Guild of Truth 02 - Shield from the Heart Read online

  She straightened her shoulders and turned her attention to Merrick. He’d had to borrow more of Joel’s clothing. Today he wore snug jeans and a black turtleneck that Joel had forgotten he owned. He looked downright sinful, especially with his black hair flaring out over the collar of his shirt. Felix had offered to take him in for a haircut, but to Sydney’s delight Merrick had declined. It’d be a shame to cut off all that silky hair.

  She found her thoughts wandering and instantly reeled them back in. “So,” she broke the silence. “Did you have something in mind to do today?”

  Felix had washed off her Yaris, and it waited in the driveway for her.

  “Actually, if you don’t mind, I’d like to see the damage Collette has done to my life.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  • • •

  Sydney wrinkled her nose as she slipped into the driver’s seat of her car.

  Merrick hesitated with the door open. “What is that?” he asked. “It smells something like sulfur.”

  She turned around to survey the back seats and found small claw marks in the fabric. Had a cat gotten into her car?

  As Merrick got in she briefly explained the fate of her poor Toyota.

  Merrick swore. “Strange goo and foreign scratch marks? There’s never a dull moment in your life, is there?”

  “That’s not true.” She exited the freeway. “Last week the most exciting thing that I did was give a puppy a flea bath. While seeing Niella soaking wet and miserable was very entertaining it was otherwise very dull.”

  Merrick stared at her as if he didn’t know whether or not she was joking. When she returned his stare he started to laugh. The sound caught her off guard, as did how handsome he was when he laughed.

  The light she was stopped at turned green. She barely noticed.

  The car behind her honked. Merrick sobered. Sydney stomped on the gas.

  When they arrived at Merrick’s apartment he left Sydney in the car to go talk to his landlord. She didn’t know why he wanted to exclude her, but she tried to tell herself it wasn’t personal.

  He returned twenty minutes later with a key dangling from his finger. He opened her door for her.

  “And?” she asked him.

  “It was a good thing I was never late with my payments. When I started missing rent he decided to give me a break the first two months, after that he realized that my mail was piling up. When he found me missing he called the cops. He said he didn’t touch any of my things and left it just in case I turned up dead and my apartment would need to be investigated.”

  “So what’d you end up telling him happened to you?”

  “I said there was a family emergency overseas that came out of nowhere. I apologized and said I’d get him the missing rent as soon as possible. He didn’t seem too beat up about it but he did give me his sympathy for whatever happened overseas.”

  He walked her up a flight of stairs that led to a single door. He ushered her into a utilitarian room. Sydney really hadn’t expected anything less from someone like Merrick. There was one sofa, one TV, and a large bookshelf surrounding the TV. Everything was so tidy. It was sparsely decorated too. Though Merrick wore a lot of black, his home was done in rich browns and touches of green or blue depending on the room. The kitchen was green and brown, the living room blue and brown.

  Sydney walked over to the tall bookcase. She smiled and pulled out one of many books. “John Grisham?” She waved the paperback around.

  Merrick snatched the novel from her hand and gently put it back in its designated slot.

  She wanted to tease him more but one look from him had her mouth snapping shut.

  She continued her inspection in the kitchen. She half expected to find empty beer cans and old pizza boxes, but the place was immaculate. The only thing that told of Merrick’s absence was the thin layer of dust collecting on all the surfaces.

  She spotted a food and water dish near the refrigerator. She smiled. “You have a pet?”

  Merrick’s face darkened.

  She felt her smile fading. “Oh no.” She looked around, realizing that if he had a pet it would have had to survive on its own for the past four months. “I’m so sorry, is it … ?”

  He shook his head. “Not what you think. I did have a pet. A black lab. The best kind of running buddy. I got a visit from Vander when they took me. He didn’t appreciate Marshal barking at him so he decided to make an example out of him while I was held captive.”

  Sydney felt bile rise in her throat. “Oh Merrick … ” She didn’t know what else to say.

  “It’s fine.” He turned his back on her. “I guess it worked out for the best. He would have starved anyway.”

  It was far from fine but she didn’t press him. “Is everything here? Vander didn’t take anything?”

  He looked grateful for the distraction and slipped into his bedroom that branched off of the living room.

  She followed at a respectful distance, curious to see what this room would look like. It wasn’t very different from the rest of his place. There was a king sized bed, a work desk covered with neatly organized stacks of paper, and a few photographs.

  Sydney made her way over to the pictures while Merrick checked out his closet. When she took a quick glance she noticed the majority of the shirts hanging up were — surprise, surprise — black.

  There was a picture of Merrick graduating from the police academy, another of him in uniform with his parents, and finally an older photo of Merrick when he was younger with his arm wrapped protectively around a girl that looked remarkably like a younger version of Hazel. Sydney picked up the frame to get a better look.

  It was obvious that this was Merrick’s younger sister, but why wasn’t she in any of the other photos? Had she been the one taking the pictures? Or maybe there had been a falling out between them?

  Merrick came up beside her. He froze when he caught sight of what she was holding.

  “How come there aren’t any more pictures of you two together?”

