Rendezvous with Danger (Reunited Series)

by Cooper, Sharon C.

  He continued to observe her. With her eyes closed, she gently rubbed the baby’s back and looked more at peace than he had seen her look since she reappeared in his life. He couldn’t help but wonder if they would ever be able to recapture what they once shared.

  “So are you just going to stand there blocking the doorway or are you going to come in and hang out with your godsons?” Dallas asked, lifting Ethan from the changing table.

  “Hey, there’s one of my little guys,” he said when he walked into the room, and Dallas handed him the baby. “Man, how do you put up with that mother of yours?” Quinn lifted him in the air and laughed when the baby’s toothless grin lit up his face, as if understanding Quinn’s words.

  Alandra stood with a sleeping Evan, and placed him in his bed. She leaned over the railing staring down at the baby for several seconds before straightening, and Quinn didn’t miss the sadness in her eyes.

  “You okay,” he asked when she walked over to him and Ethan.

  A soft smile tipped the corner of her lips and she nodded.

  “So what do you think of these little guys?”

  “I think they are absolutely adorable. Aren’t you, sweetheart?” She cooed at Ethan who graced her with a huge smile and practically jumped out of Quinn’s arms to get to her.

  “Alandra, I think you have an admirer. Ethan is quite taken with you.” Dallas joined them near Ethan’s bed. “Q, you better watch out before he steals your woman.”

  “She’s off limits li’l man.” Quinn held him high overhead, laughing as the baby flailed his arms and legs wildly in enthusiasm. “Man, you have a lot of energy this evening. I wish I could stick around and play for awhile.”

  “I’m telling you, it’s Alandra’s presence. He wasn’t like that before she got here.”

  Alandra laughed. “Yeah right. I think you just have two very happy babies. Thank you for letting me spend time with them.”

  “Girl, it was my pleasure. You’re welcome anytime.”

  “You take care, li’l man and tell your brother I’ll catch him next time.” Quinn kissed him on forehead and handed him back to his mother, then turned to Alandra. “You ready, baby?”

  Alandra nodded and grabbed her bag. “Dallas it was nice meeting you.”

  “Same here,” Dallas hugged her. “Make sure you come back and see us soon.”

  Minutes later, Quinn and Alandra were on the road and heading to Wiz’s place. When Quinn spoke with him earlier, Wiz mentioned finding some interesting information on Isabella, as well as some loose ends he hoped Quinn and Alandra could piece together.

  “Thanks for letting me tag along to Tyler and Dallas’s place.” Alandra shifted in her seat. “It was great meeting them. They seem really nice.”

  “They’re good people.”

  “Yeah, Dallas thinks very highly of you. She told me how Tyler ended up in the emergency room with a gunshot wound, and how you saved their lives.”

  Quinn shrugged her comment off. “They would’ve done the same for me.”

  Alandra nodded, but didn’t speak right away. She captured her lower lip between her teeth and Quinn wondered what was on her mind.

  “What’s it going to take for you to believe that I didn’t stay away from you to hurt you?”

  He glanced at her, and then back at the road. “What makes you think I don’t believe you?”

  “I can tell.” She wrapped her arms around her midsection. “I feel it when you look at me…or when you question me about Tzbekystan or whenever Harry’s name comes up in conversation.”

  Quinn didn’t know what to say. Part of him wanted to believe everything she’d told him, and for the most part he did, but there was a little twinge of doubt that kept needling him, making him think she was holding something back. He couldn’t put his finger on it, and he hoped like hell it was nothing.

  “What’s it going to take?” she repeated.

  “Time.” He kept his eyes on the road. “It’s going to take time.”

  Chapter Ten

  When they arrived at Wiz’s house, Quinn helped Alandra out of the truck and she shivered against the cold the moment her feet touched the ground. Growing up on the east coast, she experienced her share of blistering winters, but they were nothing compared to the weather in the Windy City.

