Chapter Sixteen
Nico caught the blur of motion from the corner of his eye. He didn’t hear anything because of the blasted noise from the people’s movement and chatter on Main Street. But he had caught just a glimpse of Callie on the other side of the Hummer, and he whirled in that direction.
She wasn’t there.
“Callie,” he shouted, drawing his weapon and racing around the Hummer to get to her.
In that handful of seconds, he called out for her again. And he tried to shove away all the worst-case scenarios that started flying through his head. When he finally saw her, his heart went to his knees, and he knew they’d just moved away from those scenarios and into reality.
Because Quinn had her.
Nico caught sight of the SOB’s bald head. Caught sight of Callie, too. Quinn had obviously drugged her or something because she seemed dazed and her eyelids were fluttering down.
“Come a step closer, and I blow her brains out,” Quinn snarled, jamming a gun to Callie’s head.
The fear and adrenaline slammed through Nico, and he had to fight his instincts to lunge for Callie. To try to get her away from this killer. But he didn’t have to fight that need for long because Quinn shifted the gun.
Toward Nico.
Nico scrambled behind the back of the Hummer just as Quinn pulled the trigger. The blast thundered through the air, the sound so loud that it clearly got people’s attention. Some shouted. Some screamed. And suddenly all around were the sounds of running footsteps.
Someone coming from his left.
Nico pivoted in that direction, taking aim, but it was Shaw and Declan. They had both drawn their guns as well, but from their angle they couldn’t see what’d happened to Callie.
“Quinn has Callie,” Nico managed to say though the muscles in his throat had tightened so much that it felt as if they were strangling him.
Nico leaned out from cover, ready to offer up what it took to have the asshole let go of Callie. But his muscles vised even more when he didn’t see her.
She was gone.
“Callie?” he shouted, coming out from cover. He kept his gun ready. Kept his body braced, too, in case he had to dive out of the line of fire.
Shaw followed right along behind him, but he heard Declan talking to someone on the phone. Owen, probably. Soon, the parking lot would be swarming with cops and backup, but that wouldn’t necessarily help Callie. With her unable to fight back, Quinn could kill her.
But why?
What did he want? As close as he’d gotten to her, he could have just killed her when she stepped from the Hummer.
Definitely not a comforting thought.
But Quinn hadn’t taken the kill shot with Callie. Instead, he’d taken her, maybe to use her as a human shield so he could murder her and then him.
Yeah, definitely not a comforting thought.
He glanced down at the ground by the still-open passenger’s side door of the Hummer, and he saw what he thought was part of a tranquilizer dart. So, that’s how Quinn had managed to drug her, and by incapacitating her, that assured him that Callie wouldn’t be able to put up a fight.
She was helpless.
And in grave danger.
Nico ran past the vehicles in the parking lot, checking each one to see if Callie and Quinn were inside or underneath. Not there, not in any of them. So, he kept moving. Kept looking and tried to pick through the noise to try to pinpoint where Quinn had taken her.
And he finally heard something.
A moan that cut through the rest of the sounds around him, and while he couldn’t be sure, he thought it was Callie.
Nico hurried in that direction. Not near any of the vehicles but at the far side of the parking lot. There were some trees there and even a pair of benches that camouflaged a back alley and some shops.
Nico tore his way through the trees and caught another glimpse of Callie. Quinn was dragging her down the alleyway between the bakery and florist. They were a good twenty yards away, and with the way Quinn was holding Callie, Nico wouldn’t have a clean shot.
At this hour, both shops would be closed, but that didn’t mean people wouldn’t be out and about on the street front. If so, Quinn might end up shooting an innocent bystander if they got in his path. It also meant Nico would have to be careful about being drawn into a gunfight with the man.
A man who was apparently injured.
Nico saw the thick bandage wrapped around Quinn’s left bicep, and there was some blood seeping through the gauze. He thought of the shootout at his family’s estate and wondered if one of Callie’s or his bullets had managed to hit the asshole. If so, too bad the shot hadn’t done more damage.
“You want her back?” Quinn shouted to him. The taunt coated his voice, and the asshole actually laughed. “Then all you have to do is take her from me.”
That put a hard knot in Nico’s gut, and it told him that Callie wasn’t just a human shield. She was bait.
To draw him out.
Maybe Quinn hadn’t thought he could kill both Callie and him when they got out of the Hummer and then also manage to escape before Shaw or someone else gunned him down. But this way, Quinn stood a chance of murdering both of them and then walking away.
Again, Nico wanted to know why.
Was this The Fixer’s doing? A sort of payback for Nico not finding and killing the witness? Maybe. But it could be one of their suspects who’d hired this thug to launch this nightmare.
Nico fired a glance over his shoulder when he heard the movement behind him. Shaw did the same. But it was Owen who was making his way toward them. Owen took one look at Quinn, and he cursed.
“Did the sonofabitch drug her?” Owen snapped.
“He did,” Nico verified. “With a tranquilizer dart.”
He had no idea though what had been in that injection. Or how long it would last. But unless it wore off in the next couple of minutes, Callie wasn’t going to be able to help fight her way out of this.
Later, Nico would kick himself hard for not taking more precautions to keep her safe. But for now, he just tried to focus on saving her.
