Erin scowled at Rafe. ‘You weren’t going to tell anyone?’
‘I was going to tell you,’ Rafe said, ‘but you got in my face and that’s not okay.’
‘So you’re going alone,’ Erin muttered. ‘With a fucking crazy man looking to drag you back to Eden by your hair, Mercy?’
‘Hey, I was going to be with her,’ Rafe protested. Yes, he’d planned to ask Gideon to go with them as backup, but Erin had crossed the line from overbearing to insulting. ‘I may limp, but I can still—’
‘Fucking hell, Rafe,’ Erin snarled, then snapped her mouth closed when Mercy shushed her.
‘Farrah’s upstairs, trying to sleep. Let’s use our inside voices.’
Erin drew a breath and exhaled slowly. ‘Okay, this is how this will go. You can have your little drive to Likely, California. You can look like someone else, Mercy. You can shop for Eden trinkets to your heart’s content. But I will be going with you.’ She held up her hand when Rafe opened his mouth to argue. ‘It has nothing to do with your ability, Rafe. It has everything to do with being smart and not becoming a goddamn statistic. I’ll follow you up in my Rover. Sasha, you want in?’
Sasha shrugged. ‘Sure. I have a few personal days left. I’ll take one. Just give me a few minutes to clean up and call in to work.’ She started up the stairs, patting Mercy’s shoulder in thanks when she moved over to let Sasha by. ‘You still need the bathroom, Rhee?’
‘Yeah.’ Erin pointed at Rafe as she passed. ‘And I need to call in too, to let them know I’m not coming in. You’d better not leave before we get back or there will be hell to pay.’
He made a face at her back, which made Mercy chuckle. ‘I can’t leave, can I?’ he said sarcastically. ‘You’ve parked me in.’
‘Good job, Last Night Me,’ Erin hissed. ‘We will talk about this, Rafe. Hand to God.’
Rafe watched them go up the stairs and had to fight not to pout like the five-year-old Mercy had mentioned. ‘Dammit. I would have asked her to go with us since I haven’t heard back from Gideon, but she’s being obnoxious.’
‘She cares about you,’ Mercy said quietly. ‘If Farrah were awake, she’d be doing the same thing. I sent her an email telling her where we’re going so she doesn’t worry when she wakes up.’
Rafe sighed. ‘You’re right. I know she cares. At least she’s not riding with us. Now I’ll have that ten hours in the car with you today.’ One side of his mouth quirked up. ‘Except I feel like I’m with a stranger.’ He waggled his brows. ‘Mysterious.’
She laughed at him. ‘Shut up.’ She came down the final few stairs, leaning up on her toes to peck his lips. ‘It’ll be fine. We can all shop and then do lunch. I bet Erin’ll be nicer if you buy her lunch.’
‘Maybe,’ he grumbled. ‘Let’s wait in the car. Who knows how long they’ll be?’
She waited until they were both in the Subaru before turning to him with a grin. ‘So . . . Erin was here all night? With Sasha? That’s really sweet.’
She looked so happy that his grumpy mood evaporated. ‘“Sweet” isn’t normally the word I would use when describing Erin, but, yeah, I have to agree.’
She reached across the console to squeeze his hand. ‘See? It’s going to be fine.’
Sacramento, California
Monday, 17 April, 8.00 A.M.
Ephraim bolted upright, swearing when the pain in his hand woke him up. He’d fallen asleep in Sean MacGuire’s Cadillac and had just smacked his hand into the steering wheel while reaching for his phone, which was making a god-awful sound. It wasn’t the melodic chimes he’d set to wake him up, but a jarring clanging that sounded like someone was banging pots together. He peered at his phone and then he really was awake, his adrenaline pumping.
‘Fucking hell.’ It was the tracker app. Erin Rhee’s Range Rover was on the move. Struggling to sit up, he turned on the ignition and put the car in gear, rolling a few feet before he figured out which direction he needed to go.
Making a beeline for Sokolov’s Victorian, he slowed in time to see a red Subaru pulling out of the garage and backing out of the driveway. He shuddered out a relieved breath. Good. He wasn’t too late.
The Subaru started up the street, away from him, and he waited to see what the Range Rover would do. He couldn’t just fly by them. That would raise all kinds of suspicions.
Relax and breathe. He grabbed the binoculars and peered into Rhee’s vehicle. She was behind the wheel, her head barely visible. Beside her was a tall blonde with a ponytail high on her head. That would be Sasha Sokolov.
And in the Subaru? He shifted to one side to get a better view and was finally able to relax. Rafe Sokolov was behind the wheel. A woman with black hair done up in a bun was leaning in to adjust the radio. Had to be Mercy.
Perfect.
The red Subaru had paused, waiting, as it turned out, for the blue Range Rover to follow. So wherever Sokolov and Mercy were going, Detective Rhee would have their backs. That wasn’t good when it came to getting Mercy alone. Incapacitating three people would be a lot harder than just one. But, if they truly were staying together, Ephraim would know exactly where they were going, which more than balanced things out.
He had enough bullets to take all three of them down if he had to. Then he’d get Mercy and go back to Eden. Glancing at his gas gauge, he mentally thanked MacGuire for filling the tank. He wouldn’t have to stop for a long while.
Snowbush, California
Monday, 17 April, 12.30 P.M.
They’d run out of conversation about half an hour back, but the silence was an easy, comfortable one. Rafe glanced over at Mercy, surprised to see her awake and alert. He’d thought she might have fallen asleep.
He now knew all about her college major (chemistry with a master’s in cellular biology), her favorite color (green), her favorite band (Journey), and the ins and outs of her job at the NOPD crime lab. She’d talked a little about her job during the time she’d sat at his bedside back in February, so he’d known where she worked. But now he knew about the DNA testing she did, which was impressive.
He’d told her about a few of the undercover busts he’d done and, after some cajoling, had admitted that he’d downloaded every song Taylor Swift had ever recorded.
But one question had bugged him the entire ride and he needed to ask soon or they’d be there and no longer alone. His phone’s GPS indicated that they were less than ten minutes from the general store where Diana from Phoenix had bought the Eden quilt.
‘Why two months?’ he blurted, and she turned to him, eyes wide behind her glasses.