Page 47

Forty-Seven

Quinn

I had never seen this much gunfire in my entire life, including the gory, action-packed movies I watched with Justin before Rosie was born. I ducked and held my body against the door frame, glancing at Roman as I waited for his signal.

A few minutes later, we heard heavy footsteps as a rush of armed men came flying through the door with guns drawn.

Roman lifted his weapon at the perfect moment, jabbing the butt of it into one guy’s face while I shot at another.

It felt wildly reckless, but I kept an eye on Roman and shot at everyone else.

The bodies started falling around us as Roman continued shooting. He gave me a quick nod, stepped over their bodies, and went into the house. He rushed through and cleared the living room, then went into the kitchen while I took the stairs two at a time with my gun steady in front of me.

I heard a few shots downstairs but forced myself to keep moving toward the voices at the end of the hall. I was desperate to get to Rosie but knew that I couldn’t be reckless. I listened carefully as I walked lightly, trying to keep my footsteps from being too heavy.

A floorboard creaked behind me, forcing me to spin around.

I was face to face with a large, burly man whose face was covered in tattoos.

He gave me a lopsided grin and pulled a knife from behind his back, swiping it at me as I jumped back.

I narrowed my eyes and fired a shot, hating how many people I had now killed in one day.

His body swayed toward me as I jumped out of the way. I continued moving down the hallway and focused on the large bedroom at the far end. This was the room we had heard Rosie’s voice from outside, so it felt like the first place I should look.

I slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open.

My heart leaped out of my chest into my throat, strangling the scream that threatened to come out when I saw Rosie sitting on a king-sized bed next to a man. Julia was sitting in a chair beside the bed, talking to them when they all looked up at me.

“Mama!” Rosie shrieked, jumping up to get off of the bed.

“Not so fast,” the man said, reaching over and putting her down beside him. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Rosie’s face fell, and tears welled in her eyes.

I stared in disbelief at the image before me. The guy looked familiar, but I couldn’t figure out why.

“Give me my daughter,” I demanded, my voice quieter and weaker than intended. “Now.”

“She’s not your daughter anymore. I told you that on the phone earlier.” Julia tossed her red hair over her shoulder and tilted her head. “She’s not going anywhere.”

Anger was boiling inside of me as I watched them.

My finger itched to pull the trigger and take both of them out, but I didn’t want to traumatize Rosie by shooting a bullet into the man sitting beside her.

It would be loud, and there would be blood everywhere, which would upset anyone, let alone a five-year-old.

He turned to whisper something to Julia behind his hand, and I noticed a black serpent-looking tattoo on his neck.

In an instant, I knew where I had recognized him from.

He was Elias Salvador, the son of Juan Salvador, and part of the child trafficking ring Justin had shut down before he was killed.

“If I were you, I’d lower your weapon,” Elias said with a heavy accent. “I wouldn’t want you to upset my daughter.”

“Don’t you dare call her that,” I bit out, my hands starting to tremble with anger as I kept my gun as steady as possible.

“It’s your choice, but my men will be here in a minute to take care of this,” he waved his hand in the air as if I were some mess on the street that needed to be cleaned up.

I watched the Rolex slide down his wrist before he lowered his hands into his lap again.

He sat there, looking overly relaxed in his white silky button-down shirt and dress slacks that had been freshly pressed.

He didn’t look like he had a care in the world, and I knew that was all about to change as soon as Roman got there.

“I don’t care about your men,” I lied. “We’ve already taken the majority of them out.”

“Is that so?” He smirked, and I wanted to punch the smile off his stupid face.

Where was Roman? I could only stall this guy for so long. We needed to get Rosie and get the hell out of there.

“Just give me my daughter, and I’ll let you two get back to whatever this is,” I said, pointing between him and Julia with my gun.

“Again, Rosie is our daughter, Quinn. Now leave.” Julia stood up from the chair and then immediately sat down when he nodded to her and shook his head.

So he was the one in control and calling all of the shots. That was helpful information to have.

“You know damn well that she’s not your daughter. You’re out of your fucking mind, Julia.”

Silence lingered in the air for a few minutes as we stared at each other. Then he whispered something to her and nodded to me.

