Chapter 17
“Good morning,” Solace called out as she entered Mercy’s outer office.
“In here,” Mercy called back.
Solace sauntered past the empty office assistant’s chair without stopping. She supposed Nichola was getting her morning coffee fix. The woman was kind of a caffeine addict.
“Hey.” Mercy looked up from her desk and smiled. “How’re you feeling this morning?”
“I managed some toast and ginger ale,” she said, unconsciously rubbing a hand over her tiny baby bump. Her stomach had been roiling most of the morning, but for the time being, little baby Sheppard was behaving. “So, right now, not too bad.”
“I had morning sickness with Kara.” Mercy grinned and leaned forward over her desk, her tone low and conspiratorial. “You know it’s a scam, right?”
“What are you talking about?” She grinned at the other woman’s eyes darting back and forth like she was seeing if anyone was listening. It was just one more instance of why she could so believe Mercy was Declan’s sister.
“Morning sickness,” the other woman said, chuckling and relaxing back into her chair. “I think they call it that just so it doesn’t seem so bad. What it should be called is morning, noon, night, and hitting you out of nowhere sickness.”
“That’s kind of a mouthful,” she said, shaking her head and laughing.
“But it’s the truth.” Mercy’s laughter joined in with her own, as her cellphone rang.
“Hold on,” she said, reaching for it sitting on her desk, then answering it as Solace took a seat.
“Hey, little brother.” The smile Mercy had for Declan slowly faded the longer she listened.
“Yes…” Mercy’s eyes darted toward hers. “She’s with me… What’s wrong?”
Another fraught silence followed on Mercy’s side of the conversation—her expression filling with concern—while her intense, blue eyes never left hers.
Solace knew she wouldn’t be able to hear whatever Declan was saying, but she stood anyhow and took the few steps to bring her around the desk, then leaned against it.
“Okay, we’ll see you in a few minutes, then.” She ended the call, staring at the cellphone—like she could find the answer she needed from it—while slowly setting it back on her desk.
“What was that about?”
“I have no idea,” Mercy said, shaking her head, still staring at the phone.
“Declan wouldn’t say anything more than that he needed to speak with you.
” Her brow furrowed and she lifted her eyes back to Solace’s.
“About team business. But why would he need to speak with you about team business, when you’re not part of the team anymore?
” Mercy tilted her head and narrowed her near-accusing gaze on her. “Right?”
Solace didn’t even flinch. She couldn’t.
Not in front of this woman. As an assistant DA, Mercy was an expert at proving guilt.
Any shift in her gaze, increase in respiration, or a change in her body language would tell her something was up.
But Solace was a Marine—active duty or not—and had her own set of skills when it came to keeping her cool.
“You know your brother has had a hard time with this change,” she said, keeping her limbs loose and posture relaxed.
She even let out a low laugh that sounded pretty convincing, as she casually went back to the other side of the desk and retook her seat.
“Do you have any idea how difficult it was to convince him, let alone Garrett and Cal, that I was coming to work for you?”
“I could see that,” Mercy answered. Though if her continued frown was anything to go by, she still wasn’t completely sold on Solace’s explanation.
“Believe me, Mercy, this is where I plan on staying.” From the way Mercy’s shoulders relaxed and expression cleared, she’d believed her. Why shouldn’t she? It wasn’t hard to sound sincere, when something wasn’t a lie.
“But I have to admit I’m?—”
A frantic, near roar of, “Where’s Solace and Mercy?” interrupted her, sending Solace’s gaze flying to the closed door.
Without thought, she found herself standing on shaky legs, while a sudden rush of adrenaline spiked her heart rate and every single survival instinct she possessed went on alert.
She knew this man, had been friends with him for years, had relied on him through countless hours when death wasn’t just a possibility, but sometimes their only option. In all those times, she’d never…
Something’s happened.
“In her office,” came Nichola’s muffled reply. “But… Hey, you can’t just go in there, Mr. Carter.”
“The hell I can’t,” he bellowed.
The door slammed open and an ashen-faced Declan—his scars standing out in relief against his pale features—loomed in the doorway, his chest heaving and expression grim. Behind him, Nichola grimaced up at him in obvious exasperation.
“It’s okay, Nichola,” Mercy said, her voice low and cautious, while Solace had yet to tear her gaze from her friend who stared straight at her as he strode into the room.
