Quinn’s reflexes were honed from years in the military, but the tableau playing out in front of him was straight out of a horror movie. He moved much slower than he would’ve under normal circumstances and threw himself over Rowan so he could serve as a protective blanket.
In his head, he registered what was happening even as his heart tried to play catchup. Somewhere out there, someone was shooting at them ... and Rowan had been hit.
That’s all he could register as the blood rushed through his ears and he saw red.
She was hit ... and he had no idea how badly she was hurt. All he understood was that he had to protect her, so that’s exactly what he tried to do.
13
Thirteen
Quinn was trained to react in situations like this. Even though he loved his men when serving overseas, it wasn’t the same thing as what he felt for Rowan. For some reason, knowing she’d been hit paralyzed him.
He couldn’t move, and it felt as if someone was squeezing his heart to the point it would explode rather than keep beating.
Then Rowan spoke.
“Quinn?” She sounded dazed, as if speaking from a great distance away.
He jerked his head down and stared into her eyes, which were glazed and unfocused. Despite the confusion wafting over her face, she was present … and in obvious pain. “Ro?”
“What’s happening?” Her tongue felt thick. “Did I fall?”
“Something like that.” He exhaled heavily and raised his head, his eyes keen as they scanned the darkness. There was no movement on the beach, no voices. The only sound came from the waves. If the shooter was still out there, he or she was well hidden.
“I don’t feel so good,” Rowan murmured. “You really shouldn’t have let me eat that much crab. I think I’m going to throw up.”
Quinn managed to slide off her at the exact moment she rolled to the side and vomited into the sand. Thanks to the full moon, he could see the shoulder of her shirt, and it was soaked with blood.
“Baby,” he uttered, reaching out to touch her.
She retched again.
“Rowan.” Quinn dragged a hand through his hair and jerked his eyes toward the area where he was certain the shot came from. There was a cabana located about three hundred feet away and he was almost certain he’d seen a hint of movement in that area directly before the shot rang out. “You’re okay,” he whispered, lowering his lips to her cheek. “You’re going to be okay.”
“I’m sick.” Rowan was obviously muddled. “I think I drank too much … although I don’t remember drinking. Can you be drunk without booze?”
“I’m getting you help,” Quinn said, determinedly digging in his pocket. “I’m going to take care of you. Just … hold on, okay?” He punched three numbers into his phone and pressed it to his ear. “I’m on the beach behind Crabby Bill’s,” he announced, sounding much calmer than he felt. “Multiple shots have been fired. My girlfriend was hit.”
The voice on the other end of the call was unflustered. “Okay, sir. Where was your girlfriend struck?”
“Her shoulder.”
“Is she conscious?”
“She’s … confused.” Quinn smoothed Rowan’s hair as she dry-heaved onto the beach. “I can’t see the wound. It’s too dark. I … just send an ambulance, and the police, as soon as possible. I don’t know where the shooter is. I think he’s gone, though. I … don’t know where he went.”
QUINN WANTED TO RIDE IN the ambulance with Rowan, but it created logistical problems … especially with the police, who insisted on questioning him in the location where the attack happened.
“Which direction?” Detective Shawn Morgan asked as he clicked an ink pen and started jotting down notes on a small pad.
“That way.” Quinn gestured vaguely toward the cabana as he watched the paramedics load Rowan into a waiting ambulance. She was awake but barely alert. “I need to go with my girlfriend.”
“You need to stay here,” he countered. “Your girlfriend will be fine. I already talked to the emergency responders. They say her life isn’t in jeopardy.”
For some reason, the man’s tone shredded every ounce of patience Quinn had. “My girlfriend was just shot,” he hissed. “You may not think it’s a big deal, but it’s a big freaking deal to me.”
“I understand that.” Morgan didn’t as much as blink. “You’re upset. Anyone would be in your position. It’s a trying ordeal.”
His response only made matters worse for Quinn. “I’m not panicking just to panic. I’m not responding in this manner because I’m looking for attention. That is my girlfriend.” He jabbed a finger toward the closing ambulance doors. “She needs me.”
“And I need you to answer my questions. The sooner you do, the sooner you can go to the hospital.”
It took everything Quinn had not to start throwing punches. “What do you want? I’ve told you everything I know.”
“Except what you were doing out here so late at night.”
“So late at night? It’s not even nine yet. We were at Crabby Bill’s for dinner. We decided to take a walk afterwards because it was such a nice night and we both love the water. We sat on the sand, laughed about how much food we ate, and then someone started shooting. That’s it!”
“Are you local?”
“We’re on The Bounding Storm, a cruise liner anchored a bit further up the coastline. We were in Tierra Verde for the afternoon and stopped here for dinner on our way back.”
“And what were you doing in Tierra Verde?”
“Hanging out with a man we met several months ago. He has a beach house. We were catching up. We spent the day relaxing and came here.”
“And you didn’t cross paths with anyone while you were in Tierra Verde?”
Quinn recognized what he was insinuating … and he didn’t like it. “Are you asking if my girlfriend deserved for this to happen to her?”
“Of course not. I’m simply trying to ascertain if you crossed paths with the wrong person.”
