Mr. Perfect (Sinister in Savannah #2) - Aimee Nicole Walker Page 0,43
understood Jude’s dire warning. Jack Mercy, ironically named since he reportedly showed no leniency to his enemies, had evaded the FBI for decades. The federal arm of the law had gotten close to busting him a few times, but their key informants as well as the evidence against Mercy always vanished into thin air. No bodies were ever found, but it was a safe bet to say the witnesses were dead.
No one knows the full story. No one living, I should say.
A shiver of excitement snaked through Felix’s body. He knew he should back off and let it go, but it just wasn’t his nature. “You know what this means?”
Rocky smiled wickedly. “We’re going on a stakeout.”
Sleep was as elusive for Felix as Jack Mercy was for the FBI. Swimming laps in the pool had exhausted his body, but Felix’s brain was too amped up to give him peace. If he were at home, he would’ve started reading every article he could find on Jack and Cameron Spencer, then looked for similarities and connections. Rocky deserved to sleep, so Felix lay in the darkness and thought about his next steps. Occasionally, his brain would veer back to the club, and he’d recall the way Jude had pressed him against the wall and kissed him as if his life had depended on it.
Felix wouldn’t allow himself to linger there long because it would stir a different kind of problem he didn’t want to address when sharing a hotel room with Rocky. Yes, he could sneak off to the shower and rub one out, but it was unlikely he’d do it without waking his friend. It was bad enough Rocky witnessed him behaving like a weak fool at the club.
“I’m ready to give up pretending to sleep if you are,” Rocky whispered in the dark.
Felix sat up and switched on the lamp on his nightstand. “Deal.”
The two men powered up their laptops and divided tasks. Rocky chose Cameron Spencer, and Felix took Jack Mercy.
“Let’s start with potential family connections,” Rocky said. They’d each written down as much information as they could find about parents, siblings, spouses, aunts, uncles, cousins, and children.
“Jack Mercy doesn’t have any children,” Felix said after they’d crossed off all other avenues.
“Not legitimate ones at least,” Rocky countered. “Okay, so the link between Spencer and Mercy isn’t familial. What about education? Jack Mercy is old enough to be Spencer’s father, but maybe they met at an alumni event.”
It didn’t take them long to rule that out too. Jack Mercy was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and attended the finest private schools and universities. Cameron Spencer barely graduated high school after getting bounced from foster home to foster home. He’d enrolled in vocational high school his final two years and trained to be an auto mechanic. Spencer turned wrenches for years until a salesman’s position came open at the dealership that employed him. Selling cars eventually led him to much bigger and better things—none of which they could trace back to Jack Mercy.
“I’ll call Jude on Monday,” Felix said sometime around dawn when it became apparent the answers they sought wouldn’t be found by a simple internet search.
“The hell you will,” Rocky said.
“Jude knows something vital.”
Rocky chuckled. “Listen, if you want to scratch that itch, then do it. You don’t need an excuse.”
“I’m serious, Major.”
“I am too, Fee. Maybe it’s what you need to do. Fuck him out of your system, so you can concentrate. Your pheromones are clouding your judgment.”
“How do you figure?” Felix’s voice rose along with his irritation.
“Everything Jude knows is probably from what he’s witnessed at the club. Do you really think he’s smarter than the FBI? If he does know details they don’t, then you need to consider it’s insider information.”
“Insider? As in Jude is part of the mafia?”
Rocky shrugged. “Jack Mercy has avoided incriminating himself because he has the right connections.”
“A news anchor is the right connection? Come on, Major.”
Rocky set his laptop on the nightstand before turning his body to face Felix. “Look me in the eye and promise me you can be objective when it concerns Jude Arrow.”
Felix took a deep, steadying breath to calm down. Getting pissed at Rocky for stating the obvious was just an exercise in futility. “Okay, so you have a point. What do you suggest?”
“The two of us might not be able to find connections or similarities with basic searches, but our partner has a supercomputer who can find patterns in the most minute