Page 87 of Against the Clock

Forty-Seven

Quinn

Ihad never seen thismuch gunfire in my entire life, including the gory, action-packed movies I watched with Justin before Rosie was born.I ducked and held my body against the door frame, glancing at Roman as I waited for his signal.

He stayed perfectly still with his AR15 held tightly against his chest.I wasn’t sure if he was waiting for them to run out of ammo or if he was waiting for them to come outside looking for us.Either way, I wouldn’t make a move without his direction.

A few minutes later, we heard heavy footsteps as a rush of armed men came flying through the door with guns drawn.Roman lifted his weapon at the perfect moment, jabbing the butt of it into one guy’s face while I shot at another.It felt wildly reckless, but I kept an eye on Roman and shot at everyone else.

The bodies started falling around us as Roman continued shooting.He gave me a quick nod, stepped over their bodies, and went into the house.He rushed through and cleared the living room, then went into the kitchen while I took the stairs two at a time with my gun steady in front of me.

I heard a few shots downstairs but forced myself to keep moving toward the voices at the end of the hall.I was desperate to get to Rosie but knew that I couldn’t be reckless.I listened carefully as I walked lightly, trying to keep my footsteps from being too heavy.

A floorboard creaked behind me, forcing me to spin around.I was face to face with a large, burly man whose face was covered in tattoos.He gave me a lopsided grin and pulled a knife from behind his back, swiping it at me as I jumped back.I narrowed my eyes and fired a shot, hating how many people I had now killed in one day.

His body swayed toward me as I jumped out of the way.I continued moving down the hallway and focused on the large bedroom at the far end.This was the room we had heard Rosie’s voice from outside, so it felt like the first place I should look.

I slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open.

My heart leaped out of my chest into my throat, strangling the scream that threatened to come out when I saw Rosie sitting on a king-sized bed next to a man.Julia was sitting in a chair beside the bed, talking to them when they all looked up at me.

“Mama!”Rosie shrieked, jumping up to get off of the bed.

“Not so fast,” the man said, reaching over and putting her down beside him.“You’re not going anywhere.”

Rosie’s face fell, and tears welled in her eyes.

I stared in disbelief at the image before me.The guy looked familiar, but I couldn’t figure out why.

“Give me my daughter,” I demanded, my voice quieter and weaker than intended.“Now.”

“She’s not your daughter anymore.I told you that on the phone earlier.”Julia tossed her red hair over her shoulder and tilted her head.“She’s not going anywhere.”

Anger was boiling inside of me as I watched them.My finger itched to pull the trigger and take both of them out, but I didn’t want to traumatize Rosie by shooting a bullet into the man sitting beside her.It would be loud, and there would be blood everywhere, which would upset anyone, let alone a five-year-old.

He turned to whisper something to Julia behind his hand, and I noticed a black serpent-looking tattoo on his neck.In an instant, I knew where I had recognized him from.He was Elias Salvador, the son of Juan Salvador, and part of the child trafficking ring Justin had shut down before he was killed.

“If I were you, I’d lower your weapon,” Elias said with a heavy accent.“I wouldn’t want you to upset my daughter.”

“Don’t you dare call her that,” I bit out, my hands starting to tremble with anger as I kept my gun as steady as possible.

“It’s your choice, but my men will be here in a minute to take care of this,” he waved his hand in the air as if I were some mess on the street that needed to be cleaned up.

I watched the Rolex slide down his wrist before he lowered his hands into his lap again.He sat there, looking overly relaxed in his white silky button-down shirt and dress slacks that had been freshly pressed.He didn’t look like he had a care in the world, and I knew that was all about to change as soon as Roman got there.

“I don’t care about your men,” I lied.“We’ve already taken the majority of them out.”

“Is that so?”He smirked, and I wanted to punch the smile off his stupid face.

Where was Roman?I could only stall this guy for so long.We needed to get Rosie and get the hell out of there.

“Just give me my daughter, and I’ll let you two get back to whatever this is,” I said, pointing between him and Julia with my gun.

“Again, Rosie is our daughter, Quinn.Now leave.”Julia stood up from the chair and then immediately sat down when he nodded to her and shook his head.

So he was the one in control and calling all of the shots.That was helpful information to have.

“You know damn well that she’s not your daughter.You’re out of your fucking mind, Julia.”

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