Quinn Tyler’s building had been destroyed. There had been kids in that building.
He needed to find Collin and Cade Boyd and he needed to do it before they had a chance to hurt anyone else.
CHAPTER 5
It was her first memory.
One of those scenes from a normal childhood that had a tall, lanky man with kind brown eyes and shaggy blonde hair taking her small hand in his bigger one and showing her around his land, a farm with rolling green hills and plenty of fresh air filled with earthy smells of hay and horses.
That day, Quinn’s perfect day, the sun had been warm on her hair and her face. The big man had given her a huge lime green stuffed frog with big purple spots on it and black and white buggy-eyes. She’d hugged it to her chest while he had played tour guide and showed her all the barn animals.
She remembered a bunch of fat lazy cows, along with a couple of beautiful, spirited horses that kept sneezing and braying for apples. At least that’s what the leggy man had told her when he cut up several slices from a basket and fed the fruit to a big, black stallion that seemed happy to see him.
She peered into another stall where a giant mother pig lay on straw. The mommy pig had been surrounded by several hungry little piglets wedged into her side.
She’d held her first real cat that day, a black-and -white calico that had six lively babies trailing behind. Kittens. The tall man had given her one of her very own, a solid white one to pet and hold and cuddle. The furry little thing had purred when she held it up to rub her chin into its soft fur.
She’d called it Snowball.
After they’d spent time in the barn, the tall man had taken her into the house and given her tea and biscuits, which turned out to be homemade sugar cookies with pink frosting.
Quinn remembered a grandmother-type who talked funny, so much so she could hardly understand a word the woman said. The man had let her pour tea from a bright blue teapot and hadn’t even yelled at her when she’d spilled some. The tea had looked strong and yucky but had tasted sweet and delicious because the man had poured enough milk in it to make it almost creamy-looking.
She had wanted to stay, to live in this clean, perfect house with these caring and generous people. She had wanted to keep the kitten and take it with her on the plane. But as soon as the car pulled up, as soon as she had spotted Ella getting out, she knew. The adults made her let go of the kitten. The moment she relinquished it to the giant of a man, she knew the adults would make her get in the car. She remembered crying because she had to leave with Ella.
Her perfect day gone, like so many other things she didn’t understand.
Remembering that picture-perfect scene as it pulled away and faded to black, Quinn began to mumble in her sleep, trying to keep the memory from disappearing entirely.
She reached out and tried to grab at the tall man as Ella forced her to get into the backseat of the car. She called out, she screamed to keep from leaving the tall man behind and the beautiful farm.
But all her yelling and screaming did no good at all. As it always happened, the tall man grew fainter until soon he was gone from her vision completely.
Reese heard Quinn cry out, or at least he thought he did. He rolled over in bed, tried to shake off the dregs of sleep. Something moved next to him. He saw her body toss and turn. Once again, he heard her mumble in her sleep.
Half asleep himself and exhausted, it took him several minutes to differentiate the moaning from actual words. More awake now, he made out Quinn thrashing about on the other side of the mattress.
Obviously in distress, she seemed to be calling out to someone. Either she was saying goodbye, leaving something or someone she didn’t want to leave. And Quinn didn’t like it one bit.
Moving closer, he studied in fascination as she carried on a conversation as if she were a small child of about three or four years old. She wasn’t even awake. And yet, she was clearly upset about something.
He leaned over. In the dark he saw her lips moving, made out the sadness in her voice. Talking in her sleep was one thing, but when he saw the tears spill out and trickle down her cheeks, it grabbed at his heart.
He picked up several strands of raven hair off her face, ran the silky texture through his fingers. “Oh, baby, what is it that causes you so much pain even when you sleep?”
But the tears dried on her face as she slept on, leaving him wondering what, or rather who had haunted her dreams enough to make her cry.
It wasn’t until later that morning Reese learned the casualty count. Three more people had succumbed to their injuries and died at the hospital. Eight innocent people had lost their lives in the blast. Dozens more had been injured, including children.
