Calder incoming, it said.
When Calder entered the tasting room shortly after, and walked straight over to Naughton, Mercer was poised to intervene if necessary.
Within seconds, it seemed, he heard Calder tell the Butlers they had a fox in their hen house, followed by Naughton taking a swing that landed hard. Mercer would’ve laughed, but he was in too big of a hurry to get between the two men before things escalated.
When he and a couple of other guys who had also been at the bar escorted Calder out, they came face to face with two sheriff’s deputies. They immediately recognized Mercer, but didn’t let on they had.
When another of the men explained what had happened, one of the deputies told Calder to leave the premises, or they’d arrest him.
“What are you doing here?” Mercer asked the other.
“Looking for Maddox and Naughton Butler. The arrest has been made official in the arson case. The family is meeting the sheriff at the house in an hour.”
“You two follow Calder and make sure he’s gone. I’ll let the Butlers know.”
Once Mercer was alone, the first call he placed was to Razor, asking him to get back to the house and cover Quinn. His second call was to Laird, alerting him that he’d need to return to the Butler Ranch, and also contact Maddox regarding the meeting with the sheriff.
—:—
“Why are you back?” Quinn asked when Razor walked into the house.
“Burns has a meeting.”
“But I thought you were needed.”
“I was, and I am, but this meeting is more important at the moment.”
“Even though you think something bad is going to happen, you’re still here with me.”
Razor nodded.
“I hate this.” Quinn stomped up the stairs and sat by the window. Had it been this way her whole life? Had Mercer, Razor, and the other guys been forced to live their lives around her? She wasn’t more important than anyone else. Why did her safety come first when there was someone out there setting fires and God knows what else?
“Skipper?” she heard Razor say from the other side of the door. Her first inclination was to tell him to leave her alone, but God, the man had no life because of her, the least she could do was be nice to him.
“Come in,” she called out. “I’m sorry,” she added when he came through the door.
Razor sat in the other chair by the window and leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. “Talk to me,” he said.
“I feel guilty.”
“I get that, but once again, you’re not looking at the big picture.”
Quinn hated the way he knew exactly how to make her feel worse than she already did. “I’m not feeling sorry for myself. I’m feeling guilty,” she repeated.
“Because you’re the princess in the tower, being guarded by all the king’s men?”
“Essentially. And those men should be out protecting other people or fighting wars or maybe living their own lives. Do you have a life, Razor? That sounded worse than I meant it.”
He smiled. “I know what you meant, and it hasn’t always been this way.”
“Why is it this way now?”
“Because Doc is missing.”
Quinn hung her head. Once again she was making this all about her. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I feel like I say that a lot to you.”
“That’s just because I tell it like it is.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Think about this for a minute. Let’s say we believe Doc is still alive and so is Leech. Who do you think the two people are that they’d both give their lives for?”
“Oh, God,” she groaned, tears spilling over her eyelids.
“That’s right, Skipper. You and Barbie. As long as the two of you are safe, we don’t have to worry about the bad guys using you to make things worse.”
Quinn wiped at her tears. “You must think I’m a huge cry-baby.”
Razor stood and messed her hair. “Nah, just a huge pain in the ass.”
He walked to the bedroom door. “Get some rest,” he told her.
Two hours later, Quinn went downstairs to find Razor was distracted by his phone.
“What now?” she asked.
“Burns is on his way back, and he has a surprise for you.”
Quinn followed Razor to the kitchen and peeked through the window. Laird drove up, with someone in the passenger seat of his truck, and she looked at Razor.
“This is a huge gift, Skipper,” he murmured.
“Oh, my sweet, beautiful bairn,” Sorcha cried when she came inside. “Come ‘ere ‘n’ let me hug ye.”
“We can’t stay long,” Laird whispered, putting one hand on each of their backs.
“Na gabh dragh orm,” she heard Sorcha say to him.
“Razor has to leave, sweetheart. We agreed.”
Sorcha backed away far enough that she could look into Quinn’s eyes. “Soon, child, this will all be over, and God will finally answer my prayers.”
“We have to go,” Razor repeated.
Sorcha held her shoulders. “D’ye no ken I love you, Quinn?”
She nodded. “I love you too,” she said without even thinking about it.
20
“What happened earlier, with Calder and Naughton?” Paps asked when Mercer got back to the house in Harmony.
“It didn’t turn into anything, but damn—the tension between those two is palpable.”
“Just like Calder and Doc. It was immediate. Hated each other on sight, even though they both pretended for a while they didn’t. You ready to roll?”
“Yep.” They were on their way to Wolf Family Vintners, north of Butler Ranch, and they might be there for hours.
“Bored?” Mercer asked when Razor called an hour later. He’d been staked out south of Butler Ranch since Laird took back over with Quinn.
“Right? However, something interesting has just gone down. The new winemaker at Butler Ranch, who also appears to be Naughton’s girlfriend, just left her uncle’s place with Trey Deveux.”
