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I hadn’t actually thought about what would happen once I left the lab. This morning where Quinn, rather domineeringly, insisted I stay with him feels like ages ago. So much has transpired since then.
I wonder why he hasn’t just come into the lab like he usually does, until I recall the security officers guarding the entrance. I hurriedly reply that I’m on my way out.
In my office, I tuck the flash drive where I saved my reports on the victims into my pocket, then lock up. I awkwardly wave to Aubrey as I head toward the double doors. There’s suddenly a pull in my belly, some string tethered within my body, drawing me in Quinn’s direction as if by aberrant force.
I’ve successfully avoided him all day, even though I promised to keep him updated. I just…couldn’t. I couldn’t pretend to be on top of this job while everything inside me was fighting to keep breathing through the suffocating madness of it all.
Quinn’s demanding, authoritative nature reminds me too much of the scientist I used to be. Besides, from the moment I saw the tortured victim, and realized these girls are dying because of me…
I knew my secret is no longer mine to keep.
It’s time.
I just wanted to postpone the inevitable as long as I could. Savor the comforting feeling I get when I think of Quinn’s hands on me. His mouth caressing, lingering. Because once he knows the truth, those moments between us will evaporate into oblivion as if they never existed.
As I nod to the officer stationed outside the main door, I spot Quinn leaning against his dented car. And Sadie on the other side.
Immediately, a vise-like grip clutches my airway, and the cool, evening air makes me shiver. There’s a hint of dead leaves in the air despite there being no trees in the parking lot. It’s the kind of foreboding you sense coming in a movie, when the main character is creeping toward an unavoidable, doomed outcome.
I walk steadily toward them, aware that I’m the idiot girl in my own movie, heading straight for a cataclysmic end. My only hope is that I’ll be able to repair the damage from the fallout between Quinn and I in the sequel.
Either way, I’m exhausted from secrets. I know Sadie will try to stop me, talk me out of it, for my own good…but I’m ready to face my consequences and do whatever I have to in order to stop the evil that has descended over all of us with these murders. If Quinn can suss out just one clue from my horror story with Wells, if there’s any connection at all to him and these villainous men, then it’s worth my freedom.
Sadie must see the determination in my eyes, and she’s quick to be the first to approach me. “We have a plan,” she says, her unearthly green eyes pleading with me to be patient. “Come on. Let’s get you somewhere you can rest.”
An unspoken exchange passes between us, where she encourages me to trust her just a while longer. I exhale a plume of vapor into the cool air, my constricted chest too tight. “What plan?”
Quinn drives a hand through his tousled hair, looking like he’s done just that a number of times already today. “There’s no fucking plan,” he grates out. “But I agree with getting you home.”
Our gazes lock. All the worry and weight of the longing moments between us stretched thin, ready to snap. He reaches for my hand, and I only hesitate a second before grabbing hold of him. His rough fingers wrap around my slim ones in a secure squeeze.
Sadie motions for me to take the front seat, then she slips into the back, where I notice Colton for the first time. My shock must register with Quinn.
“Oh, yeah. There’s a plan all right,” he says, directing his words toward the backseat. “One where I drop the both of you off at whatever raunchy establishment you want.”
A flash of anger flints in Colton’s pale eyes. “Believe me,” he says as he slides Sadie closer to his side. “I’m no fan of anything that has me sitting in the back of your cop car.”
I buckle myself in and turn toward Quinn. “What plan?” I ask again.
He shakes his head and cranks the car. “The one that will have every single one of us put on a list with the FBI, never mind losing all our jobs, risking imprisonment for obstruction…” He glances at me. “You ever heard of The Firm?”
I shake my head.
The tension gripping his body immediately slackens. “I can’t stress enough how fucking happy that makes me.”
9
Sedition
Quinn
I pull into the parking space alongside Carson’s car and throw the gear into Park with an impatient groan. “Who called Carson?”
“We’re going to need backup,” Sadie says, and my teeth clench.
I don’t like it. Not one fucking bit. It’s too…Sadie. The whole thing stinks of her methods and tactics, and it’s way out of my comfort zone. Too much can go wrong. Someone can get hurt. Avery could get hurt.
My gaze wanders to her sitting calmly in the passenger-seat. She looks exhausted. She’s already been through so much. When Larkin suggested using her in his scheme, that’s the second I walked out.
