Mother Nature seemed determined to give them an early taste of winter. Or more likely, they were settling in for more of Cincinnati’s insane weather. Just the day before, it had been sunny and relatively warm for mid-October. Now, Quinn was huddled in his jacket, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, wishing that he’d remembered to throw his winter coat in his car. Or at least a beanie and scarf. Holy shit, it’s cold!

Quinn glanced over at Shane, frowning. He didn’t look cold despite the wind whipping up from the Ohio River to rip through Sawyer Point. A small smirk played briefly across his lips. His mom had always called it the Pig Park, thanks to the four riverboat smokestacks topped with golden flying pigs. It wasn’t a bad park…during the summer months. He’d come down a few times when the city had the Party in the Park celebrations to listen to the free concerts.

There were a few people out, walking and jogging through the park on the dreary, overcast morning, but they were largely alone. The maples were clinging to their orange and yellow leaves, rattling noisily as another breeze passed through.

“Do you think she’s here?” Quinn asked as they turned down one of the paths, putting more distance between them and the river. The trees were helping to protect them some, but Quinn would have preferred to cuddle up against Shane for warmth. But that wasn’t an option either.

Since Quinn had lost his temper in Shane’s office, there had been a lingering barrier between them even though Shane had accepted his apology. It was like neither of them knew how to act, how to get back to their brand of normal. Quinn could practically hear the wheels turning in Shane’s brain, and he was worried about the questions that would inevitably come. He didn’t want to talk about his irrational anger or its possible source. Shane knew enough about his life. More than most.

Plus, flashes of Shane walking with those two men kept popping up in his brain at the worst moments, brutally reminding him that Shane had plenty of other people out there who were more than interested in keeping him happy and satisfied. Shane didn’t need him.

Of course, there was a little voice screaming in the back of his head to just grab Shane with both hands and kiss him until they were both moaning, useless puddles of desire, but that probably wasn’t the best idea when they were supposed to be meeting the hacker. He definitely needed to keep his mind on the job and out of his pants.

“If she’s smart, she is,” Shane said, snapping Quinn from his wandering thoughts. Shane stopped and looked around where they were standing. There was no one else in sight and Quinn found his heart speeding up at the promise that maybe Shane’s thoughts had drifted to the same place as his.

“I probably should have asked this before we got out of the car, but are you packing?”

Quinn blinked at him, his mind struggling to catch up. Not exactly what he was expecting from Shane at all. “Packing?”

“Are you armed? Do you have a gun on you? I know that all of Rowe’s bodyguards are licensed to carry, but I wasn’t sure if you…”

Quinn shook his head. “No. I don’t carry. I don’t like guns.”

“Okay.”

“And if you’re about to say that I shouldn’t have come or that I should have stayed in the car, I can tell you exactly where to shove that sentiment.”

The first smile he’d seen on Shane’s face all morning passed over his lips. “I was thinking that you should stick close since I don’t know exactly what to expect from her. This case hasn’t gone at all how I thought it would. I don’t think I’ll need the gun.”

“Yeah, I guess that’ll work.”

Shane gave a little snort and continued on their path, heading back toward the entrance of Sawyer Point and the giant statue of Cincinnatus, namesake for the city, with his plow. The statue certainly didn’t depict him as a handsome man, but he was definitely powerful. They had arrived well ahead of the appointed time and taken a pass around the park as a way of scouting. Quinn hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary, but then he wasn’t incredibly experienced in the field.

A part of him wanted to do more fieldwork, particularly after helping on Geoffrey’s case at the nightclub, but he knew that his real contributions were what he could uncover with his computer. And any requests for more fieldwork would require more training sessions with Andrei and Sven. That was not more appealing than sitting behind his computer and designing security programs with Gidget.

“Do you see her?”

“Yes,” Shane whispered. “Jogger with the baby stroller. Pan slowly. Don’t stop your eyes on her.”

