Chapter Twelve
Quinn was in his kitchen making coffee, putting off the call to Jake as long as possible. His cell was on vibrate so as not to wake Kate. He swallowed a smile as he thought of all the reasons she was sleeping so late. When the phone buzzed against his hip, he grabbed it and flipped it open.
Shit!
“Quinn?” Jake’s voice thundered across the connection.
“Yup. Right here.”
“I thought you were going to call me this morning.”
“Sorry, compadre. My fault. Time just got away from me.”
“Any other time I’d be overjoyed. Are you alone?”
Quinn frowned. “Why? Do I have to be?”
“You might want to have this conversation in private.”
“Listen, Jake. What’s going on? I talked to…the person you’re interested in last night, and she’s willing to meet with you. But just you.” He quietly let himself out onto the front porch and settled on the bench at the far end. “Even though you shot your mouth off yesterday when I asked you not to. So what’s up?”
“Please try to understand this isn’t just any old case here, okay?” Jake’s voice held a pleading note. “There’s a hell of a lot at stake.”
Quinn’s grip on the phone tightened. “No kidding. Tell me something I don’t know.”
Silence hummed along the connection, then Jake cleared his throat. “I have someone here who wants to talk to you.”
Quinn felt anger rise within him, tinged with the edge of fear for Kate. Thanks, Jake.
“Long time, Quinn.” Dean Morgan’s deep voice resonated across the connection. “And Jake really didn’t have much choice in this. He knew what he had to do.”
“Hello, Dean.” God damn it. Quinn’s body tensed. “What can I do for you today?”
“Jake tells me you might have someone staying at your place that we’d all like to talk to.” He paused. “A woman every gun in the Osuna cartel is hunting.”
“Jake has a very active imagination.”
“If he’s right, I want to know how you met her and where she is right at this moment.”
“You don’t want much, do you?” Kate would freak out six different ways if she knew anyone but Jake had this information. Damn, damn, damn.
“Don’t play games here, Quinn. You can’t just waltz into town out of nowhere after four years, ask about a case the whole DOJ is focused on and not expect people to react. You have no idea what’s at stake.”
“Is that a fact?” Now the anger was surging through him and his good intentions were rapidly disappearing. “It seems to me I might know better than anyone else on your staff what’s at stake in situations like this.”
Silence hummed across the air. “I’m sorry. You’re right, of course. Forgive my insensitivity. But you’re going to have to bring the Burke woman into this office.”
“Damn it, Dean. That woman’s life is at stake.”
“No one knows that more than we do. But you can’t just keep her hidden up there in the hills, Quinn. You need to bring her in.”
“Like hell,” Quinn exploded. “The office didn’t do a very good job of keeping Lisa and Nikki safe, and they were only bystanders.”
“Be reasonable.” Dean kept his voice steady and calm. “We had no way of anticipating what happened.”
“You should have and I should have. We didn’t, so this time I’m taking precautions. Besides, what makes you think she can tell you anything?”
“She can at least give us an idea why the hell the whole Osuna cartel is looking for her.”
Oh, that she can.
“If she does know, maybe she’s not too anxious to put herself out there at risk.”
Dean was silent for a moment. “Surely, she can at least tell us what she knows about Peter Fleming. Besides, if the Osunas want her this badly, I want her, too. And before they find her.”
Frustration raged through Quinn knowing Dean wasn’t going to be put off for very long.
“Listen,” his ex-boss went on. “I know Jake told you this is a very volatile, high profile case. We’ve been banging our heads against stone walls ever since the DEA agent bought it, and we aren’t getting anything except a headache. We need something, Quinn. I shouldn’t have to tell you how that goes.”
“Okay, okay, I get your point. Do you get mine?” He swallowed some coffee, now turning cold. “She’s scared out of her mind, and she doesn’t trust anyone. I came to Jake for information only because I needed to find out exactly who was after her that had her so badly frightened. That’s it. He ran to you with his speculations, which doesn’t sit too well with me. I could easily put her someplace where you’ll never find her. And you know I can do it.”
“Kane Barton will fry your ass if he finds out and gets hold of you,” Dean told him.
Kane was the senior U.S. Attorney for the district and everyone’s boss in the division.
“Then I’ll have to make sure that doesn’t happen. And you might point out to him my ass isn’t his to fry anymore.”
The silence thrumming across the connection was like a living thing.
“All right.” Dean broke the stalemate. “I don’t like this, but I guess I don’t have much choice, short of storming your house. What do you suggest? What’s your offer?”
