Perilous Seas

by Lily Harper Hart

  “You need to stay here,” he countered. “Your girlfriend will be fine. I already talked to the emergency responders. They say her life isn’t in jeopardy.”

  For some reason, the man’s tone shredded every ounce of patience Quinn had. “My girlfriend was just shot,” he hissed. “You may not think it’s a big deal, but it’s a big freaking deal to me.”

  “I understand that.” Morgan didn’t as much as blink. “You’re upset. Anyone would be in your position. It’s a trying ordeal.”

  His response only made matters worse for Quinn. “I’m not panicking just to panic. I’m not responding in this manner because I’m looking for attention. That is my girlfriend.” He jabbed a finger toward the closing ambulance doors. “She needs me.”

  “And I need you to answer my questions. The sooner you do, the sooner you can go to the hospital.”

  It took everything Quinn had not to start throwing punches. “What do you want? I’ve told you everything I know.”

  “Except what you were doing out here so late at night.”

  “So late at night? It’s not even nine yet. We were at Crabby Bill’s for dinner. We decided to take a walk afterwards because it was such a nice night and we both love the water. We sat on the sand, laughed about how much food we ate, and then someone started shooting. That’s it!”

  “Are you local?”

  “We’re on The Bounding Storm, a cruise liner anchored a bit further up the coastline. We were in Tierra Verde for the afternoon and stopped here for dinner on our way back.”

  “And what were you doing in Tierra Verde?”

  “Hanging out with a man we met several months ago. He has a beach house. We were catching up. We spent the day relaxing and came here.”

  “And you didn’t cross paths with anyone while you were in Tierra Verde?”

  Quinn recognized what he was insinuating … and he didn’t like it. “Are you asking if my girlfriend deserved for this to happen to her?”

  “Of course not. I’m simply trying to ascertain if you crossed paths with the wrong person.”

  “What? Like a Tierra Verde gangbanger somehow decided that Rowan disrespected him and wanted revenge?”

  “I think you’re being a little dramatic.”

  “And I think I watched the woman I love get shot in front of me and you’re keeping me here when she’s on her way to the hospital. I don’t understand why you can’t question me there.”

  Morgan cocked an eyebrow. “Because I’m here and I need a feel for the scene. You’re the only witness who saw things go down up close and personal.”

  “And you think I did it?”

  “No. There were two women on the beach who took cover when the shots rang out. They weren’t close enough to hear your conversation. They did, however, say you took cover immediately and sheltered your girlfriend with your body. I don’t believe you did it.”

  “But you do believe we did something to earn it.” Quinn was officially fed up. “Well, we didn’t … and I can’t stay here a minute longer. I need to get to Rowan. She’s going to be confused when things clear for her, and I’m damned well going to be there when that happens.”

  “I’ve been doing this job for ten years,” Morgan supplied. “In that time, I’ve never seen someone specifically targeted on the beach and shot for no reason.”

  “I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

  “We’ll see, huh?”

  “I guess we will.”

  QUINN WAITED UNTIL HE arrived at the hospital to call Nick and Paul. He considered calling Sally and Demarcus – they were both close with Rowan and would want to know what happened – but he could hardly invite them to hang around at the hospital with Rowan’s rumored dead father. That wouldn’t go over well.

  “Anything?” Nick asked as they strode into the waiting room an hour later, both of them pale as death.

  “She’s being treated,” Quinn replied, his voice weak. “They won’t tell me what’s going on.”

  “Where was she shot?” Paul asked.

  “On the beach.”

  “No, I mean … where? Is she in surgery? Was she shot in the head?”

  “Oh.” Quinn shook his head when he realized how irresponsible he had been when relaying information to the men earlier. “I’m sorry. I should’ve told you from the start. She was shot in the shoulder. I don’t think it’s a bad wound … although she was still shot so it’s bad enough that I want to kill someone.”

  “You and me both,” Nick commented as he patted Quinn’s shoulder in a reassuring manner. “While I’m not happy she’s been shot, things could be worse.”

