Defending Morgan (Mountain Mercenaries #3)(48)

“I’d love a steak,” she said softly. “And . . . maybe since it’s my last night here . . . we can keep it just the two of us? I’ll have plenty of time with Mom since I’m going down to New Mexico. And Dad will just want to talk about what happened—when he and Mom aren’t arguing—and I have a feeling I’ll be all talked out by the time tonight comes.”

She watched as Arrow’s gaze dropped to her lips and then her chest before coming back up to her eyes. She felt like squirming under the intense look he gave her, but resisted the urge. She liked this man. Maybe there was something to love at first sight, after all. She didn’t know that she loved him, but she sure did like everything she knew about him so far.

“Whatever you want, I’ll do my best to make sure you have it,” Arrow told her.

“Okay. I’ll talk to my mom after we’re done and let her know the plan,” Morgan said.

“Sounds good. If you need a break when we’re talking, just tap on my knee twice.”

The gooey feeling inside her grew at his words. “I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will. But still, the offer is there. Don’t think you have to power through this if it’s too much.”

“I won’t.”

“Good. You ready?”

“To talk about the people in my life who I thought were friends and try to figure out who might hate me enough to have me kidnapped and held captive in a foreign country? No. But I am ready to get on with my life.”

“I don’t know whether to hug you or give you a high five,” Arrow admitted.

“Come on, you two,” Meat called out. “We got shit to do and rats to ferret out.”

“Charming,” Arrow muttered as he walked Morgan over to the table.

He waited until she was seated before pulling out the chair next to hers.

Morgan wasn’t sure if she was supposed to just start talking or how this was going to work, but she needn’t have worried. Meat jumped right in, as she was realizing was his way, and said, “So, Morgan Byrd, tell us about every single person you knew back in Atlanta.”





Chapter Twelve

Arrow could tell Morgan was exhausted. They’d been talking to her for two hours—or rather, she’d been talking to them for two hours.

Meat had told her not to filter her words at all. If she had weird feelings about someone, she needed to tell them. He’d taken the lead on the questioning, and he’d been pushing Morgan hard.

When they were still in Santo Domingo, they’d heard about her inner circle, Lane and Lance Buswell, Karen Garver, Thomas Huntington, and Sarah Ellsworth, but Meat had insisted on getting the names of as many of her friends, acquaintances, customers, and suppliers as possible. He’d even gone so far as to press her for the names of her parents’ friends. Since her dad was a CFO, any rivals he had couldn’t be overlooked.

Morgan hadn’t balked. She’d answered every question they’d thrown at her and had told them as much as she knew about each person.

As a result, they now had a list of about a hundred people, and at this point, everyone was a suspect. He knew Morgan was still holding out hope that her kidnapping was random, but it didn’t feel like it to Arrow. And he knew the rest of the team was on the same page.

If she’d been abducted by a stranger, they wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to keep her down in the Caribbean. They would’ve done what they wanted with her, then killed her. But drugging her, transporting her to the small country, then paying a group of thugs to keep her there, and unseen, was way above and beyond a random kidnapping.

No, whoever was behind this knew Morgan personally. They had one hell of a grudge against her as well, which baffled Arrow. Granted, he hadn’t known her long, but he couldn’t imagine she’d ever do something that would make someone want to torture her like they had.

So they’d start going down the list of people she knew, starting with her friends and ex-boyfriend and his brother, and go from there. The better someone knew her, the more likely it was that they were the one behind her kidnapping.

“It looks like Lane is dating someone new, has been for almost a year,” Meat said. Then, looking up at Morgan, he belatedly added, “Sorry.”

She waved off his words. “I told you guys that we weren’t really dating that last night we went out. It’s fine.”

“Right, so he started dating a woman named Rebecca Low. She’s got a hell of a list of ex-boyfriends of her own . . . including a few felons.”

“What’d they get booked for?” Black asked.

“Armed robbery, assault, and domestic abuse.”

“Shit. I’m guessing Lane was a huge step up from that?” Ball asked Morgan.

She nodded. “He didn’t even like to speed.”

“Yup. Lane Buswell is a Boy Scout for sure,” Meat said, staring at the computer screen in front of him. “But maybe Miss Rebecca wanted Morgan out of the picture so she could have Lane for herself. She certainly knew people who could do the dirty deed.”

“Lance isn’t much better, is he?” Ro asked. “He’s got his own record.”

“True. Mostly petty stuff, though, like public intoxication and disturbing the peace . . . oh, but he had a DUI that was pending when Morgan disappeared.”