Chapter 57

CHAPTER57

“Stay here,” Quinn bit out as he unlocked Casey’s handcuff and-

“What the hell are you doing?”

-pulled her arm closer so that he could snap the other cuff around Nathan’s wrist before he could stop him.

“Un-fucking cuff me!” Nathan bit out, moving to yank his hand back only to curse and stop moving his arm when the move tore a pained wince from the woman currently trying to pry the cuff off her wrist.

Ignoring him, Quinn focused on the small woman that he hoped like hell wasn’t about to fuck them all over. “Go get help,” he said, leveling a look on Kelly that told her that she better not fuck this up.

Kelly opened her mouth only to close it and jerkily nod her head as she quickly stood up and made her way towards the door. With a slight nod, Tristan followed her as Quinn made his way to the back stairs, ignoring Nathan’s demands to be released and moved his ass.

By the time that he reached the second floor, Quinn was pulling his gun free from its holster and letting years of training take over, knowing that he didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t think about Bailey, how fucking much he loved her or the fact that he was terrified that he was about to lose her.

She was just another client.

He kept telling himself that as he made his way past the stairs, where Tristan quietly joined him. As one, they made their way down the rest of the long hallway to the last bedroom on the left, praying every step of the way that they were wrong. Without a word, they took up positions on either side of the door and after a shared look, Tristan reached over and wrapped his hand around the doorknob.

Slowly exhaling, Quinn reached over and pushed the door open only to immediately forget how to breathe when he spotted that 9mm pointed directly at Bailey’s chest. He was going to spank her ass after this was all over, Quinn promised himself as he raised his weapon and took aim while he stepped into the doorway. He forced himself to keep his gaze locked on Jess, knowing that if he looked at Bailey right now that he would lose his fucking mind.

“Leave your weapons outside the door,” Jess said, sounding completely relaxed as his gaze flickered to the hand holding the gun pointed at Bailey and noted the steady hold that she had on the weapon, letting him know that she was in complete control.

“He has nothing to do with this,” Bailey bit out as Jess considered her for a moment.

“He has everything to do with this,” Jess murmured softly as she gave the laptop in front of Bailey a pointed look while Quinn quickly took in the scene before him, from the Coke and the laptop on the table to the black backpack on the floor by Jess’s feet.

When he hesitated, Jess said, “Put your weapons down or I’ll shoot her and end this now.”

“And if I shoot you before you get the chance?” Quinn drawled as he made the mistake of looking at Bailey and-

He couldn’t fucking lose her.

“Let’s find out,” Jess said, raising the gun so that it was aimed at Bailey’s head.

“Get out of here, Quinn,” Bailey said, grabbing onto the edge of the table as she forced herself to stay still as she leveled a glare on the bitch that wasn’t leaving here alive.

“This isn’t going to end well for you,” Quinn pointed out as he stepped back into the hallway and placed his gun on the floor, knowing that he didn’t have a choice.

Any other client and he would have stood his ground, but with Bailey…

“So, I’ve been told. Don’t forget the one at your back and the ankle holster,” Jess said as Quinn reached for the gun attached to his ankle before reluctantly grabbing the one holstered on the back of his pants and placed them on the hallway floor.

“Tell your friend to get rid of his guns and join us and while you’re at it, take off your vests,” Jess said as he pulled his vest off and dropped it on the floor before he stepped back into the room with Tristan by his side.

Once they were in the room, Jess focused back on Bailey and said, “Nathan and Casey?” making Bailey frown in confusion.

“Most likely still trying to get their handcuffs off,” Quinn said as his gaze flickered to Bailey before settling back on the woman who did an amazing job getting past their men.

Jess Richardson, born July 1, 1990 in Orlando, Florida to George and Sarah Richardson and graduated high school with a 3.98 GPA before attending college in California, where she earned a degree in programming before returning to Orlando and working for Haven Technologies. She didn’t have any arrests, driving violations, evictions, or even a fucking parking ticket. She paid her bills on time, lived in a one-bedroom apartment five minutes from Haven Technologies, was never late to work and had clearly played them all so fucking well.

“Who the hell are you?” Quinn asked as he moved to take another step only to go still when she said, “That’s far enough.”

“Where’s Kelly?” Jess asked, ignoring his question.

“Getting help,” Quinn said as Tristan shifted behind him to the right to block her view of the doorway and-

“Step back away from the door,” Jess said, her gaze never leaving Bailey as Tristan reluctantly stepped away from the door, his cold gaze never leaving her as he moved. “I have cellular signals blocked for two miles and I left a device hidden by the driveway, effectively killing every engine and ensuring that no one leaves before this is over. By the time that she manages to get help, I’ll be long gone.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Quinn said, watching as Jess’s lips twitched with amusement.

“Start typing,” she said with a pointed look at the laptop, drawing his attention to find Bailey sitting there, the backs of her knuckles turning white as she held on tightly to the edge of the table.

“Go to hell,” Bailey bit out as Quinn moved to take a step closer and-

Felt the air rush out of his lungs when the sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the large bedroom as Bailey flinched and a pained cry was torn from her lips seconds before she grabbed onto her arm and-

“That’s the only warning that you’re going to get,” Jess said casually, her gaze never leaving Bailey. “Move back against the wall, both of you.”

Jaw clenching, Quinn kept his gaze locked on the bitch while they moved until their backs touched the wall.