  His face shuttered closed. He took the photo and put it back on his desk. “They didn’t take anything. I’d like to head over to the station now, if you don’t mind. I want to find out what happened to the cases I was working, if anyone took them over.” He didn’t wait for an answer. He just left the room.

  Sydney watched him go. She glanced back at the picture. The little girl smiled back at her, reminding her painstakingly of her brother Aaron. She swallowed the lump in her throat and left the room.

  Merrick was waiting by the front door.

  He gave her directions to the station, even told her to stay inside the car when they got there, but this time she refused.

  They argued for a good two minutes before Merrick gave up and said she could do whatever the fuck she wanted.

  She didn’t understand what the big deal was, but as soon as they entered the station she knew why Merrick had wanted her to stay in the car. He didn’t want her to see how the others treated him.

  “Well, well, well,” a man with a straining belly said as soon as they walked in. He smelled of coffee and looked like he was a few days overdue on his shower. “Look who came back from Camelot, Merrick the magical. Or was it Merrick the mad?”

  “Nice to see you too, Russell,” Merrick bit out.

  Russell’s oily dark gaze slithered over Sydney, making her skin crawl. “Nice piece of tail,” he said with a nod in her direction. “Where’d you find her? The high school bleachers?”

  Sydney flushed, her hands fisting.

  Merrick moved in the blink of an eye.

  Sydney heard the sound of flesh impacting flesh. Russell swore. He staggered back a few steps before he lost his footing and went down on his ass.

  She bit back the smug smile that tugged at her lips.

  Another officer came over after the commotion. He stared down at Russell who was now cupping his jaw and trying to mop up his split lip.

  “Jesus, Russell,” the newcomer said. “Can’t you
go ten minutes without opening your mouth?”

  Russell got to his feet with a baleful glare directed at Merrick. He swiped at his lip again before storming off.

  The man watched him go with a shake of his head. “Sorry about that,” he said, turning to them. “Russell’s a piece of work, always has been and always will be.” He shook hands with Merrick. “It’s good to see you again, Merrick. Word was that you’d moved on to greener pastures.” The man’s gaze darted to Sydney and he gave Merrick a quick smile. “I see the rumors are true?”

  Merrick shook his head. “Family emergency. This is Sydney, a colleague of mine helping me on a new case.”

  Sydney tried not to wince at the term colleague. Was that all he thought of her as?

  “Sydney,” Merrick said, “This is Detective Stokes. Steven Stokes.”

  “Please,” Steven held out his hand to her, “call me Steve.”

  He had a firm grip. “It’s very nice to meet you, Steve.”

  His blue eyes sparkled. “Likewise. So, what brings you back here, Haskell?”

  Merrick tucked his hands into his pockets. “Did you hear anything in regards to my cases? The ones I was working before … I had to take off?”

  Steve scratched at his chin. “Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure someone came by and dropped off your files and notes. You had an arrangement made, right?”

  Merrick nodded slowly. “You said you’d take care of my cases in the event that I couldn’t finish them.”

  Steve snapped his fingers. “That’s right. Now I remember, it was a few months ago when I got a huge box delivered to me. You had quite the handful of cases. I was able to solve most of them. Some weren’t very difficult at all. I don’t know why you even took on some of the customers you did.”

  “I have to make my rent somehow.”

  Steve nodded. “True enough. Come on back to my office and I’ll show you the cases.”

  Sydney followed behind Merrick. She couldn’t help but notice how everyone looked and pointed at him before whispering to their co-workers.

  Merrick kept his gaze forward but Sydney knew he could hear what was being said, the major give away being his back was ramrod straight.

  He tried to act indifferent, but Sydney knew what it was like to be the center of unwanted attention. She’d been the only twelve-year-old at her high school. If people thought she looked young now they had no idea how young she looked when she was twelve. Super small and childlike, she’d been the constant source of whispers down the hallways. Most would make fun of her size, but there were a few others who would attack her with more scathing comments. She knew they only envied her academic skill. It wasn’t her fault that she’d excelled in her classes and had been able to skip grades.

  Steve led them into a private office and excused himself while he went to get Merrick’s box full of cases.

  “Don’t let them get to you,” she said as soon as the door shut.

  Merrick jerked around to look at her.

  She gestured to the door. “All those people out there whispering? They’re not worth your notice.”

  “And you have experience in this department, how?”

  She told him about her high school. “The most embarrassing moment of my life was when the school threw the Backwards Dance. It’s like Sadie Hawkins except for some reason my school liked to use a different name. Anyway, I had the biggest crush on the star quarterback. Brandon Archer. He was a senior but I didn’t care. I went up to him one day after our advanced algebra class. He was already surrounded by his group of friends but I went over anyway and asked him to the dance. I figured I better get to him first before any other girls.”

  “What happened?” Merrick’s muscles were tense. Was he still on edge from earlier? Or was that menacing glint in his eyes on behalf of her?

  When they locked gazes she got her answer. Her stomach fluttered and she looked away. She cleared her throat. “I asked him and his whole group got really silent. Brandon studied me for the longest time, probably unsure if it was a prank or not. Either way he turned me down flat, said he didn’t date twelve-year-olds and if he ever wanted to rob the cradle he’d go after a more developed child.”