“Where are they headed?”
“Don’t know, but I’m on their tail.”
“Need backup?”
“I’ll let you know if things go south. Otherwise, I think it’s important to stay where you are. I have a strong feeling something sinister is about to happen.”
Mercer felt the same way, and so did Paps.
“Have you talked to Skipper?” Razor asked.
“Briefly. She wasn’t very talkative.”
“Not like her, right?”
Mercer agreed. “What are you getting at?”
“She had a visitor.”
“Who?”
“Sorcha Butler.”
“Jesus,” said Mercer. “Are you serious?”
“You know how Burns is.”
Actually, he didn’t.
“You are not going to believe this,” Razor said when he called again thirty minutes later. “Calder showed up where Deveux and the winemaker are.”
“What’s happening?”
“I’m not certain, but whatever it is, we’ll know soon enough. The bread basket has ears. Check transmission on your end. Right now the woman is leaving the table. I predict Deveux and Calder will connect while she’s gone.”
Paps hit a button on his phone and navigated to another button. Once he tapped it, both he and Mercer could hear the conversation as though they were sitting at the table near the two men.
“The land is worth it, always has been, particularly if we can add more along Adelaida Trail.”
“Has she forgiven you?” they heard Calder’s voice ask.
“I gotta tell you, Ror, the last four years have been a real struggle.”
“Keep your eye on the prize, brother. And she ain’t it.”
“I hear ya.”
“The stuff will go down at Jenson soon. Next week we’ll go to plan B for Los Cab and Butler Ranch.”
“You sure about this?”
“Why not? Are you backing out on me, Trey?”
“Hell, no, Ror. I’m just saying there’s a lot of heat on us right now.”
“Heat but no proof. Listen, if you’re not in this one hundred percent, your father’s gonna hear about it.”
“What the hell?” they heard Trey gasp.
“What?”
“I think Bradley heard our conversation.”
“What the fuck? How?”
The phone rustled.
“Jesus,” Calder seethed. “You’re such a fucking idiot. Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, don’t just sit here. Find her.”
“Shit,” groaned Mercer, sending a message to Razor. Winemaker compromised. Needs back up.
Already on it. She’s secure.
Paps had started the truck, and they were on their way to Jenson. It hadn’t even been on their radar, and it should’ve been, particularly given the connection between Calder, Deveux, and the winemaker.
They ran through the vineyards, hearing noise coming from the winery.
“I’ll take the back,” Mercer told Paps.
“Sheriff is on his way,” Paps told him.
“Roger that.”
Gun drawn, Mercer crept through the back door and saw wine flowing out of rows of vats. Just as he was about to start closing the spigots, there was more commotion coming from the front door.
“Oh my God,” he heard a male voice yell.
“Who did this? Oh my God. It’s all gone,” cried a woman’s voice.
“The caves!” A different voice yelled.
“Go!” answered the first male voice.
Mercer went back outside. It was too dark to see who the people running toward the caves were, but he followed. Just as they got to the caves’ entrance, he saw two people run out and take off in different directions.
“What’s happening?” he said to Paps through the radio.
“Authorities here. Your end?”
With the moon behind a thick layer of clouds, there wasn’t enough light to see. Who would’ve guessed they’d need night vision devices here, in Paso Robles?
“Two suspects ran into the vineyards. It’s too dark to identify or even track them unless you know the land well.”
Mercer stomped his way back to the truck, furious with himself for letting this happen on his watch. They’d misjudged, and consequently, another winery had suffered tremendous loss.
At least now they had a slight advantage, knowing Calder was planning what he’d called “Plan B” at Los Caballeros and Butler Ranch. Whatever he had planned wouldn’t be happening, even if they had to bring in an army of operatives to prevent it.
—:—
Quinn had been tossing and turning since she got into bed. Laird had told her to get some rest, but that was the last thing she could do. She hadn’t asked if he’d heard anything from Mercer or Razor, knowing he wouldn’t tell her either way.
She’d plumped her pillow and rolled from one side to the other when she heard voices downstairs. Before she could get up and grab a robe, the bedroom door opened.
“Hi, precious. I’m sorry I woke you.” Mercer leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I’m gonna take a quick shower.”
“Wait,” she said, grabbing his arm. “Are you okay?”
He smiled and sat next to her on the bed. “I’m fine, I’m just dirty and sweaty, and want to shower before I get into bed with you.”
“Okay,” she murmured and watched him walk into the bathroom.
Quinn took off her clothes and followed.
“I would be very happy to get used to this,” he said, holding the shower door open for her.
Quinn smiled, but that very thing was weighing heavily on her mind. She could get used to it too, this part. The rest concerned her. She’d been on edge all day, worrying about him. How could she possibly get used to that?
“What’s wrong?” he asked, turning her under the water with his hands on her hips.
“I was worried.”
