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Forty-Three

Quinn

“T here’s still no answer ,” I sighed, listening as Mike’s phone went to voicemail.

We were in the truck we stole after killing the last guy in the cabin. Not only did we take the truck, but we also loaded up on weapons and stripped them of anything useful, including the phone they had been using to keep in contact with whoever had Rosie.

As soon as we had a signal, Roman reached out to a friend and had them start tracking the number programmed in the phone under Red.

While he drove, I focused on calling Mike and watching the other phone to see if anyone called or texted with an update on the assignments their team was supposed to complete.

“Trevor said that he and Max were headed over to go look for him.”

I hated all of the unknown and wished that all of this was over with already.

A text message alert came through on the other phone, and I immediately put in the password I had changed it to and unlocked it.

Roman glanced over to see what it was, but my excitement was quickly replaced with frustration when I opened the message.

“I swear, this guy gets more naked pictures sent to him than anyone I know. And honestly, he’s not attractive enough to generate this much attention from women,” I complained and exited out of the message.

“Looks has nothing to do with it,” Roman laughed. “You know when you have access to drugs and money, women will do anything to get to it.”

“I know. But it’s still disgusting.” I scrunched my face.

“It’s true. Some women will do anything for a little taste of that life.”

I leaned my head back on the seat and closed my eyes, hoping that some sort of divine intervention would happen and guide me to where Rosie was.

“We’re going to find her,” Roman assured me for the hundredth time since we’d gotten into the truck.

“It’s been hours. Anything could have happened by now.”

“Stop thinking like that, Quinn. You have to stay positive.”

“I know,” I groaned and blew out an irritated breath. I turned and looked out the window.

Roman’s phone started ringing and I whipped my head in his direction as he answered it on speaker phone.

“Hey man,” he said loudly. “Have you found him?’

There was a loud sigh—the kind you hear when someone’s about to give you bad news and they don’t want to.

“We have him.”

“What does that mean?” I blurted out, needing more information.

“It means no line is secure right now, so I can’t say more than that.”

“Trevor!” I yelled, turning in my seat to face Roman. I was starting to lose it and there was no stopping me. I had reached a breaking point, and not knowing whether my brother was dead or alive was enough to snap the final straw.

“Thanks for the update,” Roman said, eyeing me cautiously while also keeping an eye on the road.

“No problem. I’ll be out of town for a bit and won’t have constant access to my cell. Service is kinda spotty out there.”

“Gotcha. Thank you.”

I stared at Roman in disbelief as he ended the call and stared straight ahead.

“What the fuck was that code for?!” I shrieked.

“They have him, Quinn. That’s all they’re going to tell us right now.”

“How can you be so calm about it? We don’t know if he’s alive or dead or in need of medical attention!”

He reached over and squeezed my hand gently.

“Trevor is going out of town, which means that Mike is alive and they’re hiding him. He’s with Max, and the two of them know plenty of doctors that will treat Mike without it being on anyone’s radar.”

“How do you know this?”

He shrugged and looked out the window, avoiding me.

“Roman.”

“Look, I can’t get into details but trust me when I say that Mike is in good hands.

I hate not knowing if he’s okay, but I trust Trevor and Max.

If he says that they’ve got him, they’ve got him.

There’s nothing more that we can do, Quinn.

Right now, we need to trust them to take care of Mike so we can focus on Rosie. ”

I let my head fall back and closed my eyes.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” My shoulders were so tight that they felt permanently attached to my ears.

“You don’t need to be sorry. All of this is beyond stressful, and I get it. But we’re a team, and that means that we all help each other when needed.”

I felt my heart start to slow back down to a normal pace and focused on taking some deep, grounding breaths. I had to get my mind clear if I wanted to figure out where Rosie was.

“Have you found anything else in the phone?” he asked, nodding to it sitting in my lap.

I shook my head and picked it up.

“I haven’t been able to figure out the code. Red could mean anything, and other than dirty texts from countless women, there isn’t anything about other assignments, so it’s not like I can compare them to see if there’s a theme of some sort.”

“Maybe we should call Red? See if they answer?”

I pulled my mouth to the side as I thought about it.

“It couldn’t hurt....”

I unlocked the phone and found the name Red in the contacts, which was fairly easy given there weren’t many names, to begin with. I pressed the call button and put it on speakerphone so Roman could hear it.

We waited quietly as it rang. By the fifth ring, I was already feeling disappointed that they wouldn’t answer.

“Since I’ve been informed that the men I hired are all dead and were left abandoned in an empty cabin without their weapons, I’m going to guess this is Quinn.”

My stomach dropped as I stared at the phone. Roman nodded for me to answer her.

“Where is my daughter,” I demanded, my fingers trembling as I struggled to hold the phone.

“Oh, sweet Rosie? She’s fine. She’s right here with me, getting to know everyone as we get her settled in. She’s quite beautiful, isn’t she?”

“You fucking bitch!” I shouted, blinded by anger. “Tell me where my daughter is now!”

“Tsk, tsk. Always such a hot head.”

I looked to Roman for help, but his focus was on the road ahead of him as his knuckles turned white from gripping the steering wheel.

“How do you know that I’m a hot head?” I asked, forcing myself to calm down. It wouldn’t do any good to sit here and yell at her. I needed to focus on finding Rosie, which meant that I had to get her to tell me where she was.

“I know everything there is to know about you, Quinn. I’ve been studying you for a long time. And quite frankly, I’ve always thought that Justin could do better.”

My nostrils flared as my face twisted with anger.

“She’s just trying to get to you; ignore her,” Roman whispered.

“Well, then, you won’t mind me stopping by to say hi,” I replied as coolly as I could.

“Unfortunately, we aren’t up for visitors right now. It seems sweet little Rosie isn’t feeling the best, so I need to tend to her. Make sure she’s ready . But feel free to come say hi to my guards. They’ve been searching for you, so this would make their job that much easier.”

I glanced over to find Roman on his phone, speaking quietly into it.

“I don’t think so,” I snorted. “I am coming for my daughter; come hell or high water. As you’ve already seen—your men don’t stand a chance with me. Now tell me where she’s at.”

“Don’t you get it, Quinn? I already have what I want. What I’ve wanted for years. Now it’s just a simple matter of tying up loose ends and cleaning up the mess your husband started.”

“What does Justin have to do with this?” I asked, trying to keep her on the phone while Roman talked on his.

“He ruined my life,” she shouted, forcing me to pull away. “He. Ruined. Everything. And now it’s time to make it right. To fix what he tried to destroy.”

Before I could say anything more, the line went dead.

I tossed the phone on the dashboard in frustration and scrubbed my hands down my face.

“Don’t worry, I know where they’re at,” Roman assured me.

I didn’t stop to think about what he said because my mind was too busy and distracted trying to place her voice. It was familiar. I had heard it before.

The wheels in my head were turning rapidly when it suddenly clicked into place.

“It’s Julia. She has Rosie.”