Innocent Target Read online

  As the three of them hit the bright light of the outdoors, James prayed the bikers were leaving and not driving around the back. The rumble of their engines became distant, and James breathed a sigh of relief until he saw the blood on Mercy’s arm and nearly lost his mind.

  “You’re bleeding, fucking hell.” He stalked to her and firmly but gently pushed her sleeve up to reveal a cut.

  “It’s fine. It’s just a nick from the shattered glass.”

  James probed the wound, not happy to take her word for it until he was sure she was telling the truth.

  “James.” Her hand on his cheek had him looking into her shadowed eyes. “I’m fine.”

  He nodded and released her but stayed close as they went back inside to see if they could help anyone that was injured.

  The waitress that had served them was down, her vacant gaze open in shock, strawberry milkshake all down her legs. A mother was trying to calm her screaming kids to no avail, but thankfully it was fright and not an injury that had caused the terror in the children’s expressions. A retired couple were in a booth, the woman holding her scarf to the man’s chest, which was pouring with blood.

  James rushed toward them. “Here, let me.” He took the soaked cloth and discarded it as he used his jacket to stem the flow.

  “Bloody ruffians.” The older man gasped, pain etched on his weathered face.

  “Shhh, James, don’t try to talk.”

  “Hey, that’s my name too.” He pressed the cloth tighter, wanting to give the victim the best chance he could.

  “A good name for a fine man,” the older man said and nodded.

  “It sure is. So, who’s your pretty friend?” James winked at the frightened woman who blushed a little but kept her eyes on who he was assuming was her husband as she held tight to his hand.

  “This is my Mary, so hands off, you young scoundrel.”

  James chuckled. “I’m spoken for, too. My girlfriend is over there helping that mother with her children.”

  “A pretty one too.”

  James didn’t like the man’s color or the way his words were starting to slur. He needed the paramedics here fast if this man was going to survive.

  “Am I gonna make it, young James?”

  “Of course you are.”

  “You serve, lad?”

  “Yes, sir. Ten years in the US Air Force before I went private.”

  “Ah, should’ve guessed a pretty boy would be Air Force.”

  “Let me guess, you were Navy?”

  “Damn straight I was. Did thirty years and served in two wars.”

  “Wow, that’s impressive. Thank you for your service.” James saw the paramedics come in through the door behind him and waved them over. “Sir, the paramedics are here now, so I’m going to let them take over your care.”

  The man gripped his arms with surprising strength. “Make sure you get those assholes.”

  “Will do, sir.”

  He moved toward Mercy and indicated he was going to make a call. He stepped toward the door where Nick was already handling the police. Hitting dial, he rang King. His heart leaped into his throat when he didn’t answer straight away.

  “King.”

  “It’s James. Is Abbie okay?”

  “Yeah, she’s sleeping in her crib.”

  James blew out a breath of relief and then told King what happened.

  “You think this is connected to the FBI guy?”

  “I’m not certain but ask Imari to dig deeper. My gut says it might be.”

  “Sure thing. You need backup, mate?”

  “No. Just make sure Abbie is safe.”

  “With my life.”

  He hung up, reassured that his niece was in good hands and turned to Mercy, who was laughing with the little boy on her lap as she played peekaboo with him. His heart swelled until it almost burst from his chest with what he felt for her, and he knew that he loved her. He hadn’t meant for it to happen, but it had. He could’ve lost her today to a bullet, and he would’ve lived his life knowing he hadn’t told her how he felt. As soon as he got a second alone with her, he’d remedy that.

  The next few hours were spent with them answering questions and giving statements. They kept their involvement with the case and the meet with the FBI agent quiet after Shane called and told them the FBI Director wanted their involvement kept on the down-low. When they finally walked through the door of Ian’s home hours later, they were all exhausted.

  Mercy went straight to Abbie and lifted her in her arms, and he surrounded them both with his own. Neither spoke for a few moments, each processing how close they had come to dying.

