Quinn (The Waite Family) (14 page)

He pulled out his phone for the hundredth time and looked at the number there. He’d had her number there for the five weeks he’d been gone, ready to dial, and he’d yet to do it. He put it back in his pocket.

Grandda had been no help at all when it came to getting information about Quinn. He seemed to think she was working too hard, which was more than likely true.
And that she was seeing someone.
Drew wasn’t all that happy about that, but with being out of the country for all this time, there wasn’t a whole lot he could do about it. But he was back now and he did plan to say plenty to Miss Quinn Waite.

His flight was called and he had only just sat down when his cell went off. He smiled when he saw who it was.
He and Alyssa had planned this for an entire week and she was probably getting antsy because he was late.

“You were supposed to land here over an hour ago. You know I hate this waiting crap.
Where are you now anyway?”

“I’m sitting on the plane now.
We should be there in an hour. Why do they route you to Chicago then back to Columbus for anyway? Wouldn’t it be quicker to just go directly to Ohio?”
He grinned when she growled at him.
“Alyssa, are you frustrated with me?”

“You know damn good and well I am.
I want to be with Cain. He’s with Todd Whip tonight and I want that to go well for him and that kid.” She took a deep breath and he heard her let it out slowly, blowing off steam he was sure.
“Do you know that she told Cain when she made the appointment at the clinic that she was coming in for a checkup?
What
on
earth could she be up to?”

Drew had heard about the woman from Alyssa all week. When Todd had suggested that this woman see a doctor to make sure she was all right, she’d made the appointment the next day.
Cain and Cait were going to get her to confess. Drew didn’t like this, but he knew that with Cait in charge of the thing Cain would be well protected.
He would, however, love to see Cait dressed up as a nurse. That was one beautiful woman.

“She wants her hubby dead and she thinks that Todd is just stupid enough to do it for her.” He looked over at the man who was sitting next to him and whispered, ‘television show’ before he continued with Alyssa.
“I have to get off here now. The cell phone sign is flashing. I’ll be there soon.”

“You’d better be. I’m sick of sitting here waiting. And this new bodyguard smells like dirty shoes.”

Drew was laughing when he turned his phone to plane mode. By the time he landed, he’d had four messages from her. Alyssa had wanted to keep him updated and she had.
The first message said that Todd had brought the woman to the clinic and was waiting in the lobby for her.
Things were going well and that Cait had opted for a pants suit, not a dress.
Drew was disappointed, but smiled. Her second message said that the woman wasn’t pregnant and had had her tubes tied so there was a very slim chance that she could ever be.
Cain had had to leave the room to regain control of his temper at that and Alyssa was sure that he wanted to strangle the woman.
The third message said that Todd had played his part well when he’d come into the office and that he’d acted the part of the stupid boyfriend perfectly.
He had asked her why she’d lied and she had told him she didn’t know what he was talking about.
The fourth message had been a little scary, but Cait had handled it well. The husband of the woman had shown up and he was waving a gun around.

“I guess she’d done this sort of thing before and Todd was just the icing on the cake for him.
He told her that he was leaving her and when Cait explained that Todd had come to them because his wife had wanted him to kill her husband, he’d fired at his wife.
Cain said it wasn’t that bad, but he’s going to jail and is pressing charges against his wife. What a mess.”

Drew agreed.
When she came toward him all smiling, he had to laugh. There was a bodyguard on both sides of her and one he could see about three feet behind.

“Are you running for president now?
What’s with the bookends?” She growled at him again.
“Ah baby, you know that he loves you.”

“Yes, he does, but doesn’t mean I’m not going to shoot him.” She started to take his case and the man standing to her left took it from her.
“You know, I’m quite capable of lifting…never mind. Let’s get you home, Drew.”

As soon as they were in the limo Alyssa told him about Quinn. Or she hinted about her.
Apparently, she’d never mentioned that he and she had slept together, nor had she mentioned that he’d raped her. He was still mad about that, but that was between Quinn and him.

“She hired me someone to work the office. Clarence Keller. I like him even if he is a bit stiff.
I mean, he does laugh, but he isn’t Quinn. She’s been putting together some killer ideas that are going to make my job easier.”

He didn’t really care about that, but he asked anyway.
“Like what? Dogs in the lobby, or do we now have an x-ray machine and body cavity search going on?”

When Alyssa frowned at him he felt bad.
He hadn’t meant to sound so snarky, but he knew that he had.
He took her hand into his. “I’m sorry. Jet lag, I guess. Tell me what she’s been up to. I promise that—”

The limo began to spin around and he was thrown against her. He had just enough time to look out the window and see the truck coming at them from the left. He covered Alyssa with his body just before impact and heard and felt it like he’d been right in front of it.
When the car started to roll, Drew grabbed her and held on.
Ass
overhead
, they went tumbling over and over until they came to an abrupt halt on their sides.

