Operation Swift Mercy (23 page)

He watched the silver shadows
of the moon
glimmer across the water and wondered what the hell he was going to do about Mercy. He had a few more weeks off but then he had to report back to base and there was no way of getting out of that. What if this thing wasn’t taken care of by then? Could he leave her here and just walk away? What was he going to do about these feelings he had for her? He sure as hell couldn’t just turn the off with a flick of a switch. He wasn’t some naive kid—he knew the difference between lust and love—he’d done the lust thing a few times over the years, but this was different and he knew you didn’t mess around with love. Could he give up his career for a woman he’d only just met? What if it didn’t work out?
What if it did?
A little voice reasoned. What if she doesn’t feel the same way?
What if she does
?
Chase took a long
swig
of beer.
This was great, he was finally losin’
it
, sitting out in the dark talking to himself,
he thought with a dismal shake of his head.

A movement caught his eye and instantly he was alert, his body tensed to spring into action.

“Getting a bit slow in your old age there buddy,” Del chuckled, moving into the light and taking a seat across from his friend.

“Shouldn’t you be with your wife instead of creeping around in the dark?”

Chase heard Del’s disgruntled snort as he reached for the second beer on the table, ripping the tab from the top and taking a long swig. “My
wife
has been
on the
phone all evening making enquiries into your girlfriends, Ex. I was getting tired of being ignored so I figured
if I wasn’t getting any—then you shouldn’t be either, so I came by to
annoy you for  a while,” he said, looking around and then asking, “How come you’re out here all on your lonesome, anyway? Tupper said you
two
were like a pair of randy rabbits on the way over.”

Chase swore softly at his friend, and sent a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure Mercy wasn’t standing there. “Lay off, Del.”

“Whoa.” Del stu
died him
closely for a minute before a grin began to spread across his face. “Well, I’ll be damned.
”

“What?” Chase eyed Del cautiously, he didn’t trust that look one bit.

“You’ve gone and fell for her haven’t you?’ he chortled and there was a slightly malicious edge to the sound.

“I’m worried about her—her ex was hunting her down to kill her—I’m lookin
’
out for her,” he finished vaguely. He didn’t want the guys getting hold of this and knowing Mercy would freak at the merciless teasing which was bound to follow.

“I just bet you
are
,” Del chuckled over the top of his can.

Over the years, these guys had become far more than just friends—they were brothers in every sense of the word. They were family. They’d been through the tough times and the good times, and they’d depended upon each other to get through some of the worst of those times, but like any family there were also times they could get on each other’s nerves. There was nothing that could tear them apart, but when it came to the subject of Mercy and their relationship—Del was treading a very fine line.

“Don’t go there, Del,” Chase said quietly and held Del’s surprised glance for a moment.

“So this is serious then? The real deal?”

Chase let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his hands over his face tiredly.
“I
don’t know. Maybe…possibly. Not that it’s going to do either of us any good when we’re living on opposite sides of the
bloody world
,” he muttered.

“Man—you’ve been hangin
’
around Aussies too long—now even you’re starting to talk like one…bloody hell, crikey mate!”

A reluctant grin tugged at
Chase’s
mouth. Ever since Summer’s arrival on the scene and acceptance into their family, the men had loved to make fun of her accent and the things she said, then with Willow coming along, it had become almost some form of normal.

“Take this or leave it, it’s up to you, but having watched Tate fight against it, and then me falling into the same damn trap…fighting it is useless. You might just wanna
’
go with it and see what happens…although, I have to admit, fighting has its advantages, some of our best sex was make up sex,” Del said almost wistfully as his gaze went out over the ocean. Tossing back the last of his beer, he put the empty can on the table and stood up. “Enough is enough—I’m going home to have some crazy assed makeup sex with my wife,” he said lifting his hand in a farewell and disappearing into the darkness behind the cabin.

Chase let out a defeated chuckle
, as he stared at the beer can he held as though it may hold the answers he needed
.
He knew he was in trouble when he was listening to a smart
-
assed Marine for relationship advice…yep, he was in a
whole
world of trouble.

****

Mercy woke to the sound of waves washing against the shoreline and a smile touched her lips. Who couldn’t get used to this? She wondered, enjoying the warmth of her bed and the heavy arm across her hip. Her eyes opened and she found herself looking into a pair of grey, wolf-like eyes.

“Morning,” he said softly.

“Morning,” she said, her smile slipping a little nervously. How did this man manage to make her feel like a giggly teenager with a crush every time he looked at her? They’d slept together for goodness sake—multiple times and yet she still felt shy around him. “Have you been awake long?”

“A while,” he confirmed what she’d suspected. He’d been watching her while she’d been sleeping. God, she hoped she hadn’t been dribbling on the pillow or worse—snoring! How embarrassing.

“Do you feel like coming out snorkelling? I thought it might take your mind off things for a while.”

”I haven’t been snorkelling in ages.”

“It just so happens we have some of the best snorkelling places around.”

Of course they did, she thought with a small smile. They lived on a tropical island and they’d been willed a fortune between them. It stands to reason they would also have
the best
snorkelling places as well!