“I’m not going to ask you again, Bailey. Start typing,” Jess said as she shifted back in her chair to get more comfortable.

“Let them go,” Bailey bit out between clenched teeth as Quinn was forced to stand there, watching the blood slowly trickle over her fingers.

“Bailey, give her what she wants,” Quinn bit out, beyond fucking terrified that he was about to lose her.

“No,” Bailey bit out hoarsely.

“Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way,” Jess murmured, sounding thoughtful as her gaze flickered to him.

“Hurt him and I’ll destroy everything,” Bailey said as she pulled her trembling hand away from her arm and placed her fingertips on the keyboard.

“You’re not going to do that,” Jess said with a smug little smile playing on her lips.

“You have no idea what I’m willing to do,” Bailey bit out coldly as she slowly tapped her fingertips against the keyboard, all while she glared straight ahead.

Jess studied her for a moment before she said, “Get against the wall,” when Nathan stepped into the room, only to release a curse and was forced to grab hold of Casey and pull her back when the small woman moved to beat the shit out of Jess.

“Quinn?” Casey mumbled softly, putting everything into that one word and letting him know just how fucking terrified she was as she took in the blood trickling down Bailey’s arm. With a slight nod, Quinn shifted his weight to his left leg and watched Jess, waiting for her to fuck up, hesitate, any-fucking thing that would give him a chance to put a stop to this before it was too late.

Looking really fucking amused for some reason, Jess watched Bailey for a moment before she said, “You put a trigger password on the account.”

“And if I hit return, it will destroy everything,” Bailey promised as she shifted one trembling finger to the right side of the keyboard and left it hovering there.

“Are you really willing to risk your life over a game?” Jess drawled, sounding nervous for the first time since he’d entered the room.

“According to you, I’ll be dead as soon as I give you what you want, so what do I have to lose?” Bailey said, shrugging it off like she wasn’t scaring the hell out of him right now.

Slowly nodding, Jess seemed to think that over before she asked, “How about your sister?”

“I don’t have a sister,” Bailey said as Jess reached down and pulled an aged envelope out of her bag.

“Don’t,” Casey said, moving to break free from Nathan only to go still when Jess shifted the gun slightly to the left so that it was once again pointed at Bailey’s chest.

“Read it,” Jess said, tossing the envelope to her.

After a slight hesitation, Bailey reached for it, making sure to keep her finger hovering above the button that would end everything. It took a few minutes, but she eventually managed to pull the letter from the envelope with one hand while Quinn was forced to watch as blood continued trickling down her arm and slowly pooled on the carpet beneath her. He was going to fucking kill Jess, Quinn thought as he watched Bailey read the letter only to frown seconds before she swallowed hard.

“This is fake,” Bailey said hollowly.

“Is it? Maybe we should ask your sister?” Jess asked, sounding thoughtful as she glanced at Casey.

“Pam?” Bailey asked hoarsely, keeping her gaze locked on Jess.

“I believe she goes by Casey,” Jess said as she suddenly moved the gun in Casey’s direction. “How about it? Will the long-lost sister be enough incentive to get you to do what I want or would you prefer the brother that adores you?”

“How about me?” came the question from the doorway, drawing their attention just in time to watch Kelly walk into the room and-

“Shit!”

-tossed a gun in Tristan’s direction as Jess swung her arm to cover the move while Nathan grabbed Casey and turned around, taking her to the floor just as the first gunshot went off, hitting the wall right above their heads.

Within seconds, Tristan had the gun aimed at Jess as Quinn moved his ass. He was across the room in seconds, taking Jess out as she moved to turn the gun on him and fired, barely missing him as another gunshot went off. She released a pained cry as he took her to the floor, and just like that, it was all over.

He pulled the gun from her limp hand and tossed it aside, absently noting the gunshot wound to her left shoulder before he rolled her over onto her stomach and yanked her arms behind her back. When Tristan moved to take over, Quinn released his hold on her and quickly shifted his focus to Bailey only to fucking sigh when he spotted her sitting at the table, typing away, the rest of the world completely forgotten. She really was a pain in his ass, Quinn thought, sighing heavily as he took a knee by her side so that he could take a closer look at her arm.

“I’m fine,” Bailey said, not bothering to look up as she absently grabbed the Coke off the table and took a sip before she went back to typing.

“Where’s her phone?” Casey asked as she quickly made her way across the room and grabbed Jess’s backpack.

“No clue, but we need to figure out how she’s jamming everything,” Bailey said, taking another sip of Coke. “I’m assuming that it was your program that protected Haven Technologies?”

“She left herself wide open with that delivery system,” Casey said with a pitying shake of her head as she searched through Jess’s backpack.

“How soon before you can get us back online?” Tristan asked as he finished securing Jess’s hands behind her back and pulled her off to the side while Nathan made his way to his sister’s side and-

“I’m fine,” Bailey said, earning a glare.

“You really are a pain in my ass,” Nathan said, sighing heavily as Quinn ran his fingertips beneath the wound, noting that it was just a flesh wound and would probably only need a few stitches.

“Got it!” Casey said as she pulled a black cellphone out of the bag while Quinn glanced back at Jess to find her watching Bailey with a smug smile on her face and-

“I keep my promises,” Jess said as the sounds of the can of Coke hitting the table drew his attention to find Bailey turning pale as she grabbed onto the table with trembling hands and a weakly mumbled, “Something’s wrong,” as she stood up and-

Lost his fucking mind when she stopped breathing.