“Guys!” Elizabeth needed food. “I haven’t eaten since yesterday morning, and I need some coffee—on the double.”
That got their attention.
“Time to move. Shields needs her coffee, man.” Dylan headed down the hallway, the other two following. “Good thing I brought some Puerto Rican beans and salsa. Huevos, anyone?”
Quinn smiled down at her. “They almost lost you, too.”
* * *
“And you just left Lewis with that Grant dude?” Cruz stared at Quinn. “Brother, that is stone cold. I like it.”
Malik poured himself another cup of coffee. “You did what you had to do to get Shields back in one piece. That took balls.”
Thor sat there, staring at Quinn. “I can’t believe you’re in a jail cell right now.”
Quinn chuckled. “It’s a surprise to me, too.”
He told them what Smith had said last night and how his name and Elizabeth’s had been left out of the report completely.
“I’m just as amazed that we haven’t been fired—yet.” Elizabeth seemed more herself now. She had devoured her huevos rancheros and was on her third cup of coffee. “I don’t suppose the three of you could forget to mention the fact that Quinn and I are sleeping together.”
The three idiots sitting across from Quinn grinned.
Cruz chuckled. “Will everyone who’s surprised to find out that McManus and Shields are lovers please raise their hands?”
No hands went up.
“We’ve known that you two were hot for each other for years.” Jones rolled his eyes. “We’re just glad you finally figured it out.”
“I guess they haven’t checked their work email,” Isaksen said.
“What?” Quinn looked from one man to the next, but none of them spoke. “Come on, ya bastards. What are you goin’ on about?”
“Are we fired?” Elizabeth asked.
The three men burst out laughing, keeping Quinn and Elizabeth in suspense until Quinn wanted to punch them all in the face. “Okay, you’ve had your fun. Out wi’ it.”
It was Cruz who finally told them. “They’ve removed the ‘no hookups’ policy.”
“What?” Elizabeth stared at Cruz in wide-eyed amazement, then smiled, her fingers tightening around Quinn’s. “Oh, my God!”
Relief washed through Quinn.
Thank you, Corbray and Tower.
Malik grinned. “It’s hard to enforce a rule that your boss breaks.”
Then it was time for Elizabeth to get ready for her debriefing with Smith.
They showered together then dressed and rode the lift to the ground floor where Smith met them and took them upstairs to his office.
He sat across from them. “I’m so glad to see you alive and well, Ms. Shields.”
“Thank you—and thanks for your help.”
Elizabeth gave him the story again, this time from her perspective, explaining how they’d put the pieces together.
Quinn couldn’t have done this without her.
“If you’re looking for teens who were victims of this, I’d talk with Nicola MacDonald—Clive MacDonald’s daughter. I’m pretty sure Whitehall either paid her or bullied her into having an abortion. That’s why her father went to Holyrood and threatened Whitehall’s life.”
“Interesting.” Smith looked up from his notes. “When they raided Whitehall’s office this morning, they found drugs and child pornography. They’ve charged him for that, as well as for ordering Lewis to kill Jack Murray. I imagine they’ll file more charges when they get a good overview of what was happening at that house.”
“There was a video on Jack’s phone, right?” Elizabeth asked.
Smith opened his laptop. “Videos, images, recorded conversations, license plate numbers, notes. Whitehall won’t be the only man in prison when this investigation is over. Jack gathered evidence the entire time he worked there—until Lewis found out.”
Smith turned his computer to face them, pulled up a video, clicked play.
From an upstairs window, Jack filmed four men loading a girl’s body into the boot of a car. The camera moved in, got the license plate number, then the men’s faces, and the girl’s, her vacant eyes staring at nothing.
“Katie Cameron,” Elizabeth said.
“Yes. A damned tragedy.”
“Lewis.” It turned Quinn’s stomach to see what the bastard had become. “He’s the one tellin’ them what to do.”
Then Lewis looked up at the window, seemed to notice Jack.
