“She probably does.”
“But now I’m on my guard.”
Rikki smacked the dashboard with both hands. “It’s time to strike. She thinks I’m dead and you’re running scared.”
“This makes no sense to me, Rikki.” Quinn plowed a hand through his hair. “If she had called in one of David’s associates to take us out in the parking lot, or even if she never contacted us at all after the failed attempt at her house, both of those scenarios would compute better. Admitting David was alive? Luring you out to kill you with poison? I don’t get it.”
She pressed her hands against her bubbling tummy. “We don’t have to get it. We just have to get her. She thinks I’m dead. Part of my stumbling and staggering with her was an act to convince her of that fact. She’s going to pass on the news of my demise to the men she has coming after us.”
“I’m very much alive, and wouldn’t I be coming right at the woman who killed my partner?”
“We’ll take her by surprise, at her house.”
Quinn tugged on his ear. “You’re after the photo again. She’s probably destroyed it by now. Maybe it’s better if I set up a meeting with her. She knows I’m still alive.”
“Then what? A meeting is not going to do any good if she doesn’t bring proof that David is alive.”
“Instead of a meeting—” Quinn drummed his thumbs against the steering wheel as he made the last turn to their motel “—I’ll take her by surprise. I’ll escort her someplace where we can have a private…conversation. You stay out of sight until the interrogation. I want to get to the bottom of this. I want her to explain her actions.”
“I want that picture.”
“I know you do.” He rubbed her arm. “But we have to expect she destroyed it. Let’s get some answers from her first.”
“Where are you going to catch her off guard?”
Quinn parked the car and released his seat belt. “Despite her subterfuge on behalf of David, Belinda seems to go on with her life. We know she volunteers at the Savannah Historical Society in the mornings. I’ll catch her when she’s leaving her shift tomorrow morning. Just a friendly little talk.”
“You don’t believe someone’s watching her?”
“Why would they? She’s on David’s side. She proved that tonight by trying to poison you.” As that fact hit him all over again, he reached out to grab Rikki’s hand. “I think she has an associate or two of David’s close by that she can call out when she needs help, like setting us up last night, but I don’t think they’re keeping tabs on her. I doubt there was anyone there tonight.”
“Just her and her little vial of poison.” She pounded her knee with her fist. “I can’t believe I fell for the oldest trick in the book.”
“You didn’t fall for it. You recognized the smell and taste of the poison and you took action. Your instincts are still good, kid.”
She smiled at him before opening the door and slipping out of the car.
When they got to the motel room, Quinn checked his laptop. “Hey, I got a message from Chan on the decoding.”
Rikki leaned over him, her hair fluttering against his cheek. “Can he do it?”
“He’s going to try. He has some programs he’s going to use.”
“Fingers crossed.” And then she crossed them.
He closed his hand around her crossed fingers and kissed the tips. “We’re going to solve this and get you back into action—where you belong.”
Rikki’s eyes flooded with tears. “Back where I belong.”
As one of those tears slid down Rikki’s cheek, Quinn kissed it away, tasting the salt on his lips.
Were those tears for him? If she didn’t think she belonged with him by now, he’d have to up his game to convince her otherwise. And he’d start tonight.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, Quinn pulled on a pair of cargo shorts with big side pockets as he watched Rikki tuck her gun into a purse.
“It’s times like these I wish I had a purse.” Quinn grabbed his own weapon and slipped it into a pocket of his shorts where it banged against his thigh. “I’d like to carry bigger, but I don’t want to be obvious.”
Rikki held up her purse, swinging it from her fingertips. “I’d like to carry bigger, too, but I’m not going to lug around a suitcase.”
“Remember—” he took her by the shoulders, his thumb nestling beneath the strap of her purse “—stay out of sight, even when I get her alone. She doesn’t need to know you’re still alive.”
“Got it.”
“Nobody knows Rikki Taylor is alive. There’s no reason for anyone to know April Thompson is alive, either, or Agent Reid, or whoever you were for Belinda’s friends.”
He released her, and she adjusted the straps of her sundress. Then she crossed to the bed and swept up a big hat. “I’ll be wearing this for cover, too.”
“Once I make contact with her and show her my gun, I’ll walk her to the park in the opposite direction of the coffeehouse where you’ll be waiting. Stay there until I text you or come and get you. I’ll only come and get you when I’m sure Belinda is on her way home and can’t see you.”
“But if she still has the picture of David, you’ll be going back home with her to get it, right?”
“I’m hoping for even better proof he’s alive, so don’t hold your breath on that picture.”
“Just don’t drink anything she offers.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
They would be arriving to the area separately, so Quinn left first with the car. Rikki would be taking a taxi later. He didn’t want her anywhere near Belinda Dawson after what Belinda had tried last night, but trying to keep Rikki away would take more patience than he had. Also, he’d discovered that keeping Rikki away was not in his DNA.
Quinn parked a few blocks away from the Savannah Historical Society and waited in his car for almost thirty minutes. They’d checked the volunteer shifts for that morning, and five minutes before he figured Belinda would be leaving, he walked to the block that housed the building and sat on a park bench facing the front entrance. She couldn’t exit to the rear, and if she came out a side door, she’d be forced to this street anyway. He had it all sussed out—but the best-laid plans had a way of taking a twist.
