The Collected
Page 29
“You all go to hell,” he whispered, then pulled the trigger.
__________
TO SAY QUINN was getting used to seeing his sister and Nate embrace would have been stretching reality. But this time there was a certain satisfaction.
There’d been moments over the last few days when he wondered if the two of them would ever have the chance to be together again. But here they were, arm in arm. It was a sight to be cherished, not frowned upon.
“All right, everyone,” Quinn said, turning toward the others. “Let’s get on—”
The word stuck in this throat as he saw Janus standing seventy yards behind the group, not only alive but pointing a rifle in their direction.
As he pulled out his gun, he shouted, “Down! Everyone!”
But his warning was drowned out by the bang-bang-bang-bang-bang of the semiautomatic rifle.
Quinn saw movement at the back of the group. Someone going down.
He ran to the side and let off five quick shots. Four more shots came from off to his right, Daeng circling the other way and mirroring Quinn’s course.
Janus took two steps backward, his rifle tilting up in the air.
Quinn emptied the rest of his magazine.
As Janus went down for the last time, his finger jerked on the rifle’s trigger, sending a final hail of bullets flying high over the jungle.
As Quinn ran toward Janus, he released the empty mag and jammed in his final one.
He and Daeng reached Janus at the same time.
The man’s chest was full of entry wounds, and his eyes had the empty death stare Quinn had seen so many times before. But there was only one way to make sure the man never got up again. Quinn aimed his gun at Janus’s forehead and pulled the trigger.
“Quinn!” Nate called out.
Quinn whipped around, thinking maybe there was another attacker somewhere. But Nate was at the back of the group, kneeling on the ground. There were two people lying to either side of him.
“Hurry!” Nate yelled.
The hair on the back of Quinn’s neck stood on end. He ran as fast as he’d ever run, trying to keep his mind blank.
The closest person on the ground was Peter, and Quinn instantly knew the former head of the Office would never get up again. A bullet had caught him on the side of the head just above his right ear.
Then he twisted around and saw the other person Janus had hit.
__________
ORLANDO HAD NO idea what happened.
She’d been standing, she was sure of that, but now she seemed to be lying on the ground.
Why can’t I get up? Why can’t I move?
Voices. Hollow. Distant, but not distant.
“Quinn…Hurry…”
I’m tired. Why am I so tired?
The ground shook under her. Thud. Thud. Then something bumped against her arm.
She could feel it. She couldn’t move her arm, but she could feel it. That was good, right?
“No, no, no, no, no!”
Quinn?
“Orlando. Orlando, can you hear me?”
I can hear you.
“Orlando? Come on, baby, stay with me!”
It was strange. Though she knew he was right beside her, it sounded like he was a million miles away.
“Do you hear me? Baby, please, stay with me!”
Growing farther and farther.
“You’re going to be okay. You’re going to be fine. Just stay with…”
Thank you so much for reading THE COLLECTED.
If you have time and the inclination,
a review posted at the site you purchased the novel is always appreciate.
Quinn will be back in 2013
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As always, any book is a team effort, and I am very thankful to my Team Quinn members, and to all the readers who continue to enjoy the adventures of Quinn and his friends.
This time, special thanks go to: Ivonne de Cervantes for helping me with my Spanish (any errors, as much as I always hate to admit it, are mine); friend and fellow novelist Robert Browne, not only for the long conversations about plot, books, and basic BS, but for creating the fantastic Quinn covers; and, of course, Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, whose expert eyes find the errors, both easy and deceiving, that I never catch. You have my undying gratitude.
Finally, my thanks and love to the three people who make doing this even more worthwhile than I could have ever thought possible—my kids: Ronan, Fiona, and Keira. The future is yours, and I can’t wait to see what you do with it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brett Battles is the Barry Award-winning author of over a dozen novels, including the Jonathan Quinn series, the Logan Harper series, and the Project Eden series. You can learn more at his website: brettbattles.com
Becoming Quinn
Every Identity Has an Origin
This Is Jonathan Quinn’s
Most careers begin with an interview and a handshake. Others require…something more.
Meet Jake Oliver. The day will come when he's one of the best cleaners in the business, a man skilled at making bodies disappear. At the moment, however, he’s a twenty-two-year-old rookie cop, unaware his life is about to change.
In a burning barn a body is found—and the fire isn't the cause of death. The detectives working the case have a pretty good idea about what went down. But Officer Oliver thinks it’s something else entirely, and pursues a truth others would prefer remain hidden—others who will go to extreme lengths to keep him quiet.
Find Becoming Quinn in the Kindle Store
“A pure delight.”—Jeffery Deaver,
author of Edge and the Lincoln Rhyme novels,
on the first Quinn novel, The Cleaner
“Quinn is one part James Bond, one part Jason Bourne.”