Quinn did as directed, letting his eyes skim over the small number of people filtering in and out of the park. Heading toward them was a woman jogger dressed in tight-fitting black pants and a black jacket. She was pushing one of those three-wheeled strollers with the big tires used by runners. It wasn’t easy, but he forced his eyes to keep scanning the area after looking at her. He couldn’t begin to guess at what Shane saw that made him think that she was the hacker. The picture they’d found that could be her hadn’t been particularly clear.

But he was right because the second she ran past them with the stroller, she said softly under her breath, “Playground.” She never paused. Never even looked directly at them. Quinn followed Shane’s lead as they remained at the statue for another few minutes before turning back the way they had come a few minutes earlier.

“How did you know?” Quinn murmured. He took a slight misstep and bumped his shoulder into Shane’s. He looked up to find Shane smiling at him before bumping him back.

“No baby in the stroller,” he replied.

“Of course there is.”

“You sure?”

Quinn could feel his brow furrow as he looked straight ahead, but he was mentally replaying the brief glimpse he got of the runner and the stroller. He was sure he’d seen something in there. A bundle wrapped in a blue blanket with some kind of colorful shapes. He saw…well, there had to be a baby in there. He would have noticed if it was just blankets.…

“I saw a bundle.” He looked over to find that Shane’s smile had grown.

“You saw a doll wrapped in blankets.”

“Whoa,” Quinn said on an exhale. He couldn’t believe he’d missed that, but then he’d only had a second to look. Of course, Shane probably took the same amount of time. “I’m impressed.”

“It’s about time.”

Quinn wanted to say something about how he’d been impressed by Shane on a number of occasions since he first met the man, but they turned the last corner and were now just a few feet away from the large playground near the tennis courts. There were a few mothers watching over their bundled-up kids as they screamed and climbed on the colorful jungle gym. The runner was now sitting on the end of a bench alone with the stroller next to her.

Shane took the lead and sat down next to the runner while Quinn took the edge of the bench, fighting the urge to huddle against Shane for warmth.

“I’m surprised you didn’t call the cops in,” the woman said in a low voice. She pulled out her phone and started tapping on it. Quinn watched her flip through one app after another, giving the appearance to all the world that she was looking up something rather than talking to them.

“I thought about it, Dr. Masters.” Shane leaned back and put his arm around Quinn’s shoulders, pulling him in tight. His body longed to lean into him, but his brain was screaming that it was just an act.

Quinn struggled not to react to Shane’s use of her name. He edged forward just a little to look around Shane to get a clear view of her face.

“How did you know who I was?”

“Rose from the Conservatory shared a group picture taken last year. You were standing right next to Mrs. Spring.” And now that Shane had it, he saw the woman in the picture standing next to Brenda Spring. The head horticulturist for Krohn Conservatory with a specialty in orchids. The two peas in a pod. The one person Brenda Spring could always get to smile.…

Kate’s fingers paused on her phone for a moment and she gave a soft grunt.

“I’m hoping you’ve got a damn good reason for me not to call the cops,” Shane continued when she remained quiet.

“He killed the woman I loved and he killed my son,” she replied, her voice cracking at the end.

Quinn clamped his teeth together to keep from reacting, while Shane’s arm tightened around his shoulders. Neither of them had known about her son.

“When was your son—”

“Two weeks ago. You know. You were there.”

“But…Jacopo…” Shane swore softly and closed his eyes for several seconds, pain clearly scrawled across his face. “He contacted me to find his missing mother.”

“He used that name?” Her voice broke on the last word. “We both loved that book. And now he’s dead and you’re working for the mayor. How do I know you didn’t set my son up?”

“Never,” Shane snarled. His hand tightened, fingers digging painfully into Quinn’s shoulder. Against his better judgment, Quinn reached over and put his right hand on Shane’s knee, squeezing and rubbing his thumb back and forth, trying to ease the anger he could feel humming through Shane’s entire frame. It was hard to hold his tongue, particularly after he’d questioned Shane’s integrity in much the same way just the other day. But it was wrong.