He glanced casually to his right at the coffeehouse with its umbrellaed tables spilling onto the sidewalk, and his heart jumped when he spied a big white hat with a black-and-white polka-dot band around it—as long as she stayed out of sight.
Quinn shifted his focus back to the building that housed the Historical Society and his eyes narrowed as he picked out Belinda skipping down the two steps, her arm tucked around the arm of another woman.
Quinn shook his head. As far as Belinda knew, she’d poisoned a woman last night, and she looked like a sorority sister going to lunch.
He held his breath as he watched the two women. He hadn’t planned on dealing with a second person.
When the other woman peeled off in another direction, Quinn let out his breath and pushed himself up from the bench. Go time.
Quinn ripped back the Velcro on his shorts’ pocket and gripped his gun inside—not that he planned to use it, but he wouldn’t mind putting a little fear into the woman who’d poisoned Rikki.
Belinda kept her eyes glued to her phone as she strode down the sidewalk.
Quinn moved behind her and quickened his pace. He lost the element of surprise as she swung her head around and then tripped to a stop.
“You.”
He slowed his gait as he continued to approach her, his hand curled around the gun in his pocket. “You killed my partner, and I wanna know why. I wanna know where your husband is.”
Belinda’s eyes widened and she licked her lips, her gaze dropping to his pocket. “I-I…”
A zipping sound ripped through the air. Belinda’s
eyes bugged out of their sockets one second before she collapsed in front of him.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Rikki squinted through the small binoculars she cupped in the palm of her hand. As Belinda turned to confront Quinn, Rikki whispered, “Shoot. You gotta have more stealth than that, sailor.”
Then Belinda’s body jerked, and she fell to the ground.
With her heart pounding in her chest and a voice screaming in her head, Rikki jumped up from the table, knocking over her glass of water. Clutching her purse against her body, she ran across the street toward the Historical Society.
Her vision blurred as she ran, and she could no longer see Quinn standing on the sidewalk. She panted and bumped into someone running from the scene.
Someone shouted, “Active shooter.”
Rikki jogged toward the downed figure and as she got close, a hand shot out from behind a tree and grabbed her.
Quinn pulled her back behind the tree with him. “Someone shot her. He might still be active. I don’t think she’s dead.”
“I need to talk to her.” She broke away from Quinn and dropped to the ground. Sirens wailed in the distance, and most people had hit the pavement or had taken cover behind trees.
Rikki crawled toward Belinda, her hand stretched out and her fingers curled. She grabbed Belinda’s hand and scooted toward her, nose to nose.
Quinn had followed her and crouched beside her, blocking her from the direction of the sniper.
Blood seeped out from beneath Belinda’s body, but her eyes were open and she’d zeroed in on Rikki’s face. Her lips parted and she croaked.
Rikki squeezed her hand. “I need to know where David is.”
Belinda gasped and mumbled, and Rikki put her ear close to her lips.
“Not telling you. Did you think I didn’t know you when I saw you? David’s beloved Rikki.”
Rikki’s mouth fell open.
“Wasn’t sure. Then you saw picture. You knew. ’Course you knew David’s body. You were his lover.”
“That never happened. He turned on me. Set me up.” Rikki rushed her words as the sirens from the ambulance sounded louder.
“Revenge, you broke it off. When I told him you were alive, it gave him…life.” Belinda’s lips twisted, whether in pain or bitterness, Rikki couldn’t tell.
“So I wanted to take your life again. Away from him.”
“Who did this to you? Where’s David now?”
“Davey did it. You don’t cross David.”
An EMT’s voice shouted above them. “Ma’am, ma’am. I need you to get out of the way now.”
“Tell me. We’ll take him down together.” Rikki gripped Belinda’s wrist. “Where is he?”
The EMT physically pulled Rikki away from Belinda, but not before she choked out one word. “Song.”
Quinn took her arm, and his head swiveled back and forth like a weather vane in a hurricane. “You put yourself in extreme danger. Was it worth it?”
“Her last word to me? Song. Buddy Song knows where David is. I’d say that’s worth it. The sniper was long gone anyway.”
He cocked one eyebrow in her direction as he practically dragged her across the street. “Because you’re an expert on snipers?”
“Well, he wasn’t a very good one, was he? He didn’t kill Belinda.”
“Not yet.”
“She seemed pretty lucid for someone on death’s doorstep. She could very well recover from this.”
“Maybe that sniper didn’t want to kill her. Maybe he just wanted to interrupt her conversation with me or teach her a lesson about going rogue and murdering random CIA agents.”
“Wasn’t he ready to murder random CIA agents the other night at Belinda’s house?”
“We don’t know what his intentions were that night. He could’ve just wanted to trap and question, like I planned to do with Belinda.” He took her hand and led her into a small public parking lot. “I’m in here.”
She ducked into the car and slumped in the seat. “At least we can now start with Buddy Song.”