  “Do you think Rao did this?”

  Her voice was strong, and he felt the anger tense her body before she lowered Abbie back to the bassinet. James walked to the door, waiting to answer until they could discuss it with the others.

  Nick and King were in the lounge drinking coffee with Ian. He poured a cup for himself and Mercy, knowing caffeine was the only thing that would keep him awake tonight as the adrenaline crash and exhaustion dragged at him. “Has Imari come back to us on Rao yet?”

  King shook his head. “Not yet.”

  “You like him for this?” Ian asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  He’d taken his first sip of coffee in hours when his phone rang. Seeing it was Shane, he put it on speaker. “Shane, you’re on speaker.”

  “There have been reports of a bar fight involving the Henchmen not five miles from your location.”

  “You want us to see if we can pick them up?”

  “Might be worth a try. In the confusion, one missing biker is nothing, but he could give us a lot of intel.”

  “Consider it done.”

  “Call me when you have a visual, and I’ll find a place for you to question him,” Shane said in such a way they all knew the questioning wouldn’t necessarily be legal.

  James moved to Mercy. “Will you stay with Abbie?” He fingered her hair, twisting it in his fingers as she laid her hand on his chest and looked up.

  “Yes. I’ll babysit this time while you have all the fun.”

  He grinned, knowing she was the perfect blend of sexy and sweet, before dropping a light kiss on her upturned lips. Words would have to wait until later, but he’d say them and damn the consequences. He guessed Mercy would fight it, that was who she was, but he had no intention of letting her go, not when he could tell from the look she gave him as he left that the words were in her head too.

  Minutes later, they were heading toward a local bar with Nick driving and King riding shotgun.

  “This is a bit off the beaten track for bikers, ain’t it?” King said, looking around at the deserted road that only seemed to lead to residential homes and a quiet family run pub if the sign they just passed was any indication. The route itself didn’t lead anywhere except back on loop into town which made no sense to him unless they were just out to cause trouble. Except that felt wrong too because they may be a lot of things, but he didn’t think stupid was one of them and calling more attention to themselves after this afternoon was foolish.

  The further they drove, the more the road became secluded, and with no street lighting the more James’ instincts began to twitch, the tension ratcheting up as each of the men started to feel it.

  “This is a trap.”

  James removed his weapon as King and Nick did the same, their eyes constantly scanning the area.

  “I don’t like this, call Mercy,” Nick demanded as he rounded another corner and saw the pub car park was empty, no bikes, no cars, but the lights were on.

  James dialed, his heart in his throat, his chest gripped with the hard hand of unease as he waited and waited but she didn’t answer. Fear began to replace anxiety, so he tried Ian, and the same thing happened. It rang and rang and eventually went to voicemail. He caught Nick’s eyes in the rearview mirror and shook his head. The terror and fury cascading through his blood almost making him tremble.

&
nbsp; Nick nodded and turned the car around, his foot pressed to the floor as they raced back toward Ian’s home. Every mile they traveled felt like ten as he itched to see Mercy and Abbie while Mercy laughed at him for worrying too much. His gut rolled as he tried her number again, hoping she’d been in the bathroom and not heard his call, but as it went to voicemail again, the ugly truth began to worm through him.

  Finally, he saw the street come into view, and he was urging Nick to go faster. “Hurry up, man.”

  The car had barely stopped when he was out and running for the open door. His heart skidded to a halt as he noticed the front door was busted open, the frame splintered from the force of someone kicking it. Drawing his weapon, he motioned for King to go around the back. If these fuckers were still there, they weren’t getting away, although every instinct inside him told him they were long gone.

  Stepping into the front entryway, he saw Ian crumpled on the floor, his wheelchair on its side, blood coming from the side of his head. He didn’t stop and kept moving into the house as Nick checked on Ian. James wanted to run through the home, screaming Mercy’s name, but he had to keep his shit together now, there was time to lose it afterwards.

