Defending Morgan (Mountain Mercenaries #3)(20)
“I don’t have answers for you, beautiful,” Arrow said. “But I’m gonna get them. I do know without a doubt, however, that if Rex had been approached about your case, he would’ve taken it and would’ve done everything in his power to find you.”
“Why?”
Arrow pressed his lips together for a second, as if he was struggling with something, before saying, “I’m going to tell you something that none of my other friends know. For now, I need you to keep this between the two of us. Can you do that?”
She nodded immediately.
“I’m a member of a group called the Mountain Mercenaries. Rex is in charge. He sends me and my teammates on cases to rescue women and children in precarious situations. Abuse, kidnappings, terrorism—you name it. But what my friends don’t know is why he started the group. Why he’s so passionate about helping women. It’s because his own wife disappeared. He did everything he could to find her, but the police said they had no leads. The private detectives he hired lost her trail when she was taken out of the United States. He ran into a brick wall and couldn’t find anyone to help him.”
“Oh my God,” Morgan breathed. “Did he find her?”
Arrow shook his head slowly. “Not that I know of. He learned a lot in his search for her, about what the laws can and cannot protect people from. He learned how to fly under the radar and how to get information from people without leaving a trace. He uses this information to help others. He was devastated when he couldn’t find anyone with the skills and knowledge to find his wife, so he became that person. But unfortunately, he still hasn’t been able to find her.”
“How do you know this? Did he tell you?”
“He doesn’t talk much about himself at all. In fact, me and my teammates have never met him in person. He brought us all together for a job interview, and when he never showed, we all thought we’d been set up. But he’d obviously been watching us the whole time, because hours later, he contacted us and offered us jobs with the Mountain Mercenaries if we wanted them.”
“But you’re not really a mercenary,” Morgan said. “You’re a rescuer. A savior.”
For some reason, Arrow smiled at that.
“What?”
“It’s just that both Allye and Chloe said the same thing to Gray and Ro.”
“Who?”
He waved his hand dismissively. “I’ll tell you about them later. Anyway, so we’ve never met Rex. He disguises his voice when he calls to give us assignments. But one night, he called me after a mission. We’d gone down to Venezuela to rescue a group of women who’d been taken after answering online ads for housekeeping help. They were mostly Hispanic, but we’d told Rex that one of them said there was an American woman who’d been there when they’d arrived. We searched but couldn’t find her.
“Rex called me and asked all sorts of questions about the missing American. What she looked like, how tall she was, things like that. When I admitted I didn’t know, he kind of lost it. He tore me a new asshole, which was completely out of character for him. So I asked why this woman was so important. Surprisingly, he told me about his missing wife. How he was constantly on the lookout for her. How, with every case he took on, he wondered if he’d find some link to his own missing woman.”
“God, that’s awful,” Morgan breathed. “How long has she been missing?”
“I’m not sure. We’ve been working for him for a few years. So I’d say it has to be at least another couple of years before that.”
“Do you think she’s still alive?”
Arrow looked her in the eye and said, “Do you think anyone thought you were still alive after a year had passed with no clues?”
Morgan swallowed hard. He had an excellent point. Her father may have been trying to keep the kidnapping in everyone’s minds, but it didn’t sound like anyone else had. She thought about her friends, about her ex, about her mom . . . had they all written her off as dead? It was a depressing thought.
“Anyway, to bring this conversation full circle, Meat helps us out with the computer shit. Looking through surveillance videos, hacking into email accounts if we need it . . . and going online and finding a safe place thousands of miles away from Colorado Springs to order lunch for you and me.”
Morgan wanted to talk more about Rex and his missing wife. Wanted to talk about her own case. But she recognized Arrow’s need to change the subject. So she nodded. “Okay. What are we having?”
“No clue. I’ve just got an address. But I promise it’s not seafood.”
“Honestly? I’d eat anything. I’ve learned not to be picky since I’ve been here. I would’ve starved if I was. But I have to admit I’m relieved not to have to eat fish.”
Arrow leaned forward then and rested his lips on the top of her head. He didn’t put his arms around her. Didn’t unnecessarily crowd her. Morgan knew she could’ve ducked away, and he would’ve allowed it. But having him this close to her felt good. Right.
She tried to tell herself that as soon as they were back in the States, he’d be leaving, but she knew she was lying to herself. Arrow wasn’t treating her the same way he’d treated other victims he’d rescued. She felt it deep down. She had no idea what was in store for them. All she knew was that he made her feel more like herself than she had in a very long time.