Never Surrender Read online

  Deep breaths, Maggie. Deep breaths.

  Chapter Two

  Quinn listened to the crisp tap-tap of heels on the pavement. Until twenty minutes ago he’d been inside nursing a bourbon. Normally Maxi’s was packed to the rafters and music boomed out into the street. But the crowds were thin tonight. Was that a good or a bad thing? His instinct had been lousy lately. Once he could feel danger at twenty paces and had trusted those feelings. Inspector “Screaming Buttons” Roberts had taught him, go with your gut. And he had, saving his skin more than once.

  He wanted to rise, meet her, but he was afraid, of what he wasn’t sure. She needed him, and that was what counted. She had sent for him, and like the fool he was where she was concerned, he’d come running. Maybe he should have handled it by the book and alerted his superiors. Maybe. Gut instinct had decided him against it.

  The tip-tap of heels halted directly before him. Then the heartbeat of the street ceased, as though the world stopped breathing.

  His gaze started at the four-inch stiletto heels, slid up over well-shaped calves and thighs that stretched on until they met the hem of her short, short skirt. Heat crawled over his skin, and his breath caught. Beneath her open coat, welcoming hips and a tiny waist beckoned him. He scanned upward until his eyes feasted on full breasts failing to hide behind a slinky, black camisole. He didn’t need to look further. He knew.

  “Maggie.” Her name sounded so good on his lips. For a mere second, the memory of their taste filled him with naked longing for another time, a happier time, but he pushed it away. She hadn’t called Quinn-her-ex. She’d called Quinn-the-cop.

  “Maggie’s dead,” she snapped.

  “Really?” He quirked a brow. “You look a hell of a lot like her.”

  “I look like a two-bit whore. Trust me, Maggie’s long gone.”

  Quinn pushed to his feet and stepped toward her. For a moment they stared at each other. Quinn’s breathing stalled as he gazed into her haunted eyes. Distance and time might have separated them physically, but she’d lived in his heart, his thoughts, constantly. Her face accompanied him to sleep most nights. Damn, he’d missed her. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket and stepped back.

  “Why did you contact me? It’s been over twelve months. Why now?”

  Maggie closed the gap and linked her arms loosely around his neck. “Because I need your help,” she whispered against his cheek.

  Quinn withdrew his hands from his pockets and tugged on her arms, wary that the familiar contact, any contact, would shred his resolve.

  “They’re onto me. I was careful, but I could have been followed. I need you to play along.”

  The battle between need and common sense turned into a war as he nodded briefly and slid his hands up her arms and over her shoulders. He was losing the war. He trailed his fingers lightly down her back until he reached her waist and tugged her snug against him. From chest to thigh they touched. Damn she felt good. Too good.

  “I need to talk,” she whispered.

  Damn, reality poured over him like a bucket of cold water. “So talk.”

  Being so close, Quinn’s body began to harden as memories of picnics in the park, candlelight, and tangled sheets, threatened to overwhelm. Forget it, that’s not why she’s back. He’d thought he could cope with seeing her again as well as any emotional baggage that went with it. Determination squared his shoulders. He would cope if it killed him.

  “Quinn? You okay?”

  “Yeah.” He dragged in a breath. “So what’s going down?” He stepped away from her, and immediately coldness seeped into his core.

  “Let’s walk.”

  He fell into step beside her. “Where to?”

  “I’ve rented an apartment by the river. A safe house.”

  He stopped and grasped her arm. “Why?”

  “I’m going to shut that filthy club down.”

  “Why?”

  She stopped and turned toward him, her made-up face lit by a distant streetlight. “Did you see the girls?”

  “The young ones? Yeah. What’s going on?”

  Her lips pressed together before she said. “Everything you’re thinking and more. All I needed was proof. Now I have it.” Her breathing was ragged as she turned away and continued walking, even faster than before. “But we have to hurry. They’re waiting.”

