he was on, then let his mind return to what he’d been thinking about-the business and his place in it. It was the same topic he’d considered the day before, and the day before that, and the weeks before that.
For years he’d been one of the best cleaners in the espionage world, the person in-the-know clients would go to when a body needed to disappear. Quinn was efficient, discreet, and reliable, with a highly developed ability to see details where others would see nothing. Using him on a job was as close as possible to a guarantee that there would be no blowback.
A year ago, he’d occasionally wondered how long he’d be able to keep doing the job, but hadn’t given it any serious thought. A lot had happened since then, most notably his mother and sister being targeted because of the man he’d become. He’d been able to keep them from harm, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been severely shaken by the events, or ashamed of his own arrogance at thinking he’d built adequate barriers to keep them safe.
The months in Thailand-despite the interruption of having to deal with an old job that had flared back to life, and getting shot in the process-had helped him work through those feelings, and learn how to live with them.
That was all fine and good, and a necessary step, but what they hadn’t done was help him decide what was next. Should he leave the business completely? He had more than enough money to retire on and live the rest of his life with Orlando and her son Garrett without worry. Or should he jump back in? Do what he had been good at? What he knew he was still good at? Was he ready to just stop? And if he wasn’t, what about his family? Would they ever be in danger again?
He knew it should be easy to walk away, but it wasn’t.
It also wasn’t easy to stay.
Another flip turn.
Quinn showered, toweled off, and headed over to his locker.
As he was dressing, his phone vibrated once. He pulled it out and saw that someone had called while he was in the pool. The surprising part was who.
Liz.
His relationship with his sister was still a work in progress. There were years of damage yet to be undone, all of which were Quinn’s fault. Things were improving, but, until now, they had not reached the point where she would call him. It was always the other way around. The times when she did want to reach him, it was either via email, text, or she would call Orlando.
He navigated to his voice mail and pressed the link to her message.
“Call me as soon as you get this. I don’t know if I’m just overreacting, or there’s a problem, but-” A pause. “Just call me.”
There was no missing the panic in her voice.
Quinn hurriedly pulled on the rest of his clothes, and made his way to the exit. As soon as he stepped outside, he called his sister back.
“Jake?” she said, answering before the first ring was complete.
“Is everything all right?”
“I, I don’t know. Um, uh…”
“Slow down. Take a breath. Tell me what’s going on.”
“It’s Nate. I think he might be missing.”
Quinn paused on the sidewalk. “Why do you think that?”
“I can’t find him.”
He closed his eyes, and grimaced. Every since it became clear the relationship between Liz and Nate was more than a fling, he’d been worried something like this was going to happen. Nate’s work meant there would be times he wouldn’t be reachable. It was the nature of the job, and Quinn was sure there was no way Liz could fully understand that, and would at some point feel hurt because of it.
“Liz, it’s probably nothing,” he said. “Sometimes projects take a bit longer than expected, that’s all. I’m sure he’ll call you as soon as he can.”
“No. You don’t understand. He was supposed to
Quinn cocked his head, surprised. “Meet you? Where?”
“Los Angeles. I flew in a couple hours ago.”
“Where are you now?”
“I’m in your house. He’s not here, Jake. I don’t think he’s been here for days.”
“And you were
“Yes,” she said, annoyed. “We’ve been planning this for weeks. He’s the one who flew me out. He was supposed to pick me up at the airport, but he wasn’t there. So I came here, and he’s not here, either.”
Quinn started heading toward Orlando’s again, walking quickly at first, then breaking into a run. “You tried calling him?”
“Half a dozen times. Straight to voice mail. What’s going on? Where could he be?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him in a while. Look, Liz, sit tight, okay? It’s probably nothing. Let me see what I can find out, and I’ll call you back.”
“When?”
“As soon as I know something.”
He could hear her breathing rapidly on the other end. “What could have happened? Do you think…do you think…”
“I don’t think anything,” he said, knowing where her mind must be going. “Just relax, okay? I’ll call you soon. I promise.”
He thought he heard her say something, but it was low and unintelligible, then she hung up.
Without breaking stride, he called Orlando.
“Hey,” she said. “You all-”
“I just talked Liz.”
Orlando’s light tone disappeared. “What’s going on?”
“She was supposed to meet Nate in Los Angeles today.”
“Yeah, I know. She emailed me a couple days ago. Said they might come up here next week.”
She had failed to share that information with Quinn, but that wasn’t surprising. “He didn’t show up.”
“What?”
“He didn’t meet her at the airport and he’s not at home, either. She thinks he’s missing.”
“He’s probably just stuck on a job.”
“Probably, but…”
They were both silent for a moment before Orlando said, “But he would have at least let her know.”
“Yeah. Listen, I’ll be there in a few minutes, but can you-”
“Make some calls? Not while I’m talking to you.”
The line went dead.
Quinn sprinted the rest of theway back to Orlando’s place, and yanked open the front door. Mrs. Vu was standing at the entrance table, sorting the mail. She whirled around, gasping in shock as he entered.
“Sorry,” Quinn said. “Where is she?”
The old Vietnamese woman hesitated only a moment before pointing up the stairs. “In office.” As Quinn started across the foyer, she pointed at his feet. “Shoes. Shoes.”
He ignored her, and ran to the stairs.
“Shoes!” she called after him.
He paused halfway up, just long enough to pull each shoe off, then continued to the second floor. Behind him he could hear Mrs. Vu scoff. She and her husband took care of the house and helped with Garrett. Undoubtedly, she was already heading for the vacuum, and would have the stairs spotless in a matter of minutes.
Orlando’s office was located at the front of the house. Quinn skirted around the top of the banister, and raced over to the open door. She was sitting at her desk, her phone to her ear. Looking up, she raised a finger, telling him to hold on.
