A Merciful Promise (Mercy Kilpatrick #6)(87)

The cabin was an oasis from the cold but ruled by a murderer.

“How long will we be here?” Mercy blurted as he tied Eden again.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “You got somewhere to be?”

Yes. Home. Truman. Kaylie.

A lonesome pang vibrated in her chest as she pictured her family. And said nothing.

He focused on Eden’s knots. “We’ll stay here until things cool down.”

Mercy was confused. “You mean until Pete’s anger with me cools down?” She couldn’t believe Sean would do her any favors.

He frowned as he tugged and tested Eden’s ropes. “No.” He shot her a glare that made it clear he was done talking about it.

Mercy didn’t care.

“Did you get in trouble with Pete? Is that why you’re here?” If he was on the outs with Pete, it was unlikely he’d take her back to the compound. Unless he handed her over as a peace offering.

He snorted. “No.”

She tried again. “Does Pete know you’re here?”

“No.”

He was calm, seemingly unconcerned that he’d walked away from his boss and the compound.

“Are you going back?” asked Mercy.

An odd expression touched his features. He stood, towering over her. “I’ve gone through that room,” he said, pointing at the small room with the storage bins and buckets. “Nelson may have been an asshole, but he was prepared to outlast World War Three—which reminds me.” He grabbed a small bottle from the table. “Advil?”

“Yes, please.” Joy quickened her pulse as he shook the bottle. It sounded full.

He dumped a few tablets into his hand and placed them in her mouth, helping her drink from the glass of water again. Apparently he wasn’t antimedication like the rest of Pete’s crew.

“I don’t see any reason to hurry back,” he said, kneeling next to her. “This place is warmer than the barracks.” His gaze lingered on her wet lips, and an unsettling chill settled over her. He touched the hair by her face. The sexual threat he’d made in the middle of the night days ago popped into her head.

Consider it a favor you can repay in the future.

The hair on Mercy’s arms lifted. She met his easily readable gaze and saw he remembered too.

“There was a spark between us that night,” he said, not dropping his gaze.

“Gross,” interrupted Eden, who had been listening and watching closely. “She’s not into you either, Sean.”

Fury crossed his face as his head swiveled in Eden’s direction.

“What happened between Pete and Nelson?” asked Mercy, grasping at straws to distract him and break up the tension that had blossomed in the room. “Vera told me Nelson had started America’s Preserve and then left, but she didn’t say why.”

Sean moved away and sat in a chair, leaning back and crossing his legs at his ankles, raking her with a stare that made her skin crawl.

Just try me.

She was injured, but her teeth and feet still worked. Well, the foot on one leg.

“Difference in leadership styles and philosophy,” he answered.

Mercy let her gaze wander over the shelves of food stores. “Let me guess. Nelson was focused on preparation and survival for the group, but Pete was more interested in protecting his interpretation of the Second Amendment and forced him out.”

He grinned. “Something like that.”

“And you?”

He shrugged, an arrogant expression on his face.

“You have a law enforcement background,” she said, throwing caution to the wind. “From where?”

His face went blank. He stood, shoved on his hat, and went outside.

“What a perv,” said Eden, slumping against the bed frame, her face hidden behind her hair. “He said all sorts of creepy things to me when you fell asleep.”

Mercy looked sharply at the teen. “Define creepy.”

“Sexual.”

Anger burned in her throat. “Is that why you said ‘either’ when you told him I wasn’t into him?”

“Yeah. Later he said he was just teasing.” She shuddered. “I don’t know what to believe.”

“I don’t think he expected to end up with us stuck in this cabin,” said Mercy. “I’m not sure what he thought would happen when he decided to follow us. But I think he’ll get tired of tying and untying you pretty soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if he lets you be untied as long as he’s in the cabin.”

“Why not you?”

“Because he knows the sort of training I’ve had. He’s had it too.”

“You really think he was a cop?” Eden asked skeptically.

“He was something. I can tell by the way he moves and handles his weapons. He’s had training.”

“If he was a cop, how did he end up in America’s Preserve?”

“That’s what I’d like to know too.”



The evening crawled by. Mercy dozed off and on. Sean fed both her and Eden by hand and took them to the outhouse again.

He left his rifle near the door and had placed his pistol on a shelf. Both in full sight of Mercy, taunting her.

At some point he’ll let his guard down.