Loving Quinn Novel by North Rose

(Quinn)

With Annora’s help I walked out of the penthouse without the police noticing. I know they will realize I am no longer there in a few hours, if not sponer, so I have to work fast. Aaron is waiting for me at the entrance to the parking garage.

I slip into the back seat and quickly open the duffle bag on the seat. I glance up as I pull out a gun and its holster. Mac is in the passenger seat, clad in dark camo. Aaron is similarly dressed. They know that by the time we reach McAllister’s mansion the sun will be going down.

Too much time has passed since I got that call today. A single phone call was enough to bring that darkness inside me to the surface. If anything happens to my little girl, I will gladly spend my life behind bars knowing the people responsible are no longer walking this earth.

Because I will kill every last one of them.

“The others are already at McAllister’s place,” Mac says.

Of course, they called in reinforcements. I don’t think they will be needed but it is pleasant to know they will come. That is the soldier brotherhood for you.

“Who did you call?”

“Alaric, David, and Kimiko. Since he is in town it felt wrong not to call him.”

I nod as I fasten the holster around my thigh then shove my gun into it. “Have they seen anything?”

“Only the gate security guard, Ethan McAllister, and the boy. There has been no sign of Dionne.” Aaron’s voice practically vibrated with the anger I feel.

When the police questioned him earlier today, Ethan had no idea where his wife was. He told them he couldn’t think of anywhere she would go to hide. I think he lied. That man knows more

than he says.

If he doesn’t, he is very naïve when it comes to his wife. Given the fact that she had him completely fooled about Logan’s true paternity, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is in the dark about. everything concerning Dionne Masters. I was until the end.

“Let’s see what Ethan knows.”

“Why do you think he lied to the police?” Mac asks.

McAllister strikes me as a man who is afraid to admit defeat. He looked broken when he learned

Logan was his son. I hope he suspects she is hiding more from him after that. I would. So, we start with him.”

Very soon we ll onto a street half a block away from McAllister’s mansion. We move swiftly and silently in the dark until we are at the back wall of the estate. Mac gives me a boost over the wall then he and Aaron both land next to me shortly after.

Together, the three of us head towards the house. We weave our way between trees and bushes as we silently creep up on the back patio. The hoot of an owl makes me look left. Alaric and David step out of a nearby clump of bushes.

I scan the trees around the back of the property. When a shift in the moonlight sparkles off a bit of glass in one of the trees, I instantly know where Kimiko is.

Our six-man team is complete. I give Alaric and David a nod then turn back to the house. Mac is already working on disabling the alarm on the back door. While the house is armed, there are cameras on the exterior. That’s fine for us but very poor planning on McAllister’s part.

“We are good to go,” Mac said.

I press the button on my earpiece to turn on the small communication device we all wear.

“Mac and Aaron are inside with me. The left side of the house is Alaric, and the right is David.

Kimiko, glad to have you with us and keep an eye on the exit.”

I give Mac a nod then open the door. On silent feet I enter the house. I find myself in a very large dining room. I pause for a moment to listen for any noises coming from this level of the mansion. Thanks to Mac I already know the layout of all the rooms.

He planted a spy in the home, in the form of a maid, during the custody case.

Mac splits off to go to the living room. Aaron leaves the room and heads towards the kitchen. I walk to the grand staircase that leads to the second floor.

McAllister’s study is the second door to the right of the stairs.

I make sure to take each step slowly so that I don’t make any noise. When I reach his door, I press my ear to the wood. I can hear him grumbling about his crazy wife. From the sounds of it, he isn’t happy with her right now.

Can’t blame him.

I open the door slowly, so no noise is made then slip into the room. Ethan is sitti at his desk with his head in his hands. He is looking down at a document on the desktop.

“Where is your wife, McAllister?”

Ethan’s head jerks up at the sound of my voice. Anger flashes across his face then shame and defeat. He looks like he has aged ten years since the last time I saw him.

“How did you get in here? The guard at the gate never called to let me know someone was waiting.”

1 tilt my head to look at him as if to tell him to think about who he is talking to. He sighs then stands up from his seat to grab the liquor decanter from the nearby sideboard.

“I would offer you a drink but I know that is not why you came here.”

“No. Where is Dionne? I know you must know where she is hiding with my daughter.”

“Honestly, I have no idea where she would go. The woman I know isn’t capable of what she just did. That just shows that I don’t know her at all.”

I stare at him for a moment before I take a few menacing steps closer to him. The anger I feel is like a living thing in the air between us. I see fear in his eyes as he glances up at me after pouring his drink.

“Woah now.” He holds his free hand up in the air in a surrender gesture. “Look I know we have had issues in the past, all because I blindly listened to a very manipulative woman. I am telling you the truth. I don’t know where she would go.”

Ethan’s eyes light up like an idea, has in fact, suddenly come to him. He rushes back to his desk, liquor sloshing out of his glass as he does. He rummages through some files on his desk until he finds what he is looking for.

“I hired a private investigator to look into Dionne’s past after that custody case fiasco.”

I watch as he flips through the file. My patience grows shorter with each passing second. Grace is out there somewhere with my p**cho ex-fiancé

“Did you know her parents were from the Bay Area?” Ethan asks.

“No, we never talked about her past much. It always seems like a sensitive topic. What does that have to do with my daughter?”

“They left her a house. It is still in her mother’s name. Here,” he holds out the file for me to take. “Take that with you and please don’t return here like this again.”