He looked down at Alyssa when he was sure they weren’t going to roll over and saw the blood on her head. She was looking up at him, but didn’t speak.
He was scared for her.

“Are you all right?” She nodded.
“I’m going to see if I can get up and out, stay here.
Call the police.”

Drew moved and that’s when he heard the voices from outside the vehicle. Someone was shouting at them.
Drew put his finger to his mouth to have Alyssa be quiet and started for the door above him.
He could see that the driver wasn’t moving and hoped that he wasn’t dead, but felt the way he was laying there left very little doubt that he was.

“I said come out if you ain’t dead.
All I want is the girl, whoever else is in there can just stay where you are.”
Drew looked down at Alyssa when she snorted.

“Like I’m really going to do that,” she whispered to Drew. He had to smile; even with a couple of tons of metal wrapped around them, she still had a smart mouth.

Drew thought about their options and decided that they were in the city and that even through the broken glass he could see people starting to come closer to the accident.

“We’ve called the police and they’re on their way.
I don’t know what you think you might gain from this, but the driver is dead and you are now a murderer.
I would suggest that you—”

A spray of bullets hit the limo.
Drew could hear them pinging off the metal and he watched as the people he’d seen earlier run for cover.
Thankfully, it sounded like the shooter had fired at the undercarriage of the limo or he might have hit one or both of them.
Then the silence was broken off by the sound of sirens.

“Christ!” Alyssa said, and he looked down.
“You’ve been hit.”

Drew looked at his arm where she had pointed and saw the blood. There was no pain, but he did watch the bright red liquid stain his shirt. His last thought before he passed out was his grandda was getting a hell of a birthday surprise.

~~~

Quinn rushed inside the hospital. She and Jazzie had flown across town and she couldn’t remember a single thing about the trip. All Cain had said was that Alyssa had been in an accident and that someone had shot at her.
A nurse had met them at the desk.

“She’s fine. Come on back and I’ll show you.
Doctor Waite is with her now and she’s fussing up a storm back there.
That man that was with her is in surgery and she is fit to be tied that she can’t see him.”
Quinn barely registered what she was saying.
“Come on now.
Hold up there, girl.”

Quinn felt dizzy all of a sudden.
She reached for the wall and it shifted away and she fell toward it.
Before she could try again she was sitting in a wheelchair and her head was between her knees.
She could see feet and knew that it was Cain for some reason.

“Take deep breaths. What did you say to her?” Cain snapped at someone.
“Come on, Quinny, you can do it, take deep breaths.”

“Let me up, you ass, I’m fine.
Cain! Let me up.” When he continued to hold her down she kicked out at his shin and he finally let go.

“What happened to you? Did you skip lunch again? Damn it, Quinny, I swear you need a keeper.”
He moved over to where the nurse was standing and said something low to her and then came back. “I’m running some tests on you and before you object, might I remind you that I hold all the cards right now and that without my okay on your insurance, you are out of work?”

She glared at him. “I hate you right now. And I’m fine. I don’t know why you think you have to be the one in charge all the time.”

“Because I’m older and hold a medical degree.
You’ll just give her a little blood and I’ll feel better about it.”

“Three minutes older, you moronic jackass.” She glared harder when he laughed. “Where’s Alyssa? I would rather talk to her anyway.”

“She’s back here. She’s fine, I promise. And if it makes you feel any better, I’ve made them take blood from her too.
Drew is still in surgery.”

This time, she did hit the floor.

When she woke up she was on a hospital bed and Alyssa and Jazzie were sitting in the room with her. She didn’t see Cain, but she could hear him just beyond talking to someone else.
Quinn was looking over at her sleeping sister when Alyssa spoke softly.

“You have a bump on your head, but nothing serious.
Drew is out of surgery and is going to be fine. They removed the bullet and he’s pissed they won’t let him up yet.” Quinn closed her eyes as Alyssa continued.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”

Quinn looked at her.
“Tell you?
I don’t know what you mean.” She started to sit up, but another wave of dizziness swamped her and she had to rest.
She was just starting to slide off the bed when Cain was suddenly there.

“I don’t think so. Get your ass back in that bed right now. You have some explaining to do and I’m not letting you out of here until you do.
Who is it? Who is the bastard so I can kill him?”

Quinn looked over at Alyssa and the now awake Jazzie.
Jazzie colored a bright red and then slipped out of the room.
She looked up at Cain. He was furious.
She didn’t know what was going on, but whatever it was, he was pissed about it. It wasn’t until Alyssa spoke again that he stopped glaring at her.

“I don’t think she knows, Cain.”
If Alyssa thought that would help, she was wrong. Cain grabbed her by the arms and shook her. Quinn’s teeth rattled.

“You don’t know who the father of your baby is?” He shook her again.
“What the hell have you been up to that you don’t have a clue who fathered your child?”