“There’s something else. And it’s not good. Shane brought Caitlin and her dog in before they left for James’s parents’ place. Not that we needed the dog, but Caitlin has an eye for finding what shouldn’t be there. Killy became excited, almost uncontrollable the moment he entered the room. We found drugs in a hole in the wall, carefully hidden behind the bed frame. It was a lot.”
“Shit.” Her word summed up everything she felt about the situation.
Shane sighed on the line. “Yeah. We haven’t alerted the authorities yet. We’re still gathering clues. We won’t bring that up until we’re certain what’s going on. And not before speaking to James first.”
Mercy could still hear his voice through the baby monitor, and she swallowed hard. “I’ll tell him. Keep us informed of the situation.”
“Sure. We’re on it.”
The line cut and Mercy sat on the sofa, listening to James cooing at the baby. She took the precious moments to gather her thoughts, trying to find the right words for him. A new and painful front was opening, and as it implicated James’s sister, it was one that would cause him more pain. Mercy wanted to give him one last moment of peace before she had to shatter it once more.
Chapter Five
James felt out of his depth as he looked at his niece in his arms, so tiny, so vulnerable. Every single need she had rested on his shoulders. Yet, that wasn’t what had him pacing the bedroom as he cooed nonsense to her. No, it was the woman in the living room who was driving him crazy.
He knew without a shadow of a doubt that Mercy wanted him, he could feel the burn of desire every time they stepped into a room together. Sparks crackled so loud it was a miracle nobody else had noticed.
The anger and fear that chased down his spine when he remembered her scar had him gritting his jaw to stop the snarl that wanted out. The fact that he hadn’t been there when it happened still plagued him. He woke after a short nap sweat dripping from his body, images of her bleeding blinding him until he managed to shake it. He never went back to sleep afterwards, thoughts of something happening to her floating around his mind.
He’d come to realize over the last three years of working with Mercy that she had a wild streak, but more than that, she had a recklessness about her that both thrilled and petrified him at the same time. He loved that she was fearless and yet he understood it was fear that kept you safe, fear made you careful. She had none, at least, that’s what he chose to believe because the alternative was that she had a death wish.
Noticing Abbie was once again sleeping soundly, he went to place her down when she stirred again. He loved this child, but he needed to be able to work. Then he hit on a memory of his sister wearing a papoose like thing. Moving to the bag of supplies Cleo had set them up with, he quickly found what he needed. Walking into the open plan living space, he found Mercy working on the laptop at the table. Her eyes immediately flicked up to his, desire leaking out as she scanned his body before clearing the reaction and closing down her expression.
He bit back the smirk of pleasure and walked toward her with purpose. “I need your help.”
Relief crossed her pretty face, and she nodded. “Of course, what do you need?”
“Cleo packed this.” He handed her the vast length of fabric and watched her frown. “Abbie cries as soon as I set her down, and I need to work. I can’t walk around with her in my arms all the damn time.” He pointed to the device. “With that, I can strap her to me and still work. She feels held, and I have my hands free,” he finished with a grin.
Mercy looked a little bemused as she flipped the instructions on the table. “Okay.”
Nearly forty minutes later, after several false starts and a lot of baby swapping, they had his niece safely nestled against his chest.
His hand rested on Abbie’s back as he sat opposite Mercy at the laptop. “Any word from the team?”
Mercy was staring at him distractedly. “Sorry, what?”
James grinned at her apparent inability to concentrate. “Have we had word from Alliance?”
He saw her face sober, and instantly his smile fell.
“Uh, yes. I was going to tell you when you came out, but we got caught up in this.”
“Tell me,” he demanded. His hands curled into fists as his heart beat faster. Whatever it was he wasn’t going to like it; he knew from the way she was behaving it wasn’t good news.
“They found the apartment Beth was renting.”
He laid a protective hand over Abbie as if sensing the blow that was coming. “And?”
Mercy lifted her hand as if to touch him and then dropped it with a sigh. He could tell she wanted to comfort him, but right now he didn’t need her damn friendship, he needed answers. “She’s been in Miami about a month but what struck us as odd is she paid up the rent for the next six months. Beth renewed it yesterday before she left Abbie with you.”
James sat back feeling the weight of responsibility, brushing his hand through his hair in frustration as his brain whirred at the news. His eyes shot to Mercy. “Has anyone checked the apartment in case she went back there?”
She nodded slowly. “Shane and Emme went over her stuff there, but they said it looked like she left in a hurry.”
James shook his head, trying to connect it all. “It makes no sense to pay six months on a lease you have no intention of using.” His eyes moved to Mercy, and he saw sympathy there. “My sister isn’t rich, and that money would’ve been all she had.”
Mercy sat beside him; her warm body so close he could feel the frisson of electricity pass between them. “Caitlin went in with Killy, and they found a huge stash of drugs.”
James’s eyes snapped to hers. “What?”
He stood and began to pace, his heart galloping hard with fear, anger, frustration. Mercy walked toward him as he leaned his hands on the kitchen counter, trying to catch some air and get his emotions under control.
Her hand touched his bicep, and the tingle of her touch went all the way down his neck, through his spine to his balls. He twisted his head to look at the hand on his arm, before raising his eyes to Mercy and saw the same mixture of emotions, the conflict in her expressive face.
“I don’t understand what’s happening,” he muttered. His voice was gritty as the last twenty-four hours hit him.
“Neither do I.”
James looked down, fighting for control, knowing she meant more than his sister’s disappearance too. They stared at each other, and he saw a glimpse of the woman who was stealing his breath as sure as she was his heart. The air hummed with tension and desire that was like a taut thread between them.
He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek and watched as her inky-black lashes fell, hiding her eyes from him as she leaned her head into his touch. This was less intense, less sexual than their earlier encounter, but it held so much more meaning. She was showing him her vulnerability, allowing him to see who she really was instead of the formidable, trained operator not afraid of anything. “Who hurt you, Mercy?”
Her eyes snapped open, and he knew he’d blown it when she pulled away, putting distance between them. Regret was a gut punch, knowing he’d made a mistake, but it also gave him an insight into the woman he wanted.