“I already told Jake I’d call him this morning. He just jumped the gun. Here’s what we’ll do. Let Jake come out here and talk to her. She’s very skittish and with good reason. Then, if we have to, we can work into a meeting with you and Kane. But Jake first. Alone.”
The heavy sigh was audible. “All right. I’m willing to cut you a break here. But only for a limited time. Let Jake come out and talk to her. Then we’ll see.”
“Put Jake back on the phone.”
“Yo.” Jake’s voice rumbled across the connection.
“Dinner at seven tonight. Don’t be late. And I run the meeting.”
Quinn broke the connection and slid his cell phone into his pocket. Professionally and intellectually he knew Dean was right. Kate was the first person in a direct link with the Osunas available to them. And of course, there was that flash drive, which belonged in the hands of the Justice Department.
Personally he wanted to keep her as far from the action as he could. Away from any situation where her presence could be compromised, even though he knew to protect her she had to tell what she knew. Had to help bring down the cartel or they’d never stop hunting her. He’d told her he’d keep her safe, and he didn’t want to break that promise.
Damn, damn, damn.
****
When Kate opened her eyes the next morning, she was pleasantly sore and very well satisfied. Even though a fresh challenge awaited her, she felt stronger, more able to face it. Because of Quinn.
She smiled to herself. Time was now divided into two segments—before Quinn and after Quinn. She’d lived a lifetime with him in a very small amount of time.
The nights were incredible. Making slow delicious love followed by blissful sleep, surrounded by Quinn’s body, safe in his arms.
Yawning, she stretched and pushed out of bed. Finding his shirt on the chair next to the bed, she held it to her face for a moment, inhaling the now familiar scent that was purely Quinn, a woodsy male scent that sent warmth flooding through her.
Then reality slapped her, and she remembered that this morning he’d be calling Jake again, and neither of them knew what would happen after that. With a weighted sigh, she slipped the shirt on and went in search of the man himself.
The kitchen was empty when she walked into it, but the aroma of fresh coffee teased at her nostrils. Through the tall windows she could see Quinn on the porch, pacing, cell phone glued to his ear.
She hoped he was right, that his friend, Jake, could help her find a way for this all to be over. Then maybe her life could get back to something approaching normal.
Normal. That was a laugh. She wasn’t even sure she knew what normal was any more. She was just reaching for a mug when Quinn let himself back in, a grim look on his face. Her stomach lurched.
Oh, God, now what?
****
Kate was standing in the kitchen wearing one of his shirts when Quinn walked back into the house. The sight of her made him hard as a rock. She looked so damned sexy, stretching to reach a mug, the shirt riding up on those wonderful legs, the fabric sliding off one shoulder. He had to restrain himself from grabbing her and hauling her to the bedroom.
Maybe afterwards. After he told her dinner was on.
He was still astounded by his need for her. It had grown until it clawed at him and filled every corner of his body and soul. Somehow, she had the key to unlock the part of him he’d kept locked up behind bars for four very long years. He guessed there was a lot to be said for chemistry, but it was more than that. She was one with him now, and he knew he’d never be the same again.
Nor did he want to be.
When he closed the door, she turned and her smile went straight through to the core of his soul. Okay. He would get them past this nightmare. Then they could look at building a future together. A future that, two days ago, he would have sworn didn’t matter or even exist.
He wanted to smile back at her, but the conversation with Jake was too fresh in his mind. He knew what was coming, and he had to prepare her for it. Dinner might wear a friendly face, but with a case as hot as the one against the Osunas, Jake would only cut them so much slack.
Kate caught the look on Quinn’s face, then poured her coffee with hands that shook slightly. He came up behind her, his sudden touch almost causing her to slosh her coffee. She turned in his arms and searched his eyes, trying to read him, but he’d lived with a closed expression for so long…
“Refill?” She held out the pot, nodding at the empty mug on the counter.
He nodded. “Then we’ll sit down and talk about what Jake had to say.”
They sat at the bar, her shaking hands wrapped firmly around the coffee mug. She took a slow sip, then set the mug back down. Her stomach was turning somersaults, and a cold feeling crept up her spine.
“Just spit it out,” she burst out. “Whatever it is can’t be worse than sitting here making myself sick with worry. I assume that was Jake you were talking to on the phone. He wants to do something you’re against, right?”
“Right. He called me before I could get back to him.”
“Did you tell him about dinner? What did he say?”
He took her hands in his, closing his fingers around them. “I told you last night I was sure Jake had talked to Dean Morgan, my former boss, about this.”
She nodded. “And?”
“He put Dean on the phone. Kate, this thing is so much bigger than either you or I realize.”
Her face turned so pale Quinn was afraid she might faint. He held the coffee mug up to her lips.
