Maximum Risk (12 page)

Everything from that minute on was a blur. Water hit her back, wet her hair, filled her ears, covered her face. Her body locked down in terror. Her lungs seized as water replaced air.

Paralyzed.

Drowning again.

Chapter Eight

“Tell me what you know, Shea.”

Quinn leaned against the counter, waiting for answers from the one woman he didn’t want to get them from.

“Your charge may be the only person who can identify Ramil Diakameli. She’s was seen taking pictures from her SUV just before it crashed.”

 
“You think the leader of the IPA was on that mountainside?” He colored his tone with skepticism. Anyone worth their salt knew the elusive leader had never been caught on camera and rarely came out of his hidey holes. Exactly the reason no government agency could catch the bastard. He never surfaced and hid behind his organization. And Quinn wasn’t sharing with Shea what Avery had told him.

“Honestly? No. But, Avery has pictures of members of the IPA that could lead me to him and I need those pictures.”

“All of her stuff was destroyed.”

“This is the digital age. Just let me talk to her. Trust me, she has them saved on a computer somewhere.”

He glanced down the hallway where he’d heard Avery go into the bathroom a few minutes ago. Maybe, if he sent Shea photos she couldn’t use, it would get her out of their lives for good. “No. I’ll get the information you need. Give me a secure email to forward it to.”

“You really don’t trust me, do you?” she asked quietly. “I’ll text you my information.”

He disconnected as another call came in.

Kell. With funeral arrangements.

Minutes later, Quinn tossed his cell on the counter and leaned back to rub a hand over his forehead. The funeral was day after tomorrow. Ryan would be buried in a small, private cemetery just outside of town in one of the plots Kell and Quinn had purchased after they started Wolff Securities. No one had known about the plots until now. This wasn’t how Quinn wanted the family to find out about them. He’d bought them as a precaution so his parents would never have to worry about it. Hell, he’d bought them to ward off bad luck. Lot of good that had done him.

His gaze strayed to the hallway. Whatever hung between him and Avery needed to be settled. There was attraction, he didn’t deny that, but it couldn’t go anywhere. For many reasons. Avery’s fiancé. Because he wouldn’t break Rule Number One in the Wolff Securities handbook. He refused to leave behind a widow like Dani. It wasn’t fair to ask a woman to wait for him to come home from a dangerous mission and he vowed to never do it. Not after seeing the devastation Ryan’s death wreaked on Dani. No woman should ever have to live with that burden.

What almost happened couldn’t happen again. He had come to close to kissing her. Again. And more. Hell, all rational thought fled when she touched him. The woman was engaged—

“Quinn! Help!”

At Avery’s strangled cry he bolted down the hall and through the bathroom door. It slammed against the wall as he charged into the room. Avery stood stock still in the tub. She turned wide, traumatized eyes to him. Heart pounding in his chest, Quinn kept his eyes on her ashen face instead of her naked body.

“Avery?” The room was empty, which he knew it would be. His house was a fortress, as were his brothers’. Kell used his computer skills and knowledge to safeguard the family and the business. The untrained eye wouldn’t see the security system wired in and around the house or the cameras monitoring the road, woods and lake around each of their homes. If anyone had entered the grounds he would have known about it.

Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She swallowed water, her face directly where the spray hit. Why didn’t she move? He realized then she couldn’t.

In two strides he crossed to the shower, threw open the door and caught her just as she collapsed. He gathered her into his arms, turned off the water, and grabbed a towel from the hook on the wall. A shudder worked its way through Avery’s body into his, followed by another. Quinn wrapped the towel around her and tightened his hold as she began to quake against him.

He carried her into the bedroom and sat down on the bed with her still cradled in his arms. She stared blankly at the wall, unblinking.

Spooked, he gave her a little shake. “Avery.”

Finally, she blinked and met his eyes with a bleak, empty stare. Afraid she had retreated within herself, Quinn cupped her chin and gave it a squeeze. “Say my name,” he ordered.

Nothing but a vacant stare.

“Avery.” He barked her name, which should have startled her. No reaction. Christ, she was scaring him.