  Quinn recognized what he was saying – Rowan could be dead, after all – but he couldn’t look on the bright side of things under the circumstances. “I just want to see her. There was this detective on the beach. He wouldn’t let me go to the hospital with her. I just … I can’t take this.” He blew out a sigh and dropped his head into his hands.

  “It’s okay, son.” Nick wasn’t sure how to soothe Quinn, but he felt he needed to try given his brother’s grim reaction. Paul almost seemed worse off than Quinn and he wasn’t the one who witnessed the shooting. “She’s going to be okay. I have faith.”

  “I just want to see her.”

  “Join the club.” Nick sat in the open chair next to him. “Right now, all we can do is wait. They’ll tell us when we can see her. Hopefully it won’t be too long.”

  “It had better not be. I’m at my limit.”

  “I can tell. Just keep it together for a bit longer. You might be surprised how fast the time goes.”

  Quinn didn’t believe that for a second. “They have thirty minutes and then I’m forcing my way back there.”

  “I’ll help you,” Paul offered with a wan smile. “We’ll find our girl together.”

  “Now that right there is a plan,” Nick said. “Thirty minutes. I’ll start watching the clock.”

  THEY WAITED AN HOUR … and then Quinn couldn’t take one more second of not knowing.

  “I’m done.” He hopped to his feet at the exact moment a doctor breezed through the doors that opened from the inner bowels of the hospital. He had no idea what he was going to do. He couldn’t see beyond making it to the other side of the door. Thankfully he didn’t have to think further because the doctor zeroed in on him right away.

  “I’m Dr. Carpenter,” he announced, extending his hand. “You’re the boyfriend, right?”

  “I am,” Quinn confirmed as Paul and Nick moved to flank him. “These are friends.” He didn’t know how else to describe the men. Obviously, he couldn’t tell the truth. “I called them for support when I arrived and no one had an update.”

  “I’m sorry for how long it took.” Carpenter appeared sincere. “We wanted to make sure that everything was copacetic and ordered a full set of X-rays. The good news is that Ms. Gray is going to be fine. The wound to her shoulder is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, although I doubt that’s little comfort to you.”

  “How did you treat her?” Nick asked.

  “She didn’t require surgery. The bullet didn’t strike a vein or artery. It was a through and through and we didn’t have to dig for fragments. Since it’s her left shoulder and she’s right-handed, it hopefully shouldn’t affect her too much.”

  “What does that mean for her recovery?” Quinn queried.

  “Well, for starters, she’s going to have to take it easy,” Carpenter replied. “We’re going to keep her here overnight and give her a strong antibiotic and painkillers. We should be able to release her in the morning. We’ll give her a prescription for the pain and she’s going to be on light duty. My understanding is that she’s a photographer.”

  Quinn nodded. “Yeah. If she can’t hold the camera, don’t worry about it. I can get her a special dispensation until she’s medically cleared.”

  “I think she’ll be able to hold the camera in about two weeks. I don’t know what that means for your schedule.”
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  “That means she’ll miss a cruise, but we can get a temporary photographer in to take her place. I’ll handle it.”

  “That’s good.” Carpenter shot him a sympathetic smile. “Right now, she’s confused and groggy. We want her to sleep as much as possible. We’re about to move her to a regular room for the night. If you wish to stay with her, that can be arranged.”

  “I definitely want to stay with her,” Quinn said. “In fact, I’ll go to her right now.”

  “Actually, it would be better if you could wait for another twenty minutes. We’ll have her transported to her room by then and you can have some privacy.”

  It wasn’t what Quinn wanted to hear, but he nodded. “Okay. Don’t forget about me.”

  “Something tells me you wouldn’t allow that to happen.”

  “Definitely not.” Quinn waited until Carpenter disappeared through the doors to speak. “She’s okay.”

  “That’s good,” Nick said, glancing around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping. “I was legitimately worried there for a bit, but it sounds as if she’ll be as good as new in a few weeks.”

