Quinn's Quest (Bullard's Battle Book 7) Read online

  “Bullard? Is that what you’re here about?” Dracon asked.

  Quinn nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s what I’m here about. What do you know about him?”

  “He’s dead,” he said in surprise. “They killed him.”

  Quinn glared at him. “You say that, and yet you still haven’t given me the details I asked for.”

  “They said that they were hired to kill him.”

  Quinn felt something inside him sinking again. “They were hired to kill Bullard?”

  “Yeah, and they hired somebody else and somebody else hired them. They said it was really convoluted, but it works, so they figured they pulled off the biggest deal of their lives.”

  “And do they have proof that it worked?” Quinn asked. And something must have been in Quinn’s tone because Dracon immediately cringed.

  “I don’t know. I really don’t know,” Dracon said.

  “Where can I find these friends, so I can confirm what you just said?”

  He straightened and said, “I haven’t talked to them in weeks.”

  “Yeah, how come?”

  “Because I wanted more money,” he said. “I didn’t think I got paid enough.”

  “And the fact that they paid you at all just blows me away,” Quinn said. “So tell me where I can get a hold of them.”

  He looked over at Izzie. “Surely you don’t want me to do that.”

  “Why not?” she asked.

  “Because you were the reason that I got in trouble in the first place.”

  “What are you talking about?” she said, frowning at him.

  “They wanted you. I was keeping you for them.”

  She stared at him in shock. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Because I let you go or you got away,” he said, “I got in trouble. I almost got killed because of that.”

  “That was over a year ago,” she said. “Maybe more.”

  “All I can tell you is that it wasn’t long enough because, when they came here and found out I’d lost you, believe me, I took a beating too.” He pointed at his nose.

  It did look different. She nodded. “I wondered what happened to that. I figured maybe your next girlfriend actually beat the crap out of you for a change.”

  “The only reason I tied you up was that they said I had to make sure you were here. And then they were delayed, and, by the time they got here, you’d gotten away.”

  “So what did they want with me back then?” she asked slowly.

  “Well, they wanted your uncle Bullard.”

  She took a long slow deep breath. “Back then? Over a year ago?”

  “Well, they were putting plans in motion, but you screwed things up,” Dracon said. “So, when they came here again, I didn’t have any choice but to say yes.”

  “Why would they use you again, since you already had screwed up once?” Izzie asked him.

  “This was a setup,” Quinn said quietly. “They wanted me to find Izzie, and they wanted me to find Dracon.”

  Chapter 3

  “Dracon being a patsy almost makes sense,” Izzie said. “But why would this be one whole year in the making?”

  “Well, it takes a good ten months, at least, to set up a long-term op like this,” Ryland said. “And some of these scenarios take longer. Not to mention they needed that unique opportunity where it would be easier to get to Bullard.”

  “Where was he back then?” Izzie asked.

  “He’d been over at Ice’s place,” Quinn stated.

  “And, of course, Bullard would do anything for Ice. It was part of our fight.”

  “What about it?” Quinn asked.

  “I told him that he should find a woman who was free.”

  “Ouch,” Quinn said. “You know Ice’s always respected the sanctity of marriage, and Bullard would never cross it.”

  “I know. I really do,” Izzie explained. “I knew it back then, but he’s so alone, and he was hurting, and I wanted him to find a partner of his own. Not always be interested in only her.”

  “As you know,” Quinn said softly, “it takes time to find the right person, and you don’t always see clearly.”

  She snorted. “Yeah, but, after him throwing that at me about my boyfriend, I …” She hesitated and then shrugged and said, “I threw that back at him too.” She’d regretted it instantly, but once the words were out …

  “Nice,” Ryland said. “We all knew about Ice and Bullard. But he also is really good friends with Levi.”

  “I know. I know.” Izzie raised both hands in surrender. “And I often said to Bullard that he didn’t really love Ice. It’s just he loved the idea of Ice.”

