12
Mercy
Three nights later,I found myself with the guys in Rowan’s car heading into the Bend again—although this time Gideon was with us only via speakerphone.
“The timing of the ships is rarely exact,” he said through a faint hum of static. “You’ll want to make sure to get into position within the hour.”
“We’re only twenty minutes away now,” Wylder replied. “It shouldn’t be a problem.” His voice still held a bit of the edge that had crept into it when we’d had yet another argument about me coming along before we’d left.
This time, Gideon had cut it short by saying that my knowledge of the Bend made me invaluable and that Wylder would be an idiot not to have me there. It might have been funny seeing how quickly Wylder shut up at the unexpected criticism from his right-hand man if I hadn’t been so annoyed that he was still acting like a jackass to begin with.
“What about the other car?” Gideon asked. Ezra had ever-so-generously allowed Wylder a contingent of Noble underlings to assist with the mission.
Rowan glanced in the rearview mirror. “Only a block behind us.”
“Good, good.” I could picture Gideon skimming through footage and data on his various screens with his smooth face in that perfectly focused expression of determination. “We’re still not sure exactly what the shipment contains, so—”
“We went over this already, Gideon,” Wylder said, his voice softening a little with a fond tone I didn’t often hear in it. He might have wanted to toss me in the trash, but there was no denying his bond with his best friend. “All the extra details, we’ll figure out once we’re there.”
Gideon made a disgruntled sound as if he didn’t see that as a solid strategy.
As we drove on through the glow of the streetlamps outside, Kaige reached across the back seat to give my hand a quick squeeze. The affection in the gesture sent an unexpected wobble through my pulse.
When we’d talked the other night on the fire escape, he’d seemed to honestly regret his harsh behavior—and I really did understand that instantaneous aggression in defense of his people was just Kaige’s default setting. And something I kind of liked about him, if I was being honest. The thought of him seeing me as one of his people now sent a flood of warmth down through my torso to tingle between my thighs.
Not that he was going there any time tonight. But… maybe later we could pick up where we’d left off. Just to blow off some steam when we needed it.
Abruptly, Gideon muttered a curse.
Wylder’s posture snapped straighter. “What is it?”
“There’s a cop car cruising around within a few blocks of the ambush spot. If there’s gunfire, they’d hear it for sure. There must have been a call for some other reason—this isn’t their typical route.”
“We’ll handle it,” Wylder said with the smooth confidence I’d once—and, okay, still—found so goddamned sexy. He glanced back at Kaige. “Are you good to provide a diversion?”
Kaige grinned, his eyes lighting up. “My second favorite job.”
That sounded a little ominous in terms of what the diversion might involve. But Wylder was already gesturing to Rowan, who pulled over to the curb. Kaige was pushing open the door before the Toyota had even rolled to a stop.
“You know where to find us after,” Wylder said. “Be quick about it.”
Still grinning, Kaige gave him a thumbs up and disappeared into the night. I looked at Rowan, knowing Wylder was less likely to give me a real answer. “What’s he going to do?”
Rowan’s mouth slanted into a crooked smile. “Create a disturbance that’ll lead the cops far enough away for us to pull off the job. Knowing him, it’ll probably involve at least one explosion.”
Oh goodie.
As we sped down the last short distance to the ambush spot, my pulse thumped in my veins. I was so ready for this. A real strike against the Steel Knights, a chance to knock the sneer right off Colt’s face. And while he was reeling, maybe I’d get the chance to eviscerate him before much longer.
The Bend’s dock area was a sprawling compound arcing around a curve in the river. It had only one exit and just a few routes that made sense to take when driving away from the spot, and Gideon had picked a place for us to lie in wait that should put us right in the truck’s path or at least where we could see if it took an unexpected turn before it reached us.
Rowan parked by the curb in a dark patch beneath a broken streetlamp. The other car with our extra men stopped farther down the street.
I settled deeper into my seat. We were going to have at least a bit of a wait. We’d given ourselves lots of extra time since we didn’t want to miss the shipment. My fingers automatically traced over the small lump of my bracelet from my mother in the opposite pocket from my knife. I definitely wasn’t anyone’s Little Angel now. What would she have thought if she’d known I’d end up here?
Or maybe, given who my father was, this was the best she’d have ever hoped for me.
“We’re in position,” Wylder said to Gideon. “I’m switching to the headset now. Ping me if you see anything of concern.” He ended the call and adjusted the mic in his ear.