This wasn’t just a news story on the local news. He’d seen the pain on the faces of the kids and the heartache in the eyes of adults who realized everything they owned no longer existed.
And for what?
Because a pissed off, misguided rich boy didn’t get his way, thought Reese bitterly.
Even though the television stations were reporting the fire department suspected a gas leak, he knew better. And when Kit called around ten, she reminded him what he already had been mulling over. “I think Cade did this.”
“Yeah,” had been Reese’s weak response.
Ten minutes after he hung up the phone with Kit, he had virtually an identical conversation with Baylee. “Cade did this. I just know he did.”
Okay, so it wasn’t his paranoia fueling this gut feeling.
Logic be damned, it seemed to be a consensus. After all, Kit and Baylee knew the Boyd brothers much better than he did. But as a lawyer even in a city the size of L.A., he’d been well aware of the Boyd reputation long before he’d ever even heard about Kit Griffin.
It was widely known the founding partners were ruthless in court. Now it seemed their offspring had turned into merciless, cold-blooded killers.
Would the police be able to do anything about it though? That was the nagging question.
While Reese sat at his dining room table amid briefs and paperwork, his laptop open, waiting for Quinn to wake up, he realized he couldn’t argue with recent history. It made sense to blame Cade because he’d heard the man with his own ears threaten Quinn.
Hell, the man had threatened all of them.
This morning, he’d already had another conversation with Max St. John about his suspicions. He could only hope the detective had taken him seriously. After all, Max had been right there in the ER when Cade had gone postal. That had to count for something.
His mind kept drifting back to last night. What if he hadn’t asked her to dinner? What if Quinn had gone straight home from the hospital? The timeframe would have put her inside the condo. What if she had been there to confront Cade? What if she had been killed or injured?
He sucked in a breath and ran a hand over his face. It wouldn’t do to dwell on the what-if scenarios. Better to concentrate on keeping her out of Cade’s reach.
Funny how he’d thought the last couple of months Jake had acted a bit melodramatic trying to keep Kit safe. And Dylan tended to go over the top when it came to Baylee and Sarah. He’d misjudged his friends, he thought now. Hell, he had misjudged the entire situation from the beginning. No more, though.
Better to overcompensate and make sure Quinn stayed safe rather than ignore his gut feeling and have her suffer the consequences later.
When his cell phone buzzed, it brought him out of a daze. Caller ID told him it was Jake.
“Reese here.”
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s Quinn who doesn’t have a place to live.”
Jake chuckled. His friend sounded like he’d already taken the fall. “Don’t I know it? Look, Kit and I are down the street. Kit brought Quinn some clothes, some personal items she’ll need for the immediate future.”
“She isn’t up yet.”
“That’s okay. We’ll just drop off the stuff and let her sleep. But when Quinn wakes up
, plan on heading over to Crandall House. We’re meeting up there, all of us. And pack a bag, Reese, the dynamics have changed. This’ll take some planning and sorting out.”
“Strategy session?”
“For lack of a better description, yeah. And it’s better if we’re all in one place anyway. We need to think about the next forty-eight hours and come up with a viable plan of action.”
Gradually, Quinn came awake. Light filtered through the curtains. Every muscle in her body burned. She stared at the bedside clock. It read one-fifty-six. She’d slept the day away. Then suddenly she remembered last night.
It all came back to her in crystal clarity. She’d lost everything she owned. Her apartment was gone. The only real home she’d known, the one she’d fixed up with thrift store finds and garage sale treasures since moving there at sixteen. Her life felt as if it were in ruins.
Her neighbors, people she’d known for almost ten years, were either dead or injured or homeless.
Well, she’d been down to nothing before hadn’t she? When she’d moved out at sixteen, she’d started from scratch. But then so had Kit and Baylee.
She scrubbed both hands over her face. She could come back from this. At least she was alive.
