“It’s okay. You needed to let it out.”
“I’m not a crier.” She shook her head and hurried to her room, closing the door behind her. How embarrassing!
“Quinn, it’s okay. It doesn’t mean you’re weak, only human.”
“I’ll see you in the morning.”
She went to her bathroom and turned on the water for a shower. Then she grabbed some toilet tissue and blew her nose so she could breathe better. It was then that she saw the horrible message written with red lipstick on her bathroom mirror.
DON’T EVEN THINK OF DOUBLE CROSSING ME THIS TIME. I’LL BE WATCHING YOUR EVERY MOVE.
CHAPTER 8
Everything wentblack and Quinn found herself on the floor, gasping for breath. She reached out and felt something solid next to her and her nails racked against it a few times, then she tapped. The next thing she knew Grimm was beside her, pulling her into his arms and she realized she must have stumbled down the hall to his room for help.
“Quinn, what’s wrong?”
“M-my bathroom mirror,” she gasped, unable to get more words out than that because it felt like something was closing on her throat choking her.
“Your mirror?”
She nodded, panting for air. “I … can’t… breathe.”
“Did you smell something funny in your bathroom? Are you having a panic attack?”
She shook her head.
He ran into her room and returned a moment later, coughing. “We’re leaving here now.”
He scooped her up in his arms and headed for the front door, stopping only long enough to grab her purse. “Where is the closest medical facility? You need to be checked out now. I don’t know what you inhaled, but when you turned on that shower head, the hot water and steam mixed with something to cause your problem.”
“Don’t… call… Sher.”
“I won’t.”
“The…detective’s…number…is…in…my…pocket,” she panted.
“Save your breath. We’ll call him once we get to the ER. And yes, I saw that lipstick threat. I don’t know how the police missed that earlier. I guess no one searched your bathroom. I know I didn’t.”
The ER was busy, but they took her back immediately when Grimm explained about the possible poisonous fumes that she’d inhaled and how she’d been having issues breathing for more than twenty minutes now. She’d seen him flash his badge as well, and she had a feeling that had something to do with it.
When they were in a room and she was on oxygen and breathing easier once more, she slipped his leather bifold from his pocket when he wasn’t looking. The identification was very official. Xavier Stallings. The Lone Wolf Agency, Leesburg, VA a division of the Brotherhood Protectors. He had a gold shield as well.
“Like what you see?” he asked.
She quickly closed the bifold and fumbled with it, dropping it on the floor.
He bent down and picked it up. His eyes locked with hers and never faltered.
“I was curious what you flashed at the front desk to get them to bring me back in front of all those other people that were here before us. That is all,” she said.
“You could have just asked.”
“Yeah. I could have. Sorry.”
“You know I’m a bodyguard and that I work for the Lone Wolf Agency. We’re part of the Brotherhood Protectors which originated out of Eagle Rock, Montana. The original branch of protectors works in groups where our agency guys fly solo.”
“You’ve kind of mentioned that.”
