Wild Justice

CHAPTER 53

We spent Friday in Chicago. Not much choice there. Jack was in no shape to leave, and we had the mess with Contrapasso to clean up.

The latter wasn’t nearly as big a deal as I’d feared. They’d screwed us over, and we’d retaliated. They were shockingly fair about the whole thing. We hadn’t injured their people. We hadn’t caused the car accident. They might have wanted to interrogate Koss, but they’d lost that right when they double-crossed us.

They even offered medical care for Jack. He refused. He had someone in the area so that’s where we took him. The bullet hadn’t done any serious damage. One nicked rib and torn tissue. He wouldn’t be work-ready for weeks, but he’d be fine.

As for Koss, we let Contrapasso handle that—both the immediate cleanup and the long-term repercussions. They’d make sure the families of his victims got closure and that their daughters’ remains would be found wherever possible. Investigations would be reopened. Koss would be fingered as the culprit, apparently having left his confession and fled for parts unknown.

Would those investigations find him guilty? Or would people say his enemies framed and murdered him? Impossible to predict. He was dead. The families would know their daughters’ fates. That was all that mattered to me.

We left Chicago Saturday morning. Though Emma and Owen didn’t expect me back for the weekend, Jack knew it was best if I missed as little of it as possible. I’d drive us while he rested. Or that was my plan, though I knew sedation might be required to actually get him to rest.

Quinn was still with us, dealing with Contrapasso. What happened hadn’t soured him on them—or vice versa. If anything, his loyalty to his comrades seemed to solidify their initial interest and they’d moved from flirting to making plans for a first date.

Contrapasso was also interested in Jack and me. While I knew Jack was a “hell no,” he wasn’t actually saying that. They knew more about us than we liked. It behooved us to play coy, rather than reject their overtures outright.

When Quinn came to see me before we left, it was the first time we’d talked since Koss’s death. He helped me carry the bags to the rental car while Jack rested in the hotel room.

“I want to thank you again,” I said. “For coming back.”

“I shouldn’t have left,” he said as we got on the elevator. “Jack was right. I lost my temper. I said things I didn’t mean. I stormed out when you needed me.”

“You shouldn’t have found out like that. I should have told you.”

He leaned against the elevator wall. “Nah. I only would have stormed off sooner.” He shifted my duffel, looking uncomfortable. “It was over. You’d made that clear. You had a right to move on. I just . . .” He exhaled. “If it was anyone else, I’d still have been hurt, but Jack . . . I don’t get it, Nadia. I really don’t.”

The elevator stopped in the parking garage. We got off and headed for the car.

He continued, “I think he made his move when you were vulnerable.”

“Quinn . . .”

“I’m not blaming him. I’ve known he was interested in you since the day we met. But you weren’t interested back, so he kept his distance. He didn’t interfere with you and me. I respect that. We broke up, though, and he brought you Aldrich, and you were grateful and he misread that. You care about him. So when he made a move and you were in a bad place—with our breakup and this Aldrich business—you gave in.”

“It wasn’t—”

“It was.” His voice was firm. “You just don’t see it. You will. You’re making a mistake, and you’re going to realize that, and I just hope he doesn’t hurt you too much in the meantime.”

Quinn unlocked the trunk. I looked over at him, and I knew there was nothing I could say. He’d come up with an explanation he could live with, an explanation he needed. I had to let him have that.

When he bent to put the duffel bag in, I kissed his cheek. “I’ll be fine.”

He put one arm around me, a quick squeeze. “I know you will.”