  The tendons and veins in Merrick’s neck stood out. “Fucking bastard,” he hissed.

  “He was,” she said. She wasn’t going to disagree with him. “But the point is that I didn’t let it get in my way. I was the talk of the school for a month straight after that little stunt, especially when everyone thought I didn’t go to the dance because I was rejected. In reality I was too busy helping my parents at the vet clinic to make it to the dance. I’m getting off subject again, but Merrick, don’t let what those people out there say about you get to you. They’re probably just jealous. I’m guessing that Russell guy is one of the ones that got upset when you started succeeding in solving all your cases?”

  Merrick gave a humorless laugh. “Russell was the tip of the iceberg. He was also the most outspoken, as you got to experience firsthand. You saw everyone out there whispering, that’s what it was like. Russell wasn’t one of few or one of many; he was one out of everyone. They all held some kind of animosity toward me.”

  “Steve didn’t seem so bad.”

  Something like sadness washed through his expression. “Steve’s better at hiding it. I think he tries harder because we were best friends in the academy. He was a great detective and when I started to one-up him … I think he felt more angered than any of the others but he didn’t want to admit it. He hid his jealousy well but I still heard others talking, mentioning things Steve had said about me behind my back.”

  “You mean he pretended to be your friend while he talked about you behind your back? What a jerk. What an ass.”

  Merrick’s brows arched.

  “You heard me. He’s an ass.” She glared at the door where Steve had exited a few minutes ago.

  When Steve returned carrying a cardboard box, Sydney continued to glare at him. He paused in the doorway, startled by her sudden hostility.

  Merrick leaned back in his chair, smiling.

  Chapter 13

  Merrick watched in amusement as Steve slowly tiptoed around Sydney to place the box down on his desk.

  She was like a fierce, protective kitten the way she glowered at Steve for him. A familiar yearning came over him. One he pushed away.

  He wasn’t that type of guy, no matter what the station used to whisper about him — he didn’t go after taken women. He wouldn’t. Everyone thought he was that kind of guy and he guessed he should have been. What with how everyone gossiped about him behind his back and how all the department wives looked at him. He could have easily slid into the sleaze ball category but he was better than that.

  Except when dealing with a certain blonde.

  He tried to distract himself but too late he was bombarded with images and sensations from last night when he’d had her pressed against the wall of Felix’s house.

  For some reason when he was in the heat of the moment his conscience always decided to take a vacation. He became nothing but a product of animalistic need and want, left later to rage at himself for his lack of moral judgment.

  “Here’s a pile of all the ones I was able to close.” Steve dipped into the cardboard box and pulled out an impressive stack of folders, effectively drawing Merrick’s attention away from thoughts of Sydney.

  Merrick slid the cases across the desk to look through them.

  Steve watched as he leaned against his desk. “Looking for anything in particular?”

  “The MacGregor case.” Merrick looked up. “It’s not here. Where is it?”

  Steve’s face darkened. He pushed the box toward Merrick. “It must still be in here then.”

  Merrick didn’t say a word. He got up and started to dig through the files.

  “You’ve been gone a long time,” Steve piped up. “I doubt you’ll even need to finish those cases. I’d throw them all out if I were you.”

  “Wel
l, it’s a good thing you’re not me,” Merrick growled under his breath. He reached the bottom of the box. “It’s not here. Is there another box anywhere?”

  One look at Steve’s face and Merrick knew he was going to make this difficult for him. He shouldn’t have demanded the whereabouts of the folder. Steve didn’t like being ordered around by someone who wasn’t his superior.

  Steve leaned back and shrugged. “Like I said, it was a long time ago. I’m pretty sure this was the only box.”

  Merrick bit down on his temper as he retook his seat. “Can you double check for me?” He swallowed his pride and gazed up at Steve. “Please?”

  His strategically placed submissive seating and comment worked. Steve smiled and got to his feet. “I guess I can have another look since you asked so nicely. I’ll be right back.” He turned his smug grin on Sydney. She glared at him and his smile slipped.

  Merrick held back a bark of laughter.

  “I’m sorry I ever thought that man was anything but a jerk,” Sydney said when the door clicked shut.

  He waved her off as he leaned forward to continue poking through his old cases. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. There’s nothing wrong with you trying to see the good in everyone.”

  She made a thoughtful noise in her throat before scooting closer to him. “So why are you so determined to get your stuff back on that one case? Are you still going to solve it? What’s it about?”

  Merrick carefully put down the file he was holding. He glanced at Sydney through the corner of his eye. She was sitting patiently, hair falling around her face, eyes bright and eager to learn. He didn’t mind her curiosity. In fact, her constant urge to learn was something he loved about her. She had an analytical mind, like him. It was that same reason why he hesitated in explaining the case to her. Would she put the pieces together after being in his house? Would she see the connection between his need to find this missing girl and the reason why he didn’t have any more pictures of his sister?

  He’d never really talked about his sister with anyone who wasn’t family. She had her own special corner in his heart where he kept her locked safely away.