Mercer kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her tight to him. “I’m not sure what to say.”
She nodded. “I told Razor to be careful, and he said, ‘it’s what we do.’ I get that, but…”
“Go on, Quinn.”
“Before I knew…all this…I worried when you were gone, but not in the same way. Then I worried that you wouldn’t come back to me, because you’d decided you didn’t want to, not because you couldn’t.”
“I understand.”
“There isn’t anything we can do to change it, right?”
“I’m not sure, to be honest with you.” Mercer turned the shower off, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around her before grabbing one for himself. “Let’s talk,” he added.
—:—
Mercer told himself he’d been prepared for this conversation, but now that it was happening, he was having trouble finding the right words to tell Quinn what had been on his mind for the last couple of months.
“I made a commitment,” he began, but stopped when her eyes filled with tears. “Let me get through this, precious. I think what I’m going to tell you will make things easier for you.”
She nodded and wiped at her tears. “I’m sorry, I feel like all I do is cry. Go ahead.”
“We—Razor, Paps, and me—are in the middle of a mission. Doc is missing, Quinn, and we need to find him. It isn’t just Doc; your grandfather is missing too.”
“Leech?”
Mercer nodded, wondering how she knew his code name. “As I’m sure you understand, I can’t walk away from this.”
“I know.”
“When it’s over, there are several things I hope for. First, that we find Doc and your grandfather alive. Second, that the threat against you and your mother has been neutralized, so you both can live out the rest of your lives knowing you’re no longer in danger.” Mercer took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “And lastly, my plan is to retire after I’ve made sure that happens.”
“When do you think that will be?” she whispered.
“There is no way to know.”
“I don’t know if I can—”
Mercer silenced her with his lips. He knew, in the next few weeks or months, the stress Quinn would find herself operating under would seem unmanageable, but there wasn’t an alternative. She knew too much, and even if she didn’t, the threat in New York City would make it impossible for Mercer to allow her to return there.
Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she pulled him down on the bed with her.
“I need you, Mercer,” she whispered.
“I need you too, precious.”
He let her push his shoulders back, and guided her as she climbed on top of him. “Are you ready for me?” he murmured, and she nodded.
As she sank herself onto his hardness, Mercer’s eyes never left hers. She hadn’t said the words yet, but he knew she loved him as much as he loved her. No matter how difficult it was, she had no choice but to force her way through the rest of the mission.
Quinn slept, but Mercer had too much on his mind to sleep himself.
Before she drifted off, he asked how she knew her grandfather’s code name, and she told him Razor had told her someone named Leech was missing along with Doc. From there she’d put two and two together when he told her about her grandfather.
That, along with the fact Laird had brought Sorcha to see Quinn, worried him.
It was time they had a meeting between Paps, Razor, Laird, and him, but that would be impossible without Quinn being there.
The other thing bothering him was something Trey had said to Calder. “I gotta tell you, Ror, the last four years have been a real struggle.”
Four years? Had Calder been back that long? It didn’t make sense. He would’ve shown up before Leech left to look for him. Was he somehow involved with his family’s wine operation from a distance? Maybe he’d begun laying the groundwork four years earlier, convincing his f
amily they needed to expand into the Central Coast, and thus giving him a cover story for being interested in buying property in the region.
As far as Deveux was concerned, it sounded as though he believed their goal was land, regardless of the manner in which they secured it. However, he also sounded uncertain about Calder’s methodologies. He’d discuss the possibility of turning Deveux the next time he talked to Paps.
His phone vibrated on the side table, and Mercer picked it up.
Calder has ghosted, said the text from Paps. Three simple words and Mercer knew it might be days before he slept again.
21
Five minutes later, Mercer received another message from Paps.
Deveux is on his way to Butler Ranch.
On it, he answered.
He slid out of bed, making sure Quinn was still asleep, grabbed his clothes, gun, and phone, and as quietly as he could, slipped out of the bedroom and went downstairs.
“You get Paps’ message?” he asked Razor who was standing in the kitchen, messing with the coffeemaker.
“Yep. He said you were going, but I can go.”
“I’ll do this. You stay with Skipper.”
“Roger that.” Razor set the coffee pot down on the counter, and padded back in the direction of the bedroom.
“If Quinn wakes up, tell her I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Mercer thought he heard Razor grunt an affirmative response.
The location of Happy Valley Ranch was closer to Butler Ranch than the house in Harmony. In less than five minutes, he was there.
“Where’s Deveux?” he asked Paps once he was positioned under cover of the nearest vineyard to the houses and turned on the radio.
“About to land.”
Deveux pulled up in between the two smaller cottages at the same time Naughton and Bradley walked out the front door of one.
“You’re trespassing,” Mercer heard Naughton say.
“I need to talk to Bradley,” Trey responded.
“Get off our land, or I’ll call the sheriff.”
“Hold on a minute—”
The Truth Page 22