  “Who?” Quinn narrowed his eyes.

  “My witnesses.”

  “What the hell have you done?” He struggled to keep his voice calm.

  “I took two girls out of the club. Two young girls.” She turned and met his gaze, defiantly.

  He shook his head in amazement.

  “It was the only way I could get the info I needed.” She pulled her coat more tightly around her and muttered, “Why am I sounding so damned defensive?”

  “Because you know you should have called for backup?”

  “Yeah, sure.” Maggie bowed her head and massaged her temples.

  “Maggie, talk to me.” He was surprised by the harshness in his own voice.

  She sucked in a deep breath. “It’s complicated.”

  “Always is with you.”

  “Are you teasing? Or being sarcastic?” she asked.

  “Does it matter?”

  “Not really. As long as you help me.”

  “Explain why you called me instead of someone on your task force. Why are you working alone?” He jammed his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket.

  “Because I believe someone inside the department is working against me. If they’d raided that club as arranged, I wouldn’t be in this freak’n mess.” She clamped her jaw shut.

  He narrowed his eyes and drew his lips together. “Who?”

  “You believe me?” She seemed stunned.

  “Look, Maggie, whatever’s happened between us, I’ve never doubted your ability as a cop. You’re tough, smart, and resilient. I’d back you anytime. So tell me…who do you suspect?”

  “I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.” She huffed out a breath. “I notified the task force commander in Melbourne I was returning to Brisbane. I’ve had a couple of meetings with Roberts since, but I haven’t spoken directly to him in four or five days.”

  “When exactly?”

  She strummed her fingers against her thigh. “Sunday night. I was concerned when he didn’t get straight back to me, but it wasn’t the first time he was late responding.”

  Quinn grabbed her arm and spun her round.

  Her eyes widened. “What?”

  He shook his head and frowned. “No one’s seen or heard from Roberts since Sunday.”

  “Damn. Damn. Damn.” Maggie pulled from his grasp.

  He grabbed her arm again and hauled her back. “Spit it out.”

  “Those two girls from the club.” She gnawed her lip. “Their evidence will shut that club forever. I passed on the information about the safe house to Roberts. Earlier I left a message on his secure line for him to meet me there, but if there is a leak somewhere, maybe they found that message, too. Quinn, we have to get there fast. I promised I’d protect them.”

  His expletive scorched the air.

  She met his gaze and tipped her chin to glare at him.

  “How could you promise them something like that?” He struggled to keep his temper on a low simmer.

  Maggie tugged her arm free, turned, and strode away without answering. Quinn caught up and lengthened his stride to a fast, ground-eating walk.

  Maggie kept pace with him. “I wish I hadn’t worn these damned shoes.”

  She’d always been a sucker for heels. He remembered the night she wore a pair to their bed. He’d been bruised for a week. He smiled.

  “Are you smirking at my discomfort?” she challenged.

  “It would take a bigger man than me to smirk at you.”

  She huffed out a breath.

  Quinn asked, “You took witnesses out by yourself? Why?”

  “I had no choice,” she insisted.

&nb
sp; “You could have contacted someone else. You could have contacted me.”

  “I texted you as soon as I realized Roberts was a no-show. I was late meeting you, because I hung around, worried that the minute I left, he’d turn up. Then I couldn’t get a cab.”

  “I meant weeks, months ago.” He swallowed his frustration.

  “I didn’t need help then. Roberts had my back. But I do now.” She sucked in a breath, stopped, and looked at Quinn. “Roberts is actually missing?” She frowned. “He didn’t just forget our meeting.”

  “Nobody can find him, and he isn’t answering his phone. The department checked the hospitals. He just seems to have vanished, and that isn’t like him.”

  Maggie shook her head. “I thought my night couldn’t get any worse when Conrad came back earlier than expected. Someone must have contacted him.” She sucked in another deep breath. “I knew I was being watched. I knew it. Between brackets, I usually socialize with the customers. But not tonight. I was even escorted to my apartment after my last set.”

