by Kylar Wilde
They embraced for half an hour and Quinn basked in her soft warmth. Ali allowed her thigh to touch his and he looked at it, soft and satiny smooth. She raised her face and he looked down. The time had come and she opened the door. Quinn kissed her soft mouth, pressing his lips to hers but with only gentle pressure. She pushed upward, seeking, finding, accepting. They kissed in the quiet of the house and felt free for the first time in years. When the kiss ended, they both drew back, timid, afraid to lose that warmth.
“Time for bed,” Ali said cheerfully, standing up and immediately heading to her room. “Good night, Quinn.”
“Good night, honey,” he responded.
The next morning, as they were eating breakfast, Quinn got a call from the chief back home. He was informed that the crazy ex had almost been caught, but slipped out of his hiding place three hours before they arrived. He also told Quinn that the military had contacted him with regard to Ali. She had a special site she could go to and the chief was given a ten-digit code. He recited it to Ali. She immediately logged in and read a classified military report about the man who had raped her, a man well known to the American forces. It had just been confirmed that he was dead. Apparently, his fellow soldiers had thrown him off a high cliff after they found out he was a rapist.
“How do you feel about that?” Quinn asked after she told him.
“I don’t know. I hate what he did, but I’m tired of hating. I want peace, Quinn, including peace of mind. I’ll let justice speak for herself.”
“Fair enough.”
Quinn drove Ali to Elle’s place and continued on to the police station. They put him in an unused office and he began calling people regarding his theory.
Chapter 9
“I need to speak with you,” Quinn said, hurrying into the chief’s office a few days later.
“Sure,” Chief Barnes replied, sitting behind his desk with a hopeful look. “Got a lead?”
Quinn laid out what he learned, including the fact that all six of the victims had shared a cottage one day at the Happy Grove Youth Camp. The next day they served a search warrant at the home of a bachelor accountant named Bitney Outhouse. He was shocked and outraged when the police told him they had a warrant, but in his house, they found incontrovertible evidence. He admitted to the crimes and was arrested, admitting that as boys, the male victims had relentlessly bullied him at the Hidden Grove Youth Camp one entire day and night. He never forgot and certainly never forgave them.
“Listen, Quinn,” the chief said as Bitney was led away in handcuffs, “we have an officer retiring here in two weeks. Why don’t you come work for us? We’d love to have you. You and your sister like Hidden Grove, don’t you?”
“We do,” he said, pleased to have quickly helped solve the worst case in that jurisdiction’s history. “Can I talk to my sister and get back to you?”
“It’s your job if you want it,” Chief Barnes said, “but after two weeks pass, we’ll have to open it for anyone to apply. It’s peaceful here, a little dull actually, but you’d be a good fit.”
“I think I could handle dull, to tell you the truth. I’ve had enough adventure already to last me a lifetime. I’ll talk to my sister about it, Chief Barnes. If Ali wants to stay, we’ll do it.”
“Good,” Chief Barnes said, clapping him on the shoulder.
When he returned home, Quinn told Ali the news.
“I love it here,” she said. “I’ve never been happier.”
Quinn immediately called the chief and it was agreed that he would start in two weeks. During those two weeks, Quinn and Ali drew closer and closer, hiking every day or gardening and walking together. They met people on numerous occasions and maintained the official storyline of them being brother and sister. This proved a rather difficult task at times as they often wanted to hold hands or kiss, but had to be constantly aware of being seen.
“How would we explain that?” Quinn asked Ali one day with a laugh when she said she was dying to kiss him outside the Hidden Grove Supermarket. He looked at an elderly couple sitting in their car, eating ice cream and watching them. “I think if we kissed now,” he jokingly whispered, “Mildred there would be on the phone right away to the other girls in the Catholic Women’s League.”
She giggled and walked with him, waving to the elderly pair.
“Beautiful day,” the man said, rolling down his window.
“Sure is,” Quinn responded.
His wife leaned across from the passenger side. “Do you and your brother like it here?” she asked Ali.
“We both love it,” Ali said. “You have a wonderful community.”
“My condolences over your loss,” the woman said warmly. “If you ever want to, we have a sewing club in the church basement. You’re welcome to come anytime. It’s important after a tragedy to try to fill your time and take your mind off things.”
“Yes,” Ali agreed. “Thank you.” She lightly touched Quinn’s arm. “My brother keeps me very busy, mind you, picking his clothes off the floor and always having to put the toilet seat down.”
The elderly couple laughed. “Men,” said the woman, “can’t live with them and can’t live without them.”
Quinn and the gentleman rolled their eyes and laughed. The elderly couple again welcomed them to Hidden Grove then drove off. Quinn and Ali continued on, sitting next to the duck pond and watching the birds grooming themselves. It was very quiet and peaceful, a world away from war and even the stresses of the big city.
“Know what I find?” Quinn said.
“What?’ Ali asked, watching the ducks with fascination.
“I think a person could be healed in a place like this. It’s slow-paced, there’s fresh air, clean water, wilderness to explore. I’m tired of the city. I need to re-energize, and I think this is the place to do it.”
