“I should be worried about you, not the other way around.” He smiled, a nice big smile. He squeezed her hand firmly.
Suddenly, she recalled the kiss she’d given him in the truck. Was he remembering that and thinking it meant more than it did. And who was she kidding? She liked Quinn, liked the way he thought about her and tried to act protective. And she liked the way he stood up for what he believed, including telling her like it was when needed. She squeezed his hand back.
“When are you getting out of here?”
“Tonight. They’re not keeping me. Why don’t you come to my house tomorrow and we’ll find those boxes and dig through Grandpa’s notes?”
“Are you sure you’re up for that?”
“The people who did this, they took it to a new level, Dana. They’re not just threatening you anymore. This was an attempt to silence you by any means. I want to catch them.”
She shuddered, realizing he was right. The thought of going back to her hotel room frightened her. Would they be waiting for her there to finish the job?
He must have seen the concern on her face because he pulled at her hand until she looked at him. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. I’ve arranged to have a deputy drive you to the hotel and keep guard. My father approved protection for you tonight. You won’t be alone.”
She gave him a half smile. It seemed he could look right through her tough exterior to see the frightened little girl inside. How did he know she feared being alone? “You didn’t have to do that,” she insisted, but she was glad he had. Even from the hospital bed, he was doing everything in his power to protect her.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.” She stood, holding on to his hand until their distance caused it to slip from her grasp. She was saddened at the loss of his touch and that realization surprised her.
Oh, yes, she was definitely falling hard for this man.
* * *
Quinn didn’t like the crutches he was forced to use just to get from the car to his house. He hadn’t even wanted to come home, but Rich had refused to drive him to the hotel so he could make sure Dana was safe.
Rich followed behind him carrying a bag of his belongings from the hospital. He set it on the floor next to the couch, then handed Quinn a bottle of painkillers they’d stopped to get on their way home.
“Take these for the pain.”
“I don’t need them,” he insisted. He didn’t want to be drugged. He needed to be alert and on guard if today’s events were any indication.
“Take them,” Rich insisted. “You can’t do anything to help Dana if you can’t even walk. You should be thankful that ankle is only sprained and not broken. Take care of it tonight so you can be useful tomorrow.”
He grabbed the bag with his belongings and dug through it. “Where’s my cell phone?”
“It’s toast,” Rich said. “I’ll get you a new one tomorrow.”
“Loan me yours,” Quinn said. Rich eyed him and Quinn knew his brother thought he was crazy, but he couldn’t help himself. He needed to know she was okay and if he couldn’t go see her, he was going to call. He wouldn’t be able to rest until he made sure she was safe.
“She’s fine, Quinn. I handled the protection assignments myself. Dougherty is going to stand guard tonight and Jenkins will take over in the morning.”
“I just need to talk to her to make sure.”
Finally, Rich handed over his phone and Quinn dialed the number for the hotel. Her cell phone was also broken beyond repair from the wreck, but he knew he could reach her through the hotel’s phone. Milo was on duty at the front desk and he quickly rang Dana’s room.
“Hello.” Her wispy voice floated over him, and he realized he loved the sound of it.
“Hi there.”
“Quinn, are you home?”
“I am. Just arrived. I wanted to make certain you were okay before I turned in for the night.”
“Yes, I’m fine. I do feel better knowing there is someone standing watch outside the door. Thank your father and brother for me.”
“I will.”
“I’m just going over some notes. My producer has been blowing up my email with show prep.”
After all she’d been through today, the wreck and nearly being killed, she was calmly doing work for her show. She had a way of compartmentalizing her emotions, which he liked. It was a trait he recognized from his time in Delta and in doing contract security for the CIA. There were jobs where no matter what was going on in your life, you had to put things aside and focus on what needed to be done. Few civilians understood that concept.
“Well, try to get some sleep. You’ve had a hard day and we’re starting fresh tomorrow, remember?”
“I remember.” The line went silent for a moment then she spoke again. “Are you sure you’ll be up to it?”
“I’ve already told you I was.”
“I know. I was making sure.”
“We’re going to figure this out, Dana. Everything’s going to be fine. I promise.”
There were so many things he wanted to say to her. How he’d been hurt but was ready to take another shot at being with someone. How her courage and determination impressed him more and more each day. He opened his mouth to say something, anything. Nothing came out, but he wasn’t yet ready to break the connection between them.
But what was he thinking even going down this road with her? Her heart was for the story and his was the biggest story of all right now. The closer he got to her, the more likely she was to find out about his connection to Rizzo and the embassy attack.
God, why would You place someone like Dana in my path and expect me not to fall for her?
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said finally.
“Yeah, I’ll see you,” he told her, then listened as she hung up the phone.
When the line was silent, he handed the phone back to Rich, who took it and slipped it back into his pocket. Quinn rubbed a hand over his face.
Rich must have seen the emotions on his face. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.” The truth was he was already more enamored of her than he had been of anyone in such a long time. His first thought was of her and seeing her smile and the cute way she cocked her head to the side when she was thinking.
