Innocent Target

by India Kells

  Imari didn’t keep her waiting. “I have the mother.”

  Mercy clicked the phone to speaker and laid it on the bed so James and Nick could hear.

  “Where is she?” James demanded, and she could tell that he was getting to the end of his tolerance with this now.

  “She’s registered under Molly Pritchard and is at the York Transplant Center here in Daytona. It’s a private hospital.”

  James looked up at her, and she could see his adrenaline was pumping. “Thanks, Imari, you’re a star.”

  “No problem, go get your niece back.”

  Imari hung up, and James checked his weapons as Nick used the bathroom.

  Mercy approached him and slid her arm around his firm middle. “Take a breath, baby. We need a plan before we go storming in there.”

  James frowned and then seemed to take in what she was saying. “I just need my niece and sister safe and together where they should be.”

  Mercy rested her head against his and sighed. “I know, but we have one shot at this, so we need to be slick and keep our heads.”

  “I know. It’s just hard, that’s all. Every part of me wants to rush in there and put a gun to the old bat’s head, demand she gives Abbie back.”

  “And that’s why you have me, to keep your head on straight.”

  He kissed her lips. “So fucking glad I do, baby.”

  As Nick came out of the bathroom, she pulled away but not far, giving James her silent support by sticking close as they put their heads together and formed a plan that was hopefully foolproof.

  “I think we need to keep this costume after this mission. We could play doctors and nurses.” James waggled his eyebrows, but Mercy just put her hands on her hips and scowled.

  The plan for her to go in as an agency nurse and let him and Nick into the room had been her idea, and while she’d typically balk at playing the obviously sexist woman’s role, for this, it was perfect.

  The members of the MC were well known to be sexist pigs and would think nothing of a new nurse turning up on shift. Her colored contacts and wig would change her appearance enough that they wouldn’t recognize her.

  “Keep that up, and I’ll shove this stethoscope where the sun don’t shine.”

  Nick smirked, and James winked at her as he rechecked his weapons. She hid her grin, but she was pleased to see him calm again, and if their banter helped then she was happy to do it.

  “Ready to rock and roll?” Nick was leading this mission, his experience as a Navy Seal, making him the obvious choice.

  “Let’s do this.”

  Nick drove the short distance to the York Transplant Centre and dropped Mercy off at the front as if for a shift. There were five or six bikes in the carpark which she suspected belonged to the MC. Imari had hacked into the CCTV and relayed that neither Hull nor Rao were at the hospital now, but had been seen late last night leaving the center together.

  They had timed the drop-off to coincide with the start of a new shift. Imari had provided the credentials and canceled the real agency nurse, so it should be seamless.

  Waving as Nick drove away for all intents and purposes, Mercy spun and confidently walked past security as if she had every right to be there. Confidence was half the battle with a disguise. If you looked like you should be there, then nobody questioned it.

  She saw the two burly bikers outside the room as she got off the lift on the second floor. Both were huge, and they were more than likely packing, even in the hospital. Moving closer, she looked up at them with a friendly but wary smile much like a real nurse would approach these two bikers.

  “Morning, can I get by so I can see my patient, please?”

  The man barring her way crossed his arms as he blocked the door.

  He was chewing a cocktail stick and grinned lecherously at her, making her fight a disgusted shiver. “What’s a pretty girl like you doing working? Don’t you have a man to take care of you?”

  Mercy bit her tongue against the sharp retort she wanted to give him and shrugged. “Nope, no man, just me and my cat.”

  “Maybe I could show you a good time. What time do you get off work?”

  Mercy could imagine how James was reacting hearing the conversation over the comms she was wearing. “I have a double shift, but I finish around six tonight.” Flirting with this clown was worse than getting shot, but it was working and he was lapping it up.

  “Sure, baby, I’ll be here,” he lifted her name tag, brushing her breast with his hand, a look of desire on his ugly face, “Crystal.”

