“I do need you. I need you to be alive.”
“Who says I won’t be?”
“It doesn’t matter how you approach this. I want to keep you safe. That means you’re not returning to the dive site tomorrow.”
“You can’t do that,” Rowan protested. “You can’t shut me out. It’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair.”
“You sound like my father.” Rowan crossed her arms over her chest and flicked her eyes to the rolling ocean. “He used to say nonsense like that.”
Quinn refused to rise to the bait and engage in a full-on screaming match. “I’m sure it didn’t feel like nonsense to him.”
“Whatever.” Rowan was bitter. “I can’t believe you’re shutting me out of this.”
“Ro … .”
“Don’t.”
“Look at me.” Quinn’s voice was firm and Rowan had no choice but to lock gazes with him. “I am not doing this to punish you. I’m not trying to be a mother hen. I’m not even trying to be your boss.
“I don’t get off on the power when it comes to you,” he continued. “You have to see that I’m not doing this simply because I want to control you. I’m doing this because it’s the best thing for you.”
“And what about you?”
Quinn’s eyebrows winged up. “What about me?”
“Who is going to look out for you if I’m not there?”
Quinn’s expression softened, although only marginally. “I can take care of myself.”
“I know that but … you need me.”
“Of course I do. I can’t let you put yourself in danger, though. You have to understand that.”
“I’m not sure I do.”
“Honey … .”
“Don’t.” Rowan held up her hand, defeated. “You’re going to do what you want. What I want doesn’t matter.”
“Don’t say that.” Quinn knew she was trying to manipulate him into giving in, but he held firm. “You’ll be safer here.”
“And you’ll be on your own.”
“I know what I’m doing.”
“I guess that means you don’t think I do, huh?” Rowan’s eyes flashed with annoyance. “Whatever. You win. I’ll be stuck here for the day while you’re out saving the world. I hope you’re happy.”
Quinn was pretty far from happy as he watched her turn on her heel and stalk toward the doorway that led to the employee main hallway. “I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Rowan … .” Quinn felt helpless, but he was resolved to keep her on the ship. “You’ll thank me for this one day.”
“No, I won’t.”
QUINN EXPECTED ROWAN to shut him out of her quarters. He thought there was a very good chance they would argue further in the privacy of her room, so he was understandably surprised when he found her already in bed, her face turned to the wall.
“Do you want me to go?”
The question startled Rowan. “Go where?”
“Away.”
Rowan rolled so she could see his conflicted face. “What do you mean? You want to go away from me … for good?”
“No.” Quinn immediately started shaking his head. “I never want that. I meant for tonight. You’re obviously upset. Do you want me to go back to my room?”
Rowan opened her mouth to answer but snapped it shut before she could say anything stupid and make things worse.
“Is that a yes or no?” Quinn prodded.
“I don’t want you to leave,” Rowan said finally. “I want to sleep next to you. The thing is, I’m still angry.”
“Does that mean you’re going to go Hulk on me in your sleep? If so, I could get behind that if your clothes rip with your temper.”
Rowan rolled her eyes. “Ha, ha.”
“I thought that was kind of funny.”
“You would.”
Quinn sat at the end of the bed and pulled off his shirt. “I promise it’s going to be okay. I’ll be careful.”
“Your promise isn’t going to mean much to me if something happens tomorrow,” Rowan pointed out. “Just so you know, I’ll spend the rest of my life blaming myself if that happens and I’ll never get over your death.”
“Way to ease the pressure there, Ro,” Quinn said dryly as he removed his shorts. He hit the light switch on the wall before crawling into bed. Her body was warm, but she didn’t immediately reach for him like she normally did. It was a small tear in the heart. “I won’t let anything happen to me. I promise.”
“I’m not sure you can keep that promise.”
“I’ll do the very best that I can.”
“Whatever.” Rowan’s voice was full of weariness, but she rolled to rest her head on his shoulder all the same. “I’m still angry.”
“Hulk mad,” Quinn intoned.
“I’m going to smash you if you’re not careful,” Rowan warned.
“If that’s the game you want to play.”
It took Rowan a moment to realize what he was inferring. “You’re a total pervert.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
ROWAN STOOD NEXT TO the gangway that led to the dock and watched Quinn double-check his pack the next morning. She wasn’t any happier about the situation than she had been the night before, but she refused to send Quinn off with a scowl – especially because she believed he was walking into danger.
“You have your phone, right? In case you need me, I’ll keep my phone close.”
Quinn chuckled, genuinely amused. “I have it with me, but it’s not as if I can use it underwater. I’m fine, though.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Stay close to Sally and Demarcus today. Treat it as a day of rest. You know … hang out, drink iced tea, and be merry.”
“Ha, ha.” Rowan cracked her neck. “Try not to be gone longer than you have to. I don’t want to worry but … .”
“I’ll be back before you know it.”
Rowan didn’t believe that for a second. “Be safe.”
“You be safe, too.” Quinn pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. “It’s going to be okay. Believe it or not, I know what I’m doing.”
“I do believe it,” Rowan acknowledged. “I also believe you’re outnumbered.”