“Maybe you should tell her the truth.”
“I can’t.”
As much as he was growing to care for this woman, he didn’t trust her and a relationship couldn’t be built without trust. No, he would just have to learn to push aside his attraction for her and compartmentalize his feelings. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d had to keep his emotions in check.
But it would definitely be the most difficult.
FIVE
Dana clicked the police station’s computer mouse to move forward to the next group of photos. Sheriff Dawson had phoned her at the hotel that morning and asked her to come and look at mug shots to try to identity the man who had attacked her in the woods. The deputy on duty outside her door had driven her over and she’d already spent an hour clicking through photos without any success.
Rich walked over and took a seat across from her. “Find anything yet?”
“No, not yet. Have you seen Quinn today? How is he feeling?”
“I went by there earlier and took him a replacement cell phone. He said he was okay but I could tell he was in pain. They say it’s always worse the next day.”
She’d heard that, too, and she was definitely feeling more beaten up than yesterday from the truck flipping. And he’d been hurt worse than she’d been. “We’re supposed to meet up later today. Maybe I should cancel?”
“Nah, I wouldn’t. I think it’ll do him good to see you.”
She was surprised to hear him say that. She was also surprised by the way her heart jumped to hear it. “Really?”
His fa
ce reddened. “Oh, boy. He’ll kill me for saying that, but it’s true.” He leaned forward and looked at her. “My brother is really putting himself out there to help you. I hope he can trust you.”
She liked the way this family looked out for one another and suddenly felt a pang of jealousy. Who did she have in her life that ever had her back that way? “I appreciate what Quinn is doing for me. I wouldn’t do anything to purposefully hurt him.”
“I hope not.” He got up to leave and she turned back to the computer. She clicked the mouse again and another page of mug shots appeared on the screen. She gasped when she spotted a familiar face among them.
“This is him,” she cried, causing Rich to turn back to her. She pointed to a man with a thin face and reddish blond hair. “That’s definitely the man that attacked me in the woods.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I doubt I’ll ever forget that face. Who is he?”
“Reed Jessup.”
“Jessup? I’ve heard that name before but I can’t recall where.”
“He’s Mayor Jessup’s nephew. The mayor and his wife practically raised Reed. He’s also a known drug addict arrested multiple times, but because of his family’s connections, the charges never stick. Usually, whenever he gets into real trouble, they ship him off to rehab.”
She had never met Mayor Jessup but perhaps she’d seen his name somewhere around town. “Why would he want to kill me?”
“I’m sure he doesn’t. Quinn said he overheard a phone conversation in the woods that led him to believe someone paid those men to run you off the road. When we locate him, we can ask him who it was. I’ll put out a BOLO for him. When are you going to see Quinn?”
“Not until this afternoon. First, I need to replace my cell phone, then I want to go back to the library and spend some more time on the microfiche.”
“Okay. I’ll phone him and catch him up on this new development. Deputy Jenkins will stay with you and drive you.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“Dana, my brother would hammer me if I let you leave here unprotected. Whoever paid Reed Jessup and Clifford Lincoln to run you off the road yesterday meant to kill you. Don’t be reckless. Take the precaution and let us at the sheriff’s office do our jobs and find this maniac before he tries again.”
She liked Rich’s bluntness. He didn’t sugarcoat her situation and she appreciated it. It was a natural instinct for her to try to put on a brave face, but she was frightened. The man who’d attacked her in the woods—Reed Jessup—had shown up in her nightmares last night, making her rest uneasy.
She nodded, then stood. “Okay. I’ll stay with Deputy Jenkins. Tell Quinn I’ll see him later this afternoon.”
She left the sheriff’s office and made it to the library without incident, feeling a little conspicuous at having an armed escort follow her inside. She waved to Lila as she walked through the main room, then she went upstairs. The microfiche machine was still there waiting for her even though it had been two days since someone had lured her into the staircase. The mysterious Reed Jessup? Or his friend, whom Quinn had shot and killed? Hopefully, she would soon find out when the police apprehended Reed. But the real question was who was the person paying them to harm her? And why?
She sat down, pulled up the first microfiche and scanned through the newspaper copies. There had to be something she was missing, something that would help her prove she was Alicia Renfield and unmask whomever was behind all this. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on those files of Quinn’s grandfather. In the meantime, she would follow up every lead she could.
She went back over the days after the fire. Eventually the Renfield murders were relegated from the front page and placed further back in the paper until the mentions of the case stopped altogether.
She sighed. She had to be missing something. She had to go back to the beginning, to the motive for the murders. She pulled out her notebook. There were only a handful of reasons people committed murder. Love and betrayal were the most obvious. The unofficial story, according to the newspaper articles, was that Paul had discovered Rene was going to run off with another man and he snapped and murdered his family. But had he meant to try to kill Alicia? Perhaps if he’d believed she wasn’t his child, he might have wanted her dead. Whatever had happened, something had lead Sheriff Mackey to believe she had been a target. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have needed to be hidden away as protection.
