Operation Swift Mercy (5 page)

She liked his smile. She liked his voice, hell she liked him and that was just plain dumb. She had no right liking some stranger when she was running from
a
previous relationship. Pulling at the nondescript material of the motel quilt beneath her fingers, the enormity of what she’d done fell
heavily upon her
shoulders,
reminding her just how dangerous her situation really was.

“Let me help,” he said pulling a chair over to sit by the bed.

“You can’t help.”

“Try me.”

“What part of
this is none of your business
don’t you get?”
S
he asked exasperated by his
unrelenting attempt
to barge his way into her problems.

“The part where I found you beaten and left for dead.”

“I wasn’t beaten. I fell
,”
s
he snapped and almost groaned as she saw his
eyes narrow
as he latched onto this new information.

“Fell…from where?”

“A bridge up near the lookout.”

“What w
ere you doing out there?”

“Hiking.”

“Can’t say I’ve ever seen a woman hike in
high heels
before,” he shot back dryly. “Come on Mercy, just tell me what happened.”

“It was a disagreement okay? I had an argument with my…ex-boyfriend and I slipped and fell.”

Chase stared at h
er steadily, clearly not believing it and waiting her out until she cracked and came clean.
Well, you just keep up that tough guy stare all you want, I’m not saying another word
, she thought to herself stubbornly.

“So your ex
-
boyfriend sees you slip off a bridge and float away and he’s not freaking out? Shouldn’t you have called him from the hospital to let him know you’re all right?”
H
e asked without trying to hide his obvious sarcasm.

“God you’re annoying! Look, just leave it alone! I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I think we need to call the police and tell them about the bridge. They’re going to want to take a look around up there.”

“No!”

“You didn’t slip. That bastard had something to do with you ending up almost dead
.
If you’re frighten
ed
of having to face him—then don’t be. I’ll go with you to the police and stay as long as you need me.”

“It’s not…look, you can’t get involved in this okay? Trust me when I say you need to just walk away and forget all about today.”

“
I can guarantee that isn’t going to happen.”

“You have
no
idea who you’re dealing with
.
”

“Enlighten me.”

Mercy stared at him silently. She didn’t need this now. She had enough problems trying to keep herself alive, she didn’t need the responsibility of someone else’s safety on her conscience as well
.
Wordlessly she eased back down and closed her eyes, hoping he’d take the hint and leave her alone. She had no idea how she was going to shake this Sir Galahad, but somehow she was going to have to do it. She just needed to think.

Chapter
Five

Mercy opened her eyes and realised she must have fallen back to sleep at some point, and gently tested her body to see how she felt. After tentatively moving her limbs she discovered that although everything still hurt to move, it wasn’t enough to keep her in bed all day.

“How are you feeling?” Chase’s deep voice came from the doorway to the bathroom.

“I could run a marathon,” she told him, withholding a moan as she eased her legs off the side of the bed. Taking a closer look at him, she noticed he was wearing a different shirt from yesterday and frowned.

“I picked up some clean clothes and while I was out I got you something to wear too.”

She watched as he presented her with a small stack of folded clothing before taking a step back and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“I ahh, had to make a guess about the sizes…but I figured if I got it wrong at least you could get to the store today without having to be in the hospital gown.

Mercy managed a small smile of thanks, finding it somewhat amusing that this man who had pig headedly barged his way into her life overnight was suddenly blushing over something as mundane as picking out
clothes
for her to wear. “I’m sure they’ll be fine. Thank you.”

“You’re
welcome. Let me give you a hand to get up.”

“No thanks. I got it.” She didn’t want any more help from Chase Maloney. She had to get rid of him before he got too entangled in this mess, but she still had no idea how she was going to do it—she could hardly outrun him
in her present condition
!

Stepping under the shower, Mercy let out a deep sigh of relief as the hot water ran over her tired, achy body. Resting her forehead against the cold tiles, she tried to figure out where to go from here. She had no idea if Nikkos thought she were still alive or not. He would be mighty pissed and frantic to locate the
evidence she had on that memory card though in case it turned up somewhere unexpected
.
She allowed herself a small measure of satisfaction that he’d be worrying himself sick over that.

Now her main priority was to get to Gwen’s and retrieve the parcel.
It would arrive today, all going well with Australia post delivery times, and she’d then
at least have some cash to pay for food and taxis. Thank goodness she’d already
posted
it before Nikkos had found her or she’d well and truly be up a certain creek without a paddle.

She didn’t have much cash—she only took out what she had in her personal bank account, a few thousand she’d saved over the years before she’d met
N
ikkos.
She knew once she left him she couldn’t afford to use her
ATM
cards or he’d be able to track her down, so withdrawing her savings at least gave her cash to live on until she could find a safe place to get a job and start a new life.

How had it happened?
She frowned as she wiped the water from her face.
How had she allowed someone to dominate her to that point? How had she allowed herself to accept all Nikkos had lavished upon her? She felt shame wash over in tides.
She
was the only one responsible for this.
She
should have been stronger
—s
hould have woken up to what kind of man Nikkos really was before it was too late
.