  He moved slowly through each room, looking for Mercy and Abbie, calling their names in his brain, but he knew they were gone before he’d finished searching the empty rooms. The devastation was evidence that Mercy had given them a fight and not gone down easy as she’d fought to protect herself and his niece. The thought of her being injured almost took him to his knees. Running back into the living room, he saw Ian had a wound on his head where he’d been cold-cocked, his ashen face and distraught eyes already telling him what he needed to know.

  “I’m so sorry, son. I tried but I couldn’t stop them.” The tears in the older man’s eyes hit him hard, knowing he loved Mercy too.

  Squatting down, he faced Ian. “Don’t be. There wasn’t anything you could’ve done. Can you tell us about the men who took them? Were Mercy or Abbie hurt at all?” James swallowed as he tried to get those words out without his throat closing up.

  “Five men, four had Henchmen cuts on, but the fifth was wearing a suit. He seemed to be the one in charge. I didn’t see much after they broke in because they knocked me out.” He dropped his head as if taking the blame for this when there was none to be had. It was all on him—he was the reason his girls were now in danger.

  Ian looked up sharply as King arrived in the room. “I did hear her voice as they left. I guess I was starting to come around, and the baby was crying, so they must’ve been okay then.”

  James laid a hand on his shoulder. “Thanks, Ian.” He stood and glanced at King. “Anything?”

  King shook his head. “Bike tracks that lead out the back and down the mountain but nothing of any real help.”

  Nick walked back in, tucking his phone away. “Shane is talking to the FBI Director.”

  “We need to call in all the CCTV we can in the area. They haven’t put Mercy and Abbie on a bike, so we need to find out where they went and who the man in the suit is. My bet is it’s Rao.”

  “Imari is already on it, and Shane has offered us more backup if you want it.”

  James nodded, trying to put all the bits together to make a whole, but he couldn’t help thinking he was missing a vital piece here. There was something at play he didn’t understand, and it was eating away at him. He couldn’t allow his mind to think of Mercy and Abbie, or he’d lose it and be no help to either of them. If only his sister had got in touch and told him what the fuck was going on. Was she safe? Why had she run? What was he missing and why the fuck would she do this to him?

  Chapter Sixteen

  It was an annoying, ticklish feeling down her neck that finally brought Mercy into the land of the living, although her brain wasn’t fully operational. Her first conscious thought was that she was in pain. It radiated from her head and down her neck to her shoulder and side. It was apparent something was off, and she forced herself to open her eyes. There wasn’t much to see. Everything was pitch-black around her, apart from a blinking red and green light in the distance. She was sitting on a metal floor, and the wall against her back was metal too. Her hands were shackled behind her back and her legs were bound at her knees.

  It took a few more seconds for the last fog of unconsciousness to lift and everything came crashing down as she remembered. She’d just finished giving Abbie a bottle and changing her in James’s room when a loud sound boomed from the front door.

  Training had taken over as Mercy grabbed her gun and peeked through the bedroom door. She saw Ian doing his best to block the way, firing at some of the men, but he was vastly outnumbered. With one look, she saw five men come through the front door and beat up her former partner, until the poor man was thrown from his wheelchair.

  One look at Abbie in her crib told Mercy there were no options left as they’d be through the bedroom door in seconds. As soon as the doorknob turned, she had fired but was quickly swarmed by her attackers. Her last memory was of her weapon being taken from her, punches and kicks raining down upon her, and Abbie’s cries moments before everything had become silent.

  Tears welled as she realized that she’d failed Abbie and James. The only mission she’d vowed to succeed in. Where was she? And even more crucial, where had they taken Abbie?

  Unable to see, Mercy tried to finagle her cuffs, but they were shut too tight for any of the tricks she knew, the metal biting into her skin. Despite the pain and discomfort, she pushed against the wall in an effort to stand. At least where they were keeping her was tall enough for her to be on her own two feet. Not a noise came from the outside, meaning that either Abbie was calm, or they’d taken her to another location. Mercy refused to think that even those men could’ve harmed the infant.

