Free Deadly Intent (Linked Inc. Book 1) by Kate Allenton

collapsing back to the ground. Was she hurt?
    He ignored his bruises and pushed through his protesting muscles, getting up to stagger across the road. Quinn lay unmoving. Only the rise and fall of her chest calmed his racing heart. Collin ran his hands over her arms and legs. Scrapes and bruises covered some of her porcelain skin, but nothing appeared to be broken.
    “Quinn, luv.” Collin rested his palm on her cheek.
    Her eyes fluttered open to meet his gaze. “Did your curse happen to mention cut brakes?”
    “No mention of cut brakes, just disease, death, fire, and ruin.”
    “If we hadn’t gotten out, that one ride could have taken care of all of it.” Her gaze lifted to something behind him before she narrowed her eyes. “Clarence, if you weren’t already dead, I’d kill you again.”
    “Clarence, the ghost from the States that you’re trying to get rid of?” Collin asked, glancing over his shoulder to find the field and road empty. “I think you hit your head a bit harder than I thought. There’s no one here but us.” He turned back and felt the back of her head for any sign that he was right.
    “He’s standing right behind you,” Quinn said, brushing his hands from her body. She tried to shove Collin away, yet he remained unmoving, unsure if she was really unhurt or just annoyed.
    “Ask him if he knows who cut the brakes,” Collin suggested while helping her stand. He lowered his gaze down her backside, making sure he hadn’t missed any injuries.
    “Whose ass do I need to kick?” Quinn asked, resting her balled fist on her hip. Not even a second later, she tossed her hands into the air and yelled, “Oh, now you’re not talking. What happened to the karaoke, asshole?”
    Her red cheeks glistened in the afternoon sun as he picked leaves out of her hair, fighting his urge to run his fingers through her soft tendrils. “It looks like we’re walking.”
    “It’s probably better that way. I’d hate for Angus to get hurt too. I don’t think the poor guy could survive a jump from a moving car.”
    “Aye. He willnae be driving anywhere until I can ensure his brakes were no’ tampered with.” The thought of anything happening to Angus or Mavis had him clenching and unclenching his fists.
    Collin gestured back toward the castle and began to lead her in the middle of the barely traveled rocky road. It would have been quicker to hike through the forest layered with unruly heather, but her first sneeze struck that route home from their list.
    Collin pulled the ruby broach from his pocket and handed it to her. “I found this at the cliff’s edge when I saved you earlier.”
    “The color of your rival.” She grinned.
    “Aye, I guess it is.”
    “I’m sure most women like jewels no matter the color. I have a ruby bracelet but I’d never be a McDougall.”
    “Aye, you are no McDougall.”
    “About the cliff…” She took the pendant and chewed her bottom lip as if she was trying to find the right words. Her usual boisterous demeanor shifted to something more contemplative, a look that he wasn’t used to seeing on her. “The thing is… I didn’t slip.”
    Her words muddled his brain and took a minute to register. He eased her to stop walking. “If you dinnae slip, then what?”
    “Someone pushed me. I felt the hand on my back, and then next thing I knew, the rock saved me from swimming with Nessie.”
    His muscles tensed at the thought. It was unthinkable that someone would want her dead. She hadn’t been in town long enough to make enemies. “Did you see their face? Hear anything?”
    “No.” She held out the broach. “Maybe whoever it was dropped that little gem. Any idea who owns it?”
    They glanced down at the exquisite stone that he’d once thought beautiful but was now somehow lacking its luster. “I’ve seen it before, but I donae remember where.”
    He moved closer to her, unfastened the pin, and attached it to her shirt.
    “Aww…is that a token to remember the