  “Did you ask why?”

  “Something about new security.”

  “And you believed that?”

  “Absolutely,” she sneered, adding bitterly, “Wouldn’t want to lose any more of his little gold mines.”

  “Your witnesses?”

  Maggie nodded and glanced at Quinn.

  He raised his eyes in disbelief and uttered an oath. “How did you manage that?”

  “I took advantage of an opportunity.” She started walking again, and this time, she set the pace.

  As they approached the renovated warehouses, Maggie grabbed Quinn’s arm. “Oh my god.”

  He followed the direction of her gaze and saw the flashing lights. “Let’s move.”

  They took the stairs leading up from the river, two at a time.

  At the top, Maggie turned to Quinn. “They’re outside the units where I’ve housed my witnesses.” She broke into a run.

  Quinn latched on to her arm and maneuvered her into the shadows between the buildings.

  She shoved back. “I have to know if it’s them.”

  “I’ll go.”

  “They won’t tell you anything.”

  “They’ll talk to this.” Quinn fished his wallet out of his pocket and flicked it open to reveal his badge. “What am I looking for?”

  She gave a brief description of both girls.

  “Don’t come out, Maggie.” He returned her determined glare. “It could be a setup.”

  At her nod, he stepped out and walked toward the paramedics.

  Chapter Three

  Maggie held her breath, not letting Quinn out of her sight, but deep down inside, she knew what he would find.

  The black anger grew.

  From the shadows, Maggie watched Quinn approach one of the paramedics. Together they walked to the body on the ground. Quinn knelt, lifted the covering sheet, and looked up to meet her gaze across the car park. He nodded. Even the distance couldn’t hide the grimness of his expression.

  She slumped back against the rough, brick wall. A warm, coppery liquid tinged her tongue. Blood. She hadn’t even realized she’d bitten her lip. One of her witnesses, a young woman who had trusted her, lay on the cold ground, stone motherless dead.

  And it was her fault.

  Just like Tara’s death years ago. She pushed the heels of her hands against her eyes as painful memories knifed her consciousness. If only I’d left as soon as Tara called. If I’d found her sooner, maybe I could have resuscitated her, given her another chance to clean up her life.

  Maggie appreciated the solid wall supporting her shaking body while she mourned another senseless death. Even if she didn’t know Roberts was missing, she shouldn’t have left the address, whether or not the line was supposed to be secure.

  She ought to know by now not to trust anybody or anything. It had been five days since she’d heard from him. So who got her message? She pushed off from the building as paramedics loaded the body into the ambulance. When Quinn raised his arm to signal her, she hurried to his side.

  He escorted her to the still-open ambulance and lifted the sheet.

  “Beth.” Maggie groaned. “I’m so sorry I failed you.” She closed her eyes and let pain fill her, shard by shard. Hold it together. One by one, she shut her feelings off and slipped behind into the persona that had shielded her for the past year. Once again under control, she faced Quinn.

  “How?”

  “Overdose.”

  Maggie pushed Tara’s image from her distant memories then shook her head, vehement. “Beth didn’t do drugs. They murdered her. We have to get to Angel.”

  When the paramedic came to close the doors, Maggie stalked up the road, careful to stay in the shadows. At the corner, she saw Quinn salute the driver as the ambulance slid into the night before sinking to her knees and retching into the gutter.

  His large stride ate the distance between them. “I’m sorry, Maggie.”

  She swiped her sleeve across her mouth and blinked furiously as tears filled her eyes.

  He shook his head. “Come here.” He bent down, circled his arms around her waist, and hauled her up. He didn’t let her go.

