Page 65 of Cold Mercy

“Sterling and Ward were at her house.”

She freezes.

“They were what? Thomas, why didn’t you arrest them?”

My patience snaps.

“Are you out of your mind? Sterling had a gun to her head, and I was the only operative on site. My priority was keeping the asset alive, not starting a firefight I couldn't win. Do you really think announcing, ‘Hi, I’m Detective Collins, please put your gun down’ would have made him drop his weapon, Grace? Or do you think he would have put a bullet in her skull right in front of me?”

Grace exhales, realizing she crossed a line.

“You’re right… okay. What did they want from her?”

“Elijah found out she was running her own investigation and getting too close, so he paid her a visit. He made it clear that if she kept sniffing around, he'd gut her out”

Grace sucks in a sharp breath.

“Jesus Christ.”

“He also gave her the evidence she’s been chasing. Confirmation that Noah was laundering money and working with them. And something else…”

“What?”

“That they weren’t the ones who killed him. He denied being involved.”

Grace stares at the windshield, processing.

“He’s dead, so we can’t prosecute him. Now we know she’s innocent, and she didn’t know anything…” She pauses. “That case looks closed.”

I swallow hard.

“So… that means what?”

If the mission is over, then nothing is forcing me to lie anymore, nothing is stopping me from telling her everything, and nothing is standing in the way of me trying.

Grace shakes her head slowly, conflicted.

She looks at me again, her eyebrows drawn in thought.

“We still can't prove anything against Sterling, which means the mission stays active. We were chasing Mercer's ghost, but Moreau...Moreau just became our doorway to Sterling himself.”

Our doorway to Sterling. My hand instinctively tightens on the steering wheel, my knuckles turning white. She says it like Sophia is a piece of equipment, a tool to be used and discarded.

She thinks Sophia is a doorway? Fine. But I'm the one standing in it, and no one gets through me without paying in blood.

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

“He threatened her, Thomas. That puts her on their radar. They might come again. And clearly, you’re the only one who can handle this.” She reaches for one box. “I’m taking all of this, and the team will analyze everything.”

Grace disappears across the parking lot with the boxes, already barking orders into her phone.

My mission isn't about taking down Sterling anymore. It’s about keeping her safe. It's about being the one she gets to come home to. It's just her, alive, looking at me with those green eyes, knowing I would burn the world down to keep her safe.

I blow out a breath and force myself to look away from the mirror that’s reflecting a man who wants too much.

James and Elizabeth invited me over for dinner tonight. As much as I pretended to hesitate, I knew I’d show up. Not just for the mission, and not just for an opportunity to give Elizabeth a proper lecture about her drunken pronouncements at the club.

The truth is, I wanted to come.