“Go on, tell her what happened. Explain why this child is owed to us.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, then glanced at Rosie to make sure she was still okay. Overall she appeared to be, but that didn’t mean anything. I wouldn’t trust it until I could hold her in my arms and see for myself.

“Rosie was our daughter. She died six years ago. A car accident. You might remember it, Quinn.”

My heart sank when I started putting the pieces together.

“You shouldn’t be driving when you’re this upset,” I scolded Justin as he got into the car. “Just stay and talk to me about it. Please.”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Quinn. I love you. I love our life. But I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if I can be a good father.”

He pulled the car door shut as I jumped away. Then he reversed out of the driveway, leaving me in a puddle of tears.

I had sat at home that night, waiting for him to return. After I got a call from the hospital, I rushed over and paced anxiously in the emergency room waiting area for an update on Justin.

My mind constantly got the worse of me as I thought about the worst that could happen. I couldn’t imagine bringing a baby into this world without him by my side. He was my everything. I needed him.

When the doctors updated me a few hours later, I was relieved to hear he was conscious, stable, and expected to make a full recovery, though he would be going home with a few broken bones. He was going to be held overnight to make sure his vitals stayed stable, but overall, he was okay.

It wasn’t until the next morning that he told me the accident had been his fault. He was distracted and hadn’t noticed the light turning red. He went through the intersection, t-boning a minivan. He repeatedly apologized for leaving and promised he would never do it again.

When he asked me to get an update on the other people, I went searching for his nurse and asked if they were okay.

“Unfortunately, the mother is still in the ICU. We can’t give out more information than that right now.”

“The mother?” I asked as my heart beat wildly in my chest.

“Her daughter was in the backseat. She didn’t make it.”

When I shared the news with Justin, he cried and held his hand against my flat stomach, vowing to be the perfect father to our baby. I knew that he would never be the same after this and my heart shattered knowing that he would never forgive himself for taking an innocent child’s life.

I remembered the night very well, and to this day, it still haunted my nightmares.

“Justin wasn’t always a play-it-by-the-rules kind of guy,” Julia said once she saw the look on my face. “His recklessness took my baby from me. He took the only thing that I ever loved. The only person who mattered to me.”

“And now you’re trying to take mine.”

“No, Quinn. I’m taking back what was owed to me. Justin took my daughter, and now I’m taking his.”

“It’s not the same, Julia. You know that.”

“As a mother, you know what it feels like to see your child hurting. How do you think I felt being pinned in the car, listening as my baby fought for her life? Hearing her gasp as she took her last breath. Not being able to get the words out to say that I loved her because I couldn’t believe what was happening.

Nothing can prepare you for that, Quinn.

Nothing. Justin never had to pay for what happened.

The police called it an accident. An unfortunate accident .

But that doesn’t make it right, and it’s about time he paid. ”

“He’s not here anymore. How do you expect him to pay? You’re not getting revenge on Justin; you’re taking your grief out on his innocent daughter.”

“I tried to make it right while he was here!” she yelled, startling me. “I did everything that I could. He was a stubborn ass, and nothing could get through to him.”

“Then accept that and move on. Taking his daughter won’t fix anything, Julia. You need to see someone and get help.”

“Now you sound like him,” she scoffed. “ You need to go to therapy. This isn’t healthy. You’re crazy. ”

Her eyes widened, and she actually looked crazy as she said it.

“You talked to Justin about what happened?”

“He knew who I was as soon as I started working for the FBI. I could tell that he remembered what happened—how could he not? It hadn’t been that long since it happened. He said he wished he could take everything back that night, and since he couldn’t, he would find a way to make it right.”

I tried to keep from rolling my eyes. That was the stupidest thing I had ever heard.

There was no way to make it right when you took someone’s life—especially a child.

Though I imagined that the guilt was constantly eating away at him, I couldn’t see what he could possibly do to fix what he had done.

It wasn’t like he could just give her a baby.

“Elias and I struggled to get pregnant with Rosie. She was a miracle baby, and we cherished every moment we had with her. Unfortunately, I sustained severe injuries in the accident that night, and the doctors confirmed that I wouldn’t be able to carry another child.