  “Yeah.”

  “She was still shot,” Paul snapped, taking everybody by surprise with his vehemence. He hadn’t spoken in some time and Quinn had almost forgotten he was there.

  “We know she was shot,” Nick said. “There’s nothing we can do about that.”

  “She was shot.” This time Paul sounded more mournful. “This is my fault. I came back into her life and she barely made it a few weeks before she was almost killed because of me.”

  Quinn wasn’t in the mood to bolster Paul’s spirits – he had his own spirits to worry about, after all – but he couldn’t very well let the man blame himself. “Let’s not do this, okay? She’s going to be fine. Focusing on the things we can’t change is a surefire way to insanity.”

  “That’s easy for you to say.” Paul’s tone took on a biting edge. “You’re not the reason she was shot. You were the one out there protecting her. I should’ve stayed away.”

  “No, you shouldn’t have stayed away.” Quinn practically growled the words. “You hurt her just as much as a bullet when you walked away like you did. Not knowing is worse than just about anything.”

  “I have to go.” Tears flooded Paul’s eyes. “She’s not safe. They obviously know who I really am, where I am. I don’t know how – I’ve been so careful, I swear it – but I have to leave again. That’s the only way she’ll be safe.”

  “How do you figure that?” Nick was incredulous. “If they know, there’s no putting that cat back in the bag. Besides, we don’t know that’s what happened here. I mean … what does shooting Rowan get them? They want her alive so they can watch her perform. They don’t want her dead.”

  “What else could it be?” Paul sounded like a defeated man. “There’s no other explanation.”

  “There’s one,” Quinn countered, his stomach doing an uneasy somersault as he remembered Patrice’s face as the Rolls-Royce slowly rolled past the beach house’s driveway several hours before. “There’s every chance you weren’t the reason for any of this.”

  “And what chance is that?” Paul looked so hopeful it almost broke Quinn’s heart.

  “Patrice Sterling,” he replied. “She drove by when we were getting on the motorcycle. Rowan had her helmet on, but I didn’t. She looked right at me.”

  Nick furrowed his brow. “I don’t understand. Why would that matter?”

  “Because they’re up to something. She was with Byron at the time. They weren’t doing anything but seeing me so close to the house might’ve jolted them. If they’re suspicious about me, what I believe, they might not be able to justify in their minds why I would be in that area.”

  “That’s interesting,” Nick noted. “If they saw you, that means they sent someone to follow you. Do you think that’s possible?”

  Quinn racked his brain. “Anything is possible,” he said finally. “I wasn’t paying attention like I should’ve been. I didn’t look behind us. We were having a good time. I purposely took her to a restaurant where she could wear a bib to eat crab and she thought that was hilarious.

  “We were on the beach after, talking about our future,” he continued, his voice cracking. “I should’ve been paying closer attention. I was worried when I saw the way Patrice looked at me. I pushed it out of my mind, though. That was stupid.”

  “Knock that off,” Paul said gruffly, grabbing Quinn’s arm and giving it a firm shake. “You’re not to blame.”

  “Two minutes ago you were going on and on about how you were to blame,” Quinn pointed out. “You were going to run again, which would’ve crushed her. You can’t do that. Not again. She won’t recover twice. She needs you to be strong.”

  Paul let loose a sigh, the sound long and drawn out. “Fine. I won’t do that again. No matter what, we’ll see this through to the end. You have to take your own advice, though. You can’t blame yourself for this. It was a fluke.”

  “He’s right,” Nick said. “You couldn’t have known that Patrice would be driving past at the exact moment you guys were leaving. That’s just bad luck.”

  “It’s going to be her bad luck.” Quinn rubbed the back of his neck as he rolled his shoulders. “I don’t think she pulled the trigger herself. She obviously recognized me, though. She’s the only one who could’ve arranged for someone to move on us that fast.”

  “Well, her and Byron,” Nick argued. “You said he was with her. He might not have seen you himself, but she could’ve easily told him. For all we know, Patrice is innocent and Byron is behind all of this.”