In the end she had to borrow a swim suit from Willow, which
was a little on the snug side in the top, but she pulled a t-shirt on over top and fixed that problem.

The sand felt wonderfully warm beneath her feet, it was courser than the beaches back home—but gorgeous and white and the automatic image she had when she thought of a tropical paradise.

Chase carried their equipment in one hand and a rather dangerous looking spear gun in the other. “What’s that for?”
S
he asked eyeing the compact looking weapon warily.

“Getting dinner,” he grinned.

The gun was about three foot long and was good for shooting fish at a range of eight to ten feet away, he told her, proudly giving her the specs of his weapon. She nodded and listened, but didn’t have the heart to tell him al that meant absolutely nothing to her.

She didn’t feel great about him swimming around down there with a spear gun, but then after last
night’s
meal, she could get over her reservations if he caught them something just as tasty for dinner again tonight.

He was right on it being a spectacular area for
snorkelling;
beneath the water it was so peaceful and serene. She could almost forget the fact she had been running for her life only a few days before…almost.

After they’d explored
some
small rock
areas at the base of the cliff face where he’d been catching fish the day before, they surfaced to catch their breath for a bit.

“What
’d ya
’
think?”

“It’s beautiful. Just, beautiful. Makes you wan
t to
grow a tail and stay down there forever.”

“Well don’t grow one just yet—I’m going back down to catch dinner, he said readjusting his mask and snorkel. “Will you be right to stay up around here?”

“Sure, I’m fine,” she smiled.

“Yes Ma ám, that you are,” he agreed and sent her a wink, before diving back down below the water.

From safely above, Mercy stuck her face into the water and watched Chase swim closer to the ocean floor. She saw him pause, then line up a something, before positioning the spear and firing. She saw a stream of bubbles, followed by a
dull metallic thumping noise as the mechanism
that dro
ve the spear
, engaged
and then at the end of the line which shot out, she saw a fish thrashing about
.

By the end of his hunting and gathering session they had enough fish to feed a small army,
and
she found out later that was
exactly w
hat they were going to be doing
.
Chase had word that
Summer and Tate were arriving, and the whole clan would be gathering for a Barbeque later.

Chapter
Nineteen

The snorkelling had worn her out and she ended up having a do
ze on the porch that afternoon before th
ey decided to walk to the main house, and Mercy smiled when Chase caught her hand in his and held it the entire way. As they reached the clearing, Mercy asked about the resort and the plans they had for it.

“
This is
the main building
and
reception area. There’s ten serviced rooms
here
and eventually there’ll be fifteen private cabins scattered around the island for upmarket, luxury private couple retreats. At the moment there’s only five, but over the next two years Tate and Del plan on getting the rest built, once the island’s been operational for a while.”

“This is amazing. What a fantastic place.”

Chase put
down the
cooler
containing the fish he’d spent the afternoon filleting and cleaning
and gave her a quick grin. “It’s a lot more upscale than when we used to live here. All this is new,” he said gesturing around them at the lodge
.

“Pretty sure old Tate and Del have gotten soft on us,” Tupper added
, coming
in on the end of the conversation and appearing from behind them so quietly she hadn’t been aware he’d been there.
“Once they would have steered clear of a place as fancy as this…now they’re running the place.”

“This isn’t something you’d be interested in doing?”
S
he asked
Tupper
, genuinely curious to hear his answer.

“Me? No way. I’d go stir crazy in no time. Give me the Marine
C
orps any day. Right Doc? We’re the only two sane ones left,’ he said shaking his head sadly.

Chase
grinned but kept his gaze on Mercy. “Well, I know I’m sane—but I couldn’t comment on you
,
Tup.”

They headed towards a barbeque area at the side of the main
house and greeted Summer and Tate, joining Willow and Del who were already there.

Mercy smiled as she listened quietly to the group chatting and teasing one another—she loved Summer. She was the obviously the heart of the group
, a
mix of mother, sister and friend to all of them and Mercy was touched that she included her in everything they did, making her feel welcome and part of the family.

Of course they all thought it was hilarious that everyone had
gate crashed
Del and Willow’s honeymoon, everyone except Del that was. Although she could see he wasn’t too upset about it, he seemed happy that he’d finally married his woman and content to
fall back into life on the island again
.

“So, I’ve managed to put a few feelers out about our man, Nikkos,”
Willow said in a gap between conversation.

Mercy’s relaxed manner dissolved in an instant as dread quickly replaced it
.

“You weren’
t kidd
ing when you said he was connected,” she said in a dry tone Mercy had come to associate with Willows whole demeanour.

“How connected?” Tate asked.

“
Politicians
, law enforcement, immigration officials—pretty much everyone,” she sighed.

“So who are we going to go to?”

“
Well that’s the good news!
I’ve got a
journo
I trust
,
working on something. His name’s Josh Maknee.
He knows a lawyer who loves to get his hands on corruption cases—this sounds right up his alley. I’m hoping to hear from him tomorrow. I’
ll know more then, but I just wanted to let you know that
we’re making progress.”