“How long do we have to keep up this charade of being brother and sister?”
“The chief said until Matt Culler is captured or killed.”
“Have you spoken to the chief lately?”
“I was talking to him when you went out for that walk this morning.”
“And?”
“They’re grilling informants on the street and it’s a manhunt, but they can’t get a bead on Culler. All they know for sure is that he’s been hidden by gangsters and he has an AK-47 with a thousand rounds of ammunition. The chief told me he was trying to get hold of dynamite, but he backed off. He’s got the assault weapon though and apparently he’s willing to go down as long as he takes the four of us with him.”
“That’s a dangerous man.”
“What could be more dangerous than a man willing to die? You have no leeway with a man like that, no negotiating strength. Those people can only be stopped by a bullet or a prison cell.”
“It’s very unnerving,” Ali said, knitting her brows. “I feel hunted.”
“But how could he possibly ever find out where we are?” Quinn asked. “It’s not like him or any of his gangster friends are going to roll through Hidden Grove. This place is really out of the way, a hole in the wall. Unless you were specifically looking for it, you’d drive right past.” He laughed. “Remember when we first came? There wasn’t even a sign indicating where to turn.”
“That’s true,” she admitted.
“Feel better now?”
“A little,” Ali offered, “but I’ll feel a lot better when this whole ordeal is over. What do you think will happen if they do catch him?”
“He’s already made it perfectly clear that he wants to commit mass murder and he’s acquired the weapon to do it. I think he’ll be going down shooting or he’ll be put away for a long, long time. He’s already beaten you up and shot you, Ali. That alone would buy him an extended sentence, but with this added to it, they may even declare him a dangerous offender and he’ll never see the light of day again.”
“Hopefully,” she said, “but I find sometimes that sentences can be ridiculously short. If he does get out, he’ll be stalking me aga
in. You don’t know him like I do, Quinn. No one holds a grudge like Matt. I heard him talking about killing people just because they said some little thing that pissed him off years ago. I mean he doesn’t forget things, and as far as he’s concerned, I’m public enemy number one.”
“Let’s not dwell on it, Ali. We have to live our lives. I don’t want to be in a prison Matt Culler created for us.”
“Agreed.”
They walked behind the house that afternoon, strolling through the old ballfield and into the little strip of woods at the back of it. Once they were hidden from prying eyes, they stopped by a tree and started kissing. It was soft kissing, never raging out of control, but it was warm and intimate. Whenever she held Quinn and kissed him, it was as if she was a million miles from her troubled past. She liked nothing better than to be in his arms, holding him, feeling what it meant to be loved. He was a kind man, a gentle man, and she appreciated that, but he was also a man with red blood in his veins. She knew he wanted her and she knew she had to make a decision. Lying with him, offering herself to his passions, would be frightening in a way, but also liberating. A new beginning.
That night Ali crawled into Quinn’s bed and kissed him. They kissed, first lightly, then more urgently. She slipped her tongue into his mouth and pressed her body against his. He pulled her against him and his hands were deep in the softness of her hair.
“Make love with me,” she whispered.
“Are you sure, Ali? Are you ready?”
“Make love with me,” she repeated.
They made love softly and gently, deeply and powerfully. When they joined as one, she looked into his eyes and knew that she had finally found the man she had been searching for her entire life. “You make me complete, Quinn. I feel whole for the first time in years.”
“I can’t imagine living without you now,” he said, embracing her as if he never wanted to let go.
Ali feared that having sex with Quinn might have damaged their relationship, as though he might not respect her as much, but that was not the case. He kissed her in the morning with a look of joy she had not seen in his face before. There was no disrespect, no disappointment, there was only love and satisfaction in his eyes. She had given herself to him and he had found what he was looking for in her arms. But that morning they got a disturbing call. The chief back at his old department was clearly upset.
“We have a big problem,” he began. “We had an informant in the station this morning and we were asking him about Matt Culler again. We’re trying as hard as we can to track this little rat down, Quinn, but people are afraid to talk. I interrogated the informant but I couldn’t get anywhere with him. I told Officer Moore to have a talk with him and they went to Moore’s office, but nothing came of it.”
“That is a problem,” Quinn agreed.
“That’s not the half of it,” the chief said. “After the guy left, I went into Moore’s office and we compared notes. He said he was thinking about selling you the house he’s letting you borrow, if you’re interested.”
“I am,” Quinn said quickly.
“Here’s the problem. I noticed on his desk that he had printed out an email. When I looked at it, I noticed it said Hidden Grove and Quinn Hawkins in the same sentence. Apparently, it was an email from a real estate agent in Hidden Grove that Moore had hired to sell the place.”
“Do you think the guy saw it?” Quinn asked with great concern.
“I don’t know,” the chief told him in an elevated tone, “because there were dozens of pieces of paper on the desk, but Moore did leave the guy alone for a minute when he left to get them coffee.”
“So there is a chance he saw it?”
“A chance,” the chief admitted.
“Thanks, Chief.”
