Running Target

by Elizabeth Goddard

  Quinn tugged his weapon out, expecting a gunfight, and aimed it at Declan.

  He yanked Bree over next to him. He pressed his weapon against her head and laughed. “I’m disappointed in you, Strand. You’re not the agent I thought you were. Now toss the evidence along with your gun or I’m going to shoot her in the head. Oh, and I’ll be shooting her with your weapon. Wait. No, this is Bree’s weapon. You shot a deputy with her gun. See how easy it is to make it look like this is all on you?”

  Unfortunately, he did. What had happened to Julia? How had Declan found Bree? He tossed the gun over.

  “Now I want the cell phone you used to call me. I know you took it off Shepherd. I also know that’s the evidence you hoped to use against me.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I know all about what you’ve been up to. You thought you were so smart hiding in the mountains near Coldwater Bay, but I had someone follow you. Didn’t want you turning things around on me. Then when you ended up in jail, I knew it was time for Shepherd to end things before you convinced Michael I had stolen the money. Now that will never happen. Give me the phone.”

  Declan jabbed his weapon against her temple and Bree winced, but she didn’t cry out. Quinn couldn’t let her presence shift his focus or she would die today.

  “I know all about your plan,” Declan continued with a sneer.

  Wait. Julia? Had she given him up? If Julia had given him up, then Stan wasn’t anywhere close to listen to their conversation. At the moment, Quinn couldn’t care about exonerating himself—he was more concerned with the idea that there was no backup, no one coming to help them. Bree was once again in a life-threatening situation because of him.

  He could never catch a break.

  Though he wouldn’t believe Julia would do that, what did it matter now if he couldn’t save Bree?

  “I’m not tossing the phone until I have Bree next to me.”

  Declan fired his weapon into the ground, then aimed it at her gut. “I can keep shooting so you can watch her suffer. The next one goes into her abdomen so she can bleed out and die in front of you. Then I’ll shoot you and take what I want from your body.”

  Quinn believed him. He tossed the cell over.

  NINETEEN

  Declan’s tight grip would leave a bruise, but that was the least of her worries. He forced her into the boat. She stumbled forward. She had to do something to escape, but what? When she peered around at him, he pointed the weapon at her. “Don’t think I won’t shoot you if you make trouble for me. I’ll make you suffer before you die. Understand?”

  “Yes.” But she would find a way to turn this around, one way or another.

  “Move or I’ll start shooting.”

  “I got it.”

  He turned his back to her and started the boat. Steered it upriver. She knew he would be meeting up with someone who would take him out of Coldwater Bay. She’d heard him on his cell. Declan would escape, leaving no evidence that he’d ever been there at all. Everything he’d done would be pinned on his chosen target as he once again claimed Quinn was the bad guy.

  The villain. The person who had murdered Bree. She had no doubt that’s what Declan intended for her, but for now he used her for leverage.

  That, however, had not been part of Julia’s negotiation with him. Oh, Julia wanted Bree dead, all right—but Julia needed Quinn to be exonerated so they could be together. Declan must have agreed to clear Quinn’s name, but he’d gone back on his word. Julia had believed she could outsmart Declan, but couldn’t she see that guy was never going to go through with his agreement? Bree had tried to tell her. To plead with her. To warn her.

  When Declan had come to the cabin to take Bree, he’d then shot Julia.

  Bree could crumble under the weight of it all, but she had to be strong. Once again for Stevie.

  For Dad.

  And this time...for Quinn. He needed her to survive. He needed her help.

  She was the only person who had heard the confession and could be the witness to Declan’s admission of his crimes.

  Oh, Lord, please help us.

  All she knew was that she had to get the upper hand before Declan got to his destination. If she jumped from the boat, he would just steer it around and shoot her in the water. Too risky. She’d been in that position before and had barely survived.

  She had to bide her time for the right moment.

  Her hair whipped around her face and eyes as the boat continued to speed. Behind her, she spotted another boat gaining on them.

