Baby: A Linear Tactical Romantic Suspense Standalone

by Janie Crouch

  “The good thing about Trenton Ramford is that he lives in New York. He could do all his hacking from there, there’s no reason to think he’s anywhere in Wyoming. Okay, file sent.”

  Baby heard the beep from the email coming through on his phone. He’d look at it later, with Quinn, after he found her but—

  “Oh shit.” The icy tendrils of fear crept down his spine as he looked at the screen.

  “What?” Kendrick said.

  “Ramford is in Wyoming.”

  “How do you know?”

  Baby studied the picture that had come through with Kendrick’s file. “Because I talked to him the other day on the TSC campus.”

  The guy on the bench next to him. He’d said he was waiting for one of the women Quinn was talking to. But he hadn’t been. He’d been stalking Quinn.

  “Oh shit,” Kendrick parroted.

  Baby didn’t like that Quinn was missing and Ramford was around here somewhere.

  He could hear Kendrick’s fingers flying across the keyboard.

  Baby turned to go back up the stairs. “I’m going to show this photo to whoever I can find inside the police department. See if he was around here.”

  “No need.” Kendrick’s voice was tight.

  “What? Talk to me.”

  “I’ve accessed the footage from when she came out of that station forty-five minutes ago. She was talking to someone, and that someone is very definitely Trenton Ramford.”

  Fear burned through Baby’s throat as he paced back and forth. “Did he force her into a vehicle?”

  “No, he was wearing a cop uniform. She got in with him willingly. She wouldn’t have known what he looked like.” Kendrick fingers continued to click on the keyboard as he spoke. “They keep those scholarship identities blind so there’s less chance of prejudice. Ramford could’ve come right up to her, and she wouldn’t have known it. And damn...that’s exactly what he did.”

  Someone who’d made it his mission to make Quinn’s life a living hell had her in his car with him. And she didn’t know who he was or that he meant her harm.

  “Let me see if I can catch them on any other cameras heading out of town. See which direction they headed.”

  Baby was already running for his truck.

  I have something very special planned for her.

  Ramford’s words from last week echoed through Baby’s head. He’d thought Ramford had been talking about one of the other women, but he’d been referring to Quinn.

  Something big right here on campus.

  “I already know where they’re going,” he told Kendrick. “I need you to call the guys and have them meet me at TSC. Tell them to suit up, it’s an emergency.”

  Ramford was going to kill Quinn.

  His brother, Finn, was the first one Baby saw arrive at TSC. But the core Linear Tactical guys were right behind him—Zac Mackay and Aiden Teague.

  Gavin too, very definitely not in his sheriff’s uniform this time. This wouldn’t be the first time that the Linear Tactical guys took action first and brought law enforcement in on the situation later.

  Especially for something like this when lack of finesse on local cops’ part might cost someone their life.

  Cost Quinn her life.

  Baby wasn’t a trained soldier like the four men surrounding him. He knew they had more practice at keeping their emotions at bay to get the job done, but Baby wasn’t going to let lack of training keep him from being laser-focused on getting Quinn back into his arms safely.

  He refused to consider any other outcome.

  All the men were dressed for battle—lightweight army combat shirts that gave them full freedom of movement. Baby still had on his jeans and Henley, but that wasn’t going to stop him.

  All four men were outfitted with two different weapons, the way Baby had been a few weeks ago when he’d been battling those three tangoes on Finn’s property. One weapon would incapacitate temporarily, the other would be much more permanent.

  If this bastard had hurt Quinn, Baby wouldn’t care which type of weapon he used.

  Finn handed Baby a holster with the same two types of guns the rest of them were carrying. Baby took the harness with a nod and slid both arms through and secured it around his chest.

  “Quinn’s in trouble?” Zac asked as he scanned the campus.

  Kendrick had provided them with the details he had. Baby knew that wasn’t a lot, and that these men were here because they trusted Baby’s instincts. That meant everything to him.

  “Ramford, the guy who has her...He’s not stable. He blames her for ruining his life, and I’m pretty fucking certain he’s brought her here to kill her.”

  Again, none of the guys asked for more proof than that. Every single one of them knew what it was like to have the woman they loved in jeopardy.

  Rescue first. See how accurate the gut instinct was later.

  Aiden handed out communication devices that would allow them to talk to and hear each other if they were separated. They were also connected to Kendrick back at his computer.

  “I know it’s a holiday,” Aiden said, “but this place looks like a ghost town. Shouldn’t someone be here? Security or something?”

  Kendrick’s voice came into their ears. “It looks like Ramford might have messed with their schedules. He made all the guards think someone else had the shift. I’m sure everyone was excited to have the holiday weekend off.”

  “This campus is pretty large,” Zac said, pulling out an electronic tablet so they could look at a map of the campus. “It’s going to take quite a bit of time for us to search room by room.”

  Time Baby was afraid Quinn didn’t have.

  “Let’s split up. I’ll head to Quinn’s office.” He pointed to the building on the map. “Gavin, you head over here to the computer lab where the break-in occurred. The rest of you start taking the other buildings systematically.”

