Page 10 of Innocent Target

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.

“Is it possible Beth paid the rent so nobody would look in the apartment?” she said ignoring his question before walking to the other side of the couch as if not trusting herself.

He’d give her that for now, allow her to retreat but not for long. “My sister knows me. She knows that’s the first place I’d look.”

“So is it possible she wanted us to find the drugs?”

James tipped his head in thought. “Maybe but why not just tell us what’s going on?”

“Maybe she’s ashamed? Or frightened or not thinking straight. We can’t know what she’s been through the last few months. Being pregnant and in an impossible situation, perhaps she thinks she’s protecting you too.”

“That sounds like Beth.” He gave a humorless laugh. “She’s a free spirit, but she’s also protective of those she loves.”

“So, it makes sense she’d want to keep you out of any trouble and leaving Abbie with you is her way of protecting her daughter.”

His cell rang, and he answered it quickly, seeing Shane’s name on the screen. “Yes?”

“We just had a call from the FBI, your sister has been working with them to bring down Scorpion and the Henchmen.” Shane, as always, didn’t pull any punches.

James’s hand tightened on the phone at the news. “The fuck? Why would they make a pregnant woman an asset?”

He heard Shane sigh. “It seems they turned her when she got pregnant, threatened to take the baby if she didn’t help them.”

“I’m gonna fucking kill them,” James growled.

“I have a call into the director. I’m trying to find out who’s working the case. As you know, this isn’t protocol, even for them.”

“No, this feels more like something the CIA would do.”

“Agreed.”

“Let me know when you hear anything.”

James hung up and threw the phone onto the couch, watching it bounce and land on the floor.

“What is it?”

James relayed what he knew.

“No wonder she left Abbie with you. She loses either way with this deal.”