Shane drew in a deep breath through his nose, his eyes on the children running around the playground in front of them. It was nearly a minute later when he spoke again, but his voice was calmer and controlled now. “I would never. There’s no reason.”

“Unless you’re in his pocket,” Dr. Masters shot back and then nodded toward Quinn. “The only reason I’m sitting here right now is him.”

Quinn couldn’t help but lean forward a bit to look around Shane in shock. “Me?”

“Quinn?” Shane said at the same time.

“He’s with Ward Security and the owner has a reputation for his honest dealings. He would have checked you out before he would have let you use his IT Specialist.”

Sitting back again, Quinn stared straight ahead, stunned. She’d definitely done her homework. And she was right. Rowe would have done his checks on Shane before he even thought about loaning Quinn out. It would have been his way of protecting Quinn and Ward Security.

“Look, Kate, there’s nothing I can say that will convince you that I’m not going to betray you to anyone, other than my word. I didn’t know the kid was your son. I’m sorry I couldn’t save him.”

Her hand tightened around the phone she was holding, and she gave a little nod. “He was just trying to protect me.”

“Can you help me? Do you have any kind of proof? Proof of who shot your son? Or how you know that Spring killed his wife? The police ruled it an accident.”

“His damn bodyguard killed Jason.”

“And Brenda?”

“I don’t have the proof yet, but I know where it is. He’s got security cameras in that house. It’s there. I know it.”

“We need more. I—” Shane suddenly broke off and lurched to the side as something loudly thunked in the wood beside him. “Shit!”

Quinn hit the cold ground hard after Shane gave him a shove off the end of the bench. He started to turn when Shane shouted: “Everyone get down! Shooter!”

Screams erupted in the park as parents ran for their children while kids started immediately crying. On his hands and knees, Quinn scurried for cover behind the bench, the cold completely forgotten. He wanted to shout for Shane to move, but he was covering Kate on the ground with his body. Panic lanced through him, his heart threatening to jump straight out of his chest. He leaned down, trying to see under the bench and get a good view of Shane while pulling his phone out of his back pocket. He didn’t know whether to try to get back to his feet to help the fleeing parents and children get out of the area or find a way to distract the shooter so that Shane and Kate could move to better cover.

Another bullet hit the ground just a few inches from where Shane was laying over Kate, sending up a spray of dirt. The phone was forgotten in Quinn’s hand as he watched helplessly as Shane scrambled up to his knees, half lifting Kate with him while still shielding her as much as possible with his larger body. He barely managed to get them both moving when another shot sliced through the air, strafing across the back of Shane’s thigh. His muffled cry cut through Quinn as he watched the man stumble and stop. Kate kept running, staying low. More bullets followed her as she ran for the nearest band of trees and the river.

She was enough of a distraction that Quinn was able to get over to her abandoned stroller and shove it between Shane and the shooter’s line of sight. It wasn’t great cover, but it would buy him a few seconds. Keeping low, he hurried over to Shane’s side where the detective was getting back to his hands and knees.

“Quinn—” he started as Quinn pulled Shane’s arm over his shoulder and helped him back to his feet.

“How bad is it?” Quinn cut him off. He was sure if Shane started spouting any “leave me behind, save yourself” shit, he was going to punch the man.

“Feels like my goddamn leg is on fire.”

Quinn got Shane into a small cluster of trees with thick trunks for cover. The shots had stopped, but that didn’t mean the shooter had left the area. He could have just been moving to a better position to take out Kate or even them. He could only hope that the police sirens he heard steadily increasing in volume had scared the shooter off, but Quinn wasn’t willing to take that kind of chance with Shane’s life.

Carefully, he helped Shane sit on the ground, shoulder against the trunk. His wounded left thigh was lifted so Quinn could inspect the wound. “Where’s your gun?” Quinn demanded as he shucked his jacket.