—Nashville Book Worm
The Project Eden Thrillers
Sick
Daniel Ash wakes after midnight to the cry of his daughter. Just a bad dream, he thinks. She’s had them before. Stepping through her doorway, he expects to find her sitting up in bed, frightened by a nightmare. But the nightmare is his. It’s real. And it's just beginning.
Something is burning Ash's daughter alive. Something horrible that is spreading beyond the walls of their home and taking no prisoners. Soon, Ash’s world threatens to come apart at the seams as a team of armed men in biohazard suits bursts into his house. But these aren’t the good guys. They haven’t come to save Ash’s family. They’ve come to make the problem go away.
But Ash refuses to disappear. He wants only one thing: to find those responsible. Because humanity is on the brink of extinction. And man is pulling the trigger.
Exit 9
Before, it was just a test, a little demonstration to see if the virus worked. It did, and so much better than its creators could have ever hoped. But the testing phase is over. It’s time for Project Eden to take the next step.
If Project members have their way, humanity is about to get a reboot. It’s up to Daniel Ash and the others in the outnumbered resistance to keep the Project from severely downsizing mankind. But can their small force succeed in the face of a plan decades in the making? The human race had better hope so, because if Ash and his friends don’t succeed…
Pale Horse
A simple push of a button and the world will never be the same.
Martina Gable returns home from college to spend Christmas break with her family, but the relaxing vacation she expects is not even close to what she'll get.
Sanjay, a young man in Mumbai who knows more than he should about Project Eden’s plan, will do whatever he can to keep Kusum, the girl he loves, alive and safe.
A boy named Brandon Ash runs for his life in the hills of Montana, wanting only to see his family again.
But first there is Daniel, the boy’s father, who watches Olivia Silva’s finger hover over the enter key that will decide the fate of humanity.
Do you think you’re safe?
Find Sick in the Kindle Stor
e
Find Exit 9 in the Kindle Store
Find Pale Horse in the Kindle Store
“You think Battles was badass before? He just cranked it up to 500 joules. CLEAR!”
—PopCultureNerd.com on Sick
“Sick is Brett Battles at his best.”
—Tim Hallinan, author of the Edgar-nominated
The Queen of Patpong
The Logan Harper Thrillers
Little Girl Gone & Every Precious Thing
Little Girl Gone
Logan Harper isn't looking for redemption. He just wants to live in peace and forget his troubled past. But one morning his quiet life is upended when he interrupts the attempted murder of his father's best friend, Tooney. The next thing he knows, Logan is on his way to Los Angeles, searching for Tooney's missing granddaughter and uncovering a sinister plot connected not only to Tooney's past, but also to the boardrooms of corporate America. As the odds stack up against him, Logan must fall back on old skills from the life he'd rather forget. He's made a promise, and the only way to fulfill it is to bring the girl home alive.
Every Precious Thing
It was supposed to be a fun weekend, a celebration of a marriage and growing family. Alan Lindley couldn't have been happier...until his wife Sara disappeared. Asked by a mutual friend to help look for her, Logan Harper is sure he'd discover a wife who simply wanted out of the marriage. What he finds instead is a woman who didn't exist, a diabolical plan, and people who would do anything to keep it a secret, including taking the life of the person most important to him. What would you do for those precious to you?
Find Little Girl Gone in the Kindle Store
Find Every Precious Thing in the Kindle Store
"The best word I can use to describe his writing is addictive."
—James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author
The Pull of Gravity
From Brett Battles comes a different kind of novel, one Edgar Award-nominated author Tim Hallinan calls "a mesmerizing thriller of the heart." It's a story of love, tragedy, and those searching for redemption.
Jay Bradley thought he could leave the Philippines behind. But though he's started a new life with a woman he loves, he's still tormented by questions from his past.
He returns to Angeles City, where he once worked as a papasan watching over bargirls. On the surface, he's there to sell his stake in a bar on the notorious Fields Avenue. In reality, he's come back to find Isabel, one of his old dancers, and the only person who can answer his questions and quiet his demons.
Because death is seldom an ending, and often haunts those left behind.
Find The Pull of Gravity in the Kindle Store
Table of Contents
Book Description
PRAISE FOR THE JONATHAN QUINN SERIES
ALSO BY BRETT BATTLES
THE COLLECTED Copyright © 2012 by Brett Battles
This one’s for Cami and Tori and all the living you still have in front of you!
CHAPTER 1
FOUR WEEKS LATER
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
CHAPTER 60
Thank you so much for reading THE COLLECTED.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Becoming Quinn
The Project Eden Thrillers
The Logan Harper Thrillers
The Pull of Gravity