Page 9 of Innocent Target

Emme came on the line. “Correct. Shane and I went to the address. It’s still intact. There are a few things left, clothing and baby stuff mostly. It looks like she left in a hurry. But that’s not what intrigued us. Imari found the lease is good for another six months. She renewed yesterday morning.”

That was only hours before their meeting. Why would she hand over that sum of money when she had no intention of staying?

“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.”