Page 2 of Innocent Target

“Let’s get you into the conference room, and you can catch me up. Clearly, I missed the memo about your pregnancy.”

Beth walked slowly, and James slowed his gait as Mercy held the door open for them, a question in her eyes as she looked at him. He wished he could answer, but he had no clue what was going on either.

He settled his sister, and she hunched over on the seat as she held her baby tight to her body. “She gets fussy at this time of night,” Beth said as she rocked Abbie, gently soothing her. “Would you like to hold her?” Beth asked, and James nodded.

Unlike a lot of men, he was used to babies. His older sister Mel had two, although he didn’t see them as much as he’d like now that they lived in New York. Beth rose and, with the utmost care, laid her daughter in his arms. James looked down at the small bundle, his finger larger than her hand. Her eyes opened sleepily before she blinked up at him. His world settled as he knew another female had entered his life that he’d die to protect. Abbie clutched at his finger, turning her head and looking for food.

“She’s beautiful, Beth.” His sister looked on with a smile on her face that was radiant. “When did you have her?

“On Mom’s birthday two weeks ago.” Instinctively she touched her finger to her daughter’s sweet cheek, brushing it gently.

“Do Mom and Dad know?”

“No. I couldn’t tell them, James. You know how things got after I left. They’ll hate me if I go back with a kid in tow.”

James shook his head and reached for her hand, noticing the brief flicker of hope before she doused it and closed down on him, pulling her hand away.

“Would you like some cocoa or anything to eat?” Mercy asked.

James almost sighed in relief as Mercy stepped in to break the ice. Something was going on. Beth had always been the wild child, the one most likely to get in trouble but she was also the brightest of the three siblings. But now though, he detected a broken quality in his little sister that had never been there before.

“Is there somewhere I can wash up or take a shower?” Beth asked, focusing on Mercy, and showing none of the fear from before.

“Yes, of course. Let me go get you some spare clothes.”

Mercy disappeared, and Beth tilted her head at him, a light of mischief in her eyes he was relieved to see.

“Girlfriend?”

“Nah, colleague,” James answered, but he should have known his sister would call him out, she’d never missed a thing growing up and now was no different.

“But you want her to be more.”

James shrugged. “It doesn’t matter what I want. She doesn’t.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that if I were you.”

James didn’t have a chance to say more because Mercy came back in with a bundle of clothes and toiletries.

Mercy held her hand out for Beth to follow. “Let me show you where to go.”

Beth dropped a bag he hadn’t realized she’d been carrying onto the floor. “That’s Abbie’s stuff, everything you need is in there. Will you be okay with her?”

James smirked at his sister as she stroked her daughter’s fingers and gazed at her with so much love in her eyes. “I’ve taken care of a baby before, you know. I can cope.”

Beth smiled, although James noticed it didn’t reach her eyes that were misty until she blinked, and the sadness was hidden again. He knew his older sister had been the same after her kids were born. Tired, emotional, overwhelmed, and she had a husband. James had yet to broach the subject of Abbie’s father, wanting Beth to settle a little first.

“I know but I wanted to check.”

“Go. Take a shower and relax. Abbie and I are going to get acquainted.”

James watched his sister and Mercy leave, listening to their hushed voices as they moved further away. He watched his niece, wondering at the mystery behind her arrival and knowing there was so much more going on than he could fathom. But now they were here, he could take the time and find out how he could help his sister.

Mercy walked back in, her eyebrows raised as she moved closer, looking down at the baby in his arms. “She is so cute, and I have to say, Romeo, it totally suits you.”

James looked up with a smirk on his face. “You think?”

“Total babe magnet.”