needed to work out the details and selling price, but he’d agreed to keep the two women and one man who worked the reception desk, as well as Todd when he recovered and her other vet tech. She told him as much.

  “What will you do?”

  “I’m not sure yet. I’m exploring my options.” She didn’t reveal her fantasy of following Quinn home and setting up shop there. She wasn’t sure what the vet scene looked like in his hometown or if there was even a market for her to be competitive enough to earn a living. But she didn’t want to live without him. He’d become the most important person in her life.

  She thought she’d be intimidated by the founders of COBRA Securities, but Luke and Logan were incredible and down-to-earth. She enjoyed talking to them and to Dr. Amelia and her husband Wyatt, who never seemed to quit smiling. His laugh was infectious, too. She wanted to meet the other people in Quinn’s life.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t send the police to find you,” Todd said with remorse. “When you didn’t call, I thought you were finally enjoying some much-needed alone time with a hot guy in a tent. I haven’t actually met him, but judging by his voice over the phone, I’m assuming he’s hot.”

  “Very. “She smiled before sobering. “I’m sorry I couldn’t call and even more sorry you were hurt.” She’d stopped by his room earlier and recounted the entire saga. He’d been shocked to discover she’d been wanted for murder and his attack.

  “We’re here!” Todd’s parents breezed inside the room. “Apologies for being late.” His mom bent down to kiss his cheek. “The company delivering the hospital bed was behind schedule.”

  All of Vanessa’s concerns about his parents faded away. She’d judged them too harshly. They cared for their son. His dad pushed his wheelchair, and she followed them to their waiting car.

  She leaned down and hugged him. “I’ll call you later to check up on you.”

  #

  Quinn had been wheeled in for a computed tomography, or CT scan, ordered by Dr. Amelia Hollister, the COBRA Securities doc. Who knew she had the authority to boss around hospital personnel in a different state? She wanted him checked out before they flew him home. She told him that she would most likely sedate him for the trip. As long as he could leave the hospital, he didn’t care what she did to him. He was feeling better. The pounding was down to a dull ache. He’d even gotten out of bed to use the bathroom by himself. The room had spun like a top as soon as he stood, but then he was good to go.

  Once he was back in his room, shuffling steps sounded. He looked up to see Detective Russo slowly make his way inside, dragging a pole with an IV with him.

  “Detective.”

  “Call me Luca. How are you feeling?”

  “I’m going a little stir crazy,” Quinn admitted.

  “Yeah, me, too. I’m about to rip the needles out and blow this joint.”

  Quinn chuckled as Russo lowered to a chair. “I’m with you.”

  “I owe you my thanks.”

  “Why?” Quinn asked.

  “For being a cautious bastard and putting a tracker on me. I’d be dead otherwise. When did you do it?”

  “The first day when you came to the safe house, and I asked to look at your badge. I slipped it in there. I wasn’t sure I could trust you.”

  “I can’t fault you for being cautious. I spoke with my captain today. Swanson and Prichard were the only cops involved. He hopes it will blow over quickly with their deaths, but it will leave a stain on our department. Cases they’ve worked on will be reexamined and possibly retried. It will be a mess for months, maybe years.”

  Quinn held up a hand. “Hold up a second. Prichard’s dead?”

  “She was shivved in prison. We don’t know if it was because she was a cop or if she was a loose end.”

  Quinn tried to conjure up sympathy for the late detective, but there was none. She’d made her choices, and in the end, they killed her.

  “If you get tired of the paperwork and restrictions, give me a call. I’ll put in a good word with the COBRA Securities’ bosses.”

  Luca’s lips tipped up in what passed for a smile on his bruised face. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. Bradley and Colton stopped in to see me. I had the impression that they were straight-shooters and cared about their employees.”

  “Yes, to both. If I had to work for anyone other than myself, I’d want them as bosses. You won’t find two better men. Period.”

  “That was my impression, too. I’m seriously considering applying, especially since my captain is pissed I didn’t fill him in on the op.”

  “Do it. You won’t regret it.”

  “I’m sorry. Am I interrupting?”

  “Come in, Vanessa,” Luca said as he pushed to his feet. “I need to get back to my room before they come looking for me. It was good to meet both of you.”

  Vanessa wrapped her arms around him, startling him. “Thank you again.”

  “You’re welcome.” He grabbed his IV pole and headed for the door. “I may be seeing you soon.” With a wave, he departed.

  “What did he mean?”