“What? Like a Tierra Verde gangbanger somehow decided that Rowan disrespected him and wanted revenge?”
“I think you’re being a little dramatic.”
“And I think I watched the woman I love get shot in front of me and you’re keeping me here when she’s on her way to the hospital. I don’t understand why you can’t question me there.”
Morgan cocked an eyebrow. “Because I’m here and I need a feel for the scene. You’re the only witness who saw things go down up close and personal.”
“And you think I did it?”
“No. There were two women on the beach who took cover when the shots rang out. They weren’t close enough to hear your conversation. They did, however, say you took cover immediately and sheltered your girlfriend with your body. I don’t believe you did it.”
“But you do believe we did something to earn it.” Quinn was officially fed up. “Well, we didn’t … and I can’t stay here a minute longer. I need to get to Rowan. She’s going to be confused when things clear for her, and I’m damned well going to be there when that happens.”
“I’ve been doing this job for ten years,” Morgan supplied. “In that time, I’ve never seen someone specifically targeted on the beach and shot for no reason.”
“I guess there’s a first time for everything.”
“We’ll see, huh?”
“I guess we will.”
QUINN WAITED UNTIL HE arrived at the hospital to call Nick and Paul. He considered calling Sally and Demarcus – they were both close with Rowan and would want to know what happened – but he could hardly invite them to hang around at the hospital with Rowan’s rumored dead father. That wouldn’t go over well.
“Anything?” Nick asked as they strode into the waiting room an hour later, both of them pale as death.
“She’s being treated,” Quinn replied, his voice weak. “They won’t tell me what’s going on.”
“Where was she shot?” Paul asked.
“On the
beach.”
“No, I mean … where? Is she in surgery? Was she shot in the head?”
“Oh.” Quinn shook his head when he realized how irresponsible he had been when relaying information to the men earlier. “I’m sorry. I should’ve told you from the start. She was shot in the shoulder. I don’t think it’s a bad wound … although she was still shot so it’s bad enough that I want to kill someone.”
“You and me both,” Nick commented as he patted Quinn’s shoulder in a reassuring manner. “While I’m not happy she’s been shot, things could be worse.”
Quinn recognized what he was saying – Rowan could be dead, after all – but he couldn’t look on the bright side of things under the circumstances. “I just want to see her. There was this detective on the beach. He wouldn’t let me go to the hospital with her. I just … I can’t take this.” He blew out a sigh and dropped his head into his hands.
“It’s okay, son.” Nick wasn’t sure how to soothe Quinn, but he felt he needed to try given his brother’s grim reaction. Paul almost seemed worse off than Quinn and he wasn’t the one who witnessed the shooting. “She’s going to be okay. I have faith.”
“I just want to see her.”
“Join the club.” Nick sat in the open chair next to him. “Right now, all we can do is wait. They’ll tell us when we can see her. Hopefully it won’t be too long.”
“It had better not be. I’m at my limit.”
“I can tell. Just keep it together for a bit longer. You might be surprised how fast the time goes.”
Quinn didn’t believe that for a second. “They have thirty minutes and then I’m forcing my way back there.”
“I’ll help you,” Paul offered with a wan smile. “We’ll find our girl together.”
“Now that right there is a plan,” Nick said. “Thirty minutes. I’ll start watching the clock.”
THEY WAITED AN HOUR … and then Quinn couldn’t take one more second of not knowing.
“I’m done.” He hopped to his feet at the exact moment a doctor breezed through the doors that opened from the inner bowels of the hospital. He had no idea what he was going to do. He couldn’t see beyond making it to the other side of the door. Thankfully he didn’t have to think further because the doctor zeroed in on him right away.
“I’m Dr. Carpenter,” he announced, extending his hand. “You’re the boyfriend, right?”
“I am,” Quinn confirmed as Paul and Nick moved to flank him. “These are friends.” He didn’t know how else to describe the men. Obviously, he couldn’t tell the truth. “I called them for support when I arrived and no one had an update.”
“I’m sorry for how long it took.” Carpenter appeared sincere. “We wanted to make sure that everything was copacetic and ordered a full set of X-rays. The good news is that Ms. Gray is going to be fine. The wound to her shoulder is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, although I doubt that’s little comfort to you.”
“How did you treat her?” Nick asked.
“She didn’t require surgery. The bullet didn’t strike a vein or artery. It was a through and through and we didn’t have to dig for fragments. Since it’s her left shoulder and she’s right-handed, it hopefully shouldn’t affect her too much.”
“What does that mean for her recovery?” Quinn queried.
“Well, for starters, she’s going to have to take it easy,” Carpenter replied. “We’re going to keep her here overnight and give her a strong antibiotic and painkillers. We should be able to release her in the morning. We’ll give her a prescription for the pain and she’s going to be on light duty. My understanding is that she’s a photographer.”
Quinn nodded. “Yeah. If she can’t hold the camera, don’t worry about it. I can get her a special dispensation until she’s medically cleared.”
“I think she’ll be able to hold the camera in about two weeks. I don’t know what that means for your schedule.”
“That means she’ll miss a cruise, but we can get a temporary photographer in to take her place. I’ll handle it.”