  The two men shared a look.

  “She’s unique, but I don’t think that he cared about her as much as he thought he did.”

  “I don’t know that any of us can read Bullard’s mind and heart,” Quinn suggested. “Regardless, it’s always been a sore topic. The big one that we never broached.”

  “Well, I did,” she said, “and that’s why I figured I hadn’t heard from him in so long. Because I crossed that invisible line.”

  “Maybe so,” Quinn said. “You attacked not only Bullard’s feelings for the only woman Bullard has ever loved but you attacked his ethics, his morality. Bullard had some hard feelings to deal with himself, seeing Ice and Levi happy, together, getting married, having a baby. He didn’t need your harsh words too, as he was already dealing with the reality of seeing them together at their compound, making a success of their business, their team, comingling their personal lives with their professional lives.”

  Izzie grimaced, remained silent.

  “I don’t know what you did,” Quinn continued, trying to soften his tone, “what you said to Bullard, other than what you just shared. Even from just your point of view, I feel some of the pain that you must have inflicted on Bullard. He sees you as his blood, his family, his niece but more like a daughter. Bullard is our leader, the patriarch of this mixed family. He thinks of everyone else first. He rarely thinks of himself and his needs, his wants, on a personal level.”

  Quinn shook his head. “Izzie, what you said must have hurt Bullard worse than any airplane crash. We all know you were lashing out. And Bullard does too, when stepping back from the pain. But you hurt him so much, Izzie. You don’t do something like that to another person without it having repercussions.”

  Izzie had long ago teared up and had turned from Dracon but also Quinn. “I … get it,” she said, blinking and swallowing the tears. “Believe me.” She took in a big gulp of air. “I get it. And … I’ve been regretting it ever since. This asshole just made it all that much worse.” She flung an arm in Dracon’s direction.

  “I didn’t do anything,” Dracon whined.

  “No? You beat me to a pulp,” she snapped. “And you sure as hell didn’t tell me that I would be a prize for another person at the time.”

  “They told me not to let you know.”

  “Yeah, what would I do?” she asked. “What could I possibly do against you and your buddies?”

  “Well, you had these guys,” Dracon whined. When Quinn reached down for him, Dracon held up both hands. “I didn’t know about your friends back then,” he said. “But my guys beat me up too. I thought they were my friends, but obviously they weren’t.”

  “Yeah, obviously,” she said. She turned to look at Quinn and asked, “Can we leave now?”

  “Soon,” he said to her, turning to Dracon again. “Where are these guys?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, scrambling away from Quinn. “All I have is a way to contact them.”

  “That’ll do just fine,” he said, shaking his head with disgust.

  Dracon glared at him. “Yeah, that won’t be that easy though. I haven’t tried the number. I don’t even know if it works anymore.”

  Quinn held out his hand. “Give me the phone.”

  “You don’t have to be so pushy,” he whined.

  “I don’t have to
be, but I can be.”

  Dracon pulled out his phone and handed it over, as Dracon looked back at her. “Ever since we hooked up,” he said, “my life’s been in a spiral.”

  “Well, while you were spiraling, and I was in hell, you didn’t clean up your act, did you?” she snapped. “This place is a pigsty.”

  “You ain’t got no call to judge me for that,” he protested.

  “Why not?” she said, “I never would have lived in a pigsty like this.”

  “It’s the same as it was when we were living together,” he argued.

  “You’re not.” She stared in disgust at Dracon, trying to find what used to be his Prince Charming good looks, with shiny blond hair, smooth skin, bright eyes, and a gorgeous smile. All she saw now was lanky hair, a pimply chin, and shifty eyes that said so much more about who he was at his core. “I don’t know what I was going through back then,” she said, “but, wow, have my eyes been opened now, seeing you here today.”

  He snorted. “What? So you like dudes like these ones, who come in and beat me up?”

