Defending Harlow (Mountain Mercenaries #4)(97)

Gray cleared his throat. “I don’t know all the details, but in a nutshell, a fifteen-year-old girl disappeared from her home in Los Angeles. She was living with her grandparents because her parents are druggies, and she didn’t want anything to do with them anymore. Her older sister was worried when the grandparents called and told her they hadn’t seen her sister in a couple of days. They’d already contacted the police, who assumed she was a typical runaway and hadn’t been immediately worried. The sister dropped everything and went to Los Angeles to try to find her.”

“Where’s the sister live?” Meat asked.

“Here, actually. Colorado Springs,” Gray said.

“How old is she?” Ro asked.

“Thirty-four.”

“Why didn’t the teenager come and live with the sister?” Arrow asked.

“Don’t know,” Gray admitted. “But anyway, the sister found out enough to make her extremely nervous, and apparently she knows of Rex. She got in touch with him, and he promised to help her.”

“This doesn’t make sense,” Ball complained. “We don’t have nearly enough detail to be able to do anything at this point. Why didn’t the sister take the kid? I don’t like this. Not one bit. Is this Rex being too distracted again to get us all the intel we need?”

“Ball, you—”

“No, seriously. And let me guess, this middle-aged sister, who’s probably some rich housewife, sweet-talked Rex into letting her tag along? I mean, Rex wouldn’t normally do that to us, but after what happened recently, I’m just not sure anymore. Unless we’re going to head to the mall to pick up this teenager, there’s no way a civilian isn’t going to be in the way.”

Ball was on a roll, and he ignored the way his friends were looking at him with their eyes all big and shit. They’d always said exactly what they thought, and just because some of them were now pussy-whipped didn’t mean he was going to change.

“You know I have no problem doing what it takes to rescue women and kids in danger. Hell, we’ve all made it our life’s mission. But I’ve already been in a situation where a woman fucked up both the mission and my life. I’m not keen on doing it again.”

“Maybe you should stop talking now,” Ro said with a small smirk on his face.

“No. Get Rex on the phone, Gray,” Ball ordered. “We need more details. And I’m telling him there’s no way in hell I’m letting a chick who didn’t care enough to let her little sister live with her when she needed help tag along like a lost fucking puppy.”

Silence met his outburst.

Ball knew he’d gone too far, but the night had been tough for him.

When no one said a word, but Black widened his eyes comically and nodded, as if pointing with his head toward something behind him, Ball swallowed hard.

“She’s standing behind me, isn’t she?” he asked his friends.

“Yup,” Gray said with a smirk.

“Fuck,” Ball muttered his breath.

“Hi. My name is Everly Adams. I’m the not-so-rich, middle-aged sister your friend was so eloquently talking about. My half sister, Elise McLane, is deaf. She wasn’t living with me because she was already attending one of the best schools for the deaf out in Los Angeles. I currently work for the Colorado Springs Police Department as an investigator and SWAT officer. I can hold my own in the city, the middle of a jungle, and anywhere else you can think of. And I’m coming with you because Rex said none of you yahoos know sign language and can’t actually talk to Elise when you find her.”

Ball clenched his teeth together, hard, and turned to apologize. He still didn’t want the woman going with them on a mission, no matter that she was a cop.

He opened his mouth to tell her that—but his words got stuck in his throat when he saw Everly Adams for the first time.

She was fucking beautiful. Red hair that seemed to go on for miles. Adorable freckles on her face. Jeans that molded to her well-defined, muscular legs.

But it was her dark-green eyes that rendered Ball completely speechless. They were shooting fire—at him. She was definitely pissed. But that wasn’t what made him immediately change his mind about having her accompany them to find her sister.

It was the level of pain in those eyes.

This was a woman who hadn’t led an easy life. She’d had to fight and claw for everything she wanted.

How he knew that, Ball had no idea, but the emotion in her eyes made him sorry he’d said all the horrible things he had. He’d never met her before, didn’t know her story.

But he would.

Pushing back his chair slowly, Ball stood. He was taller than her by around half a foot, but then again, he was taller than most people. He estimated she was around five-ten or so. Tall for a woman, a perfect height for him. He held out his hand.

“I’m Kannon Black. My friends call me Ball.”

She looked down at his hand with disinterest and crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to take it.

Ball sighed. He’d fucked up. And he knew he had a lot of groveling to do to make it up to her. He had a feeling working with Everly was going to be a challenge. It had been a long time since a woman had forced him to use his brain, not just his body.

Why he was looking forward to that idea, he had no clue.