“Solace…” Declan’s voice broke, and she had to grab hold of the edge of the desk to keep upright.
“You’re scaring me.”
Scared might have been a mild word for the terror currently coursing through her veins and tightening her chest until…
I can’t breathe.
“Declan, what’s happened?” Mercy was next to her.
Funny, she hadn’t even heard her move. Which wasn’t surprising, since her head pounded in time with her racing heart and the blood rushing in her ears.
It blocked out every other sound, while the rapidly beating organ in her chest began to break.
Even Declan’s words didn’t reach her. His mouth moved, but he might as well have been put on mute.
“Oh, god.” Mercy’s gasped words broke through, and she turned her head toward Declan’s sister, whose eyes glistened with tears.
“Wh…wha…what did he say?” The other woman’s features swam in front of her. “Mercy?”
“Solace.” Declan’s gentle command of her name as he took hold of her upper arms and pulled her closer, forced her to look up at him. This close, the anguish deep in the blue depth of his good eye had denial rising inside her, before he pulled her into his big chest. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t understand,” she said lower than a whisper. “I don’t…”
“Listen to me, Solace. It’s the colonel.” She shook her head at Declan’s words—shaking it harder as he continued. “Five days ago, an unidentifiable private plane crashed?—”
“No…” Solace grabbed hold of the front of his t-shirt and held tight, then pressed her forehead against his chest and twisted her fingers in the fabric.
“D…don’t…sss…say it,” she managed between ragged breaths that didn’t completely fill her lungs.
“The crash site was near Blairmore, Canada. The body inside?—”
“I said don’t,” she screamed, beating her fists against his chest. If she didn’t let him finish, it wouldn’t be real. His arms tightened around her while Mercy gathered them both in her embrace.
“Please…” Her voice broke on a guttural wail as she lifted her face from his tear-stained shirt and stared at the truth blazing down at her. “Please, don’t say it.”
“Oh, Solace,” Mercy said, her words choked. “I’m so sorry.
“We identified him…” His words broke as his eyes closed and lips trembled. Then her soul scattered into a million pieces when his heartrending, keening sob broke her. She’d never heard… Never seen…
Declan’s crying.
“It’s the colonel.”
Six days had passed since Declan had broken the news to her. Six days since her world had shattered. Six days when all she had managed to do was force herself to eat and fall into exhausted, fitful sleeps.
Solace had felt every hour of those six days.
Every minute…
Every second…
All of that time bringing her here to the hour she had dreaded.
The hour when she would have to say goodbye to Duncan.
Forever.
She shifted slightly on the padded front pew reserved for family, her head bowed and heart secretly breaking.
Behind her in the funeral home’s large, dimly lit chapel sat over a hundred people.
Did it matter to the family that so many had attended to show their respect?
She doubted it. Like her, she was sure they would have given anything to not have to be here.
She grimaced and shifted again. Padded or not, the pew might as well have been made of stone.
“Oh, Haven.” The female’s booming exclamation—so loud, it conflicted with the hushed voices and faint music the funeral home had piped in—startled Solace’s gaze up to a deathly-pale Haven.
Her body language for the past hour had told anyone paying attention to not get too close.
And right now, she stiffened under the shelter of a stone-faced Cal’s arm.
This woman ignored all of that as she practically dragged Haven away from Cal, whose jaw clenched and nostrils flared when he was forced to drop his hold.
According to Declan, Cal hadn’t left her side since he’d broken the news to her—had barely let her go—and he wouldn’t appreciate the woman’s actions.
“I can’t believe this has happened,” the woman said—still ridiculously loud and dramatic—her voice weepy. Who was this woman? Solace didn’t recognize her, but that didn’t mean anything.
“I’m so sorry about your father,” she continued, while Haven’s red-rimmed, nearly sunken eyes drifted over the woman’s shoulder and met Solace’s.
It wasn’t much, but Solace offered her what might pass as a smile.
Honestly, she wasn’t trying very hard. She didn’t have it in her.
Haven obviously didn’t have it in her either, because the smile she sent her back looked just as strained as hers felt.
Haven’s eyes close features tightened as the woman’s heartfelt platitudes continued. If she didn’t release Haven soon from the overly-long hug—one that even Solace could see was all for show—there was going to be a problem.
“Thank you for your kind words,” Cal grumbled with a pointed, almost threatening, glare at the woman. And there it was. “But that’s enough.”