Quinn (The Waite Family) (24 page)

“When was the last time you changed them, Quinn?”

She had to think.
She wasn’t even sure what the date was right now. “I was…the cleaning lady came in on Wednesdays.
So then, I guess.
I only have six left. I should have purchased more when I was out this week.
Maybe I will tomorrow.” Quinn was suddenly very tired.
The pain where her heart had been wouldn’t ease up and she wondered if it ever would. Something else occurred to her. “You’ll need the combination.
It’s zero, three, zero, four, twelve, right, left, right.”
Cai
t
repeated it back. “Yes, that’s correct.
Cait, I’m very tired.
Do you think it would be too much trouble to have them leave me alone for a bit? I would like to take a nap.” Quinn was asleep before Cait answered.

Drew went in to check on Quinn before he left to go home.
He hurt still and he needed to change. He was covered in blood from dragging Quinn into his arms when he’d found her with Cain.
She’d already fainted by then and he’d never been so frightened in his life. The medic said her head was fine, but he’d had her taken to the hospital anyway. He was worried about the baby and her too much not to.

Kissing her gently on the forehead, he left. There was a guard outside of her room now. He smiled. Quinn hadn’t even stirred when she’d been transported to the private room she was in now. Cain had told him she was fine but exhausted.
Drew was dizzy himself. As he made his way up to his bedroom at his grandda’s, he realized they’d been up for over forty-eight hours.
His father gave him a pain pill and a promise to wake him at noon. Glancing at his watch, Drew couldn’t believe it was five in the morning.

His last thought before sleep claimed him was that it had been a hell of a night.

It was ten after twelve when his father woke him.
He had the strangest look on his face, but Drew didn’t question it. He knew it had been a strange night for them all. He got up and went in to take a shower. When he came out with his robe on his dad was still sitting on the chair.

“Dad?”

“She’s gone.
Left without telling us last night, I guess.
They have a few people looking for her. I have a few looking myself, but she’s gone.”
He put his head in his hands and continued.
“Your mother is upset.
The hospital didn’t even call us to let us know. They told us that as she’s no relation to us they weren’t required to tell us anything.”

Drew sat down on his bed.
Gone?
He knew he was going to regret asking, but he needed to be sure.

“Who’s gone, Dad? Tell me who left without a word.”

His dad looked up. “Quinn. Quinn left AMA.
She was going to be released sometime today.
But I guess that doesn’t matter anymore.”

Against Medical Advice.
Drew stood up. Why would she leave?
Didn’t she realize that he’d be picking her up today, bringing her to his house? He needed to keep her safe, protected.

He picked up his cell phone next to the bed and saw he had missed calls.
He was surprised to find that he had eighteen of them and most of them were from Alyssa. He punched in her number and when she answered, he knew something else had gone wrong.

“She left.
Damned girl left.
And they won’t tell me where she’s at.
Can you believe they have the…where are you at?”

“Home. Who won’t tell you? What’s going on?”
His mother walked in as he was asking.
“Tell me what you know. Don’t leave anything out, all right? Where, Alyssa?”

Alyssa sighed and even through the phone he could tell she was pissed.
“Those damned Grant women.
They won’t tell me a damned thing.
And Cait!
How could an officer of the law…damn it, damn it.
We’re worried, don’t they care? All they’ll tell me is…Cain is fit to be tied. He’s called their husbands.”

Drew was trying to sort through what she was saying when his grandda walked in with Cait.
Drew had a moment to wonder if everyone in the household was going to come into his bedroom when he looked at the envelope in Cait’s hand.

“Let me call you back.”
He closed the phone on Alyssa and stared at the two newcomers.
“What is it, Cait? Why won’t anyone tell me where she is?”

Cait grinned. It wasn’t a particularly friendly grin, but one that said, “I know something you don’t and I’m glad for it.”

“You want this, then call off Cain.
Now.
It’s from Quinn.”

Drew didn’t even question her, but dialed Cain.
“Stop bothering the Grants.
I mean like yesterday.”

“They fucking know where she is and won’t tell me. And if you don’t give a shit where she is, I most certainly do. She was my sister long before she was your fuck partner.”

Drew knew that he deserved that. Hell, if he had a sister and Cain had done that to her he’d be hard pressed not to castrate him.
But Cait had something he needed and he would do anything to get it.

“Cait is here now with an envelope from Quinn. She won’t give it to me until you back the fuck off. So I’m asking…I’m begging you to back the fuck off.”

Drew waited. He knew that the man was struggling. Cain was pissed at him and probably blamed him for her being gone.
He’d only wanted to protect her and keep her safe and she’d run off.

