Page 71 of Ready or Not

“You know they’re tougher than that, and Vale is not going to hold a grudge if you did all you could. Why are you panicking?”

“Not a grudge, but she’ll lose all faith in me.” He sighs, glancing at his computer.

“It’s getting late. Why don’t I stick around and handle waiting for the update call while you go get some rest?” I offer.

“No, I couldn’t possibly?—”

“Much like the point Bishop made about Merrick and Steele, the same goes for you. You need some rest. You’re burning yourself out, and I’m guessing the stuff with your family didn’t help anything.” I give him a serious look. “I can wake you if there’s any news.” My phone lights up, vibrating against my thigh.

It’s Ranger.

I snatch it up. “Go.”

“Yes, boss,” Ranger says drolly. “The place looks like a bomb went off—things tossed everywhere. They’re not here, but there was no sign of forced entry, and the door was locked. I had to let myself in.”

“No bodies?” Mercy asks with a hopeful lilt to his tone.

“No, no blood either,” Ranger says. “There’s a cell phone that doesn’t belong to Hargrove or Merryweather. Perhaps it belongs to Kate Wilson. It was left for a reason, and there’s a card for Bear Mountain Lodge. Does that ring a bell for anyone?”

“It was one of the safe houses we kept, but that was over three years ago.” Mercy frowns, typing away on his computer. “The neighbors had been there for years, but when the owner died, her son sold off the property. One of the big developers bought it, and it was no longer remote enough to provide solid cover.”

“Did you buy a specific property to replace that one?” Ranger asks.

“No, but we did pick up three shortly after flipping that one.”

“Text me the addresses. I’m guessing this card is our clue,” Ranger says. “I got some information out of the corpse currently rotting in my basement. I’m afraid Kate is the only one who can give me further insight.”

“You can’t be saying shit like that over the telephone,” I growl.

Ranger chuckles. “Merrick assured me my lines are secure.”

“You can’t hurt Kate either,” Mercy says.

“I’m hanging up now. Send me the information. I’m going hunting. I’ll let you know when I find them.” Ranger hangs up.

“I don’t like it when he uses that term outside of perps.” Mercy curses. “Do you think I should send him the property info?”

“What’s the other choice?” I shrug. “If you don’t tell him, he’ll just figure it out on his own. We’ll all feel better once we have confirmation they’re okay.”

“Let’s bloody hope so.” Mercy grabs his phone, glancing back and forth between the computer and what he’s typing. “I’m heading home. Would you like a ride?”

I nod and shove myself out of the chair. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Mercy immediately heads for the main bedroom, but I decline his invite. I only feel comfortable when Vale invites me in. Considering she’s already asleep in the nest, that’s not happening.

I change into basketball shorts and a T-shirt before stopping in the nursery.

It’s really coming together, but there’s a lot still left in the packaging.

I glance around, trying to figure out if there’s anything else I can do that won’t annoy Vale. There are still a shit load of boxes downstairs that we’ve slowly been opening, but Mercy went overboard to the extreme. There’s physically not enough space in this room to store all the baby stuff.

I sigh, flicking off the light.

My body pulses with frantic energy. I’m anxious as fuck, and I don’t know why. I know part of it is excitement that the baby will be here soon. The rest probably has to do with my lacking relationship with Vale.

It’s complicated because I don’t want to interfere with her relationships with the others, but I also feel like I’m being left behind.

It was nice having Bishop and Holt away. Vale relied on me more when they weren’t around.

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