The hair on Quinn’s nape rose. “That’s why they killed him. Lewis caught him and wanted to silence him.”
That was the end of the video.
“Lewis wanted to silence him—and get that phone,” Elizabeth said. “But why would Jack meet Lewis in the middle of the night when he knew Lewis had seen him?”
Now that Quinn knew what had happened, he understood. “Jack thought of Lewis as a friend. He couldnae imagine that Lewis would kill him in cold blood.”
Smith closed his laptop. “Jack Murray died a hero.”
* * *
That afternoon, they picked up a squirming Labrador retriever puppy and drove with her and a car full of puppy things to Paisley to see Ava and Hannah.
“It looks like you’ve brought trouble,” Hannah said, eyeing the puppy.
“Who’s this?” Ava took the puppy into her arms. “Aren’t you sweet?”
Quinn explained. “Jack bought her from a breeder as a surprise for you and the girls. He was killed afore she was weaned. We found out about this from his phone records and went to get her for you.”
Hannah covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, God.”
Ava gaped at Quinn, her eyes filling with tears. “She’s from Jack?”
“Aye, she is.”
“A last gift. Thank you, Jack.” Ava held the puppy close, tears spilling down her cheeks, its tail wagging. Her voice quavered as she called her daughters. “Olivia, Isla, come and see what Daddy got you. It’s a puppy.”
The girls were delighted. The puppy was happy, too, the three of them instantly the best of friends, the girls squealing as the puppy slathered them with kisses.
“Thank you.” Ava wiped the tears from her face. “I would never have known.”
Hannah made them tea, and they sat together in the kitchen, Quinn and Elizabeth telling them a sanitized version of the story, leaving out some of the violence but sharing with them every good and brave thing Jack had done.
“I didn’t hear that on the news,” Hannah said about Elizabeth being abducted and Quinn rescuing her.
“It’s a secret,” Elizabeth explained. “Quinn might go to prison if they knew he was there.”
Both women’s eyes went wide.
“We certainly won’t tell anyone,” Hannah said. “No’ a word.”
“Do you remember the day I said that Jack had died for nothing?” Ava asked Quinn. “You told me he’d never done anything without a reason and that we would find out in the end that he’d tried to help someone. You were right. Even when I doubted, you still believed in him. My husband died trying to protect teenage girls from those monsters. It breaks my heart, but I can make peace with that.”
Elizabeth took Ava’s hand. “Your daughters will grow up hearing how their father was a hero.”
Then Hannah spoke. “You saved my brother’s reputation. Our family will never be able to repay you—either of you.”
“Jack…” Quinn’s voice cracked, his throat tight. “He was my best friend. He saved me. He showed me the way. I finally had the chance to return the favor.”
Hannah blew her nose, stood. “I hope you’ll be stayin’ for supper. We plan to head into the city to watch the Christmas lights switch-on at George Square. We’re trying to keep things normal for the children. They’re too young to understand, and it is Christmastime. There will be fireworks and music. We’d love for you to join us.”
Quinn looked at Elizabeth, who nodded. “Aye, thank you for invitin’ us.”
*
* *
The next few days felt chaotic to Elizabeth. The Cobra team went back to Denver, while Quinn and Elizabeth moved out of the Fortress and into a hotel closer to Ava. Because Lewis was dead and Whitehall wasn’t being charged with the crime of committing Jack’s murder, the Procurator Fiscal released Jack’s body, enabling Ava, at last, to hold his funeral.
Quinn helped complete the funeral arrangements. He also installed a new alarm system on Jack and Ava’s house so that Ava could feel safer.
“Life will never be the same for them.” Quinn held Elizabeth close, watching Jack’s girls play with the puppy.
It broke Elizabeth’s heart that Jack never got to see how happy his gift had made his wife and children. “No, it won’t be the same. But you’ve made it better.”
* * *
Jack William Murray was laid to rest on a sunny Saturday morning with full military honors. Elizabeth sat behind Ava and Hannah, who were surrounded by friends and family, the two little girls, who clearly didn’t understand what was happening, sitting beside their mother.
