I wasn’t here to beg. I was here to negotiate a deal.
Duke squared his shoulders and looked at a spot behind me on the wall. It looked like bad news. He wasn’t caving.
“I think we’ll deal with it when it comes up. If Eagle decides to wage a war with us, we’ll be prepared.”
“But you don’t want to work with us now, after all these years of fuckin’ working together?” I stood up from my chair with a snap.
“You can see it however you fuckin’ like,” Duke retaliated. Then my phone rang. It was Flash calling. I was going to ignore it but needed to step away from Duke, put some space between us before I did something stupid, so I answered the call.
“Where are you?”
“Out,” I grumbled into the phone, turning my back to Duke. In hindsight, I should have just walked out of the office right then.
“Listen, man, you should get back here now,” Flash said.
“Yeah, I will, soon. I’m just…busy at the minute.”
“Yeah, I know you are. You with Duke, right? It doesn’t matter. Forget about him. Just get back here. It’s all hands on deck right now.”
“What the fuck is going on?”
“Roddick…he’s dead.”
I was staring at the blank wall in Duke’s office all this time, but now my brows furrowed in confusion.
“What the fuck do you mean, he’s dead? He was supposed to be up at my cabin, keeping an eye on Mercy.”
“Yeah, well one of the prospects tried calling him and then when he didn’t answer, this guy went around to your place to do a recon. He found Roddick lying face down on your porch in a pool of his blood. He was shot in the back.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
“Where’s Mercy? Was she in the cabin?”
“No. The cabin was empty. There was no sign of her.”
I knew what Flash was thinking, could sense the cogs turning in his brain. The thought had occurred to me too, but only for a split second.
Was it Mercy? Was she the one who shot and killed Roddick and then made a run for it?
But why would she, when I had agreed to pay for her grandmother’s medical expenses. Why would she throw away an opportunity like that?
“We have to find her,” I growled, pulling open the office door. I didn’t give a fuck about convincing Duke or the Granite Apostles anymore. Shit had just hit the fan.
“Yeah we do, we need to find her and find out what the hell is going on.”
“She didn’t kill Roddick,” I snapped as I ran out of the warehouse.
Flash was silent for a moment. Then he breathed heavily into the phone.
“Look man, I’ve noticed, so has everyone else—you and Mercy have been hanging out…”
“We haven’t been hanging out. She’s nursing Crash. She has some stuff going on and I’m…” Now that I heard myself speak, I was beginning to realize how stupid this probably sounded to Flash.
“Yeah, sure, you’re fucking her, whatever. But don’t forget who she is. She’s a stripper. She worked at Teasers, probably been working for Eagle this whole time.”
I jumped on my bike and it roared to life when I kicked it. I didn’t want to hear any more so ended the call. I didn’t want to think about that possibility—that I was an idiot trusting Mercy this whole time. I shouldn’t have let my guard down, brought her into my home, kissed her.
I could have kissed any other chick I wanted. I could have done more.
But it was still Mercy I wanted.
12
Mercy
He must have knocked me out somehow. What was it? Chloroform? A hit to the back of my head? When I blinked my eyes open, I couldn’t remember how I’d lost consciousness. The last thing I did remember was Eagle’s tight grip on me, the force with which he threw me into the back of the SUV, the smell of his breath near my face when he held on to me while I wriggled and struggled to get free. Just the thought of it all brought tears to my eyes, made me gag.
The light was blinding in this room. It felt like I’d been in darkness for a very long time. I blinked and blinked, trying to drive the light out of my eyes so I could see properly. When my vision finally cleared, I looked around to see I was in a tiny but completely bare room, without even a single piece of furniture or a rug or a nail on the wall.
Just one window high above was the only source of light and it seemed like it was really bright outside. I didn’t know where I was, but I was glad I was alone.
I tried to be very still, to not make a sound. I was afraid of breathing, afraid that Eagle was somewhere around, watching me—and he’d know I was awake.
I sat with my back to the wall, my knees pulled up to my chin. I kept my eyes turned away from the bright window.
I must have spent at least a few hours here because the last time I was conscious it was still dark outside. This had to be Eagle’s hiding place, which meant that I wouldn’t easily be found.
If there was even anyone looking for me.
I tried not to cry, no sobbing. My thoughts had drifted to my grandmother. Even though she was sick, she wasn’t senile. By now, she’d have started worrying about where I was. She didn’t know about Teasers, as I hadn’t told her the truth. So even if she did call the cops, she wouldn’t be able to tell them where I could possibly be. The cops, if they came looking, wouldn’t even know where to begin their search. And who knew what would happen to me in the meantime?
And what if Grandma fell violently ill while I was being held prisoner here? Would she be able to get help in time? What about the medication?
I covered my