  “Sounds good to me, sugar. But first, I need to not get fired and look after this lovely lady.”

  The chuckle the two bikers shared proved the lovely lady comment was way off base, they’d probably come to understand momma Hull was a bitch.

  Stepping aside, the biker gave her a pat on her ass, which in any other situation would’ve resulted in a broken bone, but she ignored it and pasted a smile on her face as she gave him a wave and closed the door to the private room.

  She turned toward the sleeping woman in the bed, her small, frail form making it hard to believe she was the tyrant she’d heard about.

  Moving to the bed, she did some basic checks as she noticed the biker who hadn’t flirted with her watching through the window.

  After a few minutes, he lost interest and Mercy got to work putting the next part of their plan into action. Taking a bowl and washcloth out, she made as if she was going to give her a bed bath and moved to the door.

  “Hey, guys, mind if I close these shutters to give our patient some privacy and dignity while she has a bed bath?”

  The two bikers appeared horrified and quickly nodded. Mercy closed the blinds and got to work going through her things, looking for any kind of clue as to where they might have Abbie. She found some old receipts, pictures of her and her son, and also one of Rao with her son and daughter. Rao looked like a different man, and much as she hated him, it was easy to see the love he’d had for the woman who hung weakly to his arm. Her disease was obviously in an advanced stage when it was taken.

  She was about to put it down when she spotted something in the background of the photo. A sign for the World’s Best Ribs, but it was the bikes behind it beside a track with a ‘private property’ sign that caught her attention.

  She was about to call James and Nick and put the next part of the plan into action when she heard a commotion in the hallway.

  Shoving the picture in her pocket, she grabbed the bowl and lifted the sheet as if she’d been doing what she said.

  Her heart jumped when an angry Agent Rao slammed the door open, his wary gaze traveling over her. Mercy prayed he didn’t recognize her, his training as an agent meant he had more skill to detect a fake than the other two men.

  “Who the hell are you?”

  Mercy looked at him with wide, scared eyes as she mumbled her name, not wanting to resemble the confident agent he’d met before.

  “Crystal, my name is Crystal, I was just giving my patient a bed bath. Bedsores are a real risk to high dependency patients who are quite immobile.”

  “Whatever, come back later.” He shooed her out of the room, and she went with minimal fuss, not wanting it to be too easy.

  “Are you sure? I’ll just be a minute and I really should get this done.”

  “I said leave.” He got in her face, and she fought the urge to roll her eyes or slam his head into the door.

  “Fine, I’ll take my break extra early then.”

  “You do that.”

  Rao closed the door, and with a small, nervous smile at the bikers, she hurried down the hallway. Making it to the exit, she rushed outside and found Nick parked where he’d said he’d be waiting. Mercy hurried to the van and jumped in.

  “I’m gonna kill that motherfucker,” James hissed, having heard everything over the comms.

  “Yeah, get in the queue, lover boy.” Mercy pulled the wig off her head and shook out her blonde tresses.

  “I h
ave a lead, but as Rao is here, I say we stick around a bit and follow that fucker. It’s only a matter of time before he goes to see Abbie. The man is a control freak.”

  Nick grinned. “Just as well I stuck a tracker on the fucker’s car then.”

  “What about the mother?”

  “Oh, she ain’t going anywhere. She really is sick.”

  Mercy leaned between the two front seats and handed James the picture she’d found.

  A frown creased his brow as he looked at it closely before handing it to Nick. “We should get it to Imari, see if she can clean it up and find a location.”

  Mercy snapped a pic on her phone and sent it back to the office with a message updating them on what had happened.

  Thirty minutes later, Rao left, and the tail began. He led them on a wild chase around Daytona for hours but around nine-thirty that evening they struck gold when he started down a road Mercy recognized.

  “This is the place from the photo.”

