Sweet Mercy - Lynn Hagen Page 0,36

human had been gone for the past few years was because he’d been in prison. Felonious assault. Kidnapping. Aggravated menacing. Carrying a concealed weapon.

Ford leaned back from the counter and scrubbed a hand over his head. It seemed Mercy hadn’t been the only guy Lloyd had pulled that bullshit on. Ford looked through the docket and found his parole officer’s phone number.

Ford called it. He wasn’t sure anyone would answer since it was so late, but he had to try, because the alternative would be to kill Lloyd. Ford wouldn’t lose any sleep if he had to rip the son of a bitch apart. He would do whatever he had to in order to keep Mercy safe.

But he’d seen the look in Mercy’s eyes, the look that had asked him not to turn to violence. It had taken great restraint not to kill Lloyd. Ford knew the type. Lloyd was a black mark on society, someone who would never learn.

Ford would try this Mercy’s way, but if that didn’t work, well, how should Ford know why Lloyd had up and disappeared? Lloyd had no idea who he was fucking with. Ford hunted down dangerous criminals for a living. Dealing with a human was a cakewalk for him.

The call went to voice mail. Ford would try again in the morning, because he was pretty sure Lloyd was violating his parole by harassing Mercy. Ford was also going to let the sheriff know about Lloyd and his penchant for violence.

The more Ford thought about it, the more he wished he’d never let Lloyd live.

Ford looked up when he heard something click. The sound was close by. It couldn’t have been Mercy or Red. They were still in the apartment.

Closing his laptop, Ford walked into the shop area and looked around. It was dark outside, but there were still people across the street at Cresting Moon. Ford looked toward the door that led upstairs and saw it closed. He remembered when Mercy and Red had gone up. They’d left it wide open.

Ford had started for the door when Lincoln walked into the shop. “Hey, Ford. Where’s Red?”

Lincoln was there to pick up his mate. Maybe Red had come downstairs to look out the front window for Lincoln. Maybe that was why the door was closed.

Still, Ford’s gut told him to check on the mates. “Upstairs. Follow me.”

Ford shot up the stairs when he heard Mercy scream. Lincoln was right behind him, the two bursting into the apartment. Ford’s heart came to a skidding halt when he saw Vladimir standing there with his hand wrapped around Mercy’s throat.

The vampire spun, placing Mercy in front of him. “Not another step.”

Red was on the floor, unmoving. Lincoln shifted into his Bengal tiger form, snarling as he eased toward his mate.

Vladimir’s eyes were focused on Ford. Ford’s gaze was on Mercy. Then the smell hit him. Ford scented the air. Blood. He quickly looked Mercy over, but his mate didn’t seem to have any injuries.

He noticed a dark stain on Vladimir’s shirt. Blood dripped from the hem.

“Your boy caught me off guard,” Vladimir said. “It seems I should have waited another minute until he’d put his knife down.”

Ford saw the kitchen knife on the floor, covered in blood. There were also the remains of what looked like a salad. Vladimir had surprised Ford’s mate while Mercy was cutting something for his salad.

“He’ll pay for stabbing me.” Vladimir’s smile was cruel and cold. “Just like his other boyfriend paid for harassing your boy. Say thank you for getting rid of the trash.”

Who was Vladimir talking about? Lloyd? Had the crazy vampire killed Lloyd? Ford couldn’t think of anyone else Vladimir could have been referring to.

“You killed Lloyd?” Mercy’s eyes widened.

“Was that his name?” Vladimir shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

This was why the Ultionem had sent Ford after Vladimir. The guy killed indiscriminately, with no regard for life or whether that person even deserved such a harsh fate. It was as if it was all a game to him.

Ford wasn’t going to waste his breath with words. No matter what Ford said, nothing would matter. You couldn’t try and talk reason with a dangerous lunatic. The only thing he could do was get Mercy away from the bastard and then kill him.

“Let him go. Just you and me.” Ford rolled his shoulders. “Afraid I’ll spank that ass?” He had to get Vladimir angry enough to release Mercy and accept the challenge.

Lincoln watched them, his tiger standing over Red, who was