Quinn crawled out of bed and went into the bathroom to take a shower, even though she didn’t have a clue what she’d use for clothes afterward. Glancing at the rumpled bed, she decided to grab one of the blankets to use for a robe.
Reese waited until the shower shut off, waited for several long minutes before knocking on his own bedroom door. When it flew open, Quinn stood there wrapped in nothing but a towel.
He cocked his head. That caramel-colored skin looked damp and moist and good enough to eat. She held another towel in her hand trying to dry that long, silky black mane of hers. He managed to control the primal urge to taste and nibble. “Nice.”
When she merely smirked at him, he held out several shopping bags. “Kit brought you some things to wear.”
“Clothes,” she cried, as she jerked the bags out of his hands. “Is she here?” she asked, as she immediately started going through the bags. Selecting one of the solid, rose-colored tops, which was a form-fitting tunic tee, and a pair of jeans, she moved into the bathroom out of Reese’s view to begin to dress.
“No, she dropped them off a couple of hours ago, hung around for a while, but when you didn’t wake up, she left. We’re supposed to meet up with them whenever you feel like it.”
“I feel like it. Got anything to eat around here? I’m starving.”
Good thing he’d anticipated her appetite. “I made BLTs.”
“Bless you. And coffee?”
“That, too. How do you feel?”
“Better, almost human.”
“You needed the sleep.”
She stepped into range, wearing her borrowed clothes. Her long mane of damp, straight-as-string hair fell well past her shoulders as she ran his comb through its thickness, getting out the tangles. He watched, a little disappointed, as she bundled the still-damp mass up and bound it back with a simple rubber band.
“I washed your shirt and pants from last night…but…laundry isn’t my strong suit. Some of the stains didn’t come out.”
She laughed. And it was a nice laugh for a woman who had lost everything she owned the night before. “You did my laundry? Reese, you are a wonder. Thanks for trying. I should probably send them out to the cleaners though. I guess from here on out, I’ll need every stitch of clothing I can lay my hands on.”
“Kit assures me she has you covered in the clothes department, at least until the two of you can go shopping. And if you need a place to stay, Quinn, my guest room is an option with no strings attached. Although I prefer you sleep where you did last night.”
She walked over to him then, put her fingers to his face, and brought it down to her level. She touched his lips in the faintest of kisses. “Hmm, thank you.”
This man had tucked her in last night. He’d let her sleep like the dead without pressing any advantage. Not every man would have done that. After she gave him another chaste kiss, she said, “I may have to take you up on that since Baylee’s got dibs on Kit’s old place.”
“I’m not sure Dylan plans on letting Baylee go anywhere at the moment without him, and that includes San Madrid. Besides, I think he’s planning to tuck her into his little house in Palisades before long.”
Her forehead crinkled. “You make it sound like Dylan is calling the shots. Baylee is pretty independent…” Not used to Baylee having anyone special in her life, she thumped her own head. “Oh hell, who am I kidding? You’re probably right. I think she’s head over heels in love with the guy.”
She snapped her fingers. “I just thought of something. Gloria’s guest house is empty.”
“But Cade knows that place.”
“True. But he’ll find me here and that puts you in jeopardy. No matter where I go, he’s bound to find me. It’s silly to think he won’t. For crying out loud, he broke into my locker at the hospital, all he had to do was bribe a security guard. And last night…”
Reese frowned. He didn’t like the sound of that. Maybe he could persuade her to take a two-week vacation instead of trying to get her back on rotation so soon. With that, he decided to approach this thing from another angle entirely.
“Is there any family you want to call, Quinn? Let them know what happened.” He was thinking of her father, Nick Tyler. Maybe he could locate her mother, Ella Canyon, too, let her know Quinn needed some help. Kit had mentioned the woman’s last known address was in the San Francisco Bay area. But then she had also reminded him that Ella would be the last person in the world Quinn would want to contact.