  Quinn hated to admit it, but the man had a point. “I don’t think Byron would be stupid enough to pull the trigger, though,” he said after a moment’s contemplation. “If he’s the one who decided to go after us, then he had to hire a shooter. I don’t see where he has the funds to pay for something like that.”

  “Which brings us back to Patrice,” Paul mused. “She has to be involved.”

  “Definitely.” Quinn gripped his hands into fists at his sides. “She’s definitely involved, and she’s going to rue the day she decided to hurt one hair on Rowan’s head. I’ll make her pay for that.”

  “We all will. I think that’s the one thing we can agree on.”

  14

  Fourteen

  Even though Nick and Paul would’ve preferred sitting by Rowan’s bedside all night, Quinn convinced them it was a bad idea. It wasn’t that he wanted to keep Rowan all to himself — and he was certain Paul bitterly thought that at one point — but it would be hard to explain why they were sitting vigil if the cops decided to check in. Explaining why the men were so worried could cause someone to be suspicious. With that in mind Quinn sent them off with promises that he would text regular updates.

  Once Rowan was moved to a standard room, Quinn had nothing to do but sit ... or pace ... or stare out the window, cursing anyone he thought could’ve possibly had the gall to hurt her. She was dead to the world, completely unaware of his inner turmoil. That only allowed him to wallow to the point where he was imagining bloody revenge on a multitude of Sterlings when he finally drifted off in the chair.

  He woke early the next morning when a nurse came in to check on Rowan. He shifted in his chair and rubbed the crusties from his eyes as he watched the woman — her nametag read “Susan” — check Rowan’s vitals and carefully pull back the bandage on her shoulder so she could verify the wound still looked clean and clear.

  “Is she okay?” Quinn asked as rubbed his cheeks to get the circulation going.

  Susan smiled at him. “She seems fine. We’ll know more when she wakes up, which we want to let her do on her own. There’s no reason to force her awake.”

  Quinn’s expression darkened. “I wasn’t planning on forcing her awake.”

  Susan’s smile never wavered. “I know. You look agitated, though. I’m guessing sleeping in a chair didn’t leave you feeling fresh and relaxed.”


  “I honestly don’t care about that.” Quinn flicked his eyes to Rowan when she shifted in the bed and made a murmuring sound. “She’s going to wake up soon.”

  Susan lifted an eyebrow. “How do you know that?”

  “She makes the same noise before she wakes up every morning. I guess it might take longer because of the drugs they gave her, but she’s going to wake up.”

  Susan was sympathetic as she crossed over and patted his arm. “She’s definitely going to wake up. I know it’s not going to make you feel better to hear this, but as far as gunshot wounds go, she got really lucky. Things could’ve been much worse.”

  Quinn kept telling himself that as he woke over the interminable night and immediately checked to make sure she was still breathing in the bed beside him. The words had yet to sink in.

  “I just want her to wake up.” His smile was rueful. “She’s not a morning person, though. She’ll be crabby. I can’t wait to hear her complain about being in a hospital.”

  “Oh, you’re kind of cute, huh?” Susan was in her fifties and her words were more motherly than flirty. “The other nurses have been watching you all night. You’re quite the celebrity. I’m pretty sure almost all of them have a crush on you because of the way you keep getting up and making sure she’s tucked in tight.”

  Quinn was earnest. “I love her.”

  “I think that’s obvious. She’ll wake up soon. The doctor will be back to check on her when that happens.”

  “It can’t come soon enough.”

  Quinn lapsed into silence again when Susan left. He took to watching Rowan for signs she was about to open her eyes.

  He jumped every time her fingers fluttered.

  He leaned forward every time she made a murmuring sound.

  He fought off tears whenever he looked at her shoulder wound.

  He was a bundle of nerves ... and then it happened. Out of nowhere, Rowan moved her arms above her head to stretch and made a growling sound in the back of her throat when the pain from her injured shoulder hit her full on.