Greed didn’t make sense, either. How would anyone profit from the deaths of Rene or Alicia? Was there a massive life insurance policy on them? And if so, who collected it? She could imagine a scenario where Rene was killed for whatever reason, but what kind of monster would have had the stomach to kill an infant? A very sick individual indeed. But if Alicia was believed to be dead then the killer or killers could profit from the insurance. She would assume Rene and Paul were beneficiaries for each other, but if Paul had been killed to collect the insurance money, why hadn’t his body been left where it would be found? And who would collect on Rene and Alicia’s insurance payout if Paul didn’t? It was an avenue that deserved to be checked out. She added a note to check to see if there were any life-insurance payouts after the deaths and to whom they were paid.
But then she realized there was more at stake than simply life insurance. The newspaper headline on the microfiche in front of her was dated six months after the murders and the headline on this day was all about a new highway being built. She’d driven in on a highway. She assumed it was the one referenced here, but when she looked closely at the map, it showed a different route—one that appeared to go right through the property that had once belonged to Paul and Rene Renfield.
She printed off that map, then shut down the microfiche and gathered her things. She glanced at her watch. If she hurried, she could get over to the county clerk’s office before they closed for lunch. She wanted to find out who now owned the property. Obviously, a highway had never been built there, but if someone had gotten ahold of the plans ahead of time and known about the proposed route, it was the perfect reason to commit murder because they could sell the property for a lot of money.
Lila had Dana’s pages already off the printer by the time she got back downstairs. Glancing at the papers, Lila gave her a slight smile.
“Looks like you’re on the trail of something,” she noted.
Dana couldn’t stop the nervous excitement that flowed from her. “I just might be.” Had she finally stumbled upon something that explained the need to murder an entire family? She wished she had already gotten herself a new cell phone so she could call Quinn and let him in on her new lead. Truly, she just wanted to talk to him, to hear his voice and enjoy the way his deep baritone warmed her.
She grabbed her stuff and approached Deputy Jenkins. “I need to go to the city clerk’s office.”
“No problem. I go where you go.”
She waved goodbye to Lila and headed to the parking lot. Deputy Jenkins opened her door then closed it after she slipped into the passenger’s seat and walked around to the driver’s side. As he did, Dana spotted a figure running from the corner of the next building. Reed Jessup! She would know his face anywhere.
Before she could warn Jenkins, Jessup drew a gun and started firing at the car. Dana screamed as Jenkins opened the car door and fell inside, blood pouring from shots to his shoulder and leg. He grabbed his gun and did his best to return fire, but Jessup kept coming.
He grabbed up the radio. “This is Jenkins 324. Shooting at the library. I’m hit. Send backup now. We’re under attack.”
She couldn’t hear the dispatcher’s response over the gunfire that Reed Jessup kept firing.
“Run, Dana,” Jenkins said, his voice no more than a groan. “Run and hide. Backup is on the way.” He lifted his gun again and fired, but she knew he was right. Backup wouldn’t arrive in time.
She crawled into the ba
ck seat and nearly fell out the back door of the vehicle. Amidst the firing, she ran back into the library. Those inside had heard the shots and were hiding under tables and behind desks.
“Dana, what’s happening?” Lila asked, poking her head up from behind the circulation desk.
“It’s Reed Jessup. He’s got a gun. Stay down. Police are on the way.”
She ran through to the stairway and hurried upstairs. Jessup was after her, so hopefully he wouldn’t bother targeting Lila or anyone else he saw. She couldn’t stop him, but she hated to think others might be harmed because of her.
The downstairs door burst open and Reed fired up the staircase as Dana rushed through the second-floor door.
Great. What did she do now? She had to hide from him until the police arrived to help her. She scanned the room and quickly sized it up. The bathrooms were the first place he would look, or possibly the room with the microfiche. If he found her in, either, she was a sitting duck. She had to stay out in the open without limiting herself.
She hurried into the stacks. If she could keep moving and keep him searching the rows of books for her, she might survive long enough for help to arrive. Her mind immediately went to Quinn. She wished he was coming, but with his leg, he wouldn’t be able to do much. Still, she knew he would try. She trusted Jenkins and Rich, and even Sheriff Dawson, but not as much as she trusted Quinn.
She stopped and crouched down, listening to the heavy footfalls and deep breathing of Reed as he moved throughout the stacks. Whenever she saw him or heard him nearby, she quietly slipped to another area of the stacks.
“You can’t hide from me forever, Miss Lang,” Reed’s deep voice warned. “I will find you.”
She nearly giggled at the idea that he addressed her so formally, but caught herself. It was just a reaction to fear that made her mind go so crazy. But if it was true that Reed Jessup was only a gun for hire, it was possible he didn’t even know her first name.
This was nothing but a job for him, but it was her life. And she wasn’t giving up without a fight.
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