Kate’s fingers paused on her phone for a moment and she gave a soft grunt.
“I’m hoping you’ve got a damn good reason for me not to call the cops,” Shane continued when she remained quiet.
“He killed the woman I loved and he killed my son,” she replied, her voice cracking at the end.
Quinn clamped his teeth together to keep from reacting, while Shane’s arm tightened around his shoulders. Neither of them had known about her son.
“When was your son—”
“Two weeks ago. You know. You were there.”
“But…Jacopo…” Shane swore softly and closed his eyes for several seconds, pain clearly scrawled across his face. “He contacted me to find his missing mother.”
“He used that name?” Her voice broke on the last word. “We both loved that book. And now he’s dead and you’re working for the mayor. How do I know you didn’t set my son up?”
“Never,” Shane snarled. His hand tightened, fingers digging painfully into Quinn’s shoulder. Against his better judgment, Quinn reached over and put his right hand on Shane’s knee, squeezing and rubbing his thumb back and forth, trying to ease the anger he could feel humming through Shane’s entire frame. It was hard to hold his tongue, particularly after he’d questioned Shane’s integrity in much the same way just the other day. But it was wrong.
Shane drew in a deep breath through his nose, his eyes on the children running around the playground in front of them. It was nearly a minute later when he spoke again, but his voice was calmer and controlled now. “I would never. There’s no reason.”
“Unless you’re in his pocket,” Dr. Masters shot back and then nodded toward Quinn. “The only reason I’m sitting here right now is him.”
Quinn couldn’t help but lean forward a bit to look around Shane in shock. “Me?”
“Quinn?” Shane said at the same time.
“He’s with Ward Security and the owner has a reputation for his honest dealings. He would have checked you out before he would have let you use his IT Specialist.”
Sitting back again, Quinn stared straight ahead, stunned. She’d definitely done her homework. And she was right. Rowe would have done his checks on Shane before he even thought about loaning Quinn out. It would have been his way of protecting Quinn and Ward Security.
“Look, Kate, there’s nothing I can say that will convince you that I’m not going to betray you to anyone, other than my word. I didn’t know the kid was your son. I’m sorry I couldn’t save him.”
Her hand tightened around the phone she was holding, and she gave a little nod. “He was just trying to protect me.”
“Can you help me? Do you have any kind of proof? Proof of who shot your son? Or how you know that Spring killed his wife? The police ruled it an accident.”
“His damn bodyguard killed Jason.”
“And Brenda?”
“I don’t have the proof yet, but I know where it is. He’s got security cameras in that house. It’s there. I know it.”
“We need more. I—” Shane suddenly broke off and lurched to the side as something loudly thunked in the wood beside him. “Shit!”
Quinn hit the cold ground hard after Shane gave him a shove off the end of the bench. He started to turn when Shane shouted: “Everyone get down! Shooter!”
Screams erupted in the park as parents ran for their children while kids started immediately crying. On his hands and knees, Quinn scurried for cover behind the bench, the cold completely forgotten. He wanted to shout for Shane to move, but he was covering Kate on the ground with his body. Panic lanced through him, his heart threatening to jump straight out of his chest. He leaned down, trying to see under the bench and get a good view of Shane while pulling his phone out of his back pocket. He didn’t know whether to try to get back to his feet to help the fleeing parents and children get out of the area or find a way to distract the shooter so that Shane and Kate could move to better cover.
Another bullet hit the ground just a few inches from where Shane was laying over Kate, sending up a spray of dirt. The phone was forgotten in Quinn’s hand as he watched helplessly as Shane scrambled up to his knees, half lifting Kate with him while still shielding her as much as possible with his larger body. He barely managed to get them both moving when another shot sliced through the air, strafing across the back of Shane’s thigh. His muffled cry cut through Quinn as he watched the man stumble and stop. Kate kept running, staying low. More bullets followed her as she ran for the nearest band of trees and the river.
She was enough of a distraction that Quinn was able to get over to her abandoned stroller and shove it between Shane and the shooter’s line of sight. It wasn’t great cover, but it would buy him a few seconds. Keeping low, he hurried over to Shane’s side where the detective was getting back to his hands and knees.