  Quinn!

  She hoped Declan hadn’t spotted him yet. He’d shot at Quinn, who’d taken a dive out of the line of fire and hidden in the warehouse. Bree feared Declan would keep shooting until he knew Quinn was dead, but Quinn had fired back with a weapon he’d hidden away. Declan had apparently decided that a shoot-out would take too long. He had other plans and didn’t have time to waste. He’d used Bree as a human shield as he rushed her to the waiting boat.

  She didn’t know where he had gotten a boat, but that was definitely Quinn behind them, even though Declan had threatened to kill her if Quinn followed. Others were on the river fishing, so maybe Quinn thought he would just blend in and Declan wouldn’t notice.

  But Bree wasn’t going to wait for him to save the day. She knew how to protect herself and get out of this. She’d find her moment soon, and then she’d reunite with Quinn. Had he figured out Julia’s double cross? Bree hadn’t expected the role Julia would play. By her own admission, Julia hadn’t planned on it or even known how to get rid of Bree, then the opportunity had presented itself. Or so Julia thought.

  That plan had backfired on her big-time. Bree hoped that Julia had survived the bullet. She had her own cell and could call 911. Bree couldn’t help her now.

  Bree shifted her focus to saving herself and Quinn. She watched the man at the helm.

  At this point, Declan likely believed she was someone he could intimidate and scare, and he paid no attention to her in the back. Had he forgotten her? She crept forward. Then he swerved hard to the right, and she fell against the seat. Then hard to the left.

  Then he accelerated. Going this fast up a river, slamming over rapids and boulders, was dangerous. But he was determined to keep her pinned in her seat. She looked behind them. Quinn was catching up. He had a faster boat.

  Declan glanced over his shoulder. He fired his weapon, maybe hoping a random shot would accidentally hit Quinn. Or her. She wasn’t sure which, but when he focused on steering and powering the boat up over a patch of rapids and around a group of boulders, she crept forward again.

  He twisted his arm behind him to fire the weapon.

  Now!

  She grabbed that arm and twisted it further up his back, driving it high into his shoulder blades, the weapon firing off several times before he dropped it. He shoved the throttle forward and the boat picked up more speed. She almost lost her footing, but in the interim, he turned on her.

  He couldn’t see what she saw.

  Dead ahead, the boat headed straight toward a boulder in the river. She pointed and shouted, “You’re going to kill us!”

  He didn’t seem to hear her or care what she’d said. Ignoring her warning, he reached for her throat. The boat hit the rock and skidded across the top, arced into the air and twisted, then capsized, dumping them in the river. She brushed up against boulders. Pain sliced through her shoulder. Bree held her breath and tried to force her way up to breach the surface in the strong current. The boat started sinking, the motor still running. Eventually it would flood and stop, but until then, the blades could shred her. She thrashed to escape it, the river finally pulling her and the boat apart.

  Bree swam toward the surface again. She broke through and sucked in air, working to keep her head above the water. She allowed the river to carry her until she could sw
im toward the riverbank.

  Where was Quinn? How far back was he? Had Declan survived?

  As she swam, she looked over her shoulder. Tried to remain aware of her surroundings. She didn’t want to be in the water with Declan if he came for her again.

  Something gripped her leg and yanked.

  Looking down, she saw that Declan had a hold of her.

  “No! Leave me alone!” She fought and thrashed.

  He pulled her toward him, then pushed her face in the water.

  He wanted to drown her. She fought his grip as her lungs screamed. She hadn’t had the chance to suck in enough air. She tried to find a rock to hit him with. Her fingers dug into the earth around one but she couldn’t get it. It was in too deep.

  Quinn had talked about working undercover. Okay. Bree could do that, too. She would fake her own drowning.

  She slowly let herself go limp, knowing she had mere seconds before her lungs would convulse as water filled them and she would die.

  Bree acted dead.