  “Hell of an improvement,” she said, nodding. Now she turned to walk away, to the front door, the two men beside her, and suddenly she stopped, looked over at Dracon, then asked Quinn, “May I?”

  Dracon just looked at her in confusion, but Quinn picked up her silent question immediately and said, “Absolutely. I think you should.”

  She looked at Dracon hard.

  “Violence never does anybody any good,” Ryland added.

  “It’s a hell of release, and it gives you back control, even closure,” Izzie said, as she looked over at Ryland.

  He smiled and nodded. “If it’s what you need to do, then you need to do that.”

  She tilted her head, as she studied the weaselly mouse in front of her. The room was quiet for a couple minutes, before she said, “He’s not really worth it.”

  “What are you talking about?” Dracon asked, looking wildly around at the three of them. “I want you all to leave. She’s ruining my world.”

  “Ruining your world?” Izzie repeated. And something snapped, and she reached out with her closed fist, as only Bullard could have shown her, and punched Dracon hard in the face.

  He screamed at the top of his lungs, “Ow, ow, ow, ow!” When he turned around and glared at her, he asked, “What was that for?”

  “Because I wanted to,” she said, with a big smile, “and because you deserved it.” And, with that, she turned, executed a prime back kick, as only self-defense moves could have shown her, right into Dracon’s nose, blood gushing immediately. She headed out again. As she got to the door, she saw Quinn, having a private conversation with Ryland.

  Dracon’s eyes were still watering, and his nose was still bleeding.

  When Quinn joined her at the door, she glared at him suspiciously. “You’re not allowed to kill him, you know?”

  “I won’t have to,” he said. “His days are numbered already.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, turning to look at her former boyfriend, quivering in a pile of his own blood on the floor.

  “These guys have been cleaning up steadily,” Ryland answered instead. “Nobody’s left alive.”

  She stared at him in shock. “I mean, I don’t want you guys—or me—in trouble for killing this piece of shit. And I don’t believe in killing for no reason,” she said, “but honestly it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”

  Both men laughed.

  Quinn slipped an arm around her shoulders, tucked her up close, and said, “I’m proud of you.”

  “I’m not so proud of me,” she said. Feeling her heart lighten just even hearing his words, she looked up at him. “And why would you be?”

  “Because punching and kicking him was something you needed to do for yourself. And I get that. But today you showed up for Bullard, and you participated in this entire scenario just now for Bullard initially, but that was something else you needed to do for you. It gave you your control back.”

  “It doesn’t make me feel good about myself,” she said. “I shouldn’t have resorted to the violence, like he did to me.”

  “Everybody needs time to heal. Everybody has to look at why they did things and what they did for their own reasons. As long as you understand why you were with him and then that you were smart enough to walk away when you had a chance,” he muttered, “I wouldn’t worry about the rest of it too badly. I personally think bullies need a taste of their own medicine. Too many victims don’t stand up to them, just let them get away with this mess. So you need to cut yourself some slack. You got away from him. You stayed away from him. And unfortunately that’s more than most women can say.”

  “It’s still disgusting that I was ever with him in the first place,” she muttered.

  “So now what? You’ve got to be perfect? That’s not a standard you can achieve, so why set yourself up for failure? Plus now, having gone through this horrid situation with Dracon, I can guarantee you that you will recognize it instantly again. You won’t fall for this twice. You got to recognize who and what you are. Now and back then. So my understanding is you were a bit of a mess at the time.”

  “I was,” she said. “More than a bit of a mess.”

  “And why was that?”

  “The university scenario. I’m sure Bullard told you about that.”

  “Right. The court case was against them, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, and I found that even more distressing.”

  “And yet you wouldn’t let Bullard be there?”

  “Bullard, no, definitely couldn’t let him be there.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because he was threatening to kill him,” she said quietly. “And you know Bullard as well as I do. He would have arranged it, no problem.”

  “He might have,” Quinn said quietly. “You’re right. Bullard might have. Because the professor hurt you.”