  “Tomorrow we’ll get you a real coat.” Quinn wrapped his strong arms around her and guided her to the side entrance of the large, brick Tudor home. Spotlights along the path highlighted the home’s tall, narrow windows, decorative half-timbering, and a steeply pitched roof giving it a medieval flavor that Alandra loved.

  “Come on in,” Wiz greeted shortly after Quinn rang the doorbell. “Malik’s in the office and I was on my way to make some coffee. I already know you want a cup,” he said to Quinn. “What about you Alandra?”

  “Coffee would be great,” she said, her teeth clattering and her body trembling despite Quinn’s arms around her.

  Wiz chuckled. “I’ll get you a double and turn up the heat. I guess living in California has thinned your blood.”

  Alandra watched him walk in the opposite direction and wondered just how much he knew about her. Quinn spoke highly of his computer skills and she didn’t know how she felt about him digging into her background, even if it did mean finding the person who tried to kill her.

  Quinn directed her up a short flight of stairs and to a hallway that boasted tall ceilings and stunning artwork covering the walls. Alandra stopped and admired them. The evocative oil paintings reached out to her. They were so life like.

  “These are amazing,” she said of the first three paintings. She paused at the third one. It was the silhouette of a man and a woman embracing each other with New York’s Central Park in the background. Tall buildings touched the sky and snow covered branches dangled from the trees. “Such talent, who is the artist?”

  “Wiz’s ex-wife.”

  Alandra turned to him with raised eyebrows. “Usually people don’t want anything to do with their exes, and he’s displaying her artwork?”

  Quinn chuckled. “They are not your typical exes. I think they’ll always love each other. They married right out of high school, but when Wiz became a SEAL, she said she couldn’t handle him being summoned in the middle of the night, and leaving out on secret missions.”

  Alandra turned back to the artwork and realized the man in the painting could easily be Wiz. She understood how his wife felt. Not knowing where he was going, who he was with, or whether or not she’d ever see him again. She felt that way each time Quinn went on assignment.

  “Is he still in the military?”

  Quinn shook his head. “He’s a P.I. and occasionally does contract work for the government, but not field work. Only what he can do from his home office and with his computer.”

  “Then maybe he can get his ex-wife back,” Alandra said more to herself than to Quinn, but he responded.

  “He’s trying.”

  Quinn reached for her hand and they continued down the long hallway passing several bedrooms and a bathroom. When they arrived at the last room on the left, Alandra heard Malik before she saw him. He was on his cell phone but waved them in. Tall, handsome, and built like a linebacker she had no doubt he was a force to be reckoned with whenever he came up against an adversary. It was a wonder she was able to do any damage to him during their altercation outside of Quinn’s house the other night. It was like kicking a brick wall. They had both caught each other off guard and she reacted without thinking about what or whom she was going up against.

  “No, he wants personal security detail, a bodyguard with him 24/7 and he doesn’t want her to look like a bodyguard,” Malik said to the person on the telephone. He paced in front of Wiz’s desk then stopped. “We won’t be able to use Jessica or Ronnie. See if Tamara is available. She looks like a woman he would date. This way he’ll get the protection he wants without anyone knowing his companion is a highly trained bodyguard.”

  “You want me to take your jacket?
” Quinn asked Alandra.

  She shook her head. “Not yet. I don’t know if I’ll ever get warm.” She still had her arms wrapped around herself, brushing her hands up and down her sleeves. She glanced around the huge office space amazed at all of the computers, monitors and technical equipment. The office resembled a smaller version of the CIA’s command center.

  Malik disconnected his call just as Wiz walked in carrying a tray of mugs, a coffee carafe, and a couple of glasses. “All right, there’s something here for everyone.” He said and placed the tray on a table in front of a long leather sofa. “There’s beer and bottled water in the frig over in the corner there if you like,” he said to Alandra.

