Pushing the door to Savannah’s room open, Libby rushed toward the bed. She enveloped Savannah in a one-armed hug, so as not to squash Hope, who was cuddled into Savannah’s chest. Quinn held back, and I knew she felt awkward, like she was intruding on family time. She couldn’t have been more wrong. We were her family now, and evidently Savannah felt the same.
“Quinn, come here; come and meet Hope,” Savannah called out, gesturing for her to come closer. She turned to look at me and I smiled, nodding encouragingly at her. As she made her way to Hope, I crossed the room and pulled Josh into a hug.
“Congratulations, man.” I watched as tears filled his eyes before he quickly gained his composure.
“Thanks, Brode. Savannah was amazing. It was scary as shit, but she was just… amazing.” I slapped him on the back as we turned to look at Savannah, Libby, and Quinn. Mason was on the other side of the bed and I watched as a huge smile broke out on his face as he watched Libby cradling Hope.
“I think someone may be getting a little broody,” I said quietly to Josh.
“Who, Lib? All women get broody around babies. It’s like it’s built in,” he joked.
“I don’t mean Lib.” I gestured to the other side of the bed to where he was looking. Seeing him look over to Mason he chuckled.
“Yeah, I bet there’ll be a baby there soon enough,” he agreed. Motioning to Mason, the three of us left the girls to talk babies while we headed to the cafeteria for a coffee. As we sat down, my phone rang. Digging it out of my pocket I saw it was Ethan calling.
“Hey, man, how’s it going?”
“Good, Brody. So, I looked up that guy you asked about.”
“Did you find anything?”
“You could say that.” He sighed down the phone. “Brody, who is this guy? I didn’t ask too many questions when you asked me to run his name, but this guy, he’s bad news.” Closing my eyes, I dropped my head. I’d been hoping Ethan wouldn’t find anything, that Evan was just going to be some piece of shit who couldn’t keep his hands to himself. I’d managed to get his name from Quinn without telling her what Ethan was doing. I felt bad for not keeping her in the loop, but I didn’t want to upset her.
“What have you found out?” I asked, having no idea how bad it was.
“Brody, he’s wanted in a triple homicide.”
“Homicide?” I shouted, gaining a few strange looks from people using the cafeteria. Meeting Mason and then Josh’s eyes, I could see the concern on both their faces. “Who’d he kill?”
“A small-time drug dealer and two of his associates. He disappeared from Westwood, New Jersey, a few weeks ago.” He paused. “That’s not all. He’s done time for assault and battery around fifteen years ago.”
“Shit!” I pushed my hand through my hair, my stomach rolling when I thought about how much danger Quinn had been in.
“How do you know this man, Brody?” Ethan asked again when I’d fallen silent.
“He’s my girlfriend’s stepfather,” I said quietly, my mind working overtime.
“Quinn Montgomery?”
“Yeah. How do you know her name?”
“Her name’s in the file as a person of interest.”
“A person of fucking interest?” I spat, anger bubbling in my stomach. “She's a victim, Ethan.”
“Calm down, Brody. They’re worried for her safety; she’s listed as a missing person.” He paused and let out a sigh. “The bodies were found in her house. They were worried he’d hurt her too.”
“He did hurt her,” I growled. “She was banged up when she arrived here.”
“I can’t even imagine how you’re feeling, but this man is dangerous.” My stomach rolled again at the thought of Evan getting anywhere near Quinn. There was no way I’d let him hurt her again. “Has she been in touch with him since she left?”
“Shit, no! She’s terrified of him.”
“Look, you aren’t going to like this, but I’ve been in touch with the police chief in Westwood. He asked me to talk to her if she turned up here, find out what she knows.”
“No way! She doesn’t know anything.”
“Brody, I’ve no choice. I'll need to speak to her tomorrow after I’ve been over the file.”