by Jami Gray
Chapter 19
As Havoc walked out of the last building in Kingsbury Circle, he dropped his sunglasses over his eyes dulling the sun’s glare. It was closing in on two and he had one more location to check before he rendezvoused with Mercy at three. Tagging Dog leaning against the base of the cement wall running along the steps’ side, Havoc started down the cracked steps. Reaching him, he stopped and waited.
Dog didn’t make him do it for long. ‘You and your woman sniffing around.’
Deciding it wasn’t worth it to argue the ‘your woman’ part, he stuck with, ‘That a question?’
‘Nope.’ Dog pushed off the cement. ‘Walk with me?’
Falling in, he strode beside Dog as they moved along the wide walkway. A few steps in Dog got to his point. ‘How well do you know her?’
Her being Mercy. Based on his previous experience with Dog, there was a reason to his question. Probably not one Havoc would like, but it was what it was. ‘Know she’s working against the Cartel.’
Dog’s casual demeanour firmly in place, he delivered his blow. ‘You sure about that?’
A note in his voice made Havoc’s stomach clench and reawaken that paranoid bastard in his head. That reaction pissed him off, leaving his voice flat. ‘Since I ran interference when Felix wanted her, yeah. No mistaking the bad blood between them.’
Wisely deciding not to continue down that thorny path, Dog switched directions. ‘Know you two hit Lark, then split ways.’
Havoc held his tongue as they strolled passed a group of tatted out teens sprawled under an old, leafy tree. He caught the mix of Spanish and English being passed around as freely as the joint. He ignored both as he considered Dog’s statement. The man was notorious for a variety of reasons, and being damn good at his job was only one of them. Once out of the teens’ earshot, Havoc came to a stop. ‘Not one for games, you know that, Dog.’
Dog went a couple more steps before he stopped, pivoted on his heel, and shoved his sunglasses up into his hair. He stared at Havoc, arms folded over his chest, his face carefully blank. ‘Not playing a game, my man.’
‘Then what’s the deal? I asked you to track Felix, not her.’
‘Know what you asked,’ he shot back, ‘but I don’t go into jobs where I don’t know the players.’
‘You know me.’ It came out on a growl, Havoc’s temper beginning to rumble.
Dog’s jaw tightened but he didn’t relent. ‘Yeah, know you. Don’t know her.’
‘So you tracked us.’ Havoc made it clear that wasn’t a question.
‘Actually, was tracking Felix.’ Dog shook his head at whatever he read on Havoc’s face and kept going. ‘Sent the boys out sniffing, decided to start where you did.’
‘Lark.’
‘Yeah, Lark’s,’ he bit out, obviously starting to lose patience. ‘Which led to canvasing the Avenues—upper and lower. Was making my way north when I heard a bike, then spotted it out on the trailhead. Considering who you have me tailing, I got curious. Hung back a bit until I recognised it was headed to the flophouse at the north end. Once I got a closer look, realised it was your woman. Not keen on letting a female walk into one of those places all alone.’
Just in case Dog didn’t get it from looking at her, Havoc drawled, ‘Mercy’s a female who could handle it and then some.’
‘Don’t matter, she’s still female, brother.’ Never one to stand still for long, Dog shifted his weight and began rocking on his heels. ‘When she finished, I tailed her down, watched her stash her bike and stroll through one of them nice neighbourhoods.’ He rolled to his toes and held the position. ‘Was about to let her be, when she did a disappearing act.’
Christ, if Dog didn’t spit it out soon, he’d be jumping like a kid with an overfilled bladder. ‘So you followed.’ Havoc began walking, and Dog fell in with him.
‘Curious behaviour makes me itch,’ Dog shared as they walked. ‘She hit an abandoned apartment, disappeared inside, stayed a bit, and came back out looking like her world just went to shit. Was about to go in and nose around, when this big motherfucker came out. He’s better than her, she moves quiet, but he moves like a damn ghost. They’re both hard to follow.’ He muttered the last little bit, obviously bent out of shape by that fact.
Havoc rocked to a stop at Dog’s description. Knowledge bursting through him like a gun shot. The big motherfucker had to be Mercy’s boss. Bitter anger surged through him. He wasn’t sure which was worse, that she met with the ass, or that she lied to him to meet the ass. Throttling his desire to hit the road and track her down, he forced out, ‘Where’d he go?’