  *

  Outside, the three of them stepped into the vehicle, and Quinn tried the phone number Dracon had. Quinn held up his cell on Speaker, as it rang continuously, and then, all of a sudden, the ringing stopped, and someone said, “Quinn, is that you?”

  “It sure is. What are you up to?” He frowned at Ryland. But Ryland shook his head. Neither recognized the voice.

  “Oh, I’ve been waiting for your call,” the stranger said at the other end. “And now I can finally let that little piece of shit off the hook.”

  “You’ll let Dracon off the hook?”

  “Well, in one way or another.” And laughter could be heard clearly over the phone.

  “What are you up to?” Quinn asked. “I get that you’ve been watching the place.”

  “Oh, I have, indeed. And how lovely to know that you’ve brought my little favorite with you.”

  Quinn turned and looked at Izzie. “Well, she’s with me,” he said, “but I don’t think she wants anything to do with you.”

  “Well, if that idiot hadn’t let her go a long time ago,” he said, “things would have come to a crunch a lot earlier. But, as it is, it all worked out for the best.”

  “So why don’t we talk about it?” Quinn said.

  “Nothing to talk about, except you want me to gloat a little bit. But that could be good too.”

  “Well, I get that you were paid to do this, but I still don’t know who is above you or who was actively involved.”

  “What makes you think anybody was above me?”

  “Your little pet told us.”

  “Of course he did,” he said, and his tone turned ugly. “That little weasel.”

  “So you’re not the top of the hierarchy. You’re just yet another paid minion,” Quinn said. “So it’s really a matter of finding who is above you.”

  “Nobody’s fucking above me,” he snapped.

  “Yeah, I don’t think I believe you,” he said, turning and looking around. “You’re the one who set up the security cameras in the hallway, huh?”

  “Yep, I heard you went there to
day, so I was expecting you to be back again soon.”

  “Yeah, back here for you,” he said. “I can’t say I’m at all thrilled with Dracon. He’s pretty cheap labor.”

  “And dead soon, just keep watching.”

  Quinn turned and looked up at the apartment building. All of a sudden, he heard a crash of glass and a screaming shriek, as a body was thrown out the window, only to land with a heavy thunk in the alley on the other side. He reached out and grabbed a hold of Izzie, as she jolted at the noise. Ryland had already left the vehicle.

  “I presume that was the lovely message you left behind for Dracon?” Quinn asked the guy on the other end of the phone.

  “Yeah, like I said, just glad to have that one over with. That piece of shit couldn’t even do a simple job, like keep a handcuffed woman in his bed! I would like to know how she got out of that.”

  “Really? Well, why don’t we meet and talk about it.”

  At that, more high-pitched laughter came over the phone. “Well, that won’t work,” he said. “You think I’ll get anywhere close to you? You’re on a vengeance path, and it sure as hell won’t be me who gives you any more answers.”

  “So why answer the phone call?”

  “Just for fun,” he said. “Just to let you sweat a little bit and to let you see the show.”

  “Well, I saw it,” he snapped. “Can’t say I’m terribly impressed. Anybody can throw a loser out of a window.”

  “Yep,” he said, “but it takes a little bit more skill to throw the loser out while you’re watching.”

  And he hung up.

  Chapter 4

  Izzie’s heart stopped, as the body hit the cement and bounced ever-so-lightly. Not enough to show any proof of life but more like a melon that had been thrown on hard ground. More likely the percussion had raised it once again. She continued to stare, even as she felt Quinn grab her shoulder to tuck her face against him. Just so much shock ran through her system that she didn’t know what to think. She had finally come to terms with the fact that the slimy bastard she had just seen was some weird reincarnation of the guy she had known two years ago.

  What had happened to him to bring him down so low? And then to have been thrown out of the apartment window, murdered for something he’d done? She couldn’t believe it; she felt the bile rising at the back of her throat, as she averted her gaze. She knew Ryland had run out of the vehicle to check on him.