“Drink. It’s okay. No one’s coming out here to drag you away.”
“Are you sure?” Her heart was racing.
“Positive. I made a deal with him. I told him we’d let Jake come out here and talk to you and assess your situation and take it from there. I didn’t say a word about the flash drive. That’s our ace in the hole, to help us call the shots.”
She started to protest, but he held a finger to her lips. “It’s the best thing we can do, Kate. We talked about this, remember? He needs to hear what you have to say, and then you have to give him that flash drive. They’ll open it, get their information and move forward with their case. Keep in mind, as long as you have it, you’ll still be a target for the cartel.”
“I’m not giving that drive to just anyone, Quinn.”
We pay people everywhere. Cops, prosecutors…
She couldn’t get the words out of her brain. Fear of the drive falling into the wrong hands and leading back to her consumed her.
“And that’s why you’re going to give it to Jake,” he reminded her. “Because we can trust him. I swear it on my life.”
“I’m sorry.” She bit her lip. Trust, even with Quinn, was hard for her to give. “I know I’m just being paranoid because of what Peter said.”
He sighed. “All right. I can talk until I’m blue in the face, so let’s do this. Tonight you can meet Jake and judge for yourself. Fair enough? But keep in mind that stopping the cartel is the only way to keep you alive. And that flash drive is the key.”
“I guess that’s okay.” No, it’s not, she wanted to scream, but they didn’t have too many choices here. If only her father hadn’t been caught in a trap. If only Peter hadn’t walked into his office. If only…
Quinn brushed his knuckles along her cheek, a light caress. “Remember, I’m with you all the way here.”
He pulled her against his body and took her mouth in a kiss that began as a gentle caress then took on a life of its own. He pressed his lips hard against hers, holding her face between warm hands. She grabbed his wrists but in a moment relaxed, and he lifted his head.
Kate tried to put everything she was feeling into that kiss, but then, like a dash of cold water, something struck her and she pulled back. “Wait, wait, wait. What about Jake’s boss? And his boss? They know about me now, so who else does? Are they trustworthy? How do I know they aren’t…”
Quinn cupped her chin, holding her head steady, his gaze locking with hers.
“They were also my bosses until I quit the office four years ago,” he told her in a calm voice. “I trusted them, and you have my word that you can, too.”
“I have to believe in you,” she said, almost in desperation. “You’re all I have.”
“I won’t let you down. That’s a promise.” He slid off his stool, taking her with him and leaning down for another kiss.
Kate knew he meant it to be tender and reassuring, just the briefest of contacts, but as soon as his mouth touched hers, she opened for him, hungry for more than the light contact.
Gripped by a desperate need to crawl into him where it was safe and warm and secure, she tasted him greedily. She shuddered as his tongue, now provoked, dueled with hers, and just like that, fire erupted between them. She was drowning, a whirlpool of sensation closing over her, drawing her deeper, pulling her in.
Lifting her in his arms, he carried her into the bedroom. In seconds he had them both stripped naked. Covering her with his body, he plunged them into a mating so ravenous, so savage, it left them breathless.
It was a long time before they thought about anything else.
****
They were lying naked on his bed, the ceiling fan cooling their sweat-slicked bodies, neither of them anxious to move.
Kate threw an arm over his chest, leaning her head against the hard wall of muscle, rubbing her cheek against the soft fur of his curls. “I’m so sorry about your family, Quinn. I can’t imagine the pain you’ve had to live with.”
His fingers trailed idly up and down her arm. “I think maybe some mystic force was ready to give me a swift kick in the ass and put you out on the highway for me to find. I never thought it possible, but when I hold you, the pain isn’t nearly as bad.”
“Too bad I had to come with such a truckload of trouble. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”
“I’m a big boy, Kate. I could walk away at any time. But I’m not. I’m here for the long haul, so hang onto that thought, okay?” He rubbed his lips over hers, his tongue just barely probing.
“Okay.” The panic was still hiding deep inside, waiting to be released again, but she was sure deep in her bones there wasn’t anything Quinn couldn’t handle.
“Tonight, you’ll tell your story to Jake,” he reminded her. “Everything. Including the flash drive. He’ll help us figure out what to do next to get you out of the cartel’s line of fire.”
“What time did you tell him to be here?”
“About seven. Meanwhile, there’s something I want to do. A little extra precaution I want to take.”
“Precaution?”
“Uh huh. Now that I know exactly what kind of people are hunting you, I want you to be able to protect yourself. Just in case. So we’re going to buy you a gun and do a little target practice.”
“A gun?” Her voice squeaked. She’d never held a gun in her life.
“Yes. So let’s get dressed and get moving