Operation Swift Mercy (20 page)

Chapter
Sixteen

Dinner was delicious, even without a pantry full of ingredients Chase had managed to turn his fish into a feast and Mercy groaned contentedly as she sat back in her chair. ”I can’t eat another bite. That was amazing.”

“That’s probably a good thing, cause there wasn’t anything to make dessert with.”

There was, however, a lovely
wine and it was going down very nicely, warming her veins as she sipped at it and looked out over the
luminous
white of the sand under the bright moon. “This is so beautiful. I don’t know how you can bear to leave.”

“Sometimes it’s hard,” he admitted.

The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks further along the beach was nicer than any background music, and between that and the wine, she was feeling more than a little relaxed.

A jostle startled her and she opened her eyes to discover she was being carried in a strong set of arms. Breathing
against his neck
deeply, she inhaled the scent of sea air and something woodsy. “You smell so nice,” she murmured and felt his soft chuckle against her cheek.

“Here we go, Sleeping Beauty, let’s get you in bed,” he said, laying her down, and slipping off her sandals.

Mercy let out a gentle sigh as he pulled the covers up over her and gently brushed her hair off her face.

****

The next morning Chase’s phone went off and she heard him answer it, moving outside the bedroom to talk. “The boat? No, I was in bed—sleeping,” he added pointedly to whoever was on the
other end
. “What
kind
of problem?”

Mercy sat up in bed as she tried to follow the conversation.

“I’m on my way,” he said snapping the phone shut and coming back into the room.

“What’s going on?”

“Sorry if that woke you up baby,” he said leaning over to kiss her lips quickly, before moving away to drag on a pair of jeans from the floor. “That was Tupper. The boat
’
s missing
.
”

“Someone stole it?”

“Don’t know, it was there last night and now it’s gone. He was checking to see if we took it out,” he shrugged.

“I’ll come with you,”
she said sliding out of bed to get dressed.

“I’ll drop you off up at the main house
, but you’re not coming with us. I
f we go out looking for it—I don’t want you there in case we find the bastards who stole it. It could be just some island kids mucking around—or it could be something else.”

Something else?

“I don’t think it has anything to do with all
your stuff
—but we’re pretty remote out here and a boat like that is worth a fortune to pirates—if they thought no one was on the island they might decide to
steal it.”

Pirates?
was he freakin’ serious?

“
No
t the
Hollywood
kind
—” he grinned seeming to have worked out exactly what she was thinking, “
—the ugly, gun and drug smuggling kind, unfortunately they’re very much alive and active around this place.”

Excellent—more stuff to worry about
, she thought rubbing her hands along her arms to rid herself of the sudden chill that had settled upon her.

They reached the main house and Chase kissed her goodbye after tellin
g her to make herself at home and to stay around the house. Then he and Tupper
took the jeep up to the headland to see if they
could
spot anything from a higher vantage point
.

T
he need for caffeine soon overrode any inhibitions
that she was intrud
ing on someone’s private domain. They hadn’t had breakfast
before leaving the cabin
, or
even
coffee
, so she decided to go inside and see what she could find.

Beyond the front foyer of the building was a door marked private, and it was through here that Cha
se had shown her into Tate and S
ummer’s residence. It was a beautiful home, all stone and timber with casual, child friendly décor and furniture. It was homey—yet still stylish and Mercy fell in love with it instantly.

The kitchen was a large open planned, state of the art monstrosity that was quite literally the heart of the house. From here there was an unobstructed view of the whole house. Bedroom and bathrooms seemed to branch out off the main living area, and a large staircase ran up
behind the rear of the kitchen
. In front of the kitchen was a
few steps
leading down, to what Chase had told her was the storm shelter.

She hoped the occasion didn’t eventuate that she’d need to go down there. She’d never been in a storm shelter before and what she was picturing was from what she’d seen in old
W
orld
W
ar
II
movies, as bomb shelters. It didn’t sound too inviting and she had no desire to go and investigate.

Mercy settled into the comfy lounge chair, once she had her coffee and began flicking through a magazine
from a
pile on
top of the coffee table
. She went through two cups of coffee and four magazines when she realised she needed to go to the bathroom, and had gone in search of one.
Closing the door as she came back out, she looked up at a sound and gasped as a head appeared at the top of the staircase coming up from the storm shelter.

Two shrieks echoed as both of them stared at one another in alarm. “You scared the hell out of me!” Mercy managed as she moved further across the room towards the lounge.

“What are you doing here?” Willow asked, her hand still at her throat as she cast a quick glance
over her shoulder at the door
, before
turning back to face
Mercy.

“Ah, I’m waiting for Chase and
Tupper to
get back. They told me it was okay to wait in here,” she stammered, feeling guilty for some unknown reason.

“Chase and Tupper’s here too?”
S
he gaped in disbelief.