  Maggie stood wrapped in his embrace, feeling the steady thud of his heart, as shudders traveled the length of her body. Calmness stole into her being, easing the anger and hatred ripping her insides out. The soothing touch of his palm up and down her spine warmed her. She realized then how alone and cold she’d been these last few months, so cold she’d felt like giving up and letting the mongrels win more than once. But Quinn’s strong caress made her feel that maybe, just maybe, life wasn’t all bad. Just for a second, a nanosecond, then reality returned, and with it, anger.

  “I need to talk to Angel.” She pulled out of his embrace to stare directly into his eyes. “I need to finish Conrad.”

  His hands fell away a little too slowly. “How can you be sure this is Conrad’s work?”

  “I took them out from under his nose.” She turned and walked back toward the warehouse. “He’ll go to any lengths to get her back.”

  Quinn fell into step beside her. “Are you sure Conrad doesn’t already have her?”

  “If he’d found her, she’d already be dead and in the ambulance beside Beth.”

  “What about you?”

  Maggie stumbled slightly. “I’d be dead, too. It’s why I know she must have escaped. He’s hoping I’ll lead him to her.”

  He sighed and shook his head. “So why did you bring those girls out?”

  “It’s a long story. For now, believe me when I say I had to.”

  “You could have waited.”

  She sucked in a deep breath. “When the last raid didn’t go off, I saw that glimmer of trust they had for me fading. I couldn’t let them down.”

  “Why contact me?”

  She hesitated for a heartbeat. “Because I realized I needed someone I could trust. Quinn?” her voiced faded away.

  He placed his hand in the small of her back. “What?”

  “With Roberts missing, who received my last communication?” The questions tumbled from her. “Can anyone access his computer files?”

  “Only if they had his access code. Or…”

  “Or?” she urged.

  “If he copied your info onto something, a USB, it could have been stolen.”

  Maggie nodded. “Possible.”

  His brow bunched. “Scenario two: Roberts could have sold the information.”

  Maggie sucked in a breath. “He would never do that. Never. He’s a damned good cop. He trained me. He’s had my back the whole time I’ve been away.” She shook her head. “We really need to get into the apartment and have a look around.”

  Her swift steps easily matched Quinn’s large stride as they hurried along the street. About to push open the door, Maggie paused. “We’re being watched. I can feel it.”

  “Then we’d better be quick.”

  “Let’s go.”

  As th
e door thudded closed behind them, Maggie bolted toward the steps, Quinn at her heels. At the top of two flights, her breathing was barely labored, but Quinn panted harder than he should have.

  A hint of a smile tugged her lips. “Too much time behind a desk, big boy?”

  Quinn grinned back. “Big boy, huh? Funny, I didn’t realize until you said that, how much I’ve missed hearing it.” He laughed. “What can I say? I notice you haven’t lost the ability to run in those damned things.” He pointed to her stilettos. “That is an accomplishment.” He walked beside her along the hallway, his hand resting on his gun beneath his jacket.

  Maggie stopped at a door halfway down the hall, glanced back to ensure they hadn’t been followed, and eased the key into the lock.

  “Wait,” Quinn commanded, stepping up beside her. “Unlock the door and cover me.”

  “With what?” she hissed.

  He glanced toward her stilettos.

  She rolled her eyes. “Smartass.”

  He stepped inside, gun stretched before him. Maggie followed closely.

  Lights flooded every room. They kicked their way through upturned pizza boxes and their discarded contents lying beside the broken coffee table. Smashed chairs and bookcases and ripped books lay scattered over polished floorboards like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle tipped out of their box. A radio played softly.

  They searched the entire apartment, then Maggie stepped forward and pushed the barrel of his gun toward the floor. “There’s no one here.”

  “Typical Maggie, always stating the obvious.” He slid his gun back into the holster and continued to prowl around the compact living area, shoving furniture back against the walls.

  Angel. Angel. Where are you? Maggie took in the destruction. Bile burned her throat. “I’m going to look around some more,” she threw over her shoulder as she headed back through the chaos to the kitchen and on to the bedroom.

  “Searching for anything in particular?” Quinn strode into the room.