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Two solid hits, and it came free of its hinges.
Quinn peered inside, and his heart stopped.
Alex was tumbling down the stairs with an unknown man.
He raced toward her. “Alex!”
Her head crashed against the banister post. The loud crack halted both men in their tracks.
She slumped at the base of the stairs, face down, motionless. A pool of blood spread beneath her head. Finding her faint pulse, he crouched next to her, afraid to move her.
“Alex, sweetheart, please...” he whispered, unable to breathe. He lay down on the ground next to her and stroked her bruised cheek. “Alex, hang in there, baby. Please stay with me, sweetheart. You’ve got to stay with me.”
When Joe turned on the lights while shouting orders at the 911 dispatcher, Quinn’s blood chilled. What he could see of Alex’s face was bruised and gashed. Her limbs were lying at awkward angles, and a bloodstain was soaking her shirt. She was barely breathing.
In that moment, any doubt he had about the depths of his feelings for her vanished.
He loved her.
He would give anything—doanything—for her to be okay.
His hands trembled as he tried to find the source of the bleeding without moving her. He continued to murmur reassurances, tobegher to stay with him, as tears of rage and fear ran down his face.
A hand on his shoulder startled him. Glancing up, he met Joe’s somber gaze.
“Ambulance is on their way.” He gestured to the motionless man four feet away. “No pulse on the perp.”
For the next hour, federal agents and local authorities descended on the Buchanan house. When he was no longer needed at the scene, Quinn walked from Joe’s place to his own. He paused at the sight of Joe and Roxie sitting side by side on his front porch steps.
Roxie rose and rushed to him, hugging him hard. “How is she?”
Sinking down onto the step next to Joe, he scrubbed his hands over his face and sighed.
What a fucking night.
“They airlifted her to Jefferson Medical over in Port Townsend. They’re not sure if they’ll need to fly her over to Seattle or not.” He nodded to Joe. “Your dad’s with her. EMT said the knife wound to her shoulder was deep but appeared to miss anything vital.” He closed his eyes. Anger, frustration, terror, and guilt filled him in equal measure. “She hasn’t regained consciousness yet.”
Roxie squeezed onto the step between him and Joe. “And the baby?” she whispered, her green eyes glistening.
He looked over at her. “I don’t know, Rox.”
Alex tumbling down the stairs replayed in his mind. And then the crack. The horrific, loud crack of her head hitting the post. It had sounded so final. Had nearly given him a fucking heart attack. He’d never felt so helpless in his entire life.
“I should have stayed with her.” Silent tears streamed down Roxie’s face. “I shouldn’t have left her by herself.”
Joe put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Don’t beat yourself up. There’s nothing you could have done.” A shadow passed over the man’s face. One that looked suspiciously like guilt.
His friend was holding something back. He could feel it in his gut.
Quinn stood, crossing his arms over his chest. “Who the fuck was that guy, Joe?”
Joe gave Roxie’s shoulders a final squeeze and stood. He stared at her bent head for a few seconds, an unreadable expression on his face. Then, brusquely, he turned his attention back to Quinn.
“Feds have the body now,” his friend said, tone businesslike.
Surprise had Quinn’s brows lifting. “That was fast.”
Joe shrugged and started pacing. “The guy’s name was Jason Fulton. Forty-two years old from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Long record in multiple states. Armed robbery, assault, rape. The works. Turns out he was released from jail a week ago after a stint for simple possession.”