Mercy nodded slightly, feeling extremely uncomfortable by the woman’s suspicious frown.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on your honeymoon? Mercy asked
as shock was soon replaced by rational thought once more.

“I am,” she answered, then gave a small chuckle, “Oh man, Del’s gonna
’
be pissed,” she said shaking her head and walking back outside.

Mercy hurried to follow and as she stepped out on the front breezeway and headed down the steps, she saw the missing boat tied up at the jetty, moments before she heard the jeep roaring up the track towards them.

“What
the hell are you doing here?” D
el demanded.

“What are we doing here? What are
you
doing here? You’re supposed to be on your honeymoon
,
”
Tupper said, climbing from the jeep.

“This
is
our honeymoon,
”
Del snapped.

“Why the
hell
would you come here?
”

“Oh gee, I d
on’t know,” D
el threw out sarcastically, “A tropical island—remote…isolated…why the hell
wouldn’t
we want to come here?”

“You’re forgetting it’s also primitive and under construction! Who the hell honeymoons at home?”

“We do.”

“Well maybe you should have given us all the heads up
beforehand
.”

“Maybe we thought it was none of anyone
else’s
business
…
what the hell are you doing here anyway?”

“We needed a place to lay low for a while
.
”

“We ha
d no idea you two would be here,
”
Chase added as he came to stand beside Mercy.

“What do you mean things were getting too hot?” Willow piped up, stepping forward.

Mercy watched as the men exchanged glances and felt her spirits
plummet
. She felt bad causing all this tension.

“Don’t even bother with all that macho silent talk
,
crap. Tell me what the hell is going on
right now
Del—or you can forget about the rest of
that list
we made of honeymoon
things
to do
,
”
she hinted rather pointedly.

A small chuckle rippled from the rest of the men and Mercy stared in fascination as she saw a small blush creep up Del’s neck. She’d have never believed any of these men were capable of blushing!

“It’s nothing, babe.”

“So if it’s nothing, you can tell me,” she reasoned.

“It’s my fault. I’m so sorry for ruining your honeymoon, Willow. Please don’t be angry with Del and the others
,
”
Mercy pleaded.

“Mercy,” Chase warned gently from beside her.

“You can’t keep this from
her
.
She has
a right to know.”

“A right to know what, exactly?”
W
illow asked. “I swear to God Del—you’ll be spending this honeymoon alone if you don’t start talking right now.”

“It’s Maloney’s fault! Mister Dudley Do Right, here, decided to play the hero and now we’re back where we were when Tre
`
ago was determined to mess with our lives. What the hell is it with you Australian women
,
and getting hunted down by pissed off
, rich, sociopaths?
”

“You better explain, Mercy. My husband seems to have developed sun stroke and isn’t making any sense.”

“Husband,” Del
sighed
, instantly forgetting his disgruntled mood for a moment, as he
star
ed
at his wife with a silly grin on his face.

Willow rolled her eyes, shaking her head,
but
a smile tugg
ed
at the corners of her mouth.

“Oh man—I think I’m going to be sick,” Tupper groaned
.

“Don’t change the topic,” she said, turning to Mercy with a stern frown. “
Mercy. Spill.”

Casting a quick glance at Chase, she saw him shrug in defeat
.
“I witnesse
d a murder and have it on video,
”
she finally said when it seemed she had little choice but to come clean.

“What murder?”

“My ex-boyfriend ordered his body guard to kill a man. I’d just discovered he was mixed up in some…in
stuff that…” Mercy
faltered
.

“In what?

Mercy stared at Willow feeling
how
a rabbit
trapped
in headlights
must feel
.
“He’s involved
in
human trafficking.”

The silence that greeted her statement felt like a weighty blanket of pure, unadulterated guilt.
Mercy felt herself shrink inside. She
was
guilty by association…she felt dirty and worthless. Bitter, angry tears of
self-loathing
threatened to spill over, and she realised she had to get out of there. Turning to leave, a hand took hold of her arm, and her head shot up to find Chase blocking he path, his gaze holding hers almost as firmly as he held her arm
.
“L
et me go,
”
she said miserably.

“No chance,” he said softly and the intensity in his tone made her catch her breath.

“You’ve been hiding
that
all th
is
time?” Willow demanded, sending a scathing glance at the
others
, who shuffl
ed
uncertainly under her stern gaze.

Pulling out of Chase’s grip, Mercy turned to face Willow, pushing aside the tingly sensation the man beside her had caused with once touch. “It’s not their fault, Willow. I made them keep it quiet. I didn’t even want
them
to know about it. I’m sorry
.
I’ve made such a mess of everything.
”

“I thought we decided all this hiding stuff wasn’t going to happen anymore, Del?” Willow demanded, her hands on her hips, and a frown marring her face as she pinned her new husband with a glare.