“We knew about him anyway, and Belinda could’ve been lying.” He cranked on the engine and squealed out of the parking lot. “What else was she telling you? That conversation lasted longer than one name.”
“Oh, yeah.” Rikki slumped farther in the seat. “She knew who I was.”
“What?” Quinn stomped on the brakes at the stop sign, and her body strained against the shoulder strap and then thumped back.
“She made me.” Rikki twisted her fingers in her lap. “She suspected who I was when we first got to her house, and when I showed interest in the picture, that confirmed it for her.”
“Maybe she won’t recover.”
“Quinn.” She jerked her head around.
“I’m supposed to be rooting for a woman who called out a gunman on us, tried to poison you and now knows your identity?” He lifted his shoulders. “I’m sorry. I don’t have much sympathy for her. I don’t want her blabbing to anyone in the CIA about you before we’re ready, and we won’t be ready until someone talks to Buddy Song or Chan decodes David’s emails.”
“It’s too late.” Rikki pressed her hands against her stomach. In the shock of Belinda’s shooting and getting info about David out of her, Rikki hadn’t dwelled on the fact that Belinda had known who she was from the get-go. Now the truth of it punched her in the gut.
“She already told someone, and it’s the reason why she tried to kill me.”
“Back up. Who’d she tell? Did that person order her to poison you?”
“She told David.”
Quinn uttered an expletive. “And David ordered your death a second time? I can’t wait to get my hands on him.”
“I’m not sure it went down like that.” Rikki dug her fingers in her hair. “Belinda told David I was alive, and apparently, he was a little too happy about it for Belinda’s liking. She always thought David and I were lovers, and his reaction to her news seemed to confirm that for her.”
Quinn’s jaw tightened. “David lied to her, told her you came onto him. She told us as much.”
“Probably.” Rikki rolled her shoulders, but the stress just clawed its way up her neck. “His reaction to my being alive wasn’t what she’d hoped for, so she decided to take me out—it sounds like to spite him.”
He swung the car into a parking space at their motel and threw it into Park. “She thinks her own husband ordered this hit on her today because she tried to kill you? Does David really think you’re going to forgive him for setting you up as a traitor?”
“I don’t know what David thinks. It sounds like he’s gone completely off the deep end, but it gave me a little leverage with her to give up some intel on David.”
“Buddy Song’s name is hardly intel. If David knows you’re still alive, it won’t be long before the CIA knows.”
“He’s not exactly going to call them from the dead, is he?”
“He’ll use other methods to get the news out. You know he will.” He stroked her arm from shoulder to wrist. “Do you want to take what we have now and go to the Agency? Do you want to turn yourself in?”
“Take what we have?” She snapped off her seat belt. “We have nothing. No proof. I don’t even have that picture of David with the tattoo he never had before his supposed death.”
Quinn lifted his hips from the seat of the car and dug into his voluminous pocket. He pulled out a cell phone and held it in front of her face. “I have this.”
“Belinda’s?” Her heart skipped in her chest and she pounced on the phone, snatching it from Quinn’s hand.
“She was holding it when I approached her. When the bullet hit her, she dropped it and I scooped it up.”
Rikki pressed the phone to her chest. “Quick thinking.”
“Let’s regroup and get your life back.”
When they returned to the motel room, Rikki huddled in a chair by the window and tapped Belinda’s phone to wake it up. “Ugh, it’s password-protected.”
“You know how to get around that, right? Isn’t that CIA 101?”
“There are a couple of ways I can get in, although every time the manufacturers hear about another trick to bypass security codes, they change things up.” Rikki tapped through several key sequences and let out a pent-up breath when Belinda’s home screen popped up. “I’m in. This looks like her real phone and not the temp she used to call you.”
“And which she probably used to contact her husband.” Quinn circled his finger in the air. “She’ll have her personal stuff on this one, though.”
Rikki swept her finger through Belinda’s photos. “Lots of pics of Savannah and her house. She must’ve done some remodeling lately.”
“That’s not gonna help.”
“Wait.” With a shaking finger, Rikki tapped an image of a shirtless man. “It’s here. The picture of David with that tattoo that he never had before he died.”
“All right!” Quinn pumped his fist in the air. “Now, who can verify that the tattoo is a new acquisition besides you?”
“Anyone who did PT with David. If they changed in the locker room with him or even if he wore a tank top during PT, his chest would’ve been on display, and I’m telling you he never had that giant phoenix tattoo.”
“You’re going to send that to Ariel.” Quinn leveled a finger at the phone. “What’s your answer if someone tries to claim he got it in Korea?”
“Not enough time—and look at it.” She jabbed her finger at the serious face in the picture, the face she used to trust. “It’s not a brand-new tattoo. We weren’t in Korea long enough for something like that to heal up. Hell, we weren’t in Korea long enough before we were captured for him to even get a tattoo like that. Don’t those tattoo artists take several days to create a work of art like that?”
“It could take more than one sitting. It looks like we might have Dawson dead to rights on this.” Quinn rubbed his chin and gazed over her right shoulder.
Kick A** Heroines Box Set: The UltimatumFatal AffairAfter the DarkBulletproof SEAL (The Guardian) Page 104