“That’s good.” Carpenter shot him a sympathetic smile. “Right now, she’s confused and groggy. We want her to sleep as much as possible. We’re about to move her to a regular room for the night. If you wish to stay with her, that can be arranged.”
“I definitely want to stay with her,” Quinn said. “In fact, I’ll go to her right now.”
“Actually, it would be better if you could wait for another twenty minutes. We’ll have her transported to her room by then and you can have some privacy.”
It wasn’t what Quinn wanted to hear, but he nodded. “Okay. Don’t forget about me.”
“Something tells me you wouldn’t allow that to happen.”
“Definitely not.” Quinn waited until Carpenter disappeared through the doors to speak. “She’s okay.”
“That’s good,” Nick said, glancing around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping. “I was legitimately worried there for a bit, but it sounds as if she’ll be as good as new in a few weeks.”
“Yeah.”
“She was still shot,” Paul snapped, taking everybody by surprise with his vehemence. He hadn’t spoken in some time and Quinn had almost forgotten he was there.
“We know she was shot,” Nick said. “There’s nothing we can do about that.”
“She was shot.” This time Paul sounded more mournful. “This is my fault. I came back into her life and she barely made it a few weeks before she was almost killed because of me.”
Quinn wasn’t in the mood to bolster Paul’s spirits – he had his own spirits to worry about, after all – but he couldn’t very well let the man blame himself. “Let’s not do this, okay? She’s going to be fine. Focusing on the things we can’t change is a surefire way to insanity.”
“That’s easy for you to say.” Paul’s tone took on a biting edge. “You’re not the reason she was shot. You were the one out there protecting her. I should’ve stayed away.”
“No, you shouldn’t have stayed away.” Quinn practically growled the words. “You hurt her just as much as a bullet when you walked away like you did. Not knowing is worse than just about anything.”
“I have to go.” Tears flooded Paul’s eyes. “She’s not safe. They obviously know who I really am, where I am. I don’t know how – I’ve been so careful, I swear it – but I have to leave again. That’s the only way she’ll be safe.”
“How do you figure that?” Nick was incredulous. “If they know, there’s no putting that cat back in the bag. Besides, we don’t know that’s what happened here. I mean … what does shooting Rowan get them? They want her alive so they can watch her perform. They don’t want her dead.”
“What else could it be?” Paul sounded like a defeated man. “There’s no other explanation.”
“There’s one,” Quinn countered, his stomach doing an uneasy somersault as he remembered Patrice’s face as the Rolls-Royce slowly rolled past the beach house’s driveway several hours before. “There’s every chance you weren’t the reason for any of this.”
“And what chance is that?” Paul looked so hopeful it almost broke Quinn’s heart.
“Patrice Sterling,” he replied. “She drove by when we were getting on the motorcycle. Rowan had her helmet on, but I didn’t. She looked right at me.”
Nick furrowed his brow. “I don’t understand. Why would that matter?”
“Because they’re up to something. She was with Byron at the time. They weren’t doing anything but seeing me so close to the house might’ve jolted them. If they’re suspicious about me, what I believe, they might not be able to justify in their minds why I would be in that area.”
“That’s interesting,” Nick noted. “If they saw you, that means they sent someone to follow you. Do you think that’s possible?”
Quinn racked his brain. “Anything is possible,” he said finally. “I wasn’t paying attention like I should’ve been. I didn’t look behind us. We were having a good time. I purpose
ly took her to a restaurant where she could wear a bib to eat crab and she thought that was hilarious.
“We were on the beach after, talking about our future,” he continued, his voice cracking. “I should’ve been paying closer attention. I was worried when I saw the way Patrice looked at me. I pushed it out of my mind, though. That was stupid.”
“Knock that off,” Paul said gruffly, grabbing Quinn’s arm and giving it a firm shake. “You’re not to blame.”
“Two minutes ago you were going on and on about how you were to blame,” Quinn pointed out. “You were going to run again, which would’ve crushed her. You can’t do that. Not again. She won’t recover twice. She needs you to be strong.”
Paul let loose a sigh, the sound long and drawn out. “Fine. I won’t do that again. No matter what, we’ll see this through to the end. You have to take your own advice, though. You can’t blame yourself for this. It was a fluke.”
“He’s right,” Nick said. “You couldn’t have known that Patrice would be driving past at the exact moment you guys were leaving. That’s just bad luck.”
“It’s going to be her bad luck.” Quinn rubbed the back of his neck as he rolled his shoulders. “I don’t think she pulled the trigger herself. She obviously recognized me, though. She’s the only one who could’ve arranged for someone to move on us that fast.”
“Well, her and Byron,” Nick argued. “You said he was with her. He might not have seen you himself, but she could’ve easily told him. For all we know, Patrice is innocent and Byron is behind all of this.”
Quinn hated to admit it, but the man had a point. “I don’t think Byron would be stupid enough to pull the trigger, though,” he said after a moment’s contemplation. “If he’s the one who decided to go after us, then he had to hire a shooter. I don’t see where he has the funds to pay for something like that.”
Farewell Seas Page 32