Sweet Dreams Boxed Set

“Well, if Smith and Wesson are on duty, I’m heading into the shower.”


“Okay,” He still held her. “I’m going to have you come with me to the precinct tomorrow. I’m going to get them to let you speak with Davy, too. I want you to listen to him and draw what he says—exactly what he says.”

Danni had majored in art and still kept a studio and still worked on her own pieces. She’d intended to fully pursue art—painting, mainly—until her father had died.

“But, I’ve seen the nun,” she reminded him.

“You’ve seen the nun that’s here,” Quinn reminded her. “There were five zombie nuns made. I have a feeling there is more than one nun in Key West.”

“I’ll draw what he tells me—if the police let us in.”

“I’ll make them.”

“Ooh, tough guy. I like it,” she teased.

She left him in the kitchen and headed up the stairs. She knew Quinn.

He was going to walk around the house and make sure that every window was closed and locked.

It was late and Danni was tired—and still, with the hum of the air-conditioner cooling the house, the warmth of the shower felt delicious.

As she had expected, she was in under the heat and steam for about five or ten minutes when she heard him enter the bathroom. She smiled, anticipating his presence behind her. It had been a long day; waking in New Orleans, starting to work at the store, and receiving the phone call from Colby. They’d had to rush to the airport, hop on a flight, transfer planes down to the tiny Marathon airport, rent a car, drive to Key West…and then try to fathom what was going on.

Didn’t matter. There were those times, of course, when she was ready to throttle Quinn. He could be stubborn, over-protective, pig-headed….

And then he’d smile or shrug or do something ridiculous like get down on his knees to apologize dramatically and she’d laugh or smile and know that whatever, he was now the center of her life—which often centered around bad things—and she was grateful to fall into his arms and have wild passionate sex or tender sex or just lie together, naked bodies touching.

Quinn didn’t step in behind her.

“Quinn?”

She peeked out the curtain.

There was no one in the bathroom.

She frowned. Had she imagined the sound of the door opening? It was possible, the way the water had been thudding against the porcelain of the old tub.

She stepped out and dried quickly, slipping on T-shirt nightgown. Hurrying out, she glanced quickly into the upstairs rooms—no sign of Quinn. They were using the guest room downstairs, of course—Tracy Kennedy had asked that they not use the master and told them that Kathy’s belongings were in the upstairs guest room.

Danni hurried down the stairs. Quinn was at his computer at the dining room table.

He looked up at her, his eyes intense.

“I found out something we needed to know—ridiculously easily,” he told her. “Zombie Nuns of the Apocalypse was actually shot up the keys on a private island and you’ll never guess where the zombie nuns were stored before the auction!”

“Key West?” Danni suggested.

“No, but close—a facility in Tavernier, just south of Key Largo. And guess what?”

“What?”

“There was a fire at the warehouse, right after the auction. One of the animatronics was already on its way to Colby Kennedy—I’m assuming that’s the one he has. Two were destroyed completely and the money had to be returned to the buyers. Two were damaged—and lost when they were on their way to Miami to be repaired.”

“Lost?” Danni asked. “How the hell were they lost?”

“Somewhere in shipping. A major shipping company, too—their insurance made good on the loss, the buyers were refunded, and that’s where it ended.”

“So two more are somewhere—possibly in the Keys,” Danni said.

Quinn nodded.

“We really need to trust someone,” Danni said. “We don’t know if that is or isn’t real blood on the zombie nun we took apart and stored.”

Quinn looked up at Danni. “Let’s talk tomorrow,” he told her. “If I understand it correctly, each of the five zombie nuns was slightly different—as in the decaying flesh, blood stains—yucky stuff on the flesh. I want to see what you come up with from Davy’s description. We may be able to tell if we saw the one that was in this house—or one of the missing ones.”

“Okay, but then…Quinn, it really does worry me that we might be sitting on evidence,” Danni said.

“I know,” he told her quietly.

“Hey, did you come upstairs—and almost into the shower?” she asked him.

He shook his head. “Why?”

“Thought I heard you.”

“You know me,” he said. “I checked every window in the place and then double-checked the front door and the back door. Since then, I’ve been sitting right here. No one went up the stairs. But, I’ll take another walk around the house,” he told her.

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