“All right. But I’m coming over and I’m reading the letter. If you want my help then you’ll agree. I’m not particularly happy with you at the moment and it won’t take much persuasion for me to knock you on your fucking ass.”

“Deal.
But if it’s about us and our sex life then you asked for it. And I have a few things to say to Quinn myself.”
Drew didn’t know why he was provoking the man, but he was pissed too.

Cain laughed.
“Oh I heard about how you told her what she was going to be doing. I’ve no doubt this is all about you and you wanting to save her baby and not her.” The phone went dead before he could make a comment.

He looked around the room and the people assembled there.
“He’s doing it now.
And he’s coming over. Can I have the letter, Cait?”

“No. Not until I hear from my sisters-in-law.
I’ll be downstairs. You might want to get dressed.
You’re about to have company.”
She left the room
,
and his grandda with her.

Drew looked over at his dad and mom.
“Cain said that I told her I was only out to protect my child and not her. That’s not what I said.”

“Actually, it is,” his mother said, a bit of anger in her voice.
“Alyssa said you told her that you needed to protect the baby even if she didn’t.
I believe your exact word
s
were, ‘I won’t let you hurt my child.’ Sort of implying that you didn’t think she was capable of protecting it on her own.”
His mother left too.

Had he?
He wasn’t sure if that was what he’d said, but it wasn’t what he’d meant.
He looked over at his dad.
He was looking at him like he had the time he’d been caught drunk at a party where there was supposed to be adults and there weren’t.
Drew and his friends had only been fifteen at the time. Drew hated that look.

“Dad, I didn’t—”

“Maybe not, but you did.” His dad stood and so did he.
“Son, I’ve been proud of you all my life, even when you pissed me off so badly I wanted to beat you until you couldn’t sit for a week. But right now…right now all I can think about is that my grandchild is out there with his mother and I think he might be better off without you.”

He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. Drew could only stare at it. Christ, what had he done that had been so bad? He’d agreed to marry her, hadn’t he? He stood up to finish getting dressed.

He’d even agreed to provide her with…well, they hadn’t gotten to what he was going to provide her with, but he—

Drew stopped dead in his tracks.
Had he done that?
Had she agreed to anything?
He tried to think.
He’d asked her to marry him, right?
No, he hadn’t, he realized after a few minutes of thinking.
He’d told her that…well, it was for the best. His child was going to need…
His child. Not their child, but his.
He started to pull on his pants one handed when he realized that he’d never once referred to the baby as theirs.
Was that really any reason to get pissed off?
He wasn’t sure now.

Other things he’d said, implied, came to him.
He’d told her that she needed protecting.
She’d saved his mom.
Not that there weren’t others around more capable, more armed, but she’d jumped right in and done it despite the odds against her.
He had told her she wasn’t doing a good job at being pregnant either. Not in those words, but he’d said it.
Drew was halfway down the stairs when he had to sit down.
He’d never even told her that he loved her, not even after he’d figured it out several days ago.
He looked up as Cait sat down next to him.

“Hard to admit when you fuck up, huh?”
She handed him the envelope.
“I don’t know where she is.
My sisters, they arranged the entire thing so that you’d have this epiphany.
I was sure you weren’t going to, but I’ve been wrong before.”

Drew snorted, a habit he’d picked up recently.
“I’m sure you don’t tell that to Spencer much.”

Cait laughed. “Nope, and if you tell him I said it I’ll have every cop in the state looking for you to ticket you. I’m sorry, Drew.
Good luck.”

She stood and moved down the rest of the stairs and toward the door. Cain was just raising his hand up when she opened it.
She said a few words to him, low so that Drew couldn’t hear, then pointed up at him.
Alyssa came in behind them.
She went to the living room where Drew assumed everyone else was and Cain went to the stairs.

“Cait said you had a breakthrough. That true?”
Cain sat down next to him. “I’d like to think my sister has better sense than to hook up with someone so stupid, but there’s no accounting for taste I suppose.”

Drew handed the sealed envelope to Cain.
“I suppose. I’ve thought that about Alyssa too.”
Neither man spoke for several minutes.

“Are you in love with Quinn, Drew?
I mean really in love with her and not the fact that she’s carrying your child?”

Drew knew that this was the turning point in their relationship.
“Yes.
And I think that I’ve loved her a great deal longer than I ever knew. And just for the record, it’s not my child, it’s ours. Hers and mine.”

Cain laughed, a bark of laughter that soon turned into a full belly laugh.
His family came from the living room as Drew joined him.

“I guess I need to welcome you to the family then.”
Cain stood and put out his hand.
“Let’s go find her.
Together.”