Page 41 of Against the Clock

“I know that we’ve had our issues Quinn, but I really was just trying to help.”

“Why don’t you tell us what happened and why you had my niece,” Mike said, one arm still extended to hold Quinn back.

“I was waiting for the train and spotted her.But, I didn’t see Quinn with her and started to worry.”

“Who was she with?”I asked.

“I don’t know.It looked like a woman, but they had a hoodie covering their face, so I couldn’t get a good look.”She looked at Rosie and smiled sadly.“I knew that she didn’t know them and that I needed to step in and make sure she got home okay.”

“Thank you,” Mike said softly.

“It’s the least I could do given everything that happened.”She lowered her head and walked away.

“That’s it?You’re just going to let her go?”I asked Mike, trying to keep the anger in my voice from startling Rosie.

“Don’t worry, I know who she is and where to find her.Let’s get Rosie inside and see if we can figure out what happened,” he said, reaching for his niece.She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him carry her into the house.

I waited outside with Quinn for a few minutes while she did whatever she needed to do to calm herself down.

“Okay, so who was that woman?”I asked as we headed inside.

“She worked with Justin and was the one driving the car when he was killed.”

Twenty

Quinn

6 Days Ago

“Alright, Rosie, canyou tell us what happened and why you left grandma’s house?”I asked as I sat on the coffee table in front of the couch and studied her.

We had all taken turns looking her over to make sure she didn’t have any injuries, but that didn’t keep me calm, knowing that she had been away from us for who knows how long, with someone that we didn’t know.

“I heard a puppy crying, so I got up and looked out the window.I couldn’t see anything, but it kept crying louder.I knew that it needed help, so I went to the kitchen and checked to see if it was stuck in the dog door.”

“Was there a dog stuck in it?”I sat up straight and tried to keep the stress from showing on my face.

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