  She shimmied against the metal walls, trying to find the door or any kind of opening. It took quite a while, but she found a lever. With her hands bound behind her back, she tried to pull it up, but it wouldn’t budge. Unable to get any kind of leverage from her position, Mercy considered lying down and using her feet when a loud bang came from the other side and the door opened with such force, it made her stumble and fall hard a few feet away.

  Laughter boomed into the small room, and she blinked at the blinding light until her vision cleared enough to see three men standing at the entrance. One man entered, and when her vision fully adjusted, she recognized Cody Hull, or more accurately, Scorpion.

  “Well, Miss. It’s good to see you’re not in a coma after all. With that head wound, I thought you’d never open your pretty eyes.”

  Mercy crawled into a sitting position. “Where’s Abbie?”

  Condescendingly, Hull crouched in front of her and touched her nose. “I wouldn’t worry your pretty head about my child. If I were you, I’d be more worried about what I intend to do with you.”

  “Where’s Abbie?” There was no way she’d give him the pleasure of seeing her afraid.

  “Did you think I wouldn’t come after my baby? Bethany thought she was clever, but I was always a step ahead. If you want to know, my little angel is with her mother. For now. The only reason Bethany is still breathing is because she has something of mine. I told her that if she gives it back, I’ll allow her to keep Abbie. That’s a lie, of course, but one that suits me at the moment. When everything is done, I’ll have all the time in the world to raise my daughter to become the princess of the Henchmen.”

  The man was cruel and evil, but it was the case with many men who held power over others. They didn’t get in their positions without that side to their character.

  “I’m surprised you told me that. I’m even more surprised you didn’t kill me back at the house. Why am I here?”

  Now he towered over her. “I thought about killing you. It would have been more convenient, but blood sends cops after you. When someone disappears, at some point, police stop searching. That’s why I wouldn’t allow my men to kill your friend. Maybe we broke his legs, but it’s not a
s if he can feel it.”

  The other men snickered, but Mercy didn’t look and let him continue his speech. The more time she gained, the more she’d learn about him and what he was planning.

  “My men were interested in you, but I’d rather do business than waste something that may bring me money. Did you know that there’s a flourishing market for human organs?”

  She could feel the blood drain from her face when she realized he was dead serious.

  “A potential buyer is coming to see you soon, but in the meantime, I’ll make sure the merchandise stays nice and fresh. Thank you for your sacrifice, bitch. Find comfort in the thought that you’ll save lives in the end.”

  The door banged closed, and she was locked in darkness again. Beeping sounds came from outside, and the only lights she saw flashed until they both turned green. The number forty appeared underneath. What did that mean? She quickly got her answer when a deep rumble resonated from above, and the air started to move—cold air. She was locked inside a fridge, or maybe even freezer.

  Panic seizing her, she started to check every single inch of the metal box for anything she could use, or even an idea to get out, but there was nothing. Even the box with lights and numbers were out of reach.

  There was nothing else to do but wait, hope that the team would find her in time before they started butchering her or she turned into an icicle.

  James had to summon every ounce of self-control he had not to go on a rampage. Despite every precaution they’d taken, they’d been surprised, and now Mercy and Abbie were gone. Were they together? Or alive? He refused to go there and forced his brain to remain with the idea that both his girls were together and safe until he reached them.

  Kingsley had taken care of Ian, sending him to the emergency room, even if the former cop was far from pleased. He had so many bruises and the risk of internal bleeding was too high for him to take a chance with his life. Kingsley also wanted his legs looked at as the bruising there was extensive, and he was worried about a fracture. His colleague had even found an independent security firm to guard him, so Mercy’s friend would remain safe. Once he got out of the hospital, extra security would be put in place until the threat hanging over their heads was gone.