  Imari was still searching for any property that might match the image, but it was a needle in a haystack until they had an area. Now she called it in, and Imari got to work. Keeping their distance, they followed until it became apparent that if they continued, Rao would pick up the tail. Pulling into the dark, unlit road, they let Rao go, praying the tracker would show them the way.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  In his previous life, before joining the Air Force, James had struggled with patience, but never before had he had to fight the almost irrepressible need to pull his weapon and charge in. Focusing on Abbie’s safety was the only thing that kept him sane, as well as Mercy’s presence. She must have sensed his turmoil as she’d checked on him several times since returning from the hospital.

  The moment Mercy got in the car everything had gone at lightning speed. Nick drove, keeping a safe distance behind Rao’s and an eye on the GPS dot, while Mercy changed in the backseat.

  James reached out to Imari for what he hoped would be one last favor.

  That was when the waiting game really began. Rao drove west out of Daytona Beach, stopped for gas and then again to get a beer before heading into the country. Imari tracked them via satellite, but James knew they were getting close. The photo Mercy had taken from the hospital room could’ve been taken anywhere around here. Houses became scarce, as did cars, and without Nick’s tracker, they would’ve lost Rao a thousand times or been found for sure.

  Imari had guided them on a parallel route until they reached an abandoned barn. As per Imari’s last instructions, they were a mile south-west of what appeared to be a farmhouse.

  Now they had two choices: wait for the rest of the team while building a plan, or attempt the rescue on their own. His gut screamed for the last option, so Nick and Mercy followed suit.

  It took three hours from the moment they left the car to reach the farmhouse, with all the diversions Rao took. With limited equipment and weapons, no camouflage, and simple earpieces as a means of communication, the odds were mostly against them., James knew he was working with the very best though. If he could pull off a miracle, it was because Nick and Mercy were by his side.

  Due to the large area, they had to split up, each taking a quarter. Another twist of the heart was having Mercy out of sight, but his woman was a weapon in herself. Now, belly down between trees, he was in a perfect spot to look at part of the main house, and most of the garden. Without seeing them, he knew Nick was on the opposite side of him and Mercy was to his left.

  “I see Rao’s car parked beside the barn. Four bikes near it.” Nick’s voice was but a whisper.

  “No movement outside. Two men in the kitchen, one person on the second floor, northeast corner. One target.” Mercy’s keen eyes were looking at all possible details, having already relayed the description of the men eating in the dining room, and even some of their weapons when they removed their coats.

  Nick had relayed that Rao was in the living room with another man, most probably Hull, which meant that one person was taking care of Abbie on the second floor.

  “If only we had heat sensors.”

  Nick grunted at James. “No can do.”

  “The men in the kitchen are heading out.”

  At Mercy’s cue, deep laughter resounded in the late evening air, followed by a closing door. James heard the rumble of their Harleys before they vanished down the dirt road, behind the trees.

  “Three targets inside, plus Abbie.”

  In reality, Nick’s statement meant the three of them needed the advantage of surprise on their side. With two dangerous men and an unknown third person inside, Abbie could be caught in the crossfire. His niece was an innocent target in all this, and there was no way he’d risk her life.

  “I think we should move in now. Stealthily. It’s our best shot as we don’t know if more of the MC will arrive. We take our chance, or we back out and come back another time. Your call, James.”

  Nick made sense, even if deep fear insinuated itself through his veins at the endless list of what could go wrong. On the other hand, they were almost 100% certain that Abbie was inside, and that could change if Hull or Rao believed the Agency was closing in on them.

  “We do it now. Nick, you’re with me. We’ll enter the first floor and take Hull and Rao down. Mercy, you go up and take care of whoever is with Abbie. You good with this non-plan?”

  Nick exhaled. “It’s nothing new.”

  “Just add in the part where no one is allowed to die, and I’m good to go.” Mercy’s voice was laced with menace and worry.

  “Baby, same to you.” James was about to say more when Nick came back on the line.

  “Keep that for when I’m not listening in. Have pity on me, guys. On your signal, James.”