  Everyone nodded. If any of them had a problem with Baby giving orders, there was no evidence of it whatsoever.

  “Your first stop needs to be here.” One of the buildings on the map lit up at Kendrick’s words. “You’ll have to break into that one, but you’ll find master sets of keys there. I’m shutting down all security alarms for the time being.”

  They all looked over at Gavin at the mention of illegal activity, but he just shrugged. The man didn’t like to break the rules, but he knew sometimes it was necessary.

  They broke into the maintenance room to get the master keys, then headed in separate directions. Baby got to the office Quinn shared with the other part-time instructors and found it empty. He checked room by room around it but didn’t find anything nearby either.

  He didn’t like this. Didn’t like how long it was taking. Maybe he was wrong and Ramford didn’t plan to hurt her but—

  “Oh shit.”

  Kendrick’s muttered words struck fear into Baby’s bones.

  “What?” all five of them responded at the same time.

  “I’m sending a picture to each of your phones. I found it when I started digging deeper into Ramford on his temporary cloud drive. It’s where he holds stuff until he decides where he wants to put them permanently. He was working in a hurry and got sloppy.”

  Baby thought he’d been scared before, but nothing in his entire life had ever terrified him as much as the picture on his phone.

  A wide shot of Quinn, a noose around her neck, balancing precariously on a stool.

  There were various muttered curses in his ear. Baby couldn’t force out air, much less a word.

  How long ago was this taken? Were they too late?

  “Can you pinpoint where he is?” Finn asked.

  “No. He’s using the TSC servers to upload data, so it could be any of the buildings. And...oh fuck, he just uploaded a suicide letter from Quinn. It’s scheduled to release in an hour to every email on campus along with the picture.”

  Baby struggled to push back the red haze of fury that threatened to overwhelm him. He needed to fo
cus.

  “Finn, meet me in the south parking lot. I need the tablet so I can see this picture bigger.” Baby was already running for the door and could hear his brother moving too. “Blaze, I need building plans for the campus. Now.”

  “On it.”

  Baby burst out of the building, his brother running from the other direction. Finn threw the tablet the last few feet, and Baby caught it, already studying it.

  Baby avoided more than a short glance at Quinn’s terrified face as he zoomed in on the picture near the top.

  “There. That light.” He pointed at a shadow about two feet above Quinn’s head. “That’s coming from a window with an unusual angle.”

  Finn nodded. “Shit, you’re right.”

  “Back there.” Baby zoomed in on the far corner of the picture. “That’s not a right angle, either.”

  “How can you tell that?” Finn asked from over his shoulder.

  “You know how you had an innate understanding of distances and the effect of wind shear when you were a sniper?”

  Rapidly, Baby scrolled through the building plans Kendrick had sent.

  “Yeah.”

  “It’s sort of the same for me with schematics. My brain just sees it.”

  He stopped at one of the building plans. Of course, that would make sense. Quinn had found so much joy rediscovering teaching. Someone who wanted to destroy her life would choose the large lecture hall she’d been using for her biggest class.

  “There.” He turned and handed the tablet to Finn. “That’s where he has her.”

  Without waiting for a reply, he took off at a sprint in the direction of the classroom. He could hear Finn notifying the guys in his ear, but he didn’t slow down in the least.

  He set free the rage he’d been keeping at bay since seeing that picture of Quinn in the noose. It fueled him—propelled him toward her.

  He would not be too late.

  God damn it. He would not be too late.

  The door to the building was unlocked, which was good, because he wouldn’t have been able to calm himself enough to use keys now anyway.

  The building plan was clear in his mind as he took a sharp left and ran down the hallway before taking a right. He knew where he was going. There was no confusion, no delay in his steps.

  The others weren’t far behind him but wouldn’t find the room as easily. They’d have to stop and check the building plans again.

  For the first time in his life, Baby was glad for how his brain worked. Whatever deficits it may have, right now his brain was serving him well.

  He made one more turn then burst into the lecture hall, ignoring the pain in his shoulder as he knocked the heavy door off its hinges. In an instant, he saw Quinn, now hanging from the rope around her neck, flailing.

  He forced another burst of speed out of his legs, ignoring Ramford as he ran past, not stopping until he was under Quinn, lifting her weight, taking the pressure off her neck so she could breathe.

  He felt the shock of the stun gun against his back, but he refused to let go. He kicked back at Ramford, but the man was too fast and came at him from a different angle.

  Baby grit his teeth through the pain of the stun gun, twisting to get away from it. There was no way he was going to drop Quinn, but he couldn’t effectively fight Ramford while holding her.

  Another shock, right at his kidneys, meant to cause maximum pain and damage. Baby stumbled but didn’t let go.

  “I don’t have time for this.”

  At Ramford’s words, Baby twisted to see the younger man, breathing heavily through the pain. He struggled to keep Quinn’s weight off her throat. The stun gun was gone.

  Instead, Ramford held a real gun, the barrel aimed at Baby’s forehead.

  “No,” Quinn choked out.

  “You cost me everything once again. It’s only fitting that I should take both your lives. First his, then yours will follow.”