Her gaze flicked from him to the wall. The shudders quaking through her body grew more intense.

“What happened in there?”

“I couldn’t do it.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

“Couldn’t do what?”

She went rigid and pushed out of his arms. He let her go, confused by the sudden change.

The towel slipped down her back, revealing her slender curves briefly before she tugged it up and readjusted it, much to his discomfort. “Nothing. Never mind.”

The glimpse he’d caught of her wound didn’t alarm him. Stitches were in, no redness. Healing well.

“Avery.”

Her steps faltered in the doorway, her spine rigid.

“Two seconds ago you were in shock. That wasn’t nothing.”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I’m fine now.”

He could see small tremors quake through her body. She wasn’t fine. No matter how hard she tried to convince him.

“What happened in the bathroom?”

Her head lifted and her shoulders straightened, but she didn’t turn around to face him. “Nothing.”

“You cried out for help and collapsed.”

“I shouldn’t have called for you.”

This was worse than talking to Nate, who was a closed-mouth pain in the ass most of the time. “But you did,” he said quietly. No matter how much she didn’t want to admit it she trusted him to save her. He only hoped he could be there when she really needed him. So that others may live. His purpose in life. His creed. He wouldn’t fail her like he had Ryan.

If possible she went even more rigid. She took a step out the door and stopped. Quinn rose from the bed, unsure what to expect. Avery hadn’t dealt with her trauma yet. Eventually, she would.

In a ragged voice she said, “I couldn’t do it.”

“Couldn’t do what?”

“Overcome. I couldn’t conquer it.”

She trembled visibly now. Fighting an inner war. He wanted to fight it for her, but didn’t know how.

She spun around, eyes angry. “You know what? Forget it. They don’t get to win.”

As quickly as she turned she was gone. Quinn followed her out the back door, across the deck and down the steps onto the lawn, uncertain what to expect. He found it damn hard to stay one step ahead of this woman. She was as unpredictable as the weather. From the moment she took a step off that cliff he hadn’t been able to calculate her next move. He didn’t like it one damn bit. Put him behind enemy lines with an injured soldier and he was in his comfort zone. This felt like enemy territory, but the enemy was within Avery, unseen and volatile.

As she neared the water she dropped her towel. Quinn’s eyes drifted over her lean curves and long legs covered in bruises and welts. The woman had been through hell and now he had proof. Those marks weren’t from her fall.

He watched her go. She was strong and beautiful, a survivor. A woman he easily admired. If only she wasn’t so erratic.

Or so damned attractive.

He held back both lust and the urge to stop her as she charged into the lake. He let her do this. Whatever it was. Her steps slowed once she hit the water, but she didn’t stop. Instead, she picked up the pace, forcing her way through the deep, dark depths as if she had something to prove.

Hell, maybe she did.

Thunder growled a warning across the sky. Quinn took a step toward her then stopped. What the hell was he supposed to do? This seemed like something she needed to do. He just wished he knew exactly what that was.

Her head suddenly disappeared beneath the water. Quinn’s heart skipped a beat. She was going swimming now? The sky was almost black with the impending storm. It wouldn’t be long before it hit.

Fuck this. He was going in. The water was the last place they should be right now. A bolt of lightning ripped across the sky in confirmation. Why the hell hadn’t she come up for air yet? Whatever crazy thing she was trying to overcome was going to get her killed and that wasn’t happening on his watch.

Quinn ran into the water and dove in where it dropped off. Avery wouldn’t have known it dropped off so sharply or so close to shore. And if she wasn’t a very good swimmer…

Determined not to finish that thought, he dove deeper and searched the black depths for her red hair. Visibility was near zero as he scoured the rock and sand bottom. After a minute and a half he came up for air, then ducked back down. Nate, a former Navy SEAL, could hold his breath underwater for four minutes. Quinn would trade his lung capacity for his brother’s right now.

Panic built in his chest as he searched frantically for Avery. Where the hell was she?

Then he saw her. Floating a few feet from him. Her arms were spread, her eyes open and unblinking. Quinn swam to her, grabbed her by the waist and kicked to the surface. She didn’t fight him until they reached the grassy shore. Her fists pounded his chest as she struggled to be free.