At Havoc’s question, Dog’s humour disappeared under a thundercloud. ‘Now that’s the interesting part of this. He took off and headed down into the city.’
Reading Dog’s expression, Havoc guessed. ‘You lost him.’
Dog’s mouth tightened like he just sucked a lemon. ‘Yeah, I lost the bastard.’
Havoc eyed the other man, ignoring his expression. Havoc’s thoughts began to twist, doubt raking cruel claws over the fragile skin of his trust, taking his emotions into a dark downward spiral. Trying to ride above the storm, he could hear Mercy’s voice from last night telling him he wasn’t a job. But it wasn’t strong enough to rise above the swirling doubts and the edges of the storm that kept sucking him in. Finally he managed, ‘Know she’s answering to someone.’
Dog studied him, giving nothing away, but his voice backed off. Not much, but some. ‘Get that, brother, but I’m worried about who it is she’s answering to.’
So was he, but he wasn’t up to sharing that, despite Dog’s unusual reaction. ‘Why?’
Dog wrapped a hand around his neck, turned away, and squeezed. ‘I’ve seen his face before, just can’t place it.’ His hand dropped and he turned to Havoc, his voice hard. ‘Not yet. My gut’s telling me he’s trouble, with a big, fat capital T.’
Havoc didn’t doubt Dog’s gut, not when his was having the same issues thanks to the suspicions drowning out Mercy’s whispered promise, ‘I might fuck up, but I won’t fuck you over, Havoc.’ Maybe she wouldn’t, but life taught him not to count on such oaths given after getting off. His frustration escaped on a harsh demand. ‘You find out, you share.’
Dog flicked two fingers from his forehead in acknowledgement, turned on his heels and headed out. Havoc watched him go, his gut in knots, his head filled with insidious whispers that couldn’t eradicate the faint, lingering hope that Mercy wasn’t lying to him.
* * *
Havoc brought his bike to a stop across from the entrance of Lark’s and checked his watch. He was fifteen minutes early and there was no sign of Mercy. He shut his bike down, walked it back under the spreading shade of a massive tree, and settled in to wait. He used his time on the ride back to come to a decision, and that decision put the ball firmly back in Mercy’s court. It went against every instinct he had, but he couldn’t get what she shared last night out of his head. Everything she said, every breathy promise, tightened the death grip hope in his brain. No doubt he was the world’s biggest idiot, but it had been a long damn time since he felt that meagre light, and he wasn’t quite ready to lose it.
While he was damn sure Mercy knew about her mysterious meet before they split (otherwise why the push to take the Avenues?), before he jumped down her throat he wanted to give her a chance to come clean. Whether she’d take it was another question.
He heard her before he saw her. With five minutes to spare, she came around a corner, and rolled up to him. He waited as she shut the bike down and came straight to him. A storm raged in her eyes, he caught it as she got close. One hand curled around his neck, while her other twisted in his shirt. His arm wrapped around her waist, bringing her in close. She used her hold to tug him down as she rose on tiptoe to kiss him. Her taste hit his tongue and seared through him, drowning his concerns under a wash of hungry heat. It didn’t help when she dropped to her heels, sliding her tits down his chest and her heat against his dick.
He liked her greeting, liked it a hell of a lot. His arm tightened forcing a small gasp from her. A gasp he caught as he took over the kiss, shifting the initial burn into a darker flame, tangling one hand in her hair, holding her still so he could take what he wanted. His mental state seeped around the locked edges of his control, giving an edge of punishment to his touch, he knew it, but he didn’t give a damn. Since Mercy didn’t pull back, obviously neither did she.
A sharp dog whistle cut through his rising lust and he tore his mouth free, barely registering the bawdy laughter drifting away. He stared into her flushed face, the earlier turbulence in her eyes replaced by a heat that shot straight to his aching dick. Since he couldn’t bend that delectable ass over his bike and ease that ache, he locked down his hunger to concentrate on the here and now. It took every ounce of control he had to win that fight, so instead of revealing how shaky his hold was by opening his mouth and asking the obvious, he arched a brow.
‘Shit day,’ she muttered, reading him correctly.
