He reached over and took her hand. “I’m here. You never have to be afraid again.”
Quinn managed a weak smile, then ripped open the envelope. As she scanned the pages, her heart went into overtime, hammering against her chest with enough force that Quinn thought it might break free. She read them again. Then one more time. Numb, she lowered the papers in disbelief.
“What? What is it?” When Rick snatched the papers out of her hand, Quinn didn’t react. She couldn’t react. She didn’t know how to react. It was the best news and the worst news all rolled into one fancy, expensive, watermarked letter.
A loud laugh broke Quinn from her daze.
“He’s dead! This is great.” Rick’s brilliant smile did nothing to assuage Quinn’s dread. “You’re done. We’re done. It’s all over, doll. Don’t you see?”
Quinn watched as Rick’s levity faded with her lack of response.
“Why aren’t you happy? Isn’t this the best possible outcome? Quinn?”
Mechanically, she spoke, her tone flat and unemotional.
Keep it together, Quinn. You don’t know who did it yet. It may not be what you think.
“I need to be alone for a while.”
Rick jumped up from his chair, ready to protest.
“Rick! Please. I’m asking you for half an hour to let this sink in.” She turned her best doe eyed look on her lover, knowing he wouldn’t say no when she did that.
“Fuck,” he whispered, running a hand across the back of his neck. “Twenty minutes. Then we’re talking.” Rick dropped the letter on the desk and stalked out of the room.
She knew he was confused by her reaction, but he’d get over it. Right now, Quinn needed to prove to herself that she was wrong about Travis’ death.
Taking a deep breath, she pulled up a search engine on her computer. Typing quickly and referencing the date and city on the letter, Quinn quickly found several articles of interest. She clicked the first one, reading it multiple times. Blinking back tears, Quinn clicked another article, then another… she clicked and read until moisture blurred her vision.
“No… he wouldn’t. He promised.”
Realizing how ridiculous she sounded talking to herself, she wiped the tears away with her sleeve. Quinn printed the original article and laid it on Tucker’s desk, then deleted her search history. She couldn’t ignore the fact that Travis was killed during the time that Rick had gone missing. Time he hadn’t explained to her or anyone else. Ten minutes until he came back into the room, and Rick was nothing if not punctual— early even.
No, no, no, no, no!
She should have known Rick wouldn’t let it go. Not after what Travis did, leaving Rick to pick up her broken pieces and put her back together. Six minutes.
Quinn was torn. Half of her was so relieved that Travis was dead that it didn’t matter how it happened. The other half of her was horrified and pretty pissed off that Rick would go behind her back against her wishes. Two minutes.
Just as she thought, the door burst open with time to spare, a very agitated former Recon Marine storming towards her with a grimace on his face.
“So… what? What’s going on here, Quinn?”
She flinched at his harsh tone, trying not to take it to heart. It was concern and fear making him prickly, not anger. He wasn’t like Travis and never would be. He would never hurt her… not intentionally.
“I— I…” The words died on the tip of her tongue. Tears spilled over and down her cheeks. She had to decide whether or not Rick was worth it. Could she overlook what he did? Right now, she didn’t have the answer. “I need more time.” With that, she jumped up, snatched the printed article off the desk, and bolted from the room. Quinn heard Rick calling out for her, but she kept going until she was safe behind her the locked door of her apartment.
Thankfully, for once, Rick didn’t follow.
A few hours later, curled up on her couch, freshly showered and drinking a cup of herbal tea, Quinn reread the article over and over until she had it all but memorized. The chime of yet another text message from Rick interrupted her churning thoughts.
He was wearing down her resolve. She knew it, so why keep the charade going? Quinn knew without a doubt she was going to forgive Rick even if the crime itself was unforgivable. One last time, she read the article detailing the death of a John Doe just outside of Oklahoma City, dated three weeks ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN FOUND SHOT AND KILLED
Norman, OK — Police responded to a 911 call late yesterday morning after an employee at the Motel 6 on Whitten St. reported finding a dead body in one of the rooms.
Officers discovered the victim, a Caucasian male, thought to be in his mid to late twenties. According to a source, the man appeared to have died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Forensics later confirmed that the bullet most likely came from a long-range, sniper-style rifle. The lethal accuracy, with the nearest possible shooting position almost 1000 meters away, along with a small hole in the window of the motel room, leads police to believe that the gunman has a military background, most likely as a sniper or Special Forces operative.