  Baby’s eyes met Quinn’s. They both waited for the sound of gunfire that didn’t come.

  “Suspect down.” Baby heard Finn’s calm, steady voice in his ear.

  Sure enough, when he turned, Ramford was unconscious on the ground. Finn had shot him with his silent tranquilizer gun.

  The rest of the team ran up to help support Quinn and get her down. Kendrick had called emergency services, who were on their way.

  “You have the right to remain silent, asshole.” Gavin stood over Ramford’s unconscious form.

  As Zac and Aiden got the rope untied, they lowered Quinn until she was safely in Baby’s arms.

  He stroked her hair back from her face—for once it wasn’t anywhere near a neat bun—keeping his eyes on hers as she breathed in and out.

  He wasn’t sure he was ever going to be able to let her go again.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  In all her dreams of how someday her career might be restored, Quinn had never imagined it would be as thorough and complete as it had happened.

  Two weeks after the incident with Trenton Ramford, right before Christmas break, she’d received a call she hadn’t been expecting. One from the president of Harvard himself, as well as the Dean of Comparative Literature, inviting her to campus so they could talk to her face to face. A few moments after she’d hung up, she’d received a first-class airline ticket for the next day.

  She was all but a hero. The extremes Ramford had gone to in order to destroy her life—all uncovered and proven by Kendrick—had shocked everyone, even her. Ramford had been subtly, and not-so-subtly, manipulating everything in her reality since she’d ruined his scholarship chances.

  And now, instead of merely not receiving a scholarship, it looked like Ramford would be spending the next few decades in jail.

  And Quinn would be getting her life back. Harvard wanted to make up for what she’d been through, so she’d gone.

  They’d paraded her around and had a luncheon in her honor. Everyone had publicly apologized for how she’d been treated, including Peter.

  They’d offered her job back as a full-tenured professor. All her research projects would be reinstated; she’d never have to set foot in another classroom again. She could publish, have an esteemed career, and be at the forefront of her field.

  They were willing to move all her stuff and offered her a stipend as she got reestablished in Cambridge.

  Even though she hadn’t been able to say much because of the damage to her vocal cords from the noose Ramford had tried to kill her with—honestly, her hoarse voice added to the excitement of the people around her on campus—it had been the most she could have possibly asked for.

  And yet...

  And yet here she was sitting at the bar at the Eagle’s Nest on a Sunday night.

  She wasn’t sure what she was doing here, in the town or the bar. Of course, if she was going to take the job back at Harvard, she’d known she needed to come back, get the small amount of stuff she had, and say her goodbyes.

  But she was back here without having given Harvard her answer. Because the entire time she’d been there, as great as the reception had been, all she could think about was Baby.

  They’d been together every second since he’d held up her weight as Ramford shocked him over and over.

  He’d stayed with her overnight in the hospital before she’d been released. He’d stayed with her once he’d brought her home, even when Boy Riley and Girl Riley had insisted that they wanted her to come live with them.

  He’d stayed with her as she’d gone back to teach her TSC classes, because she wanted to, not because they forced her to. They’d had to provide her a microphone since the best she could do was whisper.

  But word had gotten out about what had happened, and every single student had been present for every class for two weeks straight. Evidently, all someone had to do to be an effective teacher was almost die.

  But she’d been glad to see her students’ faces. Glad that so many of them had cared enough to wait to talk with her after class to provide their well wis
hes. And a few even asked questions about the subject matter.

  She liked teaching. Even without the almost dying appeal, she was a good teacher. The thought of losing that, even knowing she’d be catapulting her career to new academic heights with the changes Harvard was offering her, was unsettling.

  But not as unsettling as the thought of leaving Baby behind. They’d definitely spent more than their fair share of time over the past two weeks in bed together, or in the shower together, or one time with her bent over his toolbox in the garage for a quickie. And as much as she loved it, as much as she’d lost control with him over and over in the way she’d never done before, that wouldn’t be what she missed the most.

  Watching him—after only three sessions with Charlie focusing on his dyslexia, realizing that he really was going to be able to battle this effectively—had filled her heart near to bursting.

  He was so amazingly smart. She’d known that already, of course, but he hadn’t.

  Those college classes he’d been dreading weren’t going to be a problem for him. Seeing him fully embrace that knowledge was worth more to her than all the fantastic sex they could ever have.

  Or, maybe not more, but as much as all the sex.

  Every day, for the past two weeks, they’d whispered about the future. She had no doubt he’d finish his degree, and the garage would be his. He hadn’t been surprised when the calls started coming in from Harvard, and other colleges, trying to ascertain her interest in joining their faculty.

  But he’d never once mentioned a future with them together. Neither had she.

  Not because she couldn’t imagine it or because she didn’t want it. Not even because she didn’t think they had strong enough feelings for one another. The feelings she had for him were never going to change. And every once in a while, she caught him staring at her in a way that made her insides go gooey.

  Her. The least gooey person she’d ever known. Or had been.

  But sometimes gooey feelings weren’t enough. What did love really matter in the long run if your lives were at such different places that they couldn’t land together?