  Declan released her to float in the water, then he turned her over. She jabbed her thumbs in his eyes. He yelled and released her.

  Bree righted herself and rushed the rest of the way to the riverbank—a small sandy shore—but he was on her heels and knocked her to the ground. Turned her over and wrapped his hands around her throat, cutting off the air. She reached for his eyes again, but he kept his face out of reach, his arms much longer than hers.

  Darkness edged her vision.

  Quinn...

  She found a rock, and this time it wasn’t stuck in the ground. She threw the rock at his head and it slammed against his temple.

  * * *

  Quinn yanked Declan’s limp but hefty body from Bree. He felt for a pulse. Still alive.

  He tugged Bree to her feet and pulled her to him. Hugged her tight. “I was so scared I wouldn’t make it to you in time, but even if I hadn’t, you got him.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Quinn saw Declan pull a gun from his ankle strap and aim it at Bree.

  “Watch out!” Quinn shoved her out of the way and to the ground as the gun went off.

  He threw sand in Declan’s eyes as the other man continued to fire his gun. Quinn tackled him and knocked the weapon away. “You’re not getting away with it this time.”

  Quinn slammed a fist into his face. Man, he’d wanted to do that for a long time. “That should keep you from trying to hurt Bree.” At least for the time being.

  He helped Bree to her feet again. “I’m sorry about that.”

  She tried to swipe the wet sand from her face and clothes, but it was no use. “What, saving my life?”

  “For shoving you to the ground.”

  “I’m getting used to it. It’s all in a day’s work.” She smiled as though the weight of the world had been lifted.

  But Quinn still carried the burden, the blame, for all that had happened.

  Then her smile shifted to a frown. “Quinn, we got him. I heard everything. He confessed to you, and I heard his communications to others. I’m a witness to his crimes. You’re going to be exonerated.”

  “If that’s true, then you saved me, Bree. You saved my life.”

  She peered up at him, and he felt the pull of their attraction—the deep abiding love they’d always had—and that scared him. He wanted to step back. Step away. Fade away from her life like he’d always done. But he’d taken this risk to end this all for her.

  And it sounded like she would be the one to end it for him. It was time to risk love, and he would do it if it meant he could be with Bree. He finally let himself smile, let himself give back to her. He pulled her close to him.

  Close enough to kiss. He inched closer, but boats pulled up to the riverbank, sirens screaming, blue lights flashing. The sheriff’s marine division.

  Sheriff Garrison was among the officers who climbed out of the boat and onto the riverbank.

  Quinn released Bree, unsure of what would happen next. He’d done his best. That’s all he could do. Quinn’s superior, Stan, was with the deputies on the boat. The guy jumped into the river and waded onto the riverbank.

  Julia had called him. She’d done everything she had said she would, except protect Bree. “Quinn isn’t the man you should arrest,” Bree said.

  Deputies pulled Declan to his feet and cuffed him even as she said the words.

  Stan stepped up to her and shook her hand. “Deputy Carrington, is it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good work. Julia called me and told me everything to set it up.” He then explained that he had been there hiding to watch and listen, unbeknownst to Quinn. He wanted the truth and hadn’t announced his presence. Even when Bree had been revealed as a hostage, he’d stayed hidden, not wanting to spook Declan into firing his weapon. When Declan had taken off, Stan had tried to follow, but Quinn had already been in pursuit of Declan. Stan had also called the local marine division deputies for backup along with DEA agents from the local division.

  Something wasn’t adding up, but Quinn kept it to himself for now. He’d thought Julia had stabbed him in the back, but maybe he’d been wrong about her back there.

  “All charges are dropped against you, Quinn,” Stan said. “I’ll want you back in the New Orleans field office to give me your statement and more details. An informant is passing on the word to Michael Jones that Declan was the one to steal his money, not you, so that should take some of the heat off. And once everything is clear, maybe some counseling is in order before you start your job again.”

  “I’ve had a long time to think about that.”