“I’m having the streets cleared, and the drone’s airborne,” Owen let him know. “Has Quinn made any demands?”
“Only for me to take Callie back if I want her,” Nico muttered. “He’ll try to kill me.”
“Yeah,” Owen said without hesitation. “Getting on the roof of one of the shops might be our best bet.”
He tipped his head not to the florist or bakery but to a vintage clothing shop that was several buildings away. There was a metal fire escape ladder attached to the back of the building, and it led to the second floor. It would be a good vantage point for keeping an eye on Quinn, but it would be tricky getting that clean shot to try to take him out. Plus, Quinn could just haul Callie behind cover.
Or flee with her.
The man probably had a vehicle stashed nearby, and he could take this fight to another location. Of course, he could also disappear with Callie, kill her and then come back at a later time to deal with Nico.
“Shaw, stay close to Nico as backup,” he heard Owen say.
The three of them started moving. Not running directly toward their intended locations. But staying low and darting behind whatever cover they had. In Nico’s case, it was a tall metal trashcan. He raced behind it.
Just as Quinn fired a shot.
The bullet skipped off the trash can and went heaven knew where. Nico cursed and hoped like hell that it hadn’t ricocheted and hit someone.
Gathering his breath, Nico levered himself up and raced behind a tree. It was much better cover, but Callie and Quinn were still too far away. But at least Quinn wasn’t trying to escape with her. That was something at least. The man was staying put with his back protected against the brick wall of the florist and with Callie anchored in front of him.
She was moving now, not trashing about or struggling, but Nico could see her flexing her hand. Probably trying to get the feeling back into them. Or maybe attempting to reach for her gun.
But it wasn’t in her holster.
Quinn had obviously disarmed her and had probably tossed the gun or tucked it into his pants.
Shaw raced toward Nico, joining him behind the tree. “How about I go that direction,” he said, tipping his head to his left. “And you go there.” He indicated the right.
Nico nodded. Best not to give Quinn two targets, and Shaw’s and his movement might actually distract the man.
With another burst of adrenaline, Nico and Shaw bolted out from the tree, and Nico made it about five feet before Quinn fired again. Nico hurried behind a Dumpster. Shaw, behind a delivery van.
Nico immediately glanced around to make sure he wasn’t about to be ambushed. After all, Quinn might not be working alone. The person who hired him could be in on this as well.
That thought had barely crossed his mind when he caught some movement to his right. He pivoted in that direction, ready to fire. But there wasn’t a time. He caught barely a glimpse of the man on the other side of the florist and about ten yards from Shaw and the delivery van.
Seth.
Even though he’d never met the man, Nico instantly recognized him from photo. So, he was here.
Why?
Was he helping Quinn, or was Seth on his own mission? One to eliminate anyone who’d contributed to his friend’s murder? If that was his intention, then he’d be going after Quinn, and whether intentional or accidentally, he could end up shooting Callie in the process. Yes, she was wearing a Kevlar vest, but that wouldn’t stop her from dying from a shot to the head.
That got Nico moving faster.
He sprinted out from the side of the Dumpster, weaving as he ran so he wouldn’t make an easy target for Quinn. And the shots came all right. And each one of them was a hellish reminder that people might be getting killed.
Nico ducked behind the edge of the building that housed the florist. On his left, Owen was making his way to the ladder. On his right, he spotted Shaw inching out from behind the van. He didn’t see Seth, but it was possible the man was still there. If so, then Nico might be caught in a dual attack with Seth and Quinn.
But Nico couldn’t think about that now.
He could only think about saving Callie.
“What do I need to do to get Callie back?” Nico called out to let her know his position. Hopefully, her mind was clear enough for her to understand that.
And react.
Because if he was going to get a clean shot at Quinn, he needed her out of the line of fire.
“You dying would be a good start,” Quinn replied. “You keep dodging my bullets.”
“If I’m dead, then you’d just kill Callie,” was Nico’s answer.
Quinn chuckled as if this were a game and not a life and death situation. Then again, it was possible this man had already murdered several people, including Tucker and Zed’s lawyer so he probably didn’t mind adding two more casualties to his list.
Shaw came out from behind the van, sprinting to the edge of the florist’s building. Neither of them could fire. Not yet. And that meant Nico had to do something about that.
He leaned out just a fraction, just enough to let Callie see him. Nico didn’t want to shout for her to get down, that would only alert Quinn to what he was trying to do. Instead, Nico shouted a word that he hoped she’d be able to interpret.
“Unicorn,” he yelled.
And he immediately came out from cover, taking aim while he moved. Callie moved, too. She let her legs give way, and she dropped down only a couple of inches. In the same motion, she rammed her elbow into Quinn’s injured arm.
Howling in pain, Quinn reached for her, no doubt to drag her back into place as his shield.
But it was too late for that.
Nico took the shot and sent two bullets into the SOB’s chest. There wasn’t enough time for Quinn’s brain to get the message to pull the trigger. No, not enough time.
Because Quinn crumpled onto the ground. And as he was falling, he said three words that Nico managed to hear. Three words that finally gave them answers.
“Dante hired me.”
With that, the man took his last breath.