  She accepted the large Disney coffee mug he handed her and took a sip of the dark liquid that smelled a lot stronger than her usual instant coffee. “No, this is fine. Thank you.”

  Alandra glanced over the top of her mug and stiffened when Malik move toward her.

  “I see your hackles going up.” He stopped in his tracks and raised his hands out in front of him. “I don’t want any trouble. I was just coming over to apologize for knocking you out the other night.”

  Alandra didn’t miss the little smirk on his handsome face. She knew he had gone easy on her the other night. He could have pummeled her with very little effort.

  “And I apologize for kicking your ass the other night,” she cracked. She heard Wiz snicker from across the room.

  “And if you ever put your hands on her again, I’ll be the one kicking your ass.” Quinn said without looking up from the book in his hands. He sat next to Alandra on the sofa thumbing through the book she had taken from Isabella’s house the day before.

  Malik cocked his bald head to the side, a half smile lifting his mustached lips. “Oh, so it’s like that, huh?”

  “Damn straight,” Quinn said.

  Malik nodded thoughtfully and sipped from the coffee mug that practically disappeared between his large hands. “I hear you, man. If she were my woman, I’d fight for her too.”

  For the first time since the conversation started, Quinn glanced at his friend. Alandra wasn’t sure what the look that passed between them meant, but there was definite understanding and respect in their gazes.

  “All right, let’s get this party started so Alandra and I can go home.”

  Alandra’s heart beat double time at the thought of going home with Quinn. She definitely liked the sound of it, but was pretty sure he didn’t mean anything by it. She could finally admit to herself that she wanted the happily-ever-after, although she knew his main concern was keeping her safe.

  “What do you have so far, Wiz?” Quinn asked.

  Alandra couldn’t bring herself to call him Wiz. It reminded her too much of the term one of her cousins often used when he referred to going to the bathroom. Good looking in a geekish kind of way, Cameron Miller was just as tall as Quinn with broad shoulders and muscular arms. He looked more like a body builder than an information operations specialist turned private investigator. His most striking feature, which not even his designer reading glasses could hide, were his greenish-gray eyes. Slightly narrowed, they were sharp and assessing, not missing anything.

  “Well, it definitely looks like the rumor about Alandra selling secrets to North Korea was just a rumor. What has me puzzled, though, is why a large sum of money was deposited into her account one day before the news broke and withdrawn just days later.”

  Alandra frowned. “What? What money?”

  Wiz stared at her and then glanced at Quinn.

  “A few days after the news broke about you being a double agent and selling secrets, 1.5 million dollars was deposited into your account,” Quinn explained. “While you were in Florida, the money was withdrawn and then word got around that the accusations against you were false.”

  Alandra furrowed her brows. “Wait, I do recall some confusion with an account I tried to close while in Miami. The bank said the account was frozen. Eventually I was able to close it, but they never determined why it was frozen in the first place.”

  “Hmm, that’s interesting. I’ll do more digging, because I think the mysterious money and the selling of secrets might be connected to Isabella Blanchard, or should I say, Sarah Olson since most of the Intel found was under that alias.”

  “What?” Alandra asked, surprised he had access to her financial information. “Does that mean the rumors of her being a double agent were true?”

  “Maybe.” He pointed a remote to a large wall-mounted monitor several feet from the sofa, and Sarah’s CIA identification appeared on half the screen, and a bank statement on the other half. “On June 22nd 1.5 million was deposited into an account at SC National Bank – Account holder, Alandra Pargas. Funds source – unknown. Three days later, on June 25th, said money was withdrawn and showed up in a Swiss trust account.” Wiz looked at Alandra and Quinn. “It took me awhile to dig up the information. Someone took great care to conceal the money trail and the account holder identity, but Sarah is the account holder.”

  “That’s too much of a coincidence to not be connected,” Malik said.

  “I don’t believe in coincidences.” Quinn walked across the room and placed Sarah’s book on the desk near Wiz. “What else did you find on her?”