1 take the folder from him then turn around to leave. His voice stops me as I step into the hallway. I turn around to look at him as he speaks.

“I am sorry for everything I did to your company. Dionne was very convincing.”

“We can discuss that another time.”

He nodded his head. I don’t waste anymore time on Ethan’s weary, guilt-ridden face. Spinning around I rush down the stairs and go to the back door. As I do, I tell Mac and Aaron I have what I need. They are both waiting outside as I close the patio door.

“What did he tell you?” Aaron asks.

“There is a house in Dionne’s mother’s name. He did a deep dive background on her after the custody **p show.”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

I look at the file, memorize the address, hand the file to Mac, then relay the address to the others

over comms.

“Clear out everyone. Meet at that address.”

Five minutes later we are back in Aaron’s car.

“I know the area this house is in. It isn’t a good one. Do you want to loop the police in on this as we drive?” Mac asks.

“No, we can do that when we get there. That will give me time to get inside and deal with

Dionne.”

“Roger that.”

Ten minutes later I feel my phone buzzing in my pocket. Looking at the caller ID, I see that it is Annora. For a split second I debate declining the call. I answer because I know if I don’t, she will just worry more than necessary.

“I know where she is, and we are heading there now.”

“That is helpful to know, Mr. Grayson. Give us the location and we will meet you there,” Morris

says.

“I need to do this my way, Morris.” I end the call then turn my phone off.

How long did it take for them to find out I was no longer in the penthouse? Probably not very long. I made some very big shows of aggression when we returned home earlier. I am sure everyone expected more of those, yet when I remained silent and isolated, Morris got suspicious.

Can’t say I blame him.

“We are almost there,” Aaron says.

I glance up from my phone to look out the window, Mac was right. The neighborhood is not the best looking. That doesn’t necessarily mean it is an unsavory neighborhood. It just means it is rundown.

Looking at the houses as we pass makes me almost wish I had pressed Dionne more about her past. What kind of life did she have growing up? What were her parents like? Did she have a good life?

Part of me wants to believe she didn’t have the most pleasant of childhoods. Why else would she be the way she is today? Something dark must have happened to her back then to make her the manipulative b**h she is today.

I don’t care what it was, not really. All I want to know is why. Why did she take Grace? What did she really think that would accomplish?

Getting me to come to her. Why? What does she have to say to me that is so important? So many d*n q**estions run through my head as we pull up a few houses down from the address in the file.

I guess it is time to answer some of those.

“Make sure you are all using non-lethal rounds. Use the tranquilizer rounds Mac gave you all. I may want to kill Dionne but let’s make sure there is no collateral damage to civilian lives.”

“Copy that,” several voices say.

The house itself look very run down on the outside. From where I am standing it looks like every light in the house is on. It is the only house on the block with lights. It sets the house apart from the rest.

Grace is in that house somewhere.

As before at McAllister’s mansion we split into two three-man teams. Kimiko disappeared swiftly in the darkness to find a good sn***r point. Alaric and David split left and right of the house to cover both sides.

Mac gave me a nod then headed around the back of the house.

“I have Lucas. He is tied to a chair in the kitchen at the back of the house. He looks unconscious,” Mac says a short while later.

“Any sign of Grace?”

“Living room, with Dionne and Michaels,” Kimiko says. “You will not like what you see, Q.”

Fear pumps through my entire body at what he says. “Is she ok?”

“From the looks of it, yes, but she is tied up like Lucas and gagged.”

Rage like nothing I have felt before courses through my veins and propels me to the front door faster than I have ever moved in my life. However, right before I kick in the door Aaron places his hand on my arm.

“Let the guys give us a full report on who is in there first before you rush in there like a wild man,” he whispers.

This is why Aaron is always my right-hand man. He keeps me from doing s**id things that will either hurt me or others. If I go in there full of rage and testosterone, my daughter could pay the price.

1 take a deep breath and nod my head once I am calmer.

That is when I hear voices inside the house. One is Dionne’s and the other must be Michaels. From the tone of their voices, it sounds like they are arguing. I can’t quite hear what they are saying so I lean forward and press my ear to the door.

“Your f*g face is all over the g**d**news. I told you not to be seen taking that little **h from her school,” Dionne yells.

“I avoided all the cameras. There is no way I was seen.”

“Yet, you were. Dumb**”

“There must have been a camera I didn’t know about. Maggie sent me all their locations a few

days ago. She must have forgotten one.”

Dionne’s laughter makes my skin crawl.

“Oh, Mrs. Morgan. Your f***k buddy. Well, she screwed you good this time, but not in an enjoyable

way.”

“You know that was only temporary until you decided to finally kidnap the kid. You are the only

woman I want to be with.”

Mrs. Morgan? That secretary from the school that always gave me those sultry looks like she was envisioning me naked. She is in on this. This kidnapping was premeditated and not on a whim.

anger a

I look at Aaron, who was also listening at the door. His eyes are glittering with he looks at me. Just as I am about to step back to kick the door in, Alaric gives the all-clear signal in my earpiece.

Just like that my self-control snaps like a thread stretched too tight. I take a step back, brace myself, then kick in the door. Two things happen at once when I do.

Michaels, who is standing next to Grace, spins around to face the door while pointing a gun at my daughter. Dionne looks at me, not with shock, but with an expectant look on her face. I feel like I got punched in the balls.

Dionne smiles at me. That same smile she used to use when she was trying to be s**y. I used to think it was cute.

Now I just want to punch her in the face. 1

“What took you so long, lover?”