Chapter Nine
Quaid walked through the six-story headquarters of QM International and acknowledged the pride he had in the company.
Five years of patience and determination resulted in a cutting-edge, modern building that stood out in the industrial corridor.
The sleek concrete-and-glass structure was crowned by a discreet mirrored-black logo on the top floor.
Elizabeth got full credit for every design ideas that came to life in the structure.
The woman knew how to create an image. The building itself was a simple construct with good bones.
Remodeling to fit what they needed had been massive.
Security, Armory, Motor Pool, and Logistics were the first two floors.
Admin and Operations took the entirety of the third floor.
Fourth consisted of the Medical Bay and Clinic, the dayroom, kitchen, and a few conference areas.
Fifth was all quarters for those who needed to live in and guest suites.
Sixth was mostly unoccupied with a workout area on one side and supply storage consuming the rest, although they had managed a beautiful wedding in the space.
Elizabeth had plans for the floor and to buy the building behind theirs and execute a massive expansion plan.
She had the ideas, organizational experience with his grandfather’s hotels, and the savvy.
Quaid and Mackey brought the business in.
He stepped off the elevator, debating a workout to relieve some stress. He passed through the day room, waved at the six men and one woman there, but didn’t stop.
He arrowed to the Medical Bay.
“How’s Delaney?” Bailey Tanner yelled after him.
“Fine. Surgery went well. He’ll be released tomorrow to our Medical Bay.” He turned into the clinic searching for Drucker. All the beds were empty, which was good news. The man rolled away from the corner cubicle to check who had entered.
“Where’s Williams?” He shouldn’t bark at the man, but he was worried about her.
Drucker ignored his demeanor as usual. “If she did what I ordered her to do, she’s in her room to rest. Haven’t seen her for a couple hours.”
Quaid did a quick pivot, debated getting the master access card, then rejected it. He’d promised her.
Hunt, Cait, and Elizabeth had taken Alanna’s advice and left to visit Bess and break the news.
Harrison was back in Operations using what information he had from Cait to try to find Baxter’s girl.
Mackey groaned but was in the midst of a full check in with all twenty-two protection teams across the globe.
Kerry, their tech guru, was handling the morgue search for Esme having drawn a blank on Mercer until she had more information.
Three other operations people worked on the seven other open cases they had.
Remy St. Claire was deepening the search for Whit.
Quaid didn’t care what that meant. He let Remy do his job.
He and Mackey were thick like thieves with similar work habits.
He and Alanna still had work to do. Questions. So many fucking questions, and he had no clue how to ask. Because he wanted the whole story of the night Mercer hurt her, and not because it mattered to the case, but because it mattered to him. And fuck it, she needed to talk about it. All of it.
He wasn’t thinking straight at this moment. He was reacting. He wanted her close because he had a niggling sense that she would shut down and walk away unless he made it impossible for her to.
Did he sound crazy? Yes, he did. But if anybody needed a friend and a partner, it was her. He was that man. When she’d closed his office door to protect their conversation, the considerate act crushed him.
She had to feel left out.
Who wouldn’t?
But she recognized the moment, offered to help, and Elizabeth approved.
Shit. Elizabeth didn’t approve of any of the women he’d been involved with.
Bailey stopped him again on his return. She was an average height, curvy woman with blonde hair and hazel eyes, and was a terror with a sniper rifle – any weapon honestly. The former FBI agent used to hunt the most wanted fugitives. They should use her on this.
Bailey snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. “Boss, wake up. Celissa says Sergeant Walker SDPD is on Line 1. It’s urgent.”
Quaid swore under his breath and pushed around Brad Conners, who frequently monitored the security of his house. He grabbed the wall phone in the kitchen area.
“Daniels. What do you need, Frank?”
“Your guy has been spotted in the East Village. I have patrols looking for him. You want in?” Frank’s deep, gritty voice cracked with fatigue.
“Yes. We’ll meet you. 11th and G work for you?” It had become QM’s standard meeting place downtown since the search for Delaney.
“I’ll be there.”
“Give us twenty minutes.”
“He could be long gone by then.”
“He could be long gone now. Let’s search and question anyway.” Quaid slammed the receiver into its cradle. “What the fucking hell? Why?”
“Sir?” Conners and Tanner spoke together.
“Tell Mackey we’re going out.”
“Who is we?” Conners grabbed his cell phone.
“Alanna and I. Weapons for both of us. Now.”