“I don’t think they’re all involved. That wouldn’t make sense from their standpoint.”
“Yeah, but you don’t know who is involved,” Rowan pointed out. “You simply believe Selena knew something and that’s why someone tried to kill her.”
“We also know that Stuart Dombrowski was probably involved,” Quinn added. “Sure, he could’ve been killed by a random local, but that’s way too coincidental for me to believe.”
“Do you know how he died?”
“I’ve seen the initial medical report. His neck was snapped.”
Rowan pictured the huge man on the beach. “That would take a big body to do that sort of damage to a guy that size.”
Quinn knew what she was getting at. He’d had the same thought himself. “Baby, I will be back as soon as I can. Don’t worry about me.”
Rowan stared at him for a long beat. “Just one thing before you go.”
“What?” Quinn thought she was going to throw her arms around him, kiss him senseless, and maybe press herself against him so he could have a bit of a thrill before leaving. Instead she lifted the camera he didn’t even realize she was carrying and snapped it in his face.
Quinn blinked three times in rapid succession as he tried to clear his head after the surprise flash. “What the … ?”
Rowan pulled back the camera and studied the photograph in the viewfinder. There was no omen. That made her feel markedly better and yet not free of the pressure building in her chest.
“What’s the verdict?” Nick asked, approaching from the south side of the boat.
“What verdict?” Quinn questioned, confused.
“She took the photo to make sure you weren’t in imminent danger,” Nick noted. “I take it that means you convi
nced her to stay on the ship.”
“Ordered,” Rowan corrected. “He ordered me to stay on the ship. He’s technically my boss and apparently he can do that.”
Instead of sympathizing with Rowan, which she expected, Nick barked out a laugh. “That’s one way to defuse an argument.”
“I didn’t manage to defuse the argument,” Quinn countered. “We’ve agreed to table it until I get back.”
“I’m simply glad she’ll be here where I can keep an eye on her,” Nick said. “I was worried about her hanging at the dock all day.”
“You’re staying here?” Despite himself, Quinn was relieved. “That means you’ll be around to watch her.”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” Rowan grumbled.
“Shh. I’m talking to your uncle.” Quinn slid his arm around Rowan’s waist to placate her and focused on Nick. “I thought for sure you would be heading to the dive site.”
“So did I, but I’m waiting for a visit from the local constable and he suggested meeting here,” Nick explained. “I can’t really stand him up, so I won’t be heading to the site until this afternoon.”
“So you’ll be close to Rowan.” Quinn bobbed his head in approval. “That’s good. That makes me worry less.”
“You don’t have to worry about me,” Rowan challenged. “I’m not the one in danger. You are.”
“You just took a photo of me,” Quinn pointed out. “I didn’t have the omen on me, did I?”
“No.”
“That means I’m safe.”
“That means you’re not going to drop dead in the next five minutes,” Rowan corrected. “That hardly means you’re safe.”
“And here we go.” Quinn ran his hand over the top of his hair. “Rowan, I know what I’m doing. I know how to take care of myself. We’ve been over this.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m suddenly not going to worry,” Rowan fired back.
Sensing a potential fight – and knowing neither of them really wanted to engage in it – Nick put his hand to Rowan’s forearm to still her. “You’ll both worry. You’ll both be fine. In fact … Rowan, why don’t you take a photo of yourself and show it to Quinn. That way he’ll see you’re perfectly safe, too.”
Quinn lifted his chin. “Does it work if you take a photo of yourself?”
Rowan shrugged. “I’ve never tried.”
“Do it now.”
Rather than argue, Rowan did as instructed. When she pulled back to study the viewfinder, she frowned at the photo. “Ugh.”
“What? Do you see it?” Quinn was on the verge of panicking.
Rowan shook her head. “I hate the angle. I look like I have a double chin.”
Quinn stared at the photo over her shoulder and swore under his breath. “You look beautiful. In fact, I want a copy of that photo for my desk in my office.”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
“I’m saying that because it’s true.” Quinn planted another kiss on Rowan’s mouth when he heard footsteps on the deck. He didn’t have to look to know that Anthony was approaching. The big man had a certain presence that couldn’t be denied. “I’ll be in contact. I’ll call during lunch to make you feel better.”
Rowan nodded solemnly as Anthony clapped a big hand to Quinn’s back.
“Are you ready to go, buddy?”
Quinn spared Anthony a look. “I am. Although … where is Andrea?”
“She already left for the site,” Anthony replied. “She’s upset about missing the afternoon session yesterday. She wants to make up time today.”
“Then I guess we’d better do that.” Quinn started down the gangway, casting one final look in Rowan’s direction as he increased the distance between them. He blew her a kiss before he hit the dock, lifting his hand in a wave that said “sooner” rather than “later.”
Rowan returned the wave with a sigh.
“He’ll be fine,” Nick said. “You took his photo yourself.”
“He’d better be.” Rowan knew Quinn wanted her to relax, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Instead she did the opposite and paced. There was nothing else she could do with her pent-up energy, after all. She was forced to wait. That didn’t mean she would do it quietly.