Between Dog’s recital of her movements and the lines around her mouth and eyes, he didn’t doubt it. He just wasn’t sure it was shit for the same reasons he thought. Slowly, he let her go, and she inched back, putting some much needed space between them. ‘Find anything?’
Because he was watching so closely, he didn’t miss the telling shadow that flitted across her face. Her gaze dropped away as she shook her head.
He gritted his teeth knowing she was going to fail before she hit the first fucking hurdle.
Unaware of his thoughts, she barrelled forward. ‘Cleared the flophouses in the Avenues. No sign of Felix or his buddies. A few junkies shared some rumours.’ She grimaced. ‘Waste of time, but chased them down. Got nothing but dead-ends.’ As she spoke she moved back, and he let her go. Free of him, she angled so they were side by side. ‘How about you?’
It was hard, but he tried to keep his rising anger tamped down. ‘Heard things.’ He bit the words out, folding his arms over his chest. A futile attempt to resist the urge to shake the truth from her. Unfortunately, his anger escaped his hold and iced his voice.
Catching it, she cocked her head, her eyes narrowing on him. ‘What things?’
Damn her! She was going to play this out to the bitter end. And didn’t that hurt like a bitch? He didn’t have the patience for this game, which meant instead of answering he snarled, ‘Why don’t you tell me?’
Her head jerked back, her brow furrowed, eyes sparking, but he didn’t miss the wariness slipping under her temper and confusion. ‘Tell you what, Havoc?’
The tentative anchors on his control broke with a nearly audible snap, and temper swept patience under like a riptide. He ripped his sunglasses off, stepped into her space and leaned in uncomfortably close. ‘Who the fuck did you meet, Mercy?’
Her eyes widened, giving him a glimpse of panic, and strangely pain, before it was shoved deep under attitude and anger. ‘You followed me.’
His voice went brutally hard. ‘Who did you meet?’
‘Don’t do this.’ Despite her soft tone, the warning came through loud and clear.
He held her gaze, his lips curling into a derisive sneer as he raked her from head to toe with a matching look. ‘Not my choices taking us there, babe. That’s all on you.’ He watched her jaw tighten, and red replace the pale in her face as her hands curled into tight fists at her sides. ‘Who did you meet, Mercy?’
Instead of backing up, which any intelligent being would do in the face of his anger, she went nose to nose with him. ‘Who do you think?’
‘What’s his name?’ he roared.
The skin around her eyes flinched but her mouth tightened mutinously before she took a deliberate step back.
Her continued defiance sent the curious pain in his chest spiralling deep and spurred his anger and resentment. The noxious mix created a vicious demon. ‘Right.’ His lip curled into a scathing sneer. ‘Can’t share your boss man’s name. Let’s see if you can answer this one then. Were you planning on telling me about the meet?’
She jerked as if his question carried a physical impact, her eyes slipping to the side before she could control it.
‘Right.’ It came out on a disgusted mutter. That tiny spark of hope he harboured sputtered. Damn her! He straightened, and ran a rough hand through his hair, shifting his gaze beyond her. Silence stepped between them, growing heavy as he locked his emotions down, one by one. He dropped his attention back to her, his voice as empty as he felt. ‘So everything you said last night, it was all just bullshit?’ Her throat worked, her eyes brightened but she didn’t answer so he continued. ‘That’s what I thought.’
He shoved his glasses back in place and started to turn, only to freeze when Mercy’s hand clutched his arm. ‘I’m not fucking you over.’
He dropped his gaze to her hand, refusing to look at her. ‘Bullshit.’
Her fingers tightened and she stepped in, moving to his front, forcing him to see her since she stood in his face. ‘I’m not fucking you over.’ She stared up at him, as if she could see through his glasses. ‘I’m just …’
When she trailed off, his hard won patience thinned. ‘You’re just what, Mercy?’
She grimaced and it was her turn to run a hand through her hair. ‘Trying to keep my balance—with you, with him, with all of this shit.’
‘Warned you about that.’
Her eyes narrowed, frustration making her voice snippy. ‘Yeah, you did, still I’m doing everything I can not to fall.’
He ripped his arm away from her hold. ‘Wise up, woman. Your balance is for shit and you’re already tumbling head over ass.’
She covered her flinch as his barb found its mark, folding her arms over her chest and then taking a step back.