Chapter 10
The next few days, Quinn and Ali were on pins and needles. Finally, though, they concluded that the man must not have seen information on their hiding place and Matt Culler was no greater a threat now than before. They were still aware of the danger, heightened as it was by the chief’s revelation, but they were determined to live their lives without being crippled by fear. Quinn was especially vigilant and assured Ali that Culler would slip up and be either captured or killed, maybe even by the gangsters helping him because he was becoming too much of a liability. Quinn did carry a handgun at all times, however, and kept a hunting rifle handy in the kitchen.
The very next morning, they got a call. “Get out of there right now!” his chief from the other department frantically ordered.
“What?” Quinn asked in surprise, looking to Ali who was intently watching him.
“An informant just told us Matt Culler has found out where you are. Apparently, he’s been driving there for days. He could be there right now, Quinn. Get the hell out of there and take Ali. We’ve notified police all along the way and they’re on the lookout, but he’s heavily armed and crazy dangerous.”
Just then they heard a car pull into the driveway and Ali ran to the window. “It’s Derek and Elle,” she said frantically. “What should I tell them?”
“We’re heading into the woods,” Quinn told his old chief, “and I’m taking Ali, Derek, and Elle with me.”
“Go!” he shouted.
Quinn grabbed the hunting rifle, along with a box of ammunition and the four of them hightailed out of the house toward Quinn’s car. Just then, they heard someone shout. To their horror they saw Matt Culler standing by a car at the back of their driveway and shouldering an AK-47. There was no time for all to get into the car, start it and drive off. Matt would have rained bullets upon them.
“Head for the old ballfield,” Quinn whispered. They were able to cover the last twenty yards in seconds and jumped over a little bank. Just as they disappeared over the lip, they could hear gunfire. Bullets struck trees and knocked down branches, peppering the ground all around them.
“Damn!” Quinn said, staying low with the other three as the bullets kept striking. “He’s got the AK-47. Keep your heads down.”
The firing stopped but they could hear him screaming like a madman, calling Ali every name in the book and swearing he was going to kill her. “Die, you backstabbing bitch!” he shouted, running after them.
They could hear sirens coming and Quinn knew it was the same police officers he had been working with these last few days. But by the time the police got there, though, Matt Culler could be upon them. Quinn knew he might need to use his rifle, but he was a decorated marksman and if push came to shove, no way was he letting Matt take away the woman he had searched for his entire life.
Unfortunately, the way the woods were laid out in this area meant they were forced to stay on a forested track flanked by two wide open hillsides. If they went left or right, they would be exposed and easy prey. Sitting ducks of the first order. That forced them to go straight up the hill Quinn and Ali had explored when they first got there. There was no doubt in any of their minds that Culler would be hot on their trail. And they were definitely outgunned. Quinn might be able to hide behind a tree and get off a single round on a moving target. However if he missed, that would give away his position and they’d be overwhelmed by the automatic weapon. No, they had to keep running, hoping somehow to put some distance between the hunter and the hunted.
“I need a rest,” Elle said when they reached the top of the hill. “My lungs are burning.”
“Quinn, safe to stop a while?” Derek asked, looking concerned for Elle.
They stopped and Quinn took up a prone position, aiming at their back trail. To his great dismay, Culler appeared but, realizing his vulnerable position, ducked behind a huge tree. Quinn waited for the shot, one good, open shot, but Culler anticipated it and moved to the left, staying low, approaching them through a ravine. At one point, Quinn spotted his hat no more than forty yards away, and closing. If he burst out of that ravine and started shooting, he would almost certainly cause mass casualties without even needing to precisely aim. Quinn knew they had to get off the top
of that hill.
“We have to go,” he urged quietly but insistently. “There’s not enough cover here.”
Just as the three of them began running down the back side of the hill, Quinn looked back and saw Matt Culler for the first time. He was a tall, lanky man wearing full camouflage. He had a sharp nose, crazy eyes, and a pointed face. Never, even in war, had Quinn seen anyone with such an intense expression. Quinn shouldered his hunting rifle, chambered a round and took what he thought might be his one opportunity. The shot rang out but Culler moved literally at the last split second, not even realizing he was in the crosshairs. The bullet struck a tree right behind him, directly in line with where his head had been. Though Quinn had missed, however, the shot scared Culler sufficiently enough for him to hunker down, at least for the moment. Quinn began running, trying to catch up with the other three. Again, the lay of the land was not good to them. They were stuck in a hollow that was sparsely treed, wide open hillsides left and right. They could not go in those directions and they obviously could not go back, but in front of them was an open area that ran for fifty yards before giving way to thick forest. If they could get that far, they might well be able to elude him.
“What should we do?” Elle asked with terror in her eyes.
“We’ll have to chance it,” Quinn said, “because if he gets to the top of that hill and looks into this hollow, we’re fish in a barrel for an AK. No, we have to go. Run like hell.”
“I’m scared,” Elle said.
“We all are,” Ali told her, “but you heard Quinn. We have to go.”
Derek nodded with a flushed look, his breathing short and fast. “Maybe he thinks you’re still up there on the hill, Quinn. He might be pinned down.” He surveyed the fifty-yard run. “I agree. We have to go for it, but run in a zigzag pattern just in case he comes up on us.”