  Emptying his mind, James moved a little, readying his body for action. “No sound unless you’re cornered. Stay safe. Game on.”

  The comms remained silent, and all James could hear were the leaves rustling in the trees. In the shadows, he circled until he saw a blind spot from his position leading to the wall beside the living room. It was impossible to see if Nick had made headway or not, and James didn’t want to use the comms unless absolutely necessary. He tested the window finding it unlocked. The tiny opening led into a small office. The place was cramped, and it was a challenge to squeeze inside and not knock the piles of paper and stacked boxes down. Another risk was that the old floorboards would creak if he stepped on the wrong plank.

  Hidden behind the door, James listened. Apart from the male’s voices, it was relatively calm. Until a baby’s cry came from upstairs. Abbie!

  His heart wrenched, but he focused on the immediate danger. Abbie was safe, and he had to trust that Mercy would keep her so.

  Gun out, James clicked his tongue twice, a signal to Nick that he was ready. The moment he heard the same clicking noise in his ear, James attacked.

  When he burst into the living room, tunnel vision took over. Hull and Rao barely had time to their feet at James’s appearance when Nick opened a side door.

  Hull was the closest, but the biker didn’t seem impressed to be facing a gun and rushed forward to tackle him. James evaded him, but despite Hull’s size he managed to grab James’s arm, slamming it against the wall, forcing James to drop it.

  With his gun lost, James knew he had to bring him down. From the corner of his eye, he saw Nick had knocked Rao out.

  Hull took advantage of the small distraction and hit him with a strong right hook. James’s head snapped back, and his vision turned red at the edges, but the split second it took to recover, Hull had sprinted out of the room, yelling at him over his shoulder. “The only way I’ll give up my daughter is if she’s dead.”

  James’s body reacted before his brain could process the panic the man’s words caused. His hand found his gun without looking as he went after Hull. Every fiber of his being, every muscle, pushed as fast as possible, trying to close the distance between them, but Hull was already at the top of the stairs.

 
He’d almost reached the top of the stairs when the sound of two shots brought him to a halt.

  Was he too late? Was Hull cold-blooded enough to kill his own daughter? Had he failed Abbie yet again, and what about Mercy? Was she safe, or had one of those bullets been for her?

  A scream strangling his throat, James ran into the room, gun out, ready to kill the man, consequences be damned, but stopped in his tracks.

  Abbie was screaming like a banshee in Mercy’s arms, who shielded the infant with her body in a far corner of the room. Hull’s body was sprawled in the middle of the floor, his weapon beside him, his head lying in a pool of blood.

  Nick rushed up behind him and cursing, bumped into James.

  At first, James thought Mercy had fired until he saw a small woman sobbing by Mercy, a small caliber gun by her side. From the way her face had been beaten it was easy to guess why the girl had pulled the trigger.

  “This is Nina. She said Hull kidnapped her to take care of Abbie. I know we have a lot of questions, but we need to go, now. It’s too dangerous to stay.”

  Mercy’s voice finally made James move. Leaving Hull where he lay, Nick went downstairs to secure the still unconscious Rao, and both men carried him outside to the car as Mercy took care of Abbie and Nina.

  James was desperate to take Abbie in his arms, but instead, put Rao in the trunk and jumped behind the wheel once everyone was in.

  Nick pulled out his phone to report the situation to Shane and request emergency backup. On high alert, James looked everywhere, making sure they were not followed.

  Not trusting Rao’s car wasn’t tracked by someone other than themselves, they switched cars twice, stealing vehicles before heading to an address Shane gave them.

  Mercy kept his niece calm and Abbie slept for the remainder of the drive. An hour later, they arrived at the highway and headed south.

  A high hedge surrounded the safe house and Kingsley waited at the curb for them. Mason appeared behind him and ushered their little group inside. Kingsley disappeared with the vehicle, obviously getting rid of it.