But Elizabeth’s attention was on Quinn.
Ava had asked him to say a few words at the church service, and he was nervous. He wasn’t used to the limelight, and this was so close to his heart.
He was grieving, too.
Elizabeth had helped him put his thoughts into words, helped him practice. “You’ll do fine. I’ll be right there.”
He looked so handsome in his dress uniform, standing at attention near Jack’s casket, which was draped with a Union Jack, Jack’s beret resting on top of it.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” said the rector. “Those are the words of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who, like Jack, was betrayed by a friend. How much greater the love in a man’s heart when he gives his life for strangers. Jack didn’t know the girls who were being abused in that house. He didn’t know their families. But he did know right from wrong—and for that, he was killed.”
Elizabeth dabbed her eyes with a tissue, saw tears running down Quinn’s face.
The rector finished his homily and stepped aside.
Another man in uniform came to take Quinn’s place in the honor guard, the two of them trading crisp salutes before Quinn went up to the lectern.
He wiped his tears away with a handkerchief, which disappeared into his pocket, then cleared his throat, notecards in his hand. “Jack Murray was the finest man I’ve ever known. As a veteran of the SAS, I’ve known a lot of good men.
“He and I met in recruit trainin’ and served in the army together afore we signed up for the SAS selection process. Both of us were Glaswegians who’d grown up on the breadline, livin’ in social housin’. I asked him why he’d joined the army, and he told me he wanted to serve his country and make somethin’ of himself. I thought he was a right numpty, so I did. I had joined because I had no home, no food, no shelter, and wanted to get out of the rain.”
Quiet laughter.
Quinn smiled, a heartbreaking smile. “No matter how rude I was to him, Jack was kind to me. It wisnae long afore I saw that he’d meant what he’d said. He wanted to serve his country.”
More laughter.
“If I told you everything I learned from Jack about being a good and decent human being, we’d be here until midnight. So, I’ll just say this: He and I joked that if we’d no’ joined up and met in the army, we’d have met in prison. But the truth is he’d no’ have landed in prison. I would have.”
Tears spilled down Elizabeth’s face.
Then Quinn looked directly at Ava. “Ava, Jack loved you wi’ all of his heart and soul. I’ve never seen any man happier than Jack was on your weddin’ day. He loved Olivia and Isla, too. He’d have gone to hell and back for you. I make a pledge now. Those of us who served wi’ him will stand by you and help you through this. We’ll be there for your girls as they’re growin’, helpin’ to keep Jack’s memory alive.
“Jack, my friend, my brother, I never got to thank you for all you did for me, but I have to believe that wherever you are now, you’re lookin’ down on this—and wonderin’ why the hell we’re all cryin’.” Quinn’s voice cracked. “Rest in the peace of heroes.”
Quinn was Elizabeth’s hero. Wiping her tears away, she couldn’t have loved him more.
* * *
Quinn stood at Jack’s graveside. “I still cannae believe he’s dead.”
Ava and the others had gone, leaving Quinn, Elizabeth, and a few other stragglers.
“You did a great job today.” Elizabeth tucked her arm through his. “You made everyone laugh and cry. Jack would have been proud. I know I am.”
“The three-volley salute scared the wee ones.”
“Yes, I think it did.” Then Elizabeth stiffened. “Wilson.”
Wilson walked up to them. “I wanted to apologize on behalf of the station for what Patel did and for no’ seein’ through her. I’m grateful for your help. I’m no’ sure we’d have gotten to the bottom of this wi’out you.”
He held out a hand to Quinn and then Elizabeth.
They both shook his hand, and thanked him, and then watched him walk away.
Elizabeth motioned with her head. “Leo Grant is here.”
“What?” Quinn followed the direction of Elizabeth’s gaze and saw him.