“Right ankle,” Shane bit out through clenched teeth.

Quinn jerked up Shane’s pant leg and pulled the Smith & Wesson snub-nose revolver from the holder. “This is what you carry for protection?” Quinn mocked as he handed the gun over to Shane.

“Isn’t there a great saying about it’s not the size but how you use it that matters?”

Quinn allowed a weak smile. Shane cracking jokes helped, but there was no missing the pain and worry in his dark eyes. Quinn wanted to lean in and kiss him, tell him that they were going to get out of this alive, but he couldn’t lie to him. They had no idea where the shooter was, and if they managed to get away from the park without further injury, they had an even bigger problem to deal with when it came to the information that Kate had given them.

“I think this may be one of those instances where I’m going to say that size fucking matters.” He moved behind Shane to get a closer look at where the bullet hit him. He knew exactly nothing about first aid beyond applying the occasional band-aid to a paper cut and calamine lotion to poison ivy rashes, but he needed to make sure that Shane wasn’t going to bleed out before real help arrived.

“And I think that you need to hang out with people other than Rowe and his band of fucking—holy fuck! What are you doing back there?” Shane shouted over the ripping of his pants.

Quinn pulled the new opening in Shane’s pants a little wider. “I need to see how bad you’re hurt.” There was a lot of blood and a long, angry slash across the back of his upper thigh, but it looked like the bullet had just ripped across the meaty part of his leg and not dug in.

“Am I gonna lose the leg, Dr. Lake?” Shane demanded irritably. He sucked in a loud breath when Quinn continued to poke around the wound.

Quinn snorted as he rolled his jacket into a long strip of material and wrapped it around Shane’s thigh in an effort to slow the bleeding. “Nah. Not this time, but I bet you’re glad you didn’t choose to go commando today.” He could easily see the black boxer briefs through the new hole in the slacks and the wind was picking up again.

“Too cold today for that shit.”

“You’ll be okay until the paramedics get here. I’m just going to—”

He’d started to move around Shane, edging back toward the playground when Shane’s free hand snaked out and roughly grabbed Quinn by the wrist, halting him.

“Where the hell are you going?”

“I need to make sure that there’s no one else hurt or trapped on the playground.”

“Quinn.”

“It’s quiet. He’s probably run already rather than getting caught by the cops.”

“Take this,” Shane said, trying to press the gun on him.

He shook his head and then carefully pried Shane’s fingers off his wrist. “Trust me, you’re better off with that than I am.” He’d never shot a gun before. Never wanted to. Besides, if the shooter was still out there, he was hidden. Quinn knew he had no chance in hell in hitting him. He’d much rather Shane have that little bit of protection.

“I don’t like this.”

Quinn got it. Shane didn’t want him risking his life and it warmed him deep down, while he struggled to not allow those words to come to mean something more to him. But it also meant that Shane understood that he had to do this. If Shane could easily move, he’d be right there with Quinn, ensuring that there weren’t any parents or kids out there hurt or terrified. So he let go of Quinn.

Keeping low, Quinn scrambled across the ground, back toward the edge of the tree cover so that he could clearly see the playground that was now unsettlingly silent. There were no kids. No laughter. No parents sitting on benches, their eyes bouncing between their kids and their cell phones. The swings were still. He spotted a stray pink, knit hat. A small shoe. But no bodies. No blood.

He released a shaky breath of relief and crawled back to Shane, who immediately grabbed Quinn’s hand, pulling him close.

“Everyone got out safely.”

“Thank God,” Shane said on a sigh.

“What do we do now?”

Shane looked away from Quinn, his fingers tightening on Quinn’s hand for a moment before releasing him. His expression turned grim and Quinn’s stomach twisted. “I don’t know,” Shane admitted.

Quinn had a feeling that when Shane finally made his decision for their next step, he wasn’t going to like it.