It would be too risky. But we wanted another child. ...”

Her voice trailed off and sent a chill up my spine.

“So you started kidnapping other people’s children?” I bit out sourly.

“It’s not really kidnapping when the parent doesn’t want them.” She shrugged. “There are plenty of parents who want to escape the burden of parenthood, and believe it or not, everyone has a price.”

“Yeah, well, my daughter isn’t for sale.”

“Trust me; everyone has a price. But this isn’t about that, now is it? Because we’re not paying you for her. We’re taking her. Taking what is owed to us.”

“How do you figure that she’s owed to you? Just because she has the same name as your child doesn’t mean she’s destined to be yours.”

“Don’t you get it?” Julia asked, leaning forward, and looking quizzically at me. “She is the perfect daughter for us. She’s the same age that our Rosie was when she died. It’s like picking up right where we left off.”

I felt a whimper escape my throat and blinked rapidly, forcing the tears away from my eyes.

“No,” I blurted out. “I’m not letting this happen.”

“You don’t have much of a choice, now do you?

I tried to make it easier for you, Quinn.

I tried to give you a heads-up that this was coming so you could be prepared.

I figured you would be fine knowing that you still had a chance to start over with that new boyfriend of yours.

You guys look so cozy together, don’t they?

” She turned and looked at Elias, waiting for his answer.

“The coziest.”

“But unfortunately, you seem so determined to stop this, and now you know too much, so we’re going to have to change plans.”

She got up and opened the drawer on the nightstand between them.

“Why now?” I asked, trying to stall for a few more minutes. I knew that Roman was close, I could feel it in my bones. I trusted that he was staying in the shadows for a reason.

“Well, they actually tried to take her a few days ago, but it wasn’t the right time,” Julia laughed and pulled a gun out.

She wiped it off with the bottom of her shirt and inspected it to make sure it shined the way she wanted it to.

“I had forgotten the exact date until Elias told me. Everything had to be perfect. That’s why we took her today. Today was the day.”

“The day for what?”

“It was exactly six years ago today that our sweet Rosie died.”

“This is ridiculous!” I shrieked. “You can’t just take someone’s child because yours died. Life doesn’t work that way.”

“It’s not just that, Quinn. Justin ruined everything for me. Not only did he kill our daughter, he was constantly putting his nose where it didn’t belong.”

My stomach dropped when I realized where she was going with this.

“Yeah, that’s right. After he convinced Ariel to confess, I knew that he was getting close.

Too close. I hated him for pushing her so hard.

If he would have backed off, we could have taken care of her the same way we take care of anyone who leaves before they’re given permission.

So many lives could have been saved. Like his. ”

I didn’t want to ask, but the question flew out of my mouth before I could stop it.

“You killed my husband on purpose?”

She shrugged, then slowly, a malicious grin spread across her face.

“He had what was coming to him.”

Elias crossed and uncrossed his ankles as his legs extended out in front of me. He sighed heavily as if he was bored with the conversation.

“Anytime now, my love,” he replied, raising his brows at her.

I barely had time to see what was happening as Rosie sprung off the bed and charged at Julia. I screamed and watched in horror as her little body leaped into the air, her fists clenched as they swung at Julia before Elias jumped up and grabbed her.

“You killed my dad?!” she screamed furiously as he carried her over his arm across the room.

Fury blinded me as I stared at Julia. Before I could speak, I heard a woman’s voice behind me.

“Put the gun down.”

Julia narrowed her eyes and moved her aim from me to the girl now standing next to me.

I wasn’t sure what was happening, but since they were aimed at each other, I turned and focused mine on Elias.

In a split second, gunfire rang out in the room and I took cover as I heard a bullet whip beside me. I spun around to find Roman in the hallway, rushing into the room.

Julia was on the floor in a puddle of blood, matching the mess Elias had made on the other side of the bed. Rosie was standing there, screaming, as red splattered her hair and face.

“Go get Rosie, Quinn,” Roman instructed, rushing in and blocking me from the other woman.

“I’m not here to hurt anyone,” she said, lowering her gun and handing it to Roman.