  Stan’s face fell. “You’re a good agent, Strand. I wouldn’t want to lose you. I’m the one who urged you to lie low for a while, remember? And as the news leaked out that you had stolen money, I didn’t want to believe you were guilty, but we put the warrant for your arrest to bring you back so we could protect you as we learned the truth. You didn’t have to run.”

  Quinn glanced down at Bree. He saw what he was thinking reflected in her gaze. Yeah. He did. He was always the runner. But was that really who he wanted to be? Was there another way?

  * * *

  Hours later, Quinn entered the hospital room where Julia was being treated for the gunshot wound. Tears filled her eyes. “Oh, Quinn. I’m so glad to see you. I was so afraid... Declan found us. He shot me and took Bree. I’m so sorry for your loss. I know you loved her.”

  Bree stepped into the room.

  Quinn almost laughed at the smirk on her face, and the shock on Julia’s.

  “Your negotiation didn’t work, Julia. I might not be DEA, but I am a deputy, and I know how to protect myself.”

  Quinn nodded his agreement. “She does, at that. She took down Declan all on her own.”

  He wouldn’t count the gunfire, because well, if he hadn’t been holding Bree in his arms, she would have managed without him. He was sure of that.

  Stan stepped into Julia’s room. “Julia McKesson, you’re under arrest.”

  Quinn pulled Bree out of the room and into the hallway. She turned to him, her face scrunched up. “Somehow, it just seems wrong. She wasn’t complicit in most of this. I don’t think she had even planned to make any kind of deal with Declan until the end when she was protecting me. She realized this was her chance to get rid of me. Maybe in her line of work, a person could just become calloused. I don’t hold it against her. Not too much.”

  “She gave you up. She gave up both of us.”

  Bree frowned. “Her negotiation with him meant that Declan would clear your name, and she would convince you that Declan wasn’t a dirty agent. I would be dead. Declan would take care of that for her—I would somehow die ‘accidentally’—and she would console you. You wouldn’t have to hide and could work, and Declan could continue to engage in his double-crossing the DEA and Michael Jones, only he’
d use a new strategy. Julia saw it as a win-win. For everyone but me. At least that’s how she presented it to Declan. But I don’t get the part where Stan was there. She was supposed to call him but didn’t because of her negotiation with Declan.”

  Quinn squeezed the bridge of his nose. “When Declan took you and shot her, Julia decided she would double-cross him in return, and she called Stan to arrange the setup like we had agreed. Turned out that Stan was already on his way to Washington after getting the call from the sheriff about Shepherd taking me and was able to be there in time.”

  Bree blinked away the unshed tears. “So Declan initially agreed to her plan so she would give our location up, and then when he had his hands on me and shot her, they both betrayed each other.”

  Julia had taken a huge risk and for what? “She has always been by the book. It’s such a shock. Why would she do that? Why would she want you dead?”

  “She loves you. Don’t you see that?”

  No. “I really don’t. That doesn’t sound like love to me.”

  “It doesn’t to me, either. But she wanted you, Quinn. And maybe that messed up her thinking this through. She said as long as I was alive, you could never be free to love her back.” Bree shook her head, obviously struggling to wrap her mind around what happened as well.

  Nausea rolled through him. Why, Julia?

  Stan sidled up next to him. “Are you ready to go?”

  He didn’t answer right away.

  He took in a few breaths to push past the sick feeling. He looked at Bree. She’d grown into the most amazing woman. An outstanding deputy. A wonderful guardian to her nephew, and the best daughter she could be to her father. She was beautiful. Amazing. He’d always loved her but tried to fight it. Even now, he felt his longing for her pull him in her direction. Should he make her promises if he wasn’t going to keep them?

  “It’s okay, Quinn,” she said. “I know you have to go. I’ve always known that.”

  She planted a quick kiss on his lips, then turned and walked away from him. He almost grinned at that—she would be the one to walk away from him this time.