NICK WATCHED ROWAN WALK a groove in the deck from his spot in the shade. For the first twenty minutes after Quinn’s departure, he tried to talk her down. That didn’t work – not even a little – so he ultimately gave up and drank his juice in the shade while flipping through some expense reports.
Even though he had a job to do, and he genuinely enjoyed doing it, he found he couldn’t focus on work when Rowan was such an emotional mess.
“My dear, you’re going to make yourself sick if you don’t sit down. Perhaps you should join me in the shade.”
“I don’t want to sit.”
“Quinn won’t like it when I tell him you spent the entire day fretting about him,” Nick noted. “It will make him angry and cause him grief. Do you want to do that?”
Rowan quit pacing long enough to cock a challenging eyebrow. “Are you threatening to tattle on me?”
Nick balked. “Of course not. I just … was trying to make you sit down. I see now that was a bad idea.”
“It certainly was,” Rowan agreed, shuffling forward and snagging her camera from the table. She hit the power button and shifted the photos in the viewfinder until she found the one of Quinn. He was still omen free. “He’s okay.”
“Of course he’s okay,” Nick said. “He knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s a strong man. He’ll come back to you.”
“I hope so.”
They lapsed into comfortable silence for a moment, and when Nick broke it, what he said was enough to steal the oxygen from Rowan’s lungs.
“You have no idea how proud of you your father is. He worried about you for so long I thought it might eventually kill him. You’ve found yourself, though. You’re okay. That will be a load off his shoulders.”
Rowan turned deathly still as she lifted her chin, her finger inadvertently hitting the “advance” button and landing on the photo she took of herself. “What did you say?”
Nick realized exactly what he uttered when it was too late to take it back. It was obviously a mistake, but that genie couldn’t go back in the bottle. “Oh, well … .” He shifted on his chair, uncomfortable.
“Did you just say my father is alive?” Rowan was beside herself. “You said you had no idea where he was. Were you lying?”
“I … .”
Rowan licked her lips, her eyes landing on the photo of herself in the viewfinder at the same moment a shadow approached from her left. Rowan registered two things in quick succession. The first was that her photo showed the symbol. It had popped up out of nowhere. The second was that the shadow was raising an arm and there was something off about the figure.
Rowan made out the distinct outline of a gun at the same time she dropped her camera to the table and threw herself on top of Nick, tackling her uncle to the opposite side of the chair and cringing as the gun went off in unison with the “thud” that echoed as they hit the ground.
It seemed things were about to get dangerous, and despite Rowan’s worries, Quinn wasn’t the intended target.
She was … again.
20
Twenty
Nick hit the ground hard, a full-body gasp rocking him.
“What the … ?”
Rowan couldn’t answer because she had other things to worry about, an incoming enemy flooding her internal danger sensors. She spun, keeping low, and surveyed the deck as she tried to find a way to escape. Unfortunately, they were out in the open and there was essentially no place to hide.
“Don’t even think about it.” Andrea’s voice was even as she leveled the gun on Rowan.
From her spot on the ground – which seemed to make her especially vulnerable – Rowan narrowed her eyes and glared at the diving guru. “I can’t say I’m surprised you’re involved, but I di
dn’t even doubt Anthony when he said you were already at the docks. Kudos to you on your plan. I wasn’t expecting it to go down like this.”
Anthony. Rowan’s imagination sparked with possibilities as she thought of Quinn. She knew almost from the beginning that Anthony had been involved – there was honestly no doubt in her mind – but having it confirmed was another thing entirely. Quinn was with a killer. A big killer, mind you, and there was nothing Rowan could do to warn him.
“Oh, please,” Andrea scoffed. “You had no idea I was involved in anything.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Nick straightened, his gaze busy as it bounced between the tense women. Rowan could practically see him thinking. She just hoped he didn’t make matters worse with whatever plan he came up with. “We knew you were involved yesterday. Our only problem was deciding who your partners were.”
“Excuse me?” Andrea arched a challenging eyebrow.
“Your partners,” Nick repeated. “We knew Selena was one and Stuart Dombrowski the other. We also knew you needed at least one more.”
“Anthony,” Rowan supplied. “He’s the only one big enough to snap Stuart’s neck.”
Andrea balked. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. In fact … I … how did you even know that?”
It should’ve been a triumphant moment – other than the gun, of course – but Rowan couldn’t shake the feeling that she was still in trouble. She flicked her eyes to the camera on the table and focused on her face. The selfie she took was still visible through the viewfinder and the omen remained.
“We know more than you think,” Nick replied, resting his hands on his knees as he regarded Andrea with cool calculation. “You guys should’ve done a better job trusting one another. Once members of your team started getting attacked, we realized what was happening.”
Andrea snorted derisively, although her eyes were alive with worry. “You’re making that up.”
“I’m not.” Nick was unbelievably calm, something that impressed Rowan to no end. “I forwarded your names to the home office last night. They were intrigued and agreed to send another team to clean up your mess.”
Rowan was impressed. If Nick was telling the truth, he was even smarter than everyone believed. If he was lying, he was good at it.
“You contacted the home office?” Andrea was flummoxed. “But … why?”
Sunken Seas (A Rowan Gray Mystery Book 4) Page 18
