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Think again, jerk.
She held the key in her left hand, the glass shard still ready to strike out in her right. Once she was safely in the hall, Quinn let out a long, shaky breath, pressing the back of her gloved hand to her thumping chest. At this rate, she’d have a heart attack before she could even get out of the house.
Scared that Travis could jump out at any second, Quinn hurried to the kitchen to get the final item needed to make her escape. The lockbox on top of the fridge was heavier than she expected, due to the weight of Travis’s firearm. It took three tries for Quinn to hold her hand steady long enough to get the key in the lock.
Once open, she snatched up the keys to Travis’s blue Chevy Silverado and went to put the box back. Hesitating, Quinn stared at the handgun, wondering if she should take it. It smelled strong— oily and pungent. Her nose wrinkled up. Sneaking away from her abusive husband was one thing, stealing an officer’s sidearm was another. Plus, she had no experience with guns and would probably end up shooting herself. With trembling hands, Quinn left the gun, locked the box and put it back in its place.
“You little bitch.”
Quinn squealed, spinning around to find Travis in the kitchen, only a few feet away. She kept her hand behind her back, clutching the glass in her fist.
I should have taken the gun.
“What do you think you’re doing?” His voice was a deep growl that sank into Quinn’s heart, making it falter.
“N-nothing. I-I was just—”
“Shut up you lying slut!”
Travis stepped forward and Quinn raised her hand, done with being his personal punching bag. She brought the glass down fast and even, slicing through soft flesh easily from the end of his brow, down one side of his face to the bottom of his jawline.
Travis roared in pain and disbelief, clutching at his face. He screamed as blood gushed from the wound through his fingers. Quinn almost lost her stomach from the sight of it. He flailed, the blood completely obscuring his vision on the side she cut.
“I’m gonna kill you! You’re dead, Annie! You hear me!
The threat snapped Quinn out of her terrified daze, sending her running for the door. Her feet slipped in the pool of blood, nearly sending her to the ground. Scrabbling to keep her footing, she grabbed onto the doorknob for balance. Quinn took one last look over her shoulder at her husband, blood covering him from scalp to chin, and ran.
Still able to hear Travis’s shouts, Quinn hurried to the large garbage bin outside, removing a trash bag she had stashed there filled with some clothes and other essentials. She chucked it into the front seat of the truck and hopped into the driver’s seat next to it. The huge truck roared to life when she turned the key in the ignition, drowning out the sounds of Travis’ fury that were still coming from the house.
Quinn threw the truck in reverse and peeled out of the dusty driveway. As the house got smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror, her pulse began to calm down and she smiled. She did it. She left her own private hell and survived. Annie Hardy died that night, and Quinn Wallace was reborn.
Chapter 4
Rick spent the hour drive north running through the details of the operation with his teammates over and over again. Mack and Tucker stayed behind to run things from Mission Control. That left Rick in the Suburban with Clint Paxton, Dane Nolan, Xander Vega, and Ben Price. Price and Paxton came up with the perfect plan, and Rick wanted to make sure everyone knew what to do when, down to the exact second.
By the fifth run through, Dane had finally had enough. “Ricochet, we’re all professionals. We won’t screw this up.”
Rick eyed Dane, shooting him a doubtful scowl. “You can’t make any guarantees, killer.”
Dane’s pained expression let Rick know that he was right, Dane couldn’t promise anything. “I understand, Rick. Just—we’re good at this. We have a plan, the husband doesn’t know we exist—we have the upper hand here. More so than our usual missions, and we have a success rate of nearly one hundred percent against armed combatants. This guy? He’s not even military. We got this.”
Rick blinked, his mouth pressed into a tight line. He nodded, but said nothing. What could he say? That Quinn could die today? That she could very well already be dead? He couldn’t let his mind go there. Not if he wanted to be of any use to the team, besides, they weren’t stupid. They probably had the same thoughts themselves.
“Five minutes out.”
Ben’s gruff bark from the front seat broke the tension in the car. He was always the most clinical of the mercenaries. Precise, detached, and able to get the job done like a skilled surgeon. On Ben’s five minute warning, the men began to check over their equipment, making sure their weapons and other gear were ready for whatever they might face.
Rick ran his hands over his tac vest, feeling for his Glock under his left arm and a few flash bangs in his left chest pocket. He moved to the right, finding zip ties and smoke bombs in place. Rick moved his hands down to his pants. On his belt holster, he had his other Glock locked and loaded plus tear gas canisters. Each thigh pocket held a collection of extra clips of ammo for each of his 9mm pistols. Across his back, Rick had his M14 tactical rifle plus extra ammo on his belt. Finally, he switched his earpiece on. Satisfied, Rick anxiously waited to arrive at the location.
Xavier tapped his Bluetooth, “Roger, Mission Control. Time to extraction point, two minutes.” He tapped it again, disconnecting the call. “When I pull over at the designated spot, Brennan and Nolan, you’ll head to your positions. Then I’ll drop off Price and Paxton at the second location and let you know when they’re in place. Copy?”
The three men replied in sync, “Copy.”
Xavier slowed the Suburban to a stop on the side of a tree-lined street, on a stretch without a single house in sight. He twisted to face Rick and Dane in the back seat, “Get into position. Everyone check in when you’re ready. I’ll be with the Suburban at the rendezvous.” Xav grinned, his dark eyes glinting with excitement. “We’re going to nail this bast
ard, Rick. And it’s going to be very, very satisfying.”
Dane quietly opened the back door and the two men disappeared into the thick woods under the cover of night.
