****
After cleaning up their breakfast dishes, Quinn grabbed the laptop and settled on the couch with JJ. She felt useless. Reid was out doing legwork, so the least she could do was look through the photos again.
She started with the photo of the Sunrise Café. She looked at every detail in every photo. She got to the photo of Victoria’s brother and paused. It was definitely him. A different hair color and a pair of reading glasses, but it was the same square jaw and pointed nose. She looked at the other people in the photo. Everyone else was unfamiliar. She started to move on to the next picture, but a black peacoat and teal-and-brown purse caught her attention. Quinn had been in the bank when Andrew was there. Was that a coincidence? She shifted and rubbed the back of her neck.
She looked at the time stamp. It was March, right before she got involved with Joe. It did look like Andrew was watching her. But why would he be? She searched her memory, trying to remember any details but unable to grasp any. Had Joe started seeing her because she was in the photo?
It was definitely something she’d bring up to Reid when he got back. Is that how they were all connected?
Everything was conjecture at this point. They didn’t have anything connecting Andrew to the robberies. She moved through the remaining photos. Joe changed towns. Andrew was there again. He’d changed hair color again, and instead of glasses, he had a thin goatee. She was almost positive it was him.
She pulled out her phone and sent Reid a quick text telling him Andrew was in more than one of the banks. Maybe, he could corner Andrew and ask a few questions.
I know,he texted back.
How did he know?
A loud boom shook the front door, causing her to jump and almost drop the laptop. Another boom. Someone was trying to break it down.
She pulled the thumb drive from the computer and grabbed JJ, then ran to Reid’s room. She shut and locked the door and pushed a dresser in front of it.
Crashing came from the front of the house. Whoever was trying to get in had succeeded.
She opened the closet door and moved things around on the top shelf, making room for JJ. She set him up there. He was crying, no doubt scared for his life. She wiped the tears. “Stay here, and be absolutely quiet, okay?”
JJ hiccupped and nodded.
“I love you, sweet boy.” She moved a blanket over him and then closed the door.
She opened the bedroom window and pushed out the screen, getting ready to lead their attacker away, then pulled out her cell phone and called Reid.Please, pick up. Please, pick up.She surveyed the room, looking for something to defend herself with while she waited.
“Hey,” Reid answered.
“Someone’s broken into the house.” She screamed when banging started on the bedroom door.
“I’m almost there.” Reid’s voice had a note of panic.
“I don’t know your address. I couldn’t call 911.”
“It’s okay. I’ll be there in less than five minutes.”
The bedroom door shook, and the dresser rattled as whoever was on the other side tried to break through.
“I don’t know if we have that long.”
“Hello,” a voice snarled from the open window.
She whipped around as a large man started climbing through the window. She threw the lamp as hard as she could, and it hit him on the head. He dropped back out the window, letting expletives roll free.
“Reid, they’re coming in through the bedroom window.” She dropped the phone and ran for the window before he could climb back through, but it was too late—he was halfway through the window again. She looked for something else to defend herself with and zeroed in on the dresser. She pulled a drawer from the dresser and flung it at him. He ducked, and it crashed against the wall behind him.
He rushed her and slammed her into the dresser she had moved. He raised his hand and brought the back of it to her cheek in a quick swing. Pain radiated through her skull, and a metallic taste filled her mouth.
“Where’s the boy?”
“I’ll never tell you!”
“Yes, you will.” He wrapped a meaty hand around her throat and squeezed, cutting off her air. She tried desperately to pry his fingers from around her throat. Her vision blurred as her lungs begged for oxygen.
