Free Operation Swift Mercy by Karlene Blakemore-Mowle

developed over a complete stranger. Having caught glimpses of her throughout the day, he knew his initial response to her had been right. He was attracted to her, but there was something more to it…it was almost like he’d been connected for the first time in his life to another human being.
    He was usually a rational kinda ’ guy—he liked to think things through, however when it came to Mercy, there was nothing rational about his feelings. It scared him—more than he cared to admit, but at the same time, his gut was telling him it was okay. He’d trusted his gut on more than one occasion over the course of his military life, it had always steered him in the right direction. There was no point doubting it now.
    Knocking on the door of the main suite they used as a general meeting place, Chase greeted Tate and moved inside.
    “How is she?”
    “Having a rest. She’s had a pretty rough forty-eight hours.”
    They sat down on the lounge room chairs and Chase accepted a beer from Del as he joined them.
    “She won’t last a day out there on her own,” Chase said in a soft tone.
    The silence that followed was an echo of agreement.
    “Man, I don’t want Willow tangled up in this. It’s got disaster written all over it. And the timing couldn’t be worse—the weddings three days away.” Del said eventually.
    “When has timing ever been in synch with our plans?” Chase stated dryly.
    “Okay. I’ll be the bastard and come out and say what we’re all thinking,” Tupper said. “This doesn’t have anything to do with us.”
    “You mean there’s nothing in it for you, Tupper?” Chase snapped.
    “Hey! Don’t take this out on me man. Just ‘ cause you got the hots for the woman don’t mean we should all be getting messed up in all this. This isn’t our problem.”
    “Tupper’s kinda ’ got a point,” Del said quietly. “It’s not even our country.”
    “You can just stand back and let a woman try and take on something this big all by herself?” Chase demanded.
    “We need to get her to the police. Let them deal with it,” Tupper said.
    “You heard what she said, this guy has connections everywhere. She’s right—once that evidence gets lost, he’ll be free and then he’ll go after her and there’ll be no where she can go to get away from him.”
    “ I say we just play it cool for a while. Keep her here, where we can protect her unt il we find someone who can help . I agree with Del, I don’t want Willow getting wind of this either. God knows what the woman would do with a story like this,” Tate added dryly.
    “I’m makin ’ sure I’m around when she finds out what you’ve been keeping her out of,” Tupper hooted. “Man, is she gonna ’ be pissed.”
    “If she finds out before hand, Tup, y ou won ’ t be alive to be around,” Del warned his friend darkly.
    “You won ’ t get any argument out of Mercy—she didn’t even want to bring you guys in on it,” Chase said, getting to his feet to go back and check on her.
    Letting himself into the room, Chase laid down on the second queen size bed and listened to Mercy’ s quiet breathing as she slept peacefully across from him. He ignored the little voice that nagged him that maybe this protective streak was being confused with simple attraction. But it was more than that. Mercy tugged at his heart. He didn’t care if the others thought he was crazy—he was sticking by her until she was safe. No matter what.
    ****
    “How can she just vanish?”
    Nikkos Petros was not happy. He was a man who liked things to run smoothly and when they didn’t, he wanted to know why.
    “Sir, we trailed the car from the address we saw her at, but we lost them in the shopping centre. Somehow she’s got someone helping her.”
    “I take it you got the license plate?”
    “Of course sir. It was a rental car. We got a name and an address of the motel where the rental was supposed to be at, but the guy’s no longer there.”
    “Who is this guy?