Page 48 of Stockholm (Angel of Mercy #1)

Jesse looks crestfallen at the news. “I’m really good at it, though.”

Noah shakes his head. “Maybe next time.” Turning to Landon, he brushes his hair out of his face and sighs. “Did you get any good information before this happened?”

Landon’s eyes flick to me and my eyes widen, preferring to be ignored.

“Yeah. He’s fucking pissed. We already knew he had the local police in his pockets, so that wasn’t news but he’s definitely expanding his ring to include extortion and money laundering through the new branches Eric is helping him set up.

” He looks at me again, an indecipherable expression on his face.

“He’s fucking pissed that she was taken and about the note you left,” he adds, turning to look at Noah.

“He thinks you’ve made a fool of him and he’s all worked up about finding Emma.

But it sounds like, as of right now, there’s no trace on us. ”

Noah looks back at me, a frown on his face and I just stand there frozen.

I don’t want to have crossed Bundy’s mind at all.

And the mention of Eric getting closer to him is making me anxious.

The police are a question mark, especially if they’re on Eric’s side. Would they force me to go back to him?

“The group that was there, they—uh, are making a lot of jokes about how ‘Eric’s wife might be being put to work here . ’” He quotes, choosing to watch my face pale rather than Noah’s turn red with fury.

Patrick speaks up just as Noah steps forward with a snarl on his face. “Quit, Noah. It’s just info. We’re just the messengers. He’s right, Bundy has some kind of fixation on this one. He’s not used to being made a fool of, and whatever you put in that note must have gotten under his skin.”

Noah runs his hands into his hair, then grips it tightly and turns to me, the expression on his face making me nervous.

Like he’s on the edge of losing that control I always see him wielding.

It’s unsettling. Noah is steadfast when I’m unsure, something to hang onto.

I don’t understand what could be causing this wild look in his eyes.

Walking away from the group of men, he stalks straight toward me and reaches out for my face with both hands, cradling it and pulling me closer.

It soothes the knot in my throat, the noise in my head falling silent once more.

He holds me tightly to his chest as he speaks again to the men.

“He might not know where we are, but there have been other signs. Messages that made it through. They’ve definitely tried to hack into my security system but all the protections we have in place are holding.

I worked on it for weeks nonstop to make sure it didn’t happen again. ”

My heart throbs. So that’s what he’d been doing locked in his room after my birthday.

Snapping at all of us, barely coming to see me.

He’d been so consumed with protecting the house, his family.

I place a kiss on his stupid, stubborn chest for not telling me what was wrong.

For holding the anxiety inside himself as if that would save us the worry.

“They won’t find us here,” Jesse chimes in.

“And this is good. If he’s getting this worked up, it means he’s not thinking clearly.

He’s way more likely to fuck up in a way that benefits us if he’s distracted by Emma.

If we can keep the pressure on Eric, he might just fuck things up for himself too.

This is exactly what we planned for, Noah. ”

I look up at Noah’s face, and his jaw is clenched, looking down at me.

For a moment, I think I see regret there, but then he nods.

“You’re right. We keep up what we’re doing.

Landon, let me know when we have the extortion files ready to go.

If we can release those, it’s gonna be very fucking bad for him. ”

“On it,” he says, turning to Patrick. “I’ll get the car cleaned before I come back to get you.” He pats him on the back and Patrick growls before turning for the door.

“Anything else?” Noah asks him once the door closes behind Landon. “Any news from Dad? ”

He nods. “His informant says Bundy’s killed another girl. Another teenager. Your Uncle’s understandably upset, seeing as how it’s the same thing that happened to Lily. He’s putting it to a vote that we nix the current plan and just take them all out immediately.”

Jesse laughs. “Pops always was an emotional bastard.”

Noah shakes his head. “My dad won’t go for it. It’s way too dangerous. We’ve got the ball rolling, the more we learn and more information we get, the better our chances of putting the top men in their graves. Justice will be served for Lily, and everyone else. I promise it.”

“I’ll pass on your vote. We’re fine, we’ve handled worse. As long as you guys stay hidden here, we’ll get the job done without anyone getting hurt.”

Noah holds me to him, his lips pressed to the top of my head. Bundy wants me—is looking for me now. If he were to find out where I am, I’ll likely find the same fate as the other girls and women he adds to his collection.

But I trust Noah. So I let him brush his hand through my hair over and over like nothing is wrong. Like he can protect me from every bad thing that exists in this world.