One of the other men rose. Geraldo Patina was a new hire, but knew his weapons. “Handguns? Anything specific?”
“Yes, handguns only. Tell Tinkerton in the Armory. She’ll know which ones to pull.”
“I got it. I’ll meet you at the main entrance.”
Conners raised a brow. “Shall I inform Mackey and Harrison, too, and get a detail on you?”
“Yes. Find out if Remy has search teams in the area and move them to 11th and G. Fast, dammit. Our guy has been spotted.” He skipped the elevator and took the stairs two at a time. Alanna’s room was on the left inside the fifth floor stair door.
This wasn’t what he planned. Careful, subtle, ease into it. No time.
He slammed a fist on the door. “Lani, wake up. PD may have found Mercer.”
No more than five seconds passed. She released the locks and opened the door, squinting against the light. “What did you say?”
“Frank. They clocked Mercer downtown. Hurry. Shoes. Let’s go.”
The room was dim in the late afternoon light and the bed wrecked, like she slept, but not easily. She slapped her hand on the light by the door. “Jesus, you know how to wake a girl, Daniels.”
“I’ll buy you coffee.”
She turned away, quickly unbuttoned her shirt, and pulled it off.
Quaid drew in a sharp breath – delicate pale blue lace and creamy skin ripped away thought. Which was just as well. Silence to the gorgeous sight of her was the better part of respect.
He stepped inside and let the door shut. By the time he’d verified the closed door, she had pulled a black FBI T-shirt over her head and was slipping on her black work shoes.
“I need a better pair of earphones. I don’t want Dr. Cait or Drucker yelling at me again.” She grabbed her current pair from the nightstand.
“I’ll get Niles on it.”
She put her hand on her hip and her disgusted expression spoke volumes.
He stared at her. “What? It’s literally his job.”
“For you, not for me.”
“Untrue. He’ll be put out if I ask anybody else to find a pair. It’s not worth pissing him off. He’s good at what he does, Lani. Leave it.”
She gave in and stood to stomp her boots into place while shoving her credentials into her pocket. A quick use of a brush and a ponytail, her hair was up. “Ready. Let’s go. What about weapons?”
“Patina went to the armory to get them. We’ll meet him at the entrance.”
“Your car or mine.”
Quaid snorted. “QMs. Don’t be surprised if Mackey is driving.”
They exited the room, and she ignored the door to the stairs and pushed the down button on the elevator. “Overkill. We’ll chase him off.”
“We are not meeting him one-on-one. Not happening. He needs to understand what he unleashed.” He stepped closer to her. “You are not alone this time and won’t ever be.” Let her make of that what she would.
He followed her into the elevator and kept silent while the doors closed.
“Say it.”
“Say what?”
“You’d prefer I stay here.”
“Nope, you’re my partner. Where I go, you go. And where you go, I go. Period. Do we understand each other?”
She tilted her head and studied his face. “Okay.”
“What?”
“Not sure I’ve ever had that commitment from a partner before.”
“Then somebody is falling down on the job.” The elevator stopped at the third floor and he huffed in exasperation. But when the doors opened, Mackey stood there, locked and loaded, with his mission face on and no room for argument. Quaid moved closer to Alanna, and Mackey stepped on.
“Three teams are already in the area searching for Whit, so we’ll have backup.”
Alanna ran her eyes over both of them. “Where were you two sixteen years ago?” She mumbled the words, but he heard her.
He waited to answer until she met his eyes. “I wish we’d been there for you, but I was in the Marines by then, Mackey was trying to pass Ranger School. And you made it out by yourself.”
“Through sheer stupidity.”
“No,” Mackey stated. “Even mistakes teach. Sounds like you learned that lesson well.”
The elevator stopped on the ground floor. Conners and Patina waited at the front door. The two QM black SUV’s idled in the drive through portico.
Quaid opened the back door and helped her in. “Safer back here. So don’t say it.”
“I wasn’t going to comment at all. I agree.”
Patina came forward with their weapons and handed her one, then Quaid. “We’ll be behind you.”
“Good.” He slammed the door and went around to the passenger front. Something was seriously wrong with her reactions to all this. She should be snarking at him at the very least.
&&&&&&&&&&
11th and G had a large parking lot currently filled with people and cars. Seven slots at the end had been designated for QM. There was currently a black police SUV parked in one of the slots next to a QM black SUV. Remy St. Claire was talking with the cop.
Alanna slipped out of the back seat, not waiting for anyone to open her door. The less they argued, the faster they could get to searching.