Page 38

Thirty-Eight

Quinn

I laid completely still and pretended to be unconscious as the truck turned a corner down the bumpy, unpaved road.

One thing that I learned early on was to remember as many details as possible.

The FBI had ingrained that into us from the very beginning, and it had stuck with me since.

Details could make the difference between solving a case and saving a life.

While I had lost consciousness for a few minutes—maybe longer, who knew—I had kept quiet once I came to and made sure I stayed in the position I was in when they loaded me into the vehicle.

I needed every advantage that I could get at this point, and that meant that if I pretended to be unconscious, they would be more likely to slip and say something about where they were taking me or about who had Rosie.

I kept my breathing shallow and slowly lifted my eyes, making sure they were only partly open so I could look around without anyone seeing that I was awake.

I was on my side in the backseat with my hands bound in front of me with thick rope.

It felt like I was possibly taking up two seats, but I couldn’t tell if anyone was on the other seat beside me.

It was too risky to look over and check and even riskier to move my body which would alert them that I was either awake or slowly coming to.

First glance showed two men sitting up front with a middle console between them.

Based on the size of the vehicle, I imagined it was a truck or SUV, and given the beat-up interior, I would guess that whoever had Rosie wasn’t rolling in money.

Either that or they hired their goons and didn’t bother to outfit them with expensive, bullet-proof vehicles like those in the mafia had.

I tucked my chin to my chest as slowly as possible and held my breath. So far, no one seemed to notice any movement on my end so I tilted my head a fraction of an inch until I could see the seat beside me.

Sure enough, there was a man sitting next to me, wearing all black just like the other two up front, with a ski mask covering his face. I hated that none of them were stupid enough to take the masks off; it would make it a whole lot easier for me if I knew who they were.

I continued to study him as he held onto the handlebar above his window and stared out the window.

There was a .45 in his shoulder holster, and I knew it was likely he had other weapons that I couldn’t see, as well as the two guys sitting up front.

I slowly pulled my head back and rested it on the seat while I waited for us to get wherever we were going.

My body had already been through plenty, combined with a lack of sleep, so I needed to preserve energy any way I could.

Given that I had no idea where we were headed, I was desperate to come up with a plan of attack for when we got there.

If I wanted to keep Rosie alive, I needed to get to her as soon as possible.

However, I also couldn’t stop wondering if Roman was okay and whether he had made it back to the cabin.

I hadn’t heard any gunshots before the intruders burst through the door, but that didn’t mean they didn’t use a suppressor to cover the sound.

With the wind and rain that pelted against the cabin, it wouldn’t take much to muffle it.

Not knowing anything about either of them weighed too heavily on my mind and I needed to focus, or I wouldn’t be of any help to anyone.

I hated that I had no idea how much time had passed, but it was even worse that I was separated from Rosie and didn’t know if she was still alive.

I prayed that she was, but I just couldn’t stop the pain in my heart at the thought that something had happened to her.

If Justin weren’t already dead, I would kill him for putting us in this situation to begin with.

My breathing was calm and even, not giving it away that I was awake. I felt movement beside me and forced my eyes closed while I held my breath and waited for him to shift his position.

“Boss said to go the back way,” a gruff voice said, breaking the silence in the cab.

“Got it.”

It felt like the vehicle was slowing down, but I didn’t trust that it was safe to open my eyes just yet.

Was I supposed to still be knocked out? How much time had passed before they would just assume that I was dead?

I had no clue but decided to go along with my instincts and allowed my body to appear lifeless on the seat as the car stopped.

Here we go.