Ignoring her reaction, he stabbed a finger at her. ‘Word of advice—you better figure out how to land on your feet because right now, you’ve got no-one there to catch you.’
As he laid it out for her in no uncertain terms, she stilled, her face turning carefully blank. ‘Think I don’t know that?’
Ignoring the sting at the brittle bite of her question, he didn’t temper his answer. ‘Honestly, I don’t know what you think and I’m not sure I care anymore.’ He gave her his back and prowled to his bike.
Her quiet, ‘Fuck you, Havoc’ made him turn back.
He caught something painful before she hid it, but he refused to acknowledge it or the chasm widening in his chest. ‘You already did, babe, and I’ve got the burn marks to prove it.’
‘So do I.’ Her face was set in a cold mask, but what raged in her eyes singed his already lacerated temper.
‘Yeah? And?’ he shot back. ‘What did you expect, Mercy? We fuck and suddenly I should believe you have my back?’ His voice came out rough. He shook his head as he got on his bike. He looked up and held her gaze, unable to curb the ache in his gut or shake the cold grip on his chest. ‘Shit like that doesn’t happen. Sure as hell doesn’t happen when you’re too busy trying to play both ends against the middle.’ He ignored the pitch of his stomach as he took in her already pale face turning ghost white. ‘If you manage to find your balance, you know where to find me.’ With that, he kicked his bike to life and rode away, refusing to look back.
* * *
The sun was long gone and the moon had taken her position on centre stage, when Havoc shoved up from the chair he’d occupied for the last few hours staring at a door that never opened. One fucking argument and she crumpled. No way in hell was he waiting around like a whipped dog.
He ignored the twisting pain hollowing his chest, grabbed his jacket, and shrugged it on. His earlier anger was encased in ice, leaving him frozen from the inside out. Mercy hadn’t come back and his earlier fragile hope was long since crushed under bitter disappointment.
His gaze swept through the room, and snagged on Mercy’s bag at the side of the bed. He waged a mental battle between hauling it down to the clerk or leaving it. Unable to bring himself to touch it, he mu
ttered, ‘Fuck me,’ before slamming out of the room.
Chapter 20
The double blow of Havoc and Math’s reactions, left Mercy reeling. Havoc’s especially left a hollow ache in her heart. It was almost as if it was breaking apart, but that was dumb because she wasn’t stupid enough to have given the silly organ to him, right? She ignored the telling silence that answered.
Havoc was right, she was falling, and no-one was there to catch her. Since she never expected anyone to be there in the first place, why did it hurt so much? The rumble of Havoc’s pipes slowly faded, unlike the pain of his verbal blows. Like a pebble thrown into a still pond, his hits kept rippling, each one gaining strength until she couldn’t catch her breath. She didn’t dare move as she fought to wade through each wave. Finally, fucking finally, the merciless grip on her chest eased and the pressure threatening to send her to her knees relented.
The world came back into focus. The afternoon sunlight drifting through the leaves of the huge shade tree. The occasional conversation or laugh as the passing people came and went from Lark’s. The ache in her fingers. She fixed the last by forcing her hands to uncurl. The sting in her palms indicating she’d be carrying the marks of her nails for a bit. Not that it mattered. Eventually they’d fade. The ones on her heart were a different story. She moved towards her bike, her stiff muscles protesting. She got on, kicked it to life, and turned it away from Lark and Havoc. With no set destination in mind, she rode. Her mind spun as she struggled to regain her damn balance, knowing she had to find it, because it was all she had left.
To find it, she concentrated on the simplest of the multitude of messes facing her. First, find Felix. Sniffing around had done jack shit. Therefore, it was time to play bait. There were areas she could crawl through, ones where she knew word would get back to Felix. All she needed was him to think he had a shot at her. Once he crawled out from under whatever rock he was under, she could flip the script and take his ass down. Unlike the situation in Page, she wasn’t trying to stay a step ahead. Now, she needed to nail his ass, preferably alive. Once she had Felix, she could get a name before giving him to Suárez. If the name turned out to be the one she thought it was, she’d finish what she started with both Math and Havoc and share it with them. Let the two arrogant assholes slug it out. While they were busy arguing over who had the bigger dick, she’d go in and get the damn job done once and for fucking all.