Cold Shadow (Cold Country #2)(88)

The Agent in Charge finally put his gun away. "Stand down," he said as new sirens and blue lights filled the already seizure-inducing area. The other agents stood down.

Sheriff's Department people swarmed around Quinn. He wasn't going to let Drew go until help came. The officer who knelt beside him was familiar. He'd talked with him the afternoon before. He was one of the guys on Nate's basketball team. Quinn knew Nate trusted him. "I think he was shot twice. With the rifle. He was too close. I think he was trying to protect me."

"Agent Walker … " The deputy started speaking in a voice meant to soothe fears. Quinn didn't know whose fears he was trying to soothe.

"Drew," Quinn said. He sounded funny. He could hear panic in his voice. "His name is Drew. He saved Nate … that night. He doesn't deserve to die like this."

"I'm not going to let him die," the deputy said. Yep, it was Quinn he was trying to keep calm. "Hey, Drew, are you with me?"

Drew's eyes fluttered weakly but he opened them. He tried to smile but didn't quite manage, the effort was too great. "Tell me what happened here."

Quinn wasn't sure if he was asking Drew or Quinn. "Natalie came to the house. She was worried about Lonnie … " He couldn't remember Lonnie's real name. "The foreman at Truman Steel. Her … her fiancé." Because, dammit, Natalie deserved a Happy Ever After. "They're going to have a baby."

The deputy pressed his hands over the spot near Drew's hip that was spurting blood. He stayed calm. "Babies are always good. So Lonnie is the big guy Nathan is holding up?"

"Yeah, he was strapped to a table in the back. I took the straps off him but Drew was shot in the thigh and I could only help one out at a time. I meant to go back in for him … " He had to blink back the tears that were prickling his eyes. "There are more … bodies. They're in a cooler in the back of the old butcher shop. The smell is … guess it's better than the smell of barbecued human flesh, but not by much."



       
         
       
        

"Anyone you recognize?" More people were around them now. Gentle hands were prying him away from Drew. He'd done this once already. Held a lover as he died.

Quinn shook his head hoping to clear away the double image of dying lovers. "We did this before. We've done all of this before. It was snowing that night. We haven't had much snow since then. Don't let him die, okay? Just … don't let him die. He's a good man. A good friend." He stopped the words he couldn't say … ever.

"We've got him, Quinn." The voice was familiar, one of the guys from high school who'd been at the game yesterday when he'd sung. He'd been there that night when it was Nate. "He's okay. We have to move him. We have to get him to the hospital."

Quinn nodded and let the deputy pull him away. Someone wrapped a light blanket around his shoulders. He was fucking sweating, but that didn't stop them. "Tell me about the bodies, Quinn."

Quinn tried to look over the scene; he needed to find Nate to make sure he was still standing.

"Are you shot?"

"What?" Quinn replied. He was covered in blood, but he didn't feel anything. Not even his fingers or toes. "I don't think so. Drew was shot when I found him. It wasn't that bad, looked like birdshot in his thigh. He was having trouble putting weight on it, but he wasn't bleeding much. I didn't get hit."

"Why are you here?" The deputy turned him to face away and moved him over to one of the many emergency vehicles that were filling the field and roadway. "Tell me about what brought you here."

"Natalie … I already said. She came to the house. Lonnie went out to the plant hours before and hadn't come back. She was afraid. Nate and Drew said it was too early to panic. We split up. Nat and I drove around to the places Lonnie liked to hang out at while Nate and Drew drove out to the plant. We lost phone contact and started working our way back this way. There's no phone service in this area. There's nothing in this area. We didn't spot Nathan's truck anywhere."

"But you thought he'd be here? I don't see his truck anywhere," the deputy said softly as if he didn't believe him. Hell, Quinn didn't know why he thought he'd find them here. He just knew. Just like he'd known that day after his father's funeral.

"The gas station is supposed to be open. It wasn't much past dark. But something about the old arcade kept bothering me. It was burned down. I thought so, at least. I thought this whole strip was closed. The butcher shop and the arcade had connecting doors when I was a kid. My mom used to come out here every Saturday. She'd let me play games while she shopped. I'd get an ICEE at the gas station and then we'd go home. All three of them had connecting doors inside. In the back. If someone was doing something and not wanting to get caught … don't you think an old butcher shop would be ideal?"