  “Sarah was known as the CIA’s secret weapon and worked under NCS, the National Clandestine Service division. This girl was bad. She took on some of the most dangerous assignments spending over 70 percent of her time on foreign soil. She spoke five languages, had an IQ of over 160, and her marksman skills could rival yours Malik.”

  Malik grunted, but didn’t respond as Wiz explained how hard it was to get information about her assignments.

  “Five years ago she was under investigation for a suspected intelligence leak, but there wasn’t enough evidence against her and no charges were ever filed. Oh, and Malik you were right.”

  “About what?”

  “There was a story about her having an affair with Congressman Mateo Ramos a few years ago. They both denied it, but the Congressman’s wife filed for divorce six months after the story broke. Sarah disappeared and was said to have gone rogue, never to be seen or heard from again.”

  Alandra recalled her confrontation with Sarah at the hospital and was glad she hadn’t known what a powerful adversary she was going up against.

  “Alandra, besides mentioning the book, did Sarah say anything else to you before she died.

  “She said - government…CIA…and trust no one.”

  “Ha! Well that narrows things down,” Malik said sarcastically. “We already know not to trust them.”

  Alandra snapped her finger. “Oh, wait. At the hospital the day before we went to her house, she said that, like me, if certain people knew where she was, she’d be dead.”

  Alandra glanced at Quinn who was leaning against the desk watching her. He hadn’t said much for the past few minutes, and each time she looked up, he was studying her. She wished she knew what he was thinking. He was a swirling mass of contradictions. One minute she saw a heart rendering tenderness in his gaze, and the next minute his intense scrutiny made her feel as if he were searching her soul for the truth. She looked away and rested her head against the sofa. She would drive herself nuts trying to figure him out.

  “I’m still working on getting more information on the Congressman,” Wiz said. “But Sarah called him several times the day before the explosion.”

  “You think there was a connection between her death and the calls to the Congressman?” Alandra asked.

  “Yes, but if she was a rogue agent, I’m sure she had plenty of enemies and some in high places.”

  For the next hour, they bombarded Alandra with question after question regarding her time in the CIA and the people she worked with. She didn’t think she could get through the story of how she ended up in Tzbekystan again, but the more she talked about it, the less painful it felt. Despite her reservations in Quinn getting involved, she now realized there was no way she could h
ave tackle this on her own. With his and his friend’s connections and expertise, together, they not only would find out who was behind this, but she would get her life back.

  ****

  Quinn refilled his coffee and stared down at Alandra’s sleeping form. The guys had agreed to take a short break after being held up in Wiz’s office for the past few hours, sifting through information, and taking in all that Alandra had told them. The moment Malik and Wiz walked back into the room, they started back up.

  “Before the incident with Alandra, Sarah had been working in Germany, and since Germany is not far from Tzbekystan, it might be why she was assigned to Alandra,” Wiz said and sat in his desk chair.

  “All the more reason to talk to Harry O’Brien,” Quinn said absently, and followed Wiz to his desk. He leaned against it and sipped his coffee.

  “O’Brien’s name has popped up several times during my research. What’s he to Alandra besides her former boss?”

  Quinn placed his coffee mug on the desk. “Don’t get me started. That man has always been a source of discord between Alandra and me. She says he’s like a father to her, but I don’t trust him. I know he’s involved in this some way, and I can’t wait to nail his ass.”

  “So I guess we’ll add him to our short list of people of interest.” Malik stood near one of the windows, but walked toward Quinn. “There’s something Alandra said earlier about the call she received in her hotel room while in Florida that’s nagging at me.”

  “What part?” Wiz asked.

  “I’m not really sure.” Malik paced near the desk. “Something just doesn’t add up.”

  “That whole story has bothered me from the first time I heard it,” Quinn said. “I believe everything she told me, but I’m surprised she dropped everything to travel to the other side of the world without getting more information or at least determining if the call was legit.”