“Christ, Avery,” he muttered and set her on her feet.

She tore out of his arms, face white, eyes haunted. Not for the first time he felt helpless. She battled inner demons and until she told him what those demons were, he couldn’t help her. He couldn’t fight an imaginary enemy. It pissed him off to no end that he couldn’t fix this.

He bent, picked up her towel and handed it to her. A saint he was not. If she continued to parade naked around him he was going to do something really stupid like taste those stubborn lips.

She grabbed it and wrapped it around her, then faced him with a militant stance he recognized from when his sister decided to stand her ground. Usually on something she knew they wouldn’t agree to.

When she spoke her voice was ragged, self-deprecating. “They won, that’s what’s wrong with me.” She stormed past him.

Quinn lifted his eyes to the sky. There was more than one storm brewing. He had a feeling when she broke, Avery’s was going to be much more dangerous than a little thunder and lightning.

Thunder cracked and he smirked. Yeah, his thoughts exactly. With a heavy burden on his shoulders, Quinn went in pursuit of Avery.

****

Quinn woke to the crack of thunder and rain pelting the windows. He sat up and rubbed his eyes with thumb and forefinger. Avery had locked herself in her room the rest of the night and he’d opted to sleep on the couch in case she needed him.

Lightning flashed. He leaned over and turned on the lamp before rising and walking into the kitchen to close the window above the sink. Exhaustion pricked his eyelids, yet he felt restless. Sleep had evaded him and tossing and turning on the sofa hadn’t given him anything but a twinge in his back. Tomorrow was the wake at the funeral home. It was going to be one hell of a day.

Outside the storm raged, much like the one inside him. What he wouldn’t give to rewind the clock and start over.

Quinn raked a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. Hell. Even if he could time travel it wouldn’t change anything. He would still take the job and his brother would still be dead.

No amount of wishing would change that.

Thunder boomed, rattling the windows. Quinn cocked his head, hearing something along with it. A second later the noise came again.

He bolted out of the room and into Avery’s. The choking sounds came again. Lightning flashed through the window, illuminating her pale face. Her mouth was open, her head thrown back as she gasped for air. The quilt was heaped on the floor and her body writhed beneath the sheets.

He crossed to the bed and sat on the edge of the mattress, grabbed her flailing hands and pinned them at her sides.

“Avery!”

Still she fought against him. Breath wheezed in and out of her lungs. An asthma attack? She began to cough, her hip slamming into his as she fought against him.

Suddenly, she went rigid, her back arched, her eyes rolling back in her head. Just as quickly she collapsed against him, eyes closed, her breaths evening out. Quinn stared at her in the lightning flashes, uncertain what to make of the episode, of what to do.

His grip eased on her wrists. With a small moan she rolled into him, her breathing back to normal. He leaned over and braced his elbows on his knees.

Thunder cracked, shaking the cabin. Avery jumped in her sleep, jolting the bed.

“Quinn?”

At the sound of her husky voice, he looked over his shoulder to see her frowning at him.

He started to rise, but she caught him by the forearm. “No.”

“You were having a nightmare so I came in.”

Lightning flashed through the window, showcasing her tousled hair and haunted eyes. She looked vulnerable. Not since he’d pulled her out of the river had she looked like this. She kept her game face on, hiding her suffering and locking it away so no one would see. Tonight, he saw what she worked so hard to bury.

“I should go.”

She opened her mouth to speak, then snapped it shut and let go of his arm. “Yes,” she agreed and rolled over so her back was to him. But not before he saw the loneliness in her eyes.

There was longing there, written in the lines on her face, but she refused to ask him to stay. He sensed her need, but they both knew they shouldn’t act on it. Not with her fiancé waiting for her back home. Why hadn’t she asked to contact him? He couldn’t let her do it, but he found it odd she hadn’t asked.

Caught between right and wrong, Quinn lay down next to her. She immediately rolled into him, her head tucked into his chest, her body a mere inch away. He closed the distance and pulled her close. She curled into him and slid her arm around his waist to hold tight. After a few minutes her trembling stopped and she relaxed against him.