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“Hang in there, doll. O’Conner’s got your back.”
With that, the line went dead.
Quinn growled. All his muscles were coiled tight.
After all that, he was no closer to knowing who was threatening Alex. He just had more questions than ever and not a single answer.
Damn. Wasn’t that always the way of things?
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
Quinn sat on his living room sofa staring at the logs crackling in the fireplace. The Pacific Northwest’s weather was temperamental, so even though it was late April, the brisk chill had yet to leave the air.
He heard the water running in his master bathroom and tried not to think about the fact that Alex was currently naked in his tub.
Yeaaah. Who was he kidding? He wasn’t trying that hard.
Restless, he tromped to the kitchen and popped open a beer. His thoughts kept returning to Alex. Her heartbreaking words echoed in his head.
I guess when things get to be too much, my head knows its own limit and shuts down.
What he wouldn’t give to make everything better for her...
Beer in hand, he settled back onto the couch, replaying his last face-to-face conversation with Joe in his mind.
“How involved with Alex are you really?”
“Not in the way you’re hinting at, asshole,” Joe replied. “When Alex was Mrs. Natalie Woodsworth, my job was to watch her pompous, jackass douche of a husband. I tried to befriend her to get an in, but both times I talked with her, she got her face pummeled. So, I kept my focus on him and off her.”
Joe laughed, but the sound was hollow. Humorless. “The reason Alex is here is a goddamn fluke. The powers that be were getting impatient and told me I needed to make contact immediately. So, I went over there that day for a neighborly cup of sugar.”
Quinn’s stomach clenched as disgust colored Joe’s features.
“I was walking up their driveway and saw their garage door was open, so I headed that way. When I peeked in, I saw the interior door was open, too. There was really loud music playing, but I could hear Woodsworth screaming like a fucking lunatic. I crept in closer, and he was kneeling on the floor over something, but I couldn’t tell what. My gut was howling that something was wrong, so I moved closer and saw her lying under him. Woodsworth was fucking wailing on her.”
Nausea washed over him, and he took his seat behind his desk.
With an aggravated sigh, his friend laced his fingers atop his head. “Damn woman was a trooper, though. She was trying to fight back and defend herself. Then the next thing I know, Woodsworth pulls a knife off the counter. I’m running toward her. She’s trying to scramble away. Then, for a split second, I swear our eyes locked. She almost managed to crawl away... but she didn’t. In the few seconds it took for me to get to them, he just fucking hacked away at her. It was like the goddamn shower scene inPsycho.”
Joe’s hands dropped from his head, and his shoulders slumped. “When the paramedics arrived, she was unconscious. Barely breathing. I thought she was dead. It was fucking awful.”
The haunted misery in his friend’s eyes was something he’d never witnessed in all their years together. It had Quinn’s simmering anger boiling over to a white-hot rage. He had to take a few deep breaths before he could speak.
“How did you not kill that motherfucker?” he ground out at last.
Not only did he want that asshole destroyed for Alex’s sake, but now for Joe’s, too.
“It was tempting, believe me.” He shook his head. “I was with her in the hospital when she woke up. She barely remembered Woodsworth attacking her or seeing me. Thank fucking god she blacked out most of the details. Sucks for us, witness-wise. But it’s probably better for her.”
“What are you doing in here by yourself?”
He kept his gaze on the fire and didn’t bother to mask his annoyance. “Roxie, can’t a man sit by the fire in his own fucking living room and drink a beer in silence?”
“Nope. At least not if I live nearby. And don’t swear at me, asshole. Why is your water running?”
He groaned in frustration and twisted to face Roxie. She stood in the living room archway, hands on her hips, poised for a fight.
“Alex is taking a bath. She had a rough fucking day. I figured she could use a nice,quietsoak in the tub somewhere safe. You got a problem with that?”
