Defending Morgan (Mountain Mercenaries #3)(49)

“Sarah came in contact with all sorts of people as a bartender,” Gray threw in. “She could’ve paid someone to follow Morgan out of the club that night and nab her.”

“Oh, this is interesting,” Meat said as he clicked away on his computer.

“What?” Gray asked.

“Karen Garver’s brother is in a motorcycle gang in Miami. If she had a beef with Morgan about something or thought she was being charged too much, she could’ve flipped and had her brother step in.”

Arrow had been concentrating so hard on the list of names in front of him, and on the theories the others were throwing out, that he hadn’t been paying attention to Morgan. It wasn’t until he felt a tentative tapping on his knee that he looked over at her.

She was pressing her lips together in agitation and didn’t have much color in her cheeks at all.

Fuck.

Throwing out every piece of information they had and brainstorming was how the team worked best. They didn’t tend to hold back when they were doing it either. Morgan had been so helpful, and had been so even-keeled when talking about her friends and acquaintances, he’d almost forgotten she wasn’t one of them. This wasn’t merely a case she was discussing—it was her life.

“It’s getting late, guys,” Arrow said firmly. “Allye and Chloe should be here soon, and I know Morgan probably needs a break before that happens.”

She nodded enthusiastically from next to him.

Gray immediately realized their error and said, “Sorry, Morgan. You’ve done an amazing job. Seriously. I know this was tough.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “I never thought I’d have to think about the mailman as someone who hated me so much he’d have me kidnapped and tortured for a year. Guess I should cut back on my catalog ordering, huh?”

Arrow had opened his mouth to soothe her when they heard a commotion from the front room.

“I do not believe this!” Ellie Jernigan shouted.

“Calm down, Ellie,” a deep voice responded.

Morgan stood up so quickly her chair fell over behind her, the sound loud in the large room when it landed. “Oh shit,” she exclaimed.

“Who is it?” Black asked, coming around the table, looking alert and ready to defend Morgan from anyone who might burst into the back room and try to hurt her.

The others had followed suit, and they’d surrounded Morgan, putting themselves between her and whoever had entered the bar. It made Arrow feel good . . . but he had a feeling the person who needed protecting wasn’t Morgan. “It’s Carl Byrd,” he informed his teammates.

“Her dad?” Gray asked.

“The one and only,” Morgan mumbled and headed for the door. “I hope you guys are ready for this. If there were ever two people in this world who hated each other, and shouldn’t be in the same room together, it’s them.”

Feeling protective of Morgan, and kicking himself for not watching her more carefully when they were discussing who might want her gone, Arrow walked slightly in front of her as they approached the doorway.

Carl Byrd was standing just inside the bar, and Ellie Jernigan was in his face, yelling at him.

“You can just turn your ass around and walk out of here,” she said, wagging her finger in his face. “Morgan doesn’t want to see you. Haven’t you realized how hard today was for her? That you parading her in front of those vultures was the wrong thing to do? How could you be so insensitive?”

“Those ‘vultures’ were the ones who kept Morgan’s case in the spotlight,” Carl said calmly. “Without me working my ass off to make sure no one forgot about our daughter, she would still be in that hovel in the Caribbean.”

“That’s a joke!” Ellie said. “She wasn’t found because of anything you did. It was an accident! If that other man hadn’t taken his little girl down there, she’d still be in their clutches. So don’t give me that bullshit that it was all your doing that she’s home safe and sound.”

“I didn’t see you doing anything to find her,” Carl said, his composure slipping. “You hightailed it out of Atlanta so fast after she disappeared, I wondered if you were trying to hide something.”

The crack of Ellie’s palm hitting Carl’s cheek echoed in the mostly empty room. “How dare you,” she screeched. “You’re the one who did everything in your power to exploit her being kidnapped! Stocks for your precious company went through the roof after you went on TV, crying about your poor daughter and how much you missed her. Maybe you should’ve spent more time with her when she was little and less time screwing your secretary!”

“That’s enough!” Dave boomed, stalking over to the couple.

Arrow blinked and pulled Morgan off to the side of the open door, making room for the others to wade into the fray. He’d never seen Dave look so enraged. He was the most even-keeled man Arrow had ever met. He didn’t get upset when people got drunk and disorderly in his bar. He didn’t blink when someone tried to pick a fight with him. He didn’t seem to give even the smallest shit when he was stiffed on a tip.

But at the moment, he looked like he was going to murder one, or both, of Morgan’s parents.

Gray and Ro flanked the man, while Ball went to Carl’s side and Black went to Ellie’s.