Grant stood at a distance in the shade of a tree, wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a trench coat. After Wilson got in his car, Grant walked toward them, glancing around as if to see whether he was being watched. When he drew near, he pulled off the sunglasses, and Quinn could see that his eyes were red from crying.
“That was a good eulogy. You captured Jack’s spirit, so you did. He was a good man—better than this fuckin’ world deserves.”
“I’m no’ good at public speakin’, but I had some help.”
Grant smiled at Elizabeth. “You two make a formidable duo. You should go into the superhero business. I can play the villain.”
He chuckled at his own joke.
Elizabeth took his hand. “Thanks for helping to save my life.”
He raised her hand to his lips. “My pleasure.”
“Did it make it better—killin’ Lewis?” Quinn had wondered.
Would his grief be lessened if he’d killed the bastard himself?
“It was satisfyin’ for a moment, but nothin’ can bring Jack back.” Grant glanced around and slipped on the sunglasses again. “Things have gotten too hot for me here, thanks to the two of you. Och, dinnae worry yourselves. We’re no’ comin’ after you. You didnae mean to expose me. You wanted what I wanted—justice for Jack. But I’m leavin’ Scotland for a time. You two watch your backs, aye?”
“You too, Grant.”
They watched him touch the coffin and walk away.
Then Quinn, too, walked to the grave and touched Jack’s coffin as the workers began to lower it into the ground.
“Goodbye, friend.”
“Quinn, look!” Elizabeth pointed to the sky.
Quinn glanced up to see a sea eagle soaring over the cemetery, its white tail leaving no doubt as to what kind of bird it was. The workers, too, stopped and stared.
Quinn watched it soar. “They never come here.”
“This one did. Maybe Jack’s saying goodbye.”
Quinn’s heart lifted at that absurd suggestion, a suggestion he was willing with all his soul to believe. “Fly free, my friend.”
They turned and walked back to the car.
Quinn took her hand. “I couldnae have done this wi’out you—not just findin’ Jack’s killer, but gettin’ through today, speakin’ in front of all those people.”
“You would have been fine, but I was happy to help.” Elizabeth smiled. “And so, our first vacation together comes to an end. Maybe Tahiti next time? Bali?”
“If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do.”
They were scheduled for a mission to Ukraine next and were meeting the Cobra team in Frankfurt tomorrow. But Corb
ray and Tower had assured them they’d be home in time for Christmas.
Elizabeth looked up at him, her sweet face shining. “I’ve got the feeling that life with you is going to be one big adventure.”
Quinn smiled, his heart light for the first time in weeks. “Always.”
Epilogue
Six months later
Quinn walked with Elizabeth toward the restaurant, the Inverness sunshine not quite warm enough to melt away his nerves, butterflies fluttering in his stomach.
“Would you relax? Everything’s going to be fine.”
“I hope so.” Quinn had never expected this day to come.
He was about to be reunited with the sister he hadn’t seen in twenty-two years.
The whole thing had been Elizabeth’s idea. She had located Paige and then asked whether Quinn wanted to contact her. At first, he’d been reluctant. Then Elizabeth had reminded him that it hadn’t been Paige’s decision to walk out and leave him.
With his approval, Elizabeth had gotten in touch with Paige, and she and Quinn had begun writing emails back and forth, catching up on two decades of life.
Paige was twenty-seven now and newly married. She and her husband raised sheep on a croft outside Inverness. He’d been as surprised by that as Paige had been to learn that her brother was an SAS veteran who lived in America and worked in private security. She’d had lots of questions for him, and he’d told her about Jack.
“I saw that on the news,” she’d written. “I’m so sorry your friend was killed, but it’s really cool that you helped solve his murder.”
He’d told her about Elizabeth and how the two of them were getting married in July, and Elizabeth had sent them an invitation.
She’d told him she and David couldn’t afford the trip. The farm, it seemed, survived at least partly on EU subsidies, and those were uncertain now.
“Tell her we’ll buy their tickets, and she and her husband can be the wedding gift we buy for ourselves,” Elizabeth had said.
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