When she didn’t say anything, he prodded, “Don’t you think it’s time you got in touch with him? You could use this time to work out your…issues. You’re an adult...”
In the act of going through the clothes Kit had brought, taking inventory of what she had on hand to wear, Quinn’s body went rigid. Reese saw her jaw lock tight and knew he was in for a fight. “No. Don’t even think about it.”
“Quinn, don’t be hard-headed about this. You have three weeks susp…”
She didn’t let him finish. She whirled to face him. “And last night you said you’d try and help me fight that, make it shorter. Now, you want me to what? Contact a man who’s never given me the time of day for no good reason? I’m not doing it. Things have been bad in my life before…I don’t need him around now. Stay out of this, Reese. This is none of your concern, none whatsoever.”
He held up a staying hand. “Just wait a minute. I wrote the injunction to fight the suspension this morning. I got an emergency protection order against Cade, too. It’s good for five days, at which time I’ll apply for a temporary restraining order before we’re granted a hearing for the real deal. So, be reasonable here, Quinn. This is a time to turn to family. Cade blew up your fucking house! What if you’d been home?”
“And trying to contact a man who’s never bothered to get to know me will change that how exactly? Why would I want to do that?”
“He’s your father. After all this time, he might be interested in knowing your situation, concerned to learn you’re in danger.”
“Oh, for god’s sake, spoken like a man who doesn’t know a damned thing about my life.” She gave him the onceover. “Don’t tell me you used to listen to his music. Oh, my God, you’re a fan of his music! News flash, the rock star isn’t interested in me period. He never has been. Now drop it, will you?”
Recognizing the obstinate look in her eyes, this wasn’t getting him where he wanted to go. He tried a different tack. “Look, if you won’t make the call, we could all go over to Ireland, get out of L.A. for a while until this whole thing blows over. It would get us out of town, maybe let this thing with Cade cool off for a bit.”
For a lawyer used to presenting his case, he was falling woefully short.
“And then what? I’d still have to come back and C
ade would no doubt be waiting. And have you forgotten? Gloria and Kit are expecting Ben Griffin to step off a plane at the end of the week. I might add that whole brother-slash-son reunion has me curious. I want to be there when it happens. So I’m not going anywhere, let alone setting foot in Ireland to see a man who hasn’t given me the time of day in twenty-five years.”
“That’s just it; in light of the situation, shouldn’t you at least try to…”
“I’m not begging that asshole for five minutes of his precious time! Been there. Done that. He’s never once taken the time to even see me. And that was when I was much younger, a kid. Why would a rock star care anything about meeting a grown woman now? I won’t go begging for his attention at this late date as an adult.”
Reese started to reply, but she bowled right on. “There’s absolutely no reason he’d want anything to do with me now anyway. Don’t you get that, Reese? You had a loving father. I had no father. Period. Accept the difference. We all can’t be lucky enough to have Mike and Carol Brady for parents.”
And with that, she pushed him back through the open doorway and slammed the door shut in his face.
Okay, he wouldn’t tell her he’d already taken it upon himself to make contact via a phone call to Tyler’s attorney, some guy named Baines. And he realized now what a mistake that had been.
Good intentions, he decided, was going to cause her to explode in his direction. Just when things were getting friendly between them, he’d taken a step on his own he had no business taking.
Ten minutes later, a strained silence hung between them as they ate the tomato soup Reese had heated from a can to go with the chunky BLTs.
Finally Quinn said quietly, “I know you mean well, Reese, but…”
“No, I was out of line. I had no right to interfere.” He sat there looking out the dining room window. “It’s just that if I had a chance to talk to my dad again, I’d take it in a heartbeat. I miss him, the talks we used to have. I even miss his reminiscing about the old days. Although to tell you the truth, at the time his stories bored me silly. But I’d give anything to hear him tell me one of his corny jokes.”
Ending Evil (The Evil Secrets Trilogy Book 3) Page 7