****

Maloney flicked through the TV channels as a distraction against the sound of water running over Mercy’s naked body—something he should
not
be thinking about.
He’d gone back to his room, two doors down the corridor and changed, leaving Tupper to stand guard outside the room. Something told him he wasn’t being paranoid over his safety concerns for this woman. He was going to do his best to talk her into going to the cops today. This ex of hers, whoever he was, needed to be dealt with.

There was four days before Del and Willow’s wedding. He had the time to spare if she needed him to be there. Domestic violence was an ugly thing and it tore at his gut to think that a man could
ever hit a woman or child. If Mercy
needed someone she could depend on then he would be that for her. It was what any decent person would do.
He frowned as he realised he sounded as though he were trying to justify his reasons…to
himself!
Maybe he was losin’ the plot
.

The bathroom door opened and his gaze shifted across the room and caught as Mercy walked out looking clean and fresh. While she’d showered at the hospital and gotten most of the mud and grime from the river off her, it had obviously taken a long,
hot
shower to bring out the rosy glow to her skin. She’d washed her hair and it hung in tiny spirals down across her shoulders. The jeans were a good
fit;
however he’d misjudged the t
-
shirt size slightly. He tried to swallow o
ver his suddenly dry throat. Not that he was complaining—the soft cotton material lovingly clung to her curves and sent sparks of life to certain parts of him that he’d neglected for way too long
.
Down boy
, he cautioned his eager appendage.
We’re here in a supportive role only.
The swift ache
in
his
balls in
response made it clear his dick did
not
concur.

Clearing his throat, Maloney dragged his heated gaze away from the tempting, too tight t-shirt and reminded himself
he was a professional—damn it!
“Feeling better?”

“Much
,
thanks,” Mercy said, tugging at the hem of the shirt a little.

“Yeah, ah, sorry about the…shirt. I don’t have a lot of experience buying women clothes.”

“Really?”
S
he cocked her head slightly and smirked, “Oh, I don’t know—I can see you in a pretty
little pastel number with matching heels.”

Biting back his grin, he sent her a frown instead in defence of her slandering his masculinity. It was a pleasant
surprise though to catch a glimpse of a playful side. A woman with a caustic sense of humour. Man, she was going to fit right in with the others.

“So what’s our plan of attack today?”
He watched as the smile melted from her face and
swore silently. Just when he thought she was beginning to open up
, she’d pulled back into her shell again.

“Actually if you could just give me a lift, I’ll be out of your hair.”

“A lift?”

“A lift…in your car.” She explained slowly as though he were a little slow on the uptake.

Well that was just plain insulting—he wasn’t slow…he just didn’t speak Australian fluently yet.
“Ah, a ride? Sure Where do you need to go?”

“I can give you the directions as we go.”

Okay then
, no information up front
. In other words, it was
a
need to know basis and clearly she didn’t think he needed to know! Man, if she ever
wanted
a new profession she’d fit right in with
Force Recon
.

“It might be a bit of
a drive though—i
s that okay?

“No problem.”
He held the door open for her as she
carefully
climbed into the passenger side of the big vehicle
, mindful of her sore ribs.

“Couldn’t you have just rented a normal sized car?”
S
he bit out as
she lifted herself into the seat and
a groan caught her
.

“I like to explore when I get to a new area. Best way to do it is in one of these.”

Mercy sent him a doubtful glance—one that he was really starting to grate on him. The woman obviously thought he was an idiot. Dragging his gaze away from her chest once again, he swore softly, moving to the back of the vehicle where his day pack was still stored from the previous day and withdrew a clean t-shirt. “Here, put this on over that.”

Surprised by the gesture, she blinked a little before reaching out and taking the shirt from him. He caught the slight grin that touched her mouth and shut the door
, gritting
his teeth against frustration. He was so glad she found his discomfort at controlling his baser instincts amusing, but the woman had to hide those assets
now
, or he’d never be able to concentrate on the road. Thank
Christ
none of the others were here to witness his dismal performance—they’d never let him live it down.

****

Mercy eyed the man next to her warily. For a moment she’d been distracted by his abrupt demand to cover up. One minute she was fearing for her life—the next she was feeling a little thrill that she somehow had an effect on this man. Maybe he was just some weirdo who got off on a woman in distress…still the odds of him having that particular fetish and actually turning up at the appropriate time were a little unrealistic! Unless
it was a newly acquired fetish…
mentally giving her head a shake she reminded herself
she needed to
focus.

They headed through the city with Mercy directing him. She
had to admit
h
is presence beside her was reassuring—even though this shouldn’t be the case considering he was a complete stranger this time yesterday.

This time yesterday…her thoughts flew bac
k to the disaster that had been
,
and her anger reignited. How dare that bastard try and kill her to save his repulsive hide. It should have occurred to her then that feeling pissed off instead of betrayed was a clear indication that maybe she hadn’t been completely honest with herself for quite some time. Deep down she’d confused gratitude with love—and it seemed for Nikkos it was something he could easily dispense of when he was done with it.