  “He’s thinking of applying for a job.”

  “That’s awesome.”

  Vanessa walked to him. He tugged her hand until she practically fell on top of him with a
squeal. Perfect. He could kiss her. It’d been too long. She hummed against his lips, and he deepened the contact. He’d missed her. He was just getting into it when she pulled away.

  “Vanessa.” His tone was pleading. He needed her.

  “None of that until you’re better.” She scooted the chair closer to his bed so she could hold his hand. If that were the only contact she’d allow, he’d graciously accept.

  “Reed took Hillary to the hotel to sleep.”

  “Good. There’s something I want to ask—”

  “Knock, knock.” Agent Copeland stuck her head inside the door. “Are you up for another visitor tonight?”

  He’d been about to ask Vanessa to come home with him when Cayleigh interrupted, but she’d risked her career to help them. He owed her. “Sure. Come in.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Better.”

  “Good. I wanted to update you both. We raided Derek Newman’s house and found his safe. He kept a list of all the players in his operation. He contracted with a quartet of suppliers who provided the children. All four are deceased. Except for the runners, who were just low-paid lackeys and promptly disappeared, the rest of his associates are all dead. We’re in the process of tracing the people who purchased the children now. Some are being arrested as we speak, including Stefan Bernard.”

  “The guy who owns all the car dealerships around Minnesota?” Cayleigh answered Vanessa’s question with a nod. “I thought he looked familiar. His picture is on everything from billboards to busses, and his commercials play on every local station.”

  “One and the same. He was a big spender and bought dozens of girls over the years.”

  “Do you know how many children were sold?” Vanessa asked.

  Cayleigh sighed. “The trafficking ring has been operational for several years. The estimate is approximately two hundred, but that figure could go up or down.”

  He was glad all the players were wiped from the earth. The degenerates who purchased the children needed to meet the same fate.

  “How did they find the kids?” Vanessa inquired. “The girl I spoke with said her stepfather sold her after her mother died.”

  “That’s one way. They also lured runaways, orphans and sometimes, they resorted to kidnapping. With his operation blown, Newman was planning on skipping town and setting up shop in another state. He’d narrowed it down to Arizona, New Mexico, and the Florida Keys, according to his notes.”

  Vanessa shook her head. “Thank goodness he was stopped.”

  “Yeah. We also found blackmail materials on Dean Lodge, Reggie Garner, Buck Stanley and Erik Swanson. We think that’s how Newman recruited them to his team. We have no way of knowing if he set up the blackmail opportunities in the first place, but that’s my guess. He threatened to expose their crimes if they didn’t comply.”

  “Funny how he was able to find men who were as immoral as him,” Quinn muttered. “It takes a special kind of malevolence to sell kids to monsters.”

  “You’d have to be dead inside,” Vanessa agreed.

  “I have something for you, Vanessa.” Cayleigh reached into her pocket and handed Vanessa a phone. “We recovered this from Buck Stanley’s apartment. Our techs retrieved the videos you shot.”

  “Why did he keep it?” Vanessa wondered. “I assumed he would’ve destroyed it.”

  “My theory is that he planned to use it as leverage—kind of a get-out-of-jail-free card. Or possibly blackmail on the two men who committed murder. We’ll never know.”

  “Thank you again for assisting us on the case,” Quinn said. “You went above and beyond keeping it on the down-low.”

  “Are you kidding? I’m getting credit in the Bureau for stopping the ring when I had little to do with it. I’ve tried telling my superiors it wasn’t me, but they ignore me in favor of positive public relations for the FBI.”

  “Accept the praise,” Quinn told her. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “Yes, you could have.” She smiled. “But I was glad to help. I’m impressed by the way your company operates.”

  “If you get tired of the politics at the FBI and want a change, give me a call. I’ll give you a glowing reference. I’m sure Sawyer Oldham will, too.”

  “Actually, I’ve already talked to Mr. Colton and Mr. Bradley. I’m flying out for an official interview next week.”

  “That’s great. We’d be lucky to have you.”

  Once she left, Quinn turned to Vanessa. “She’ll probably be hired since there’s an immediate opening. Kaiya tendered her resignation to me earlier today.”

  #

  “What? Oh, no.” Vanessa sank in her chair. It was all her fault. Kaiya warned her that she’d lose her job if she disobeyed orders. Vanessa knew how much the work meant to her, and she was good at it. No—great. Vanessa wouldn’t let her walk away. “What did you say to her?”

  “That she didn’t work for me, therefore I didn’t accept her resignation. And then I told her that if she quit, I would, too.”

  “But you own…never mind. What did she say?”

  “She apologized for going against my orders and putting you at risk.”

  “Quinn, it was one hundred percent my fault. I was going with or without her. If not for Kaiya, I would be dead. She alerted you to the situation and took down Griff. She can’t quit.”

  “Shh.” Quinn made a lowering motion with his hand. “People might be trying to sleep on the eighth floor.”

  Since they were on the second, she didn’t appreciate his attempt at levity, especially when she was so worked up. So maybe her voice had risen with each word until she was practically shouting. She needed to get the point across that she was to blame. Not Kaiya.

  “I told her the same thing, and I’m pretty sure Luke and Logan did as well.”

  She hoped Kaiya listened to them.

  She picked up Quinn’s hand. “I sold my practice today.”

  “I’m sorry, babe. I hoped that once the truth came out, people would be on your side.” He squeezed her fingers. “I know how much it meant to you. It seems drastic to sell. Are you sure you can’t salvage it?”

  She shook her head. “There will always be people who think I killed a cop. It will hang over my head forever. And to be honest, after what Derek told me about the dogs I rescued, I don’t think I can stay here.”

  “What did he tell you?”

  She forgot that she hadn’t had a chance to fill him in on the appalling detail. “He said that he tossed all the dogs I brought to him in an incinerator.”

  Quinn winced. “Damn, that’s cold. I’m so sorry.”

  She sniffed. “It made me question everything. I don’t regret what I did. The dogs were being abused, and that was no way for them to live.”

  “What are you going to do now that you’ve sold your clinic?”

  She lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. I’ve got Rocky to think about, too.”

  “Gage and Kaiya left to drive my SUV back with Kilo.”

  Abrupt change of subject, but okay. “I saw them before they departed.”

  “Come home with me.”

  Her heart banged against her ribcage. “What?”

  “Come with me. I want you to see where I live and the training facility. Besides, Kilo didn’t want to travel by himself, so his buddy accompanied him on the trip.”

  “Oh, he told you that, did he? Wait—are you telling me you stole my dog?”

  “Let’s just say I borrowed him.”

  “That’s blackmail,” she retorted without any heat. She’d been prepared to beg him to let her come home with him. “But it’s so last minute. I mean, where would I stay?” She almost rolled her eyes. Subtle, Lacroix.

  “With me. I have a house with plenty of room for Rocky, too. Kilo won’t mind sharing his yard.”

  “I don’t have any clothes or anything with me.”

  His lips twitched. “We aren’t making a run for it in the middle of the night, as much as I might wan
t to,” he grumbled. “You have time to pack. We’re flying out tomorrow as soon as Amelia gets me released.”

  “I haven’t even retrieved my Jeep from the impound lot.”

  “You can ride with us on the company jet.”

  He had an answer for everything. “Are you sure there’s enough room for me?”

  When he didn’t answer right away, she looked into his eyes. They’d turned serious. When he spoke, the playful banter was gone. “Vanessa, you keep making excuses. I didn’t mean to pressure you, and I’d never coerce you. Gage and Kaiya aren’t leaving until the morning. You have time to pick Rocky up.”

  She hadn’t meant to play hard to get so well. “Are you taking back your offer?”

  “Never.”

  “Then I accept.”

  His eyes widened in hope. “Really?”

  “Full disclosure. If you hadn’t asked, I was planning on stowing away inside Hillary’s luggage. I figured you wouldn’t send me away if I were already there. I’d do just about anything to be with you.”

  “Same here, babe.”

  Then he tugged her to him until she landed against his chest. When his lips found hers, she knew it didn’t matter what the future held or where she ended up—she was already home.

  Epilogue

  It’d been an idyllic week spent at Quinn’s magnificent house on the lake. Vanessa had been blown away as soon as they drove through the gates of the COBRA Securities compound. The place was impressive, from the waterfront location to the architecture of the buildings to the sheer number of facilities and activities available. It felt like a small, exclusive town.

  Rocky had flourished, gaining both weight and confidence at a rapid pace. He was truly happy here. Quinn’s training facility was state of the art, and she loved hanging out there all day, watching the dogs master different specialties. His trainers were highly skilled, and she liked them—even Morgana, whom Quinn indicated was reserved around strangers. Vanessa even helped out when one of the dogs stepped on a splinter, and it embedded in his paw.