Edging toward the house, I crept up the path. One of the windows was smashed, but despite this I couldn’t hear any voices. Panic swept over me. Quinn’s phone might be here, it didn’t mean she was. If she wasn’t here, I had no idea how I was going to find her. Discreetly looking through the dirty front window my eyes scanned the bare room. There was a man sitting on a dirty mattress in the middle of the floor, taking gulps from a half-empty vodka bottle. There was a handgun thrown next to him on the mattress. Looking further around the room, I gasped as I saw Quinn slumped over in a chair. Her hair was falling over her face and she wasn’t moving. Pain ripped through me at seeing her like that. He’d hurt her, and I hadn’t been there to keep her safe.
“I’m going in,” I mouthed to Mason who was standing next to me.
“Wait,” he mouthed back. “What are you going to do? Just walk in and ask for Quinn back?” He paused, putting his hand on my shoulder. “He’s got a gun, Brody, and he isn’t afraid to use it.” I nodded knowing he was right. “You’re no good to her dead.”
“I just need to get to her,” I said, the desperation evident in my voice.
“I know. Look, let’s go around the back, at least take him by surprise.” Mason took a look through the window before turning back to me. “He looks wasted, that should work in our favor. His reactions won’t be as fast. We need to get that gun away from him.” I nodded. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was the best we could do with what we had. Taking one last look at Quinn through the window we crept around the back of the house.
Pushing slowly on the back door, I found myself standing in a rundown kitchen. There was a door off to the right that was slightly ajar. Silently crossing the kitchen, I looked around the door, seeing Quinn slumped on the chair. Dragging my eyes off her I saw Evan was still sitting on the old mattress, his back to me. Turning to Mason I gestured with my hands that I was going in. He nodded and raised the shotgun, indicating that he had my back. Just as I was about to sneak in I heard him speak.
“Welcome back,” he sneered. My eyes flew to Quinn who was awake and sitting up in the chair. Her hair was still over her face and as she looked up it fell away, revealing a bloody nose and an almost-swollen-shut eye. Knowing he’d hurt her, I fisted my hands at my side, anger coursing through me.
Bursting through the door, I kept my eyes on Evan. His head snapped up, a look of surprise on his face. Before I could reach him and kick the gun away, he grabbed it and pointed it at me.
“Brody!” Quinn cried standing up out of her chair.
“Don’t move!” Evan barked, waving the gun at both of us. Watching as a smirk crossed his face, he looked at me. ‘So, you’re the boyfriend then? As Quinn’s stepfather I think it’s only right I ask what your intentions are toward my daughter?”
“I am not your daughter!” she spat, standing to move closer to me. Her hand brushed mine, and I looked at her. She was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, even with a swollen eye and a bloody nose, but seeing her like that broke my heart.
“I said, don’t move!” he bellowed, his voice slurring slightly. His hand shook as he held the gun out in front of him.
“What is it you want, Evan? Is it money? I can get you money.”
He burst out laughing. “You think money can get me out of the mess she’s gotten me into?” he shouted, turning the gun on Quinn. “It’s a little late for that.”
“Okay, okay,” I exclaimed, desperate for him to stop pointing the gun at her. “What do you want then if it’s not money?”
“Maybe I want her to suffer for the rest of her life, and I think hurting you might be the best way to make that happen.” His voice had gone eerily calm and he slowly moved the gun off Quinn and pointed it at me. My heart was racing as I turned my head to look at her. I didn’t realize until that moment that she was crying.
“I love you, baby,” I told her, my eyes fixed on her.
“Say goodbye,baby.” Evan mocked as he pulled the trigger. The next two or three seconds seemed to last an eternity. A mixture of Quinn’s screams and gunfire filled my ears as her body came across mine, knocking me to the ground. Lying on the floor with Quinn in front of me, I heard more shots ring out, and I saw Evan’s body fall back on the mattress. Turning my head, Mason was standing in the doorway, the shotgun pointing at Evan’s lifeless body. I closed my eyes and pulled Quinn into my arms.
“It’s over, sweetheart. It’s over,” I whispered, relief coursing through my body. As I pulled her into my arms, my hands came into contact with something wet and sticky on her clothes. Lifting my hands, I was met with bloodstained palms. “Quinn!” I cried, carefully turning her over. Her eyes were closed, and her head fell back as I held her. Blood covered her t-shirt and her face was deathly pale. “Call 911!” I screamed as I felt Mason fall to his knees next to me. “She’s been shot!”
Cradling her in my arms, I tried to put pressure on the wound in her shoulder, but the blood was pouring out of her. I felt tears slip down my cheeks as I held her. “I love you, Quinn, hold on, sweetheart,” I chanted over and over. My head was fuzzy and my ears were still ringing from the gunshots, but I could just make out Mason on the phone to the emergency services.
“Brody, take your shirt off and hold it over the wound,” Mason instructed, passing on the information the dispatcher was telling him. Laying her gently on the wooden floor I removed my shirt, pressing it down hard onto her shoulder.
“When are they going to get here?” I screamed as my shirt soon became soaked with blood.
“They’re on their way,” he assured me. “Okay, I’ll check,” he said into the phone, before kneeling next to Quinn and placing his fingers on the pulse point on her neck. “It's there, but it's weak,” he said into the phone, his eyes meeting mine. I closed my eyes and dropped my head next to hers.
“You have to fight, Quinn. Do you hear me? You have to fight. I’m not ready to let you go. I’m never going to be ready to let you go.” I brushed my lips across her cool cheek. “Whatever it takes, remember?” Choking back a sob, I carried on talking to her, hoping my voice would bring her back to me. “I’m going to marry you, sweetheart, and we’re going to have lots of babies. Don’t think I didn’t see you with Hope yesterday, how your face lit up when you were holding her.” I smiled sadly. “We’re going to have all of that, so you need to hold on for me. I thought I was happy before you burst into my life, but I wasn’t, not really. I didn’t know it, but I was waiting for you. Waiting to love you, and I haven’t loved you for long enough, Quinn. I need longer. Please, baby. Please don’t leave me.” Silence filled the room, and I felt her slipping away from me.
“I can hear the ambulance, Brody, they’re here!” He jumped up and ran outside. Seconds later, two paramedics raced into the room, kneeling down beside her.
“You can step back now, son, we’ll take good care of her,” a man around my dad’s age said. Reluctantly I removed my hand from the blood-soaked shirt that was covering her shoulder and took a step back. I felt Mason’s arm go around me and I sagged against him.
“Let them do their job,” he said coaxing me outside. I looked over my shoulder as the paramedics worked on Quinn. Walking outside I saw the cottage was surrounded by police cars, Ethan was stepping out of one, his head bandaged.
“Fuck! Brody, what happened?” He walked toward me, his eyes dropping to my clothes. Looking down I realized the white t-shirt I had been wearing under my shirt was covered in blood as were my hands and arms.
“He shot her,” I told him in a daze. “She threw herself in front of me, and he shot her.” I dropped to my knees on the grass and Mason knelt next to me. “Why would she do that? Why would she put herself in front of